US ‘not aware of or involved in’ Hamas chief’s killing: Blinken

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the United States was “not aware of or involved in” the killing of Hamas’s political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Iran.

“This is something we were not aware of or involved in,” Blinken said, according to a transcript shared by his staff from an interview with Channel News Asia in Singapore.

Israeli spokesman declines to comment on Haniyeh assassination

“We are not commenting on that particular incident,” spokesman David Mencer told a briefing with journalists.

Iran, Hamas and Hezbollah leaders have accused Israel of carrying out the attack that killed the Hamas political leader. Yet Israeli officials have remained quiet.

Israel has rarely claims responsibility for past killings – though it usually doesn’t deny its role.

In recordings made public on December 4, 2023, the chief of Israel’s Shin Bet intelligence agency, Ronen Bar, said the country would kill Hamas leaders “in every location, in Gaza, in the West Bank, in Lebanon, in Turkey, in Qatar, everyone”.

Israel used dogs, waterboarding on Palestinian detainees from Gaza: UN report

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/7/31/israel-subjecting-palestinian-detainees-to-torture-and-abuse-un-report

Thousands of Palestinians have been forcibly removed from Gaza, sometimes from bomb shelters, and dragged into detention in Israel where some have been tortured and at least 53 detainees have died, according to a UN human rights office report released on Tuesday.

Often, they were blindfolded and shackled before being transported to Israel and placed in “cage-like” military centres and forced to wear nothing but nappies for prolonged periods, it said.

“The testimonies gathered by my Office and other entities indicate a range of appalling acts, such as waterboarding and the release of dogs on detainees, amongst other acts, in flagrant violation of international human rights law and international humanitarian law,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk in a statement.

Israel’s prison service held more than 9,400 “security detainees” as of the end of June, and some have been held in secret without access to lawyers or respect for their legal rights.

The report, which is based on interviews with former detainees and other sources, decries a “staggering” number of detainees – including men, women, children, journalists and human rights defenders – and said such practices raise concerns about arbitrary detention.

Israel’s treatment of Palestinian detainees has come under growing scrutiny following multiple media reports and statements from human rights groups describing torture.

On Monday, nine Israeli reservists were taken for questioning by the Israeli army amid a continuing investigation over serious sexual abuse against a Palestinian detainee at the Sde Teiman detention camp. Far-right politicians, including members of the Knesset, have protested against the detention of soldiers suspected of sexual abuse.

Here’s how 10 months of Israeli war have affected Gaza

Since Israel launched its devastating military offensive in October, it has destroyed vast swaths of Gaza, destroying more than 70 percent of its buildings, crippling hospitals and obliterating schools and universities.

Aid groups say the coastal enclave is now “uninhabitable”, due to shortages of food and medicine, while civic infrastructure such as water and electricity have been made largely dysfunctional due to Israeli strikes.

Here’s what the 10 months of Israeli war have done to Gaza – home to 2.4 million Palestinians, 90 percent of whom are now forcibly displaced:

Israeli forces bomb al-Mawasi, Gaza City, Jabalia

Israel’s military kept up its relentless attacks across the Gaza Strip overnight, bombing and shelling al-Mawasi and Abasan al-Kabira in the south and Gaza City and Jabalia in the north, the Wafa news agency reported.

A number of Palestinians were killed and wounded in the attacks, the agency said, without specifying the exact toll.

Israel has killed 39,445 Palestinians since October: Gaza Health Ministry

Israeli forces have killed at least 39,445 people and wounded at least 91,073 since launching their war on Gaza nearly 10 months ago.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says in the past 24 hours, 45 people were killed and 77 people were wounded.

Among the dead are more than 16,000 Palestinian children. The casualty figures are estimated to be far higher with thousands of bodies buried in the vast debris of bombed-out buildings throughout the Gaza Strip.

Response to assassination will be ‘special operation’: Iran

The Permanent Mission of Iran to the United Nations has posted a message on X saying that the “response to an assassination will indeed be special operations—harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator”.

The message comes in apparent reference to the killing of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran, as he was visiting to congratulate the new president on winning the elections.

Iran’s president has promised to make Israel “regret [its] cowardly action”, as Supreme Leader Khamenei said avenging Haniyeh’s killing is Tehran’s duty.

The response to an assassination will indeed be special operations—harder and intended to instill deep regret in the perpetrator.

— I.R.IRAN Mission to UN, NY (@Iran_UN) July 31, 2024

Jovial mood in Israel after Haniyeh assassination

In Israel, the mood was buoyant as Israelis welcomed what they saw as a major achievement in the war against Hamas.

“This is an amazing achievement of intelligence linked to operations that lead to the result,” Amos Gilad, a former senior defence official, said on Channel 12. “Regarding the performance, we can say it was impressive whoever carried it out.”

A couple of junior ministers – not part of the inner circle of security officials making strategic decisions – took to social media to celebrate the operation, which Israel has not officially claimed.

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli posted on X a video of Haniyeh attending an event in which the crowd chanted “Death to Israel”. Chikli wrote: “Careful what you wish for.”

Images of people distributing sweets were shared on social media, and in one Jerusalem supermarket a table of biscuits were laid out for shoppers to take under a sign reading “The people of Israel live.”

How deluded. I'm sure the hostage families are not in a jovial mood. How are ceasefire negotiations to continue now?

Haniyeh ‘gave up his life for religion and country’: Hamas official

Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya says the group’s political leader “gave up his life for his religion and country”.

“He died in exceptional circumstances, and he will be missed by his people and the nation,” al-Hayya told Al Jazeera. He said Haniyeh was meeting delegations and was an official visitor and guest of Iran at the time of his killing.

“He was not in a secret hiding place or far from the limelight, and his assassination was not a military success or an intelligence achievement. The Qassam Brigades will not let Haniyeh’s assassination go without retribution,” he said, referring to Hamas’s armed wing.

2 Al Jazeera journalists killed in Israeli attack in Gaza

Al Jazeera Arabic journalist Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifee have been killed in an attack on the Gaza Strip.

Before the latest deadly attack, Israel’s war on Gaza was already considered the deadliest conflict for journalists and media workers in the world.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists, has put the number of media workers killed as of July 5 at 108 since the war began, making it the deadliest period since the group began gathering data in 1992.

_{Ismail al-Ghoul and his cameraman Rami al-Rifee}

‘Words can’t describe what happened’

Journalist Anas al-Sharif, reporting from Gaza, was at the hospital where the bodies of Al Jazeera journalists Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi were brought.

“Ismail was conveying the suffering of the displaced Palestinians and the suffering of the wounded and the massacres committed by the [Israeli] occupation against the innocent people in Gaza,” he said.

“But the Israeli occupation perhaps does not want the image to come out and does not want the word to go out and does not want Al Jazeera to continue conveying the image and what happened. It is either by targeting them directly or targeting their families or the places of coverage. The feeling – no words can describe what happened.”

Al Jazeera’s managing editor mourns loss of journalist in Gaza

Mohamed Moawad has posted on X in remembrance of Ismail al-Ghoul, an Al Jazeera journalist who was killed today in an Israeli strike on Gaza City, in the northern Strip.

“Ismail was renowned for his professionalism and dedication, bringing the world’s attention to the suffering and atrocities committed in Gaza, especially in Al-Shifa Hospital and the northern neighborhoods. Without Ismail, the world would not have seen the devastating images of these massacres”, Moawad wrote.

“Ismail was a determined journalist who refused to succumb to hunger, illness, and the loss of his brother. He relentlessly covered the events and delivered the reality of Gaza to the world through Al Jazeera”, he added.

“Ismail fulfilled his mission to his people and his homeland. Shame on those who have failed the civilians, journalists, and humanity.”

It is with a heavy heart that we mourn the loss of our colleague journalist, Ismail Al-Ghoul, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike while courageously covering the events in northern Gaza. Ismail was renowned for his professionalism and dedication, bringing the world’s attention… pic.twitter.com/g9YInFpuz8

— Mohamed Moawad (@moawady) July 31, 2024

‘It’s heartbreaking to report’ the killings of Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi

We do everything [to stay safe]. We wear our press jackets. We wear our helmets. We try not to go anywhere that is not safe. We try to go to places where we can maintain our security.

But we have been targeted in normal places where normal citizens are. We’re trying to do everything, but at the same time, we want to report, we want to tell the world what’s going on.

It’s heartbreaking to report this today. And was heartbreaking to report [Al Jazeera journalists] Shireen Abu Akleh’s killing, Hamza Dahdouh’s killing and Samer Abu Daqqa’s killing. This is not the first time we are doing this, but every time it feels as if it’s the first time. It’s a great loss for journalists here in Gaza, especially Al Jazeera’s team, losing such a colleague.

‘Because of the messengers, the story of Gaza has gotten out’

You would think when Israel’s military and political leadership gather together they say “kill the messenger”. What’s a better way of not allowing the facts and tragedy on the ground from reaching the rest of the world.

Especially Al Jazeera journalists because they are the ones able to reach a wider audience around and tell the stories of everyday families in Gaza – what they’ve gone through over the past 10 months. The story of genocide.

It’s only those young journalists that we mourn today telling the stories of those who cannot.

Israel has been targeting civilians in Gaza – journalists, doctors, engineers – they are the target of this war. Because of the messengers, the story of Gaza has gotten out to the world, which now knows there’s a genocidal government in Israel.


Journalists continue to be targeted by Israeli forces in Gaza

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) says the killing of correspondent al-Ghoul and cameraman al-Rifee marks the latest example of the risks of documenting the war in Gaza, which is the deadliest the organisation has documented in 30 years.

CPJ President Jodie Ginsberg told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces have been known to directly target journalists in Gaza.

The New York-based watchdog has documented the killings of 111 media workers in Gaza but said the real number may be higher. Ginsberg said the organisation found at least three of the journalists to have been directly targeted by Israeli forces and it is investigating an additional 10 cases.

“That’s not just a pattern we’ve seen in this conflict. It appears to be part of a broader strategy that aims to stifle the information coming out of Gaza,” Ginsberg said, citing Israel’s ban on Al Jazeera from reporting or broadcasting in Israel as part of this trend.

More details on killing of Al Jazeera journalists

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic have provided us with more details on the circumstances surrounding their deaths. Here is a summary:

‘Israeli army knew they were journalists’

Ismail al-Thawabteh, head of the Government Media Office in Gaza, says despite the military’s knowledge of the identity of the two Al Jazeera reporters, “it still executed them in a heinous, barbaric way”.

In a show of solidarity with Palestinian journalists and media professionals at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, he said: “This raises the number of journalists and media personnel killed to 165. They were killed so the truth can’t be seen.”

“We denounce these continuous crimes against the media, and we hold Israel’s occupation responsible for their killings, and we hold the US administration responsible as well for giving Israel the green light to assassinate Palestinian journalists with US weaponry and missiles.”

US media org on Al Jazeera journalists: ‘Important and brave voices now silenced’

Emily Wilkins, who heads the National Press Club, based in Washington, DC, has said that Ismail al-Ghoul and Rami al-Rifi had been working under difficult conditions for months “to bring the world important news out of Gaza. They worked through illness from lack of food and water, and braved many dangers to keep reporting.”

“Today the odds and an air strike caught up with them. Their important and brave voices have now been silenced. Our hearts go out to their families and colleagues at Al Jazeera,” Wilkins said in a statement.

She also said that journalists are non-combatants in any conflict and that every necessary caution must be taken to keep them from being harmed.

“Al-Ghoul was on the air on Al Jazeera nearly every day. It was well known where he was, what he was doing and that he worked for Al Jazeera. While working, he wore a vest and helmet marked PRESS. More than one hundred Palestinian journalists have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas attacks on Israel October 7.”

US secretary of state says ‘we can move to a better place’

After the killing of the Hamas leader, Antony Blinken said a Gaza ceasefire is essential to prevent the conflict from spreading to the rest of the region.

“We’ve been working from day one not only to try to get to a better place in Gaza but also to prevent the conflict from spreading, whether it’s the north with Lebanon and Hezbollah, whether it’s the Red Sea with the Houthis, whether it’s Iran, Syria, Iraq, you name it,” Blinken told a forum in Singapore.

“A big key to trying to make sure that doesn’t happen, and that we can move to a better place, is getting the ceasefire.”

Qatar – a vital mediator in truce talks which also hosts Hamas’s political leadership that included Haniyeh – has questioned the future of negotiations in the wake of Ismail Haniyeh’s assassination.

Blinken spoke with Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani and emphasised “the importance of continuing to work to reach a ceasefire”, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

We can't as long as you keep arming and shielding Israel in every way.

Death toll from Israeli air strike in Beirut rises to five

Houthis: Israel faces ‘wave of retaliation’ after Hamas chief’s killing

Israel should expect a “wave of retaliation” following the assassination of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, a Houthi official says.

“[Israel] has crossed very big red lines in the midst of a fierce battle and amidst negotiations,” said deputy chairman of the Houthi media authority, Nasr al-Din Amer.

UN Security Council to hold emergency meeting over Hamas chief killing

The UN Security Council will hold an emergency meeting later today after Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh was killed by an air strike on Iran’s capital, the Russian presidency of the council has said.

The meeting, requested by Iran and supported by representatives of Russia, China and Algeria, is scheduled for 20:00 GMT, said a spokesperson for the Russian presidency, which holds the rotating leadership of the council.

‘Israel will exact heavy price for any aggression towards it’: Netanyahu

The Israeli prime minister has said that Israel faces “challenging times ahead” but that it is “prepared for all scenarios”.

This comes following the assassination of Hezbollah leader Fuad Shukr in Beirut, and Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh, who was on an official visit to Tehran.

In a televised statement, Netanyahu said, “Citizens of Israel, challenging days lie ahead. Since the strike in Beirut, there are threats sounding from all directions. We are prepared for any scenario and we will stand united and determined against any threat. Israel will exact a heavy price for any aggression against us from any arena.”

Netanyahu also said Israel had delivered crushing blows to Iran’s proxies over the past few days, including Hamas and Hezbollah. But he did not mention Haniyeh’s killing, which has drawn threats of retaliation.

‘No point too far for us to attack’: Israeli Air Force commander

Israeli Air Force Commander Tomer Bar has said dozens of aircrafts are “prepared and ready in a matter of minutes, for any scenario, in any arena,” as tensions rise with Lebanon and Iran.

Bar said Israel was in the middle of “the longest war in our history since the War of Independence” and that the killings of a Hezbollah and a Hamas official in Beirut and Tehran had been a “message”.

“This is another message to our enemy in the entire Middle East – we will act against anyone who plans to harm the citizens of the State of Israel, there is no point that is too far for us to attack,” he said in a statement.

White House says no sign escalation in Middle East is imminent

White House adviser John Kirby has been speaking to the press. Here are the main points he made:

White House assessment downplays risk of escalation

Commenting on the statements made by the White House, Glenn Carle, a former US deputy national intelligence officer, said he believed the assessment made by adviser John Kirby to be downplaying the risk of a regional escalation.

Carle said the US may not be picking up from the intelligence and diplomatic community any plans to retaliate on Israeli targets at present.

“This I think it’s true for the moment,” Carle said. “All parties – Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas and Israel – continue to wish to avoid an expansion of the war in Gaza, but Kirby didn’t address what I think is most likely, which is that they are obliged to respond,” he said.

Carle also said the US may well not have had prior knowledge of the assassination of Haniyeh that took place in Tehran. “Intelligence services interact among them, but Israel would never tell an ally, no matter how close, about a planned assassination,” he said.