Children ‘torn to pieces’ in az-Zawayda attack

The overnight attack in az-Zawayda, which is only a few kilometres from where we are, was massive. It targeted a warehouse where a displaced family was sheltering. The warehouse was hit by at least three Israeli missiles, causing a great deal of destruction.

A massive fire broke out, burning everything in the warehouse as children were torn to pieces. Rescue efforts are still continuing to try to recover more bodies.

Fifteen people have been reported killed, including six children. There is a great level of frustration and grief. The bodies are now being lined up at Al-Aqsa Hospital’s morgue as the family gets ready to bury them.

_{Palestinians inspect the site of an Israeli attack in az-Zawayda in the central Gaza Strip on August 17}


Nine children killed in az-Zawayda attack

We can now bring you more information on the victims of Israel’s attack in central Gaza’s az-Zawayda.

All 15 people killed in the attack are members of the same family – the Ajlah family – said Palestinian Civil Defence spokesman Mahmoud Basal. Among those killed are nine children and three women, he added.

Ahmed Abu al-Ghoul, a local who witnessed the assault, told AFP that three rockets hit the building the family was sheltering in while women and children were inside. “What have they done to deserve this?” he asked.

‘Israeli strikes keep wiping out whole families’

The attack carried out in az-Zawayda has brought significant damage to the warehouse that people were taking clear refuge in after being displaced from the north of the Strip. The death toll is incredibly shocking, with 16 being killed, according to medical sources.

The toll is rising, and more air strikes continue to hammer the vast majority of residential houses in the central areas.

One of the latest attacks has targeted a residential square on the western side of the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least seven Palestinians from the same family.

We are observing that the latest Israeli strikes have been wiping out whole families. This is a clear escalation practised by the Israeli army in areas that are supposed to be safe humanitarian zones.

Six killed near Nuseirat: Report

An Israeli air raid has struck a house near the Nuseirat refugee camp, reports the Wafa news agency. The attack, to the west of the camp, killed at least six people, including two children, and injured others, according to the agency.

The victims have been brought to al-Awda Hospital, it said. The attack comes after another series of deadly air strikes we have been reporting on in the az-Zawayda area, located a few kilometres south of Nuseirat camp.

Israeli forces ‘systematically targeting families’

After midnight, Israeli forces targeted a warehouse where a displaced Palestinian family was staying. At least 16 Palestinians from the same family were killed, and some of those who were injured were transferred here to Al-Aqsa Hospital.

Displaced families had evacuated to az-Zawayda because it’s one of the “safe zones” as claimed by the Israeli forces.

Now, in the past couple of days, the Israeli forces have been systematically targeting families and wiping them off the civil registry. Those families now do not have any members alive any more.

The people in az-Zawayda do not have any other place to go to. They are there because they believe that there’s no place they can go, and wherever they do go, they will still be targeted.

Over a dozen members of a single family killed in az-Zawayda strike

Abdalhadi al-Ejlah, a Palestinian who lost 15 members of his family in the strike on az-Zawayda in the Gaza Strip, spoke to Al Jazeera from Stockholm, Sweden.

He described his 45-year-old brother Sami, who died in the strike, as “an honourable man” who had built up a frozen meat business and was engaged in charitable causes, leading to him being known as “the father of the poor”.

He described his family as “normal” and like all Palestinians in Gaza simply being “subjected to this genocide”. Sami was “murdered along with all of his kids”, he said, with the exception of one who is currently in intensive care.

He said his family had been displaced and sought shelter in az-Zawayda, but the constant bombardment in the enclave had left the children terrified.

Al-Ejlah said his six-year-old niece would ask him, “When is it our turn?” referring to when she and her family would be killed.

That question reflects “exactly the thoughts of the children in Gaza”, he said.

Baby rescued from residential building in the Gaza Strip after Israeli attack

Palestinian Civil Defence teams in the Gaza Strip have rescued a baby from a residential building that was engulfed in flames after an Israeli attack earlier today.

In a video published on social media, the baby can be seen being lowered from the top of an apartment building by what appears to be rope as smoke billows from the lower floors.

Displaced Palestinians flee Maghazi refugee camp after evacuation orders

_{Displaced Palestinians make their way as they flee Maghazi refugee camp following an Israeli evacuation order}

Israeli shelling hits southern Gaza

Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows thick plumes of smoke rising as a result of heavy Israeli shelling on Hamad City, northwest of Khan Younis.

Deaths, injuries in Israeli attack on central Gaza

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that several people have been killed and wounded in Israeli shelling targeting a home in the al-Hakr area, south of Deir el-Balah.

We are also getting reports that an Israeli air raid targeted a residential tower in Nuseirat.

Israeli authorities renew, issue 28 administrative detention orders

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society have said that this latest series of administrative detention orders have raised the overall toll to 3,432.

An administrative detainee is someone held in prison without charge or trial.

Neither the administrative detainees, who include women and children, nor their lawyers are allowed to see the “secret evidence” that Israeli forces say form the basis for their arrests.

These people have been arrested by the military for renewable periods of time, meaning the arrest duration is indefinite and could last for many years.

Israeli firefighters, aircraft attempt to stem fires caused by Hezbollah attacks

Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports that fourteen firefighting teams and six aircraft have been working to “extinguish several blazes that broke out in open areas following Hezbollah fire toward northern Israel’s Upper Galilee region”.

The newspaper said that most of the fires in the area had now been brought under control.

Hamas says US providing ‘cover’ for Israel’s ‘barbaric genocide’

Hamas says the ongoing crimes against Palestinians are being perpetrated with “absolute support by the US administration and Western capitals, which are providing the necessary cover and time for the Israeli government to commit a barbaric genocide in the Gaza Strip”.

In a statement on its official Telegram channel, Hamas said Israel’s crimes are acts of “collective punishment” that amount to “ethnic cleansing”, while it called on the international community to “stop remaining silent and to bring war criminals to justice”.

'Israel's Real Extremism' | Mehdi Hasan

Mehdi Hasan, founder, CEO, and editor-in-chief of the new media company Zeteo, to discuss the biggest stories of the week and the newest Zeteo documentary entitled "Israel's Reel Extremism".

BBC disgraces journalism over West Bank coverage, Aljazeera shines

The role of the British media in the Israel Gaza conflict particularly by the publicly funded BBC has been disappointing. Rifat Jawaid picks up a latest questionable broadcast by his former employer to highlight just how far the media has degenerated in the UK.

Muslims reportedly 'scared to live in the UK' following riots | LBC callers

It has been reported in The Times that Muslims are 'scared to live in the UK' following the recent weeks of unrest. An adviser to the King, Harris Bokhari, says that the UK is experiencing a 'brain drain'. He argues that this is due to 'really talented' Muslims leaving the country, who are 'scared to leave their homes'.

This assertion comes after far-right rioters staged a protest outside a mosque near Southport, following a knife attack which killed three girls. Over fifty police officers sustained injuries and police vans were set on fire.

Israeli strike targets car in Jenin

The Israeli military struck a vehicle in Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency is reporting. Citing eyewitnesses, the report said an Israeli drone hit the car which was engulfed in flames.

Two Palestinians killed in Israeli attack on car in Jenin

According to the Health Ministry, two men were killed when the Israeli drone struck a car in Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank. The ministry said the two men’s bodies were taken to Jenin Governmental Hospital.

Ministry identifies two men killed by Israeli drone attack

The PA Health Ministry has identified the two men who were killed by an Israeli drone attack on their car in Jenin in the occupied West Bank earlier today. Rafat Dawasi and Ahmad Abu Ora were killed instantly in the attack that left their car ablaze, the ministry said.

Dawasi was from Silat al-Harithiya, a village in the Jenin governorate, and Abu Ora was from Aqqaba, near Tubas, it added.

Israeli reserve officer killed in Gaza

An Israeli reserve officer was killed in the central Gaza Strip earlier today, the military said. Major Yotam Itzhak Peled, 34, was killed by roadside bombs planted by Hamas in the Netzarim Corridor area, the military added.

Second soldier killed by roadside bomb in Gaza

The Israeli military has said that a second soldier was killed in the same attack in the central Gaza Strip that we reported on earlier. The military identified the soldier as Sergeant Major Mordechai Yosef Ben Shoam, 34, a settler from the colony of Geva Binyamin, near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Earlier, Hamas issued a statement saying it had planted the bomb and that its fighters also opened fire at the troops in the convoy. His killing brings the military death toll since October 7 to 692 and to 334 in the ground invasion.

Az-Zawayda attack happened ‘just as ceasefire talks in Doha came to an end’

Despite the ceasefire talks, Israel has continued its raids on Gaza. Recent attacks targeted the centre of the besieged Strip, targeting family homes and buildings that housed displaced Palestinians.

Since dawn on Saturday, at least 34 people have been killed, including 15 of a family killed by an Israeli air raid on az-Zawayda.

“It’s a hideous massacre in every way,” Omar al-Dreemli, a relative of the victims, said. “They were all dismembered. There wasn’t a single complete body. What’s the reason behind it? We don’t know. Why were these civilians killed in this way?”

Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Deir el-Balah, said much of the az-Zawayda town has been reduced to rubble, as has the majority of Gaza.

“This latest strike happened just as ceasefire talks in Doha came to an end, before resuming in Cairo next week,” said Mahmoud. “The US described the talks as promising.”

Hamas official says Netanyahu main obstacle to achieving ceasefire

Hamas official Osama Hamdan has told Al Jazeera “everyone understands” now that Netanyahu and his government are not willing to achieve a ceasefire deal.

“The Israelis, in the two-day negotiations, rejected the paper, introduced by the Americans on June 24 based on Biden’s initiative, the Security Council resolution, and also responsible for the Israeli points,” he said.

“They rejected it even after Hamas accepted that. After the two-day negotiations, they stand against the paper and they have new ideas that were not discussed before.

“We have to remember … what the army minister in Israel said, which was the main obstacle to achieving an agreement, is Netanyahu. He was, and is, the obstacle.”

Hamdan said the Israelis declared in the latest round of talks in Qatar that they want the right to come back to fight, a condition he said was unacceptable for Palestinians. “The main purpose of these negotiations is to stop the suffering of the Palestinians,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Even if there was a prisoner exchange, they want to have the right to attack whenever they want. How can any Palestinian accept that?”

Hamdan added that “in Israel, they don’t need to have an excuse to kill Palestinians.” “They want to get rid of the Palestinians. This is why we insist on having a guaranteed ceasefire and a complete withdrawal.”

Families of Israeli captives threaten escalation, demand exchange deal

Families of captives have been protesting for months and held a news conference outside Israel’s Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv, accusing Netanyahu of blocking a potential deal. They claimed that Netanyahu was undermining the agreement by introducing new conditions during negotiations.

The families emphasised that this is their final opportunity to save the lives of their children, who have been held in Gaza for more than 10 months. The families are threatening to escalate if a deal is not reached.

On Thursday, an Israeli delegation and mediators began the latest round in months of talks to end the war in Gaza, which has killed at least 40,000 Palestinians.

_{People demonstrate against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and call for the release of captives in Gaza}

Polio outbreak shows need for Gaza ceasefire: CAIR

Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organisation in the US, has called on the Biden administration to force Israel to end the war in Gaza to allow a polio vaccination campaign to be conducted.

CAIR has previously called on the Biden administration to take measures to prevent the spread of polio in Gaza after the virus was detected in wastewater, as well as the first case of that disease that was detected in a Palestinian child.

The disease has appeared due to Israel’s systematic destruction of the civilian and medical infrastructure in Gaza, CAIR said in a statement. Israel has launched a vaccination campaign for its own military personnel.

“President Biden’s enabling of the systematic destruction of almost all civilian infrastructure in Gaza has resulted in the reappearance of a disease that could be devastating to Palestinian children,” the group’s communications director Ibrahim Hooper said.

Host FED UP With Israeli Flak's BS

Israeli Hasbara 101:

1. We haven't heard reports of deaths, will check into it.
2. Palestinians were killed, but by a faulty Hamas rocket.
3. Okay, we killed them, but they were terrorists.
4. Okay, they were civilians, but they were being used as human shields.
5. Okay, there were no fighters in the area, it was our mistake, but we don't target civilians, like Hamas. We are the most moral army ever!
6. Okay, we've killed far more civilians than Hamas, but look at how terrible other countries are!
7. Why are you still talking about Israel? Are you some kind of anti-semite?

Pro-Palestine protesters calling for Barclays boycott in Manchester, UK

“Do not let your money be used to fund war crimes”

On Saturday, pro-Palestine protesters marched in Manchester, UK, calling for the boycott of Barclays bank and pressuring the company to divest from its investments in Israeli arms companies.

“Their investments are rooted in violence, but our fight is grounded in liberation.” A pro-Palestine activist called out Barclays for choosing “profit over people” and described their profits as one “stained with Palestinian blood”, while highlighting the boycott calls as choosing “justice over oppression” and an effort to hold Barclays accountable “for each life lost”.

According to a joint report by a number of Palestine Solidarity organisations, Barclays has £2 billion shares in companies involved in supplying arms to Israel, including Elbit Systems and General Dynamics.

UK diplomat stuns Keir Starmer, David Lammy by resigning over Israel arms sale

A top UK diplomat has reportedly resigned in protest against the British government’s policy to sell arms to Israel during the Gaza conflict. Rifat Jawaid asks how a so-called civilized country like UK could still maintain normal relations with Israel.