Palestinian fighters detonate house-borne IED in attack on Israeli forces

Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) fighters attacked Israeli forces in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City with mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms, while PIJ detonated a house-borne improvised explosive device (HBIED) that targeted Israeli troops, war monitors report.

US-based think tanks the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP) said Palestinian fighters have now engaged Israeli forces for seven consecutive days in Tal al-Hawa, though Israel has not commented on its operations in the area.

Israeli forces deployed to the Netzarim Corridor, south of Gaza City, also came under what is now near-daily attacks on Thursday, and Hamas and PIJ fighters fired antitank guided missiles at Israeli armour in Rafah city in the south, the ISW-CTP said in their joint report.

Two killed near Maghazi camp

Israeli warplanes have carried out strikes to the east of the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least two people and wounding others, our colleagues on the ground report.

The attack comes after Israeli attack helicopters also fired to the east of the nearby Bureij refugee camp, according to reports.

Italy’s ITA Airways suspends flights to and from Tel Aviv

Italy’s ITA Airways is suspending flights to and from Israel’s Tel Aviv “due to the geopolitical developments in the Middle East and to ensure the safety of its passengers and crews”, the airline said in a statement on its website.

Flights have been suspended until August 6, it added.

A number of airlines, including Lufthansa, have cancelled or suspended flights to Tel Aviv and Beirut, Lebanon, amid the increase in regional tensions following the assassination of Hamas’s political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

UNIFIL says it cannot attribute responsibility for Majdal Shams incident

Andrea Tenenti, the spokesperson for the UN peacekeeping troops in Lebanon, says the attack that killed 12 people in Syria’s occupied Golan Heights falls outside the force’s operations.

Israel had blamed Hezbollah for the explosion, but the Lebanese group has vehemently denied the allegation.

“UNIFIL is not in the position to attribute the responsibility of the tragic incident in Majdal Shams,” Tenenti said, according to Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA).

Tenenti’s comments come after some media outlets falsely reported that a UNIFIL investigation found Hezbollah to be responsible for the attack.

Israel slams Turkey’s Erdogan over support for Hamas

Foreign Minister Israel Katz has written a scathing post on X in which he accused President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of “turning Turkey into a dictatorship just because of his support for the murderers and rapists of Hamas, against the stance of the entire free world”.

Katz said that Erdogan is “threatening to invade a democratic country [Israel] with which Turkey has no military conflict, and cutting trade relations, harming Turkish exporters to the tune of $6 billion a year”.

Erdogan has been a vocal critic of Israeli atrocities in Gaza, which many experts and rights groups say constitute a genocide.

.@RTErdogan is turning Turkey into a dictatorship just because of his support for the murderers and rapists of Hamas, against the stance of the entire free world.

He is blocking Instagram, with 57 million users in Turkey, cutting off sports broadcasts because an Israeli athlete… pic.twitter.com/5dpEhELf0C

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 2, 2024

Turkish foreign minister calls Israeli counterpart ‘monument to insolence’

Hakan Fidan hits out at his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz, who has been denouncing Ankara this week after President Erdogan suggested that Turkey might “enter” the conflict to help Palestinians.

“It is a complete sickness that Israel Katz, instead of serving as the minister of foreign affairs, constantly makes our country and our president the subject of his own delusions,” wrote Fidan in a post on X.

“This person, whose presence in the cabinet consists of an obsession with slander and lying, is a monument to the insolence and impudence of the genocidal Netanyahu Government.”

Itamar Ben-Gvir says al-Aqsa imam detained

Israel’s national security minister says Imam Ekrima Sabri has been detained after accusations that he delivered a sermon eulogising slain Hamas leader Haniyeh.

“My policy towards instigators is clear – zero tolerance,” Ben-Gvir said in a social media post.

​​Hamas decries detention of Al-Aqsa Mosque preacher by Israel

The Palestinian group has condemned the detention of Imam Ekrima Sabri, who was arrested earlier for eulogising Haniyeh during a sermon.

“The detention of Imam Ekrima and interrogating him is a direct aggression against our spiritual figures to sideline influential religious and national leaders defending Jerusalem’s Arabness and Al-Aqsa Mosque,” the group said in a statement.

Hamas called for the immediate release of Sabri and urged Arab and Muslim nations to condemn his arrest.

More details on the detention of Al-Aqsa preacher

Imam Ekrima Sabri was detained on suspicion of inciting “terrorism” after he mourned slain Hamas leader Haniyeh at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque, his lawyer said.

Earlier, we reported that Sabri was arrested after the sermon.

Sabri, 85, the former grand mufti of Jerusalem and current head of its Supreme Islamic Council, called Haniyeh a “martyr” at the mosque in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem, his lawyer Hamza Qatina said.

“[Sabri] is currently in Al-Maskobiya [police compound] under investigation on suspicion of inciting terrorism, because he mourned Ismail Haniyeh during the Friday sermon and described him as a martyr,” the lawyer said.

Israeli police, without naming Sabri, said they had “opened an investigation into an imam suspected of making inciting statements and supporting terrorism during a sermon given [on Friday]”.

Arresting him is incitement...

Protest against killing of Hamas leader held in Beirut

Protesters have carried a symbolic coffin for Haniyeh and held prayers for him, as he was buried in Qatar, two days after his assassination in Tehran.

Hundreds of people were seen waving Palestinian flags and chanting, as they marched through the streets of the Lebanese capital.

Hamas and Iran have both accused Israel of carrying out the assassination and pledged to retaliate against their foe. Israel has not claimed responsibility for the attack nor denied it.

Haniyeh was killed by a missile that hit him directly in a state guesthouse in Tehran where he was staying, senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya told a news conference, quoting witnesses who were with him.

His death was one in a series of assassinations of senior Hamas figures as the war in Gaza nears its 11th month and concern grows that the conflict is spreading across the Middle East.

Hezbollah claims missile attack on Israeli military position

On Telegram, the Lebanese political party and paramilitary group says that its fighters attacked the al-Marj site of the Israeli army, hitting it directly.

Yesterday, the leader of Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, announced that Israel should expect a large military response for its attack on Beirut Tuesday that killed senior military figure Fouad Shukr.

Israeli military claims southern Lebanon strike, drone interception

The Israeli military has released aerial footage of what it says was an air raid on the area of Bleida in southern Lebanon, claiming that it killed two members of Hezbollah.

It added that the fighters were identified and hit after rocket launches were made from the area earlier today.

Israeli fighter jets also successfully intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” that crossed from Lebanon into the occupied Golan Heights, it said, adding that a fire was caused as a result of falling shrapnel, but there were no casualties.

Hezbollah says it targeted surveilance equipment at Israeli base

The group says it carried out a “direct” hit on Israel’s al-Raheb military outpost near the Lebanese border.

The region is bracing for Hezbollah’s possible retaliation for the killing of its commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut. Meanwhile, the Lebanese group has carried on with its near-daily low-level hostilities with Israel.

Israeli military claims air raid on Lebanon’s Aita al-Shaab

The Israeli military says its forces identified and struck a Hezbollah operative entering a “military structure” in Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon.

It also confirmed that air raid sirens sounded in northern Israel hours earlier after a rocket was launched from Lebanon.

The rocket was not intercepted but fell in an open area and inflicted no casualties, according to the Israeli military.

Archbishop of Canterbury urges respect for ICJ ruling against Israeli occupation

The Church of England’s spiritual head has urged governments to respect the findings of the United Nations top court that Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is illegal, saying the law should not be upheld in a “selective manner”.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) said in an advisory opinion last month that the occupation should be withdrawn as soon as possible.

Justin Welby – who also heads the worldwide Anglican Communion – said in a statement the ICJ opinion had made it clear the occupation is “unlawful” and must end.

“At a time when the world is marked by increasing violations of international law … it is imperative governments around the world reaffirm their unwavering commitment to all decisions by the ICJ, irrespective of the situation,” Welby said.

He added that it was clear to him from many visits in recent decades the “system of military rule” imposed by successive Israeli governments in occupied Palestinian territory was one of “systemic discrimination”.

Nearly two-thirds of Gaza buildings damaged in war: UN

Nearly two-thirds of the buildings in the Gaza Strip have been damaged or destroyed since the Israeli war on Gaza began in October, the UN has said.

“UNOSAT’s latest damage building assessment, based on satellite imagery … reveals that 151,265 structures have been affected in the Gaza Strip,” the UN Satellite Centre said.

“Of these, 30 percent were destroyed, 12 percent severely damaged, 36 percent moderately damaged, and 20 percent possibly damaged, representing approximately 63 percent of the total structures in the region.”

The assessment was based on comparing imagery from May 2023 onward with images from July 6 this year.

Oh maybe Biden has finally had enough

Israel should not count on US help in case of another escalation: Report

Axios reports that US President Biden has told Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu during a “tough” phone call on Thursday that he should not count on Washington’s support to bail him out again if there is another regional escalation.

Biden said he will help Israel against an expected Iranian attack following the assassination of Haniyeh, but after that he expects no more escalation from Israel and an immediate movement toward a Gaza ceasefire agreement, the report said, citing anonymous US sources.

However, in its official statement on the phone call, the White House said Biden “reaffirmed his commitment to Israel’s security against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis”.

The Axios story also cited three unidentified Israeli officials as saying there was tension during Biden’s meeting with Netanyahu in the Oval Office last week.

“Biden raised his voice and said he wants a deal reached within a week to two weeks,” the report said, adding that Biden emphasised this was “the most important thing right now”.


Or maybe not

‘No reliable source’ of electricity left in Gaza: Local authorities

The Gaza Government Media Office reports that relentless Israeli military attacks on the electrical grid have left the besieged territory with “no reliable source” of power, leading to suffering and deaths across the enclave.

It said 10 lines supplying electricity to Gaza with a capacity of 120 megawatts were cut off by Israel on October 7, and the only power plant in the enclave stopped working four days later due to fuel running out.

The office underscored that electricity is needed “to operate thousands of vital facilities that are linked to the lives of 2.3 million citizens”.

“The most important of these sectors are the health sector, water and wells sector, sanitation sector, communications sector, education sector, and the mills and bakeries sector, which had severe negative effects that directly contributed to deepening the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and led to the death of thousands of injured and sick people, including children, women and the elderly,” it said.

_{This October 27 image from intense Israeli airstrikes in different regions of the Gaza Strip shows how the enclave was thrust into darkness soon after Israel cut off electricity and fuel supplies}

‘Surgeries without sterile clothing’

Fadel Naim, a Gaza-based orthopedic surgeon, has said that for the first time at Nasser Medical Complex, surgeons have run out of scrubs and are forced to perform surgery without them.

The hospital is in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip,

“Surgeons were forced to perform a surgery without sterile clothing, exposing the patient to complications such as infection and surgical failure,” he wrote in a post on X.

Medical centres and hospitals are running out of medicine, medical equipment and sterile scrubs with the dwindling of humanitarian aid coming into the besieged coastal enclave due to the Israeli blockade.

For the first time in Nasser Medical Complex history in Khan younis in the southern part of the Gaza Strip , surgeons were forced to perform a surgery without sterile clothing, exposing the patient to complications such as infection and surgical failure.

— Dr Fadel Naim (@fnaim65) August 2, 2024

Israeli restrictions, unsafe conditions ‘significantly hinder’ aid to Gaza: UN

The UN’s Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) says Israeli restrictions, the closure of the Rafah border crossing, continued fighting and damaged and risky roads are preventing life-saving aid from getting to Gaza.

OCHA’s latest Gaza report says the Israeli military continues to impose restrictions on the entry of certain humanitarian supplies, including recreational and psychosocial support kits for children.

“Between 1 and 29 July, an average of 77 truckloads of aid supplies entered Gaza daily, representing a decline of about 42 per cent compared with the daily average of 132 trucks between January and April 2024,” the OCHA says.

“In July, out of 157 humanitarian assistance missions coordinated with the Israeli authorities to northern Gaza, 67 missions were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 42 were impeded, 30 were denied, and 18 were cancelled due to logistical, operational, or security reasons.”

Out of 386 aid mission requests to reach areas south of Wadi Gaza that require coordination, 250 missions were facilitated by the Israeli authorities, 46 were impeded, 53 were denied and 37 were cancelled, according to OCHA.

#Gaza:
❗️85 sick and severely injured patients left the Strip for treatment on 31 July in the largest medical evacuation since October 2023.

❗️Hepatitis A is spreading and, since the war's onset, @UNRWA has recorded nearly 40K cases in its shelters and clinics.

More updates 👇

— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) August 2, 2024