Israeli forces kill 5 Palestinian teens in West Bank in a week

Since Sunday, Israeli forces have killed five Palestinian teenagers in the occupied West Bank, Defense for Children International-Palestine (DCIP) says.

As we reported earlier, the Israeli military launched its largest ground and air attacks in the West Bank in two decades, targeting Palestinian refugee camps in the north.

Brothers Murad, 13, and Mohammad, 17, were killed by an Israeli drone-fired missile in the Far’a refugee camp on Wednesday. Israeli forces blocked Palestinian ambulances from reaching their bodies for more than eight hours, the group said.

“As the Israeli military carries out genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, they are using the same tactics to kill and terrorise Palestinian children and their families in the occupied West Bank,” said Ayed Abu Eqtaish, DCIP’s accountability programme director.

Last week, an Israeli drone strike in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarem killed 15-year-old Adnan and 13-year-old Mohammad after they sustained shrapnel wounds all over their bodies.

On Sunday, Israeli forces shot dead 17-year-old Mosab while he was in a car. Israeli authorities confiscated his body.

Palestinian fighters intensify explosive device production

The armed wing of Palestinian Islamic Jihad in the occupied West Bank says its fighters “have entered a new phase of manufacturing and producing explosive devices, and the enemy will see their impact in the field”.

The announcement comes as the Israeli military launched its largest ground and air attacks in the West Bank in two decades, targeting Palestinian refugee camps in the north.

The al-Quds Brigades said its fighters:

Egypt, Saudi Arabia demand end to Israeli attack on occupied West Bank

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman have called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to Israel’s deadly raids on the occupied West Bank.

The Egyptian leader received a phone call from the Saudi crown prince to discuss escalating regional tensions because of the assaults.

The two leaders agreed on “the necessity of achieving an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and halting escalation in the West Bank to prevent an expansion of the conflict and restore stability to the region”, the Egyptian presidency said in a statement.

Prince Mohammed underlined the need to exert all Arab and Islamic efforts to halt the ongoing Israeli attacks and violations against the Palestinian people, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.

Israel continued a large-scale military assault for a fifth day in the northern West Bank, killing at least 26 Palestinians, arresting dozens, and inflicting huge financial losses because of vast infrastructure destruction in the occupied territory.

Four injured in Israeli air strike on southern Lebanon

An Israeli strike on the village of Aita al-Shaab in southern Lebanon has injured at least four people, the official National News Agency says, with Lebanon’s Health Ministry confirming the figure.

Israeli shelling also targeted the southern towns of Kafr Kila, Odaisseh and Khiam, the news agency reported.

"It's Not Work, It's A Duty." Exposing Israel's Genocide to the World | Motaz Azaiza

In an exclusive interview with Palestine Deep Dive, Nobel Prize-nominated Palestinian photojournalist Motaz Azaiza speaks to Ahmed Alnaouq about his 108 days of exposing Israel’s genocide on Gaza to billions around world.

“I spent more than 23 days sleeping on the street outside the hospital. I was really worried to go to my house because you don't want to endanger your family… It was very cold and you sleep with the smell of bodies and you wake up to the screams of the mothers…it’s the smell of death. I know the smell of death,” Azaiza tells Ahmed.

Israel has killed more than 160 Palestinian journalists in Gaza since October. Azaiza’s footage and photography has reached billions around the world, with his Instagram account attracting more than 18 million followers eager to bypass mainstream media bias and see the reality of life on the ground in Gaza.

But Azaiza tells Ahmed he has lost hope in the power of images to affect change, yet continued his work in Gaza because it was “his passion and his duty.”

Ahmed Alnaouq is a Palestinian journalist from Gaza and co-founder of We Are Not Numbers.

The Grayzone confronts DNC VIPs on Gaza

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal & Wyatt Reed challenge Democrat leadership and celebrity performers at #DNC2024 on the Biden-Harris support for Israel's genocide in Gaza

Featuring: Keenan Thompson of SNL Chuck Schumer Rev. Al Sharpton Stevie Wonder Sen. Cory Booker Wolf Blitzer of CNN Kaitlan Collins of CNN Rep. Steny Hoyer Terry McAuliffe

Israeli anger boils over as police respond with violent dispersal tactics

These were essentially spontaneous protests that started earlier in the day after the announcement that the Israeli army had retrieved the bodies of six captives from Gaza.

And it sparked a lot of outrage because, according to Israeli military assessments, they were alive just a few days ago and these captives were supposed to be on the list of those to be released in the first phase of a deal – but there wasn’t a deal.

So the anger from the Israeli public spilled onto the streets. Police ended up using force against these demonstrators, firing stun grenades which is a first at these protests, then dragging these protesters away.

Just last night, you had police mounted on horseback who trampled the sister of one of the Israeli captives.

Hamas says Israeli government chose occupation over captives

The Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, issued a video statement saying that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu chose to maintain troops in the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and the Gaza Strip rather than getting Israeli captives back alive.

The video came hours after the Israeli army said it recovered the bodies of six abductees the southern Gaza Strip.

The video addressed the Israeli army: “What kind of heroism is this? And you are retrieving them as corpses after deliberately killing them? Indeed, they were alive and were supposed to be released in the first phase of the [ceasefire] deal.”

Fury and frustration among Israeli demonstrators

Thousands of people, some of them weeping, gathered outside Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office in West Jerusalem. In Tel Aviv, captives’ relatives marched with coffins to symbolise the death toll.

“We really think the government is making these decisions for its own conservation and not for the lives of the hostages, and we need to tell them, ‘Stop!'” said Shlomit Hacohen, a Tel Aviv resident.

Three of the six captives found dead in Gaza in recent days were reportedly scheduled to be released in the first phase of a ceasefire proposal discussed in July. This fuelled fury and frustration among the protesters.

“Nothing is worse than knowing they could have been saved,” said demonstrator Dana Loutaly. “Sometimes it takes something so awful to shake people up and get them out into the streets.”

‘Profoundly detrimental’ Israeli government policy in the spotlight

Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg says the Netanyahu government is now on the defensive after the deaths of six captives in Gaza, some of whom were set to be freed under a ceasefire plan.

“Everything about the demonstrations tonight, the scope of the protests and the general vibe tells me that it’s different,” said Goldberg.

“The death of these six hostages, which apparently came right before the military forces converged on them, proves to many Israelis that the ‘military pressure’ – as the prime minister calls it – is instrumental in killing the hostages, rather than rescuing them.

“What has really been driven home today is the understanding that the policy of Israel’s government is profoundly detrimental to Israelis – and perhaps, in the case of the hostages, even lethal,” he told Al Jazeera.

Israeli police clear road blockade, make 29 arrests



Israeli police have cleared demonstrators blocking a key road in Tel Aviv after a night of sometimes violent protests over the war on Gaza.

“During the illegal demonstration, police forces in Tel Aviv arrested 29 suspects who violated the order, attacked policemen and rioted with brutality and vandalism,” police said in a statement on X.

“All the roads have been cleared of protesters and the roads are gradually being opened to vehicle traffic.”

Top Hamas leader says Netanyahu blocking Gaza ceasefire deal

Khalil al-Hayya told Al Jazeera that Hamas has been ready to sign a ceasefire deal for Gaza, but Netanyahu has prevented that from happening.

“The last Israeli proposal was presented on May 27. It was presented by the Israeli occupation and adopted by [US President Joe] Biden word by word. The US also went to the Security Council and it was adopted there. Hamas welcomed the principles put out by Biden and the decision of the Security Council. We expected an opportunity for an agreement. We agreed to the talks,” said al-Hayya, who leads Hamas’s negotiating team.

Yet Israel started to evade any agreement, with Netanyahu imposing new conditions and “falsely” claiming that Hamas had rejected the proposal, al-Hayya said.

“In fact, we agreed to Israel’s proposal that was presented on May 29,” he said. “We only sent questions to the mediators who confirmed that all our questions are approved.”

Al-Hayya went on to criticise the US for the lack of progress.

“Unfortunately, the American side is following two paths. In the first path, it wants an agreement, yet it does not pressure the Israelis. In the second path, it unfortunately spreads an atmosphere of hope and positivity that is not true,” he said.

Al-Hayya added that the Israelis have refused to compromise in recent talks.

“On Thursday, we asked [the mediators], ‘What have you agreed to after two weeks of talks?’ They said they did not reach anything with the Israelis, and we asked them to bring solutions to all the issues of disagreement. Unfortunately, today, the negotiations are [being held] over the new conditions put out by Netanyahu – and that’s not an acceptable way to negotiate.”

The senior Hamas leader told Al Jazeera that the six captives whose bodies had been found in Gaza could have been brought back alive had Israel agreed to a ceasefire deal.

He said Hamas has shown flexibility in negotiations, including by reducing the number of Palestinian prisoners whose release they’ve been seeking as well as agreeing to the proposal presented by Biden and backed by the UN Security Council.

But Netanyahu has met Hamas’s flexibility with evasion and new conditions, al-Hayya said.

These include a refusal to release elderly prisoners who are serving life sentences and an insistence on Israeli forces remaining in the so-called Netzarim corridor in central Gaza and the Philadelphi Corridor on the Palestinian enclave’s border with Egypt.

Al-Hayya said there will be no agreement without Israeli forces withdrawing from the Netzarim and Philadelphi corridors.

He added that the Palestinian people see no hope, except through resistance, and will not surrender.

Hundreds of thousands of people expected to go on strike in Israel

Israel is already in an economic downturn from the war. Now, there are going to be hundreds of thousands of people not at work and hundreds of thousands of students not in school.

The airport, transportation, schools and private sectors – technology, mechanics, manufacturing – are getting involved. This is going to impact a broad spectrum of industries in Israel.

They are all going to be taking to the streets to send a message to the government that too much time has gone by without a deal.

It’s worth mentioning that one day of the economic shutdown is significant enough to make the government change course in their political actions, because it has done so in the past. The amount of money that is lost in just one day is something that sends a message to the government that something needs to be done differently here.

US’s Austin calls for a deal to free Israeli captives in Gaza

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he called his Israeli counterpart Yoav Gallant to convey his “deepest condolences and outrage at Hamas’s vicious murder of six hostages”, including 23-year-old American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.

“Hamas will be held accountable,” Austin said in a post on X, adding that “we must swiftly conclude a deal to secure the release of the remaining hostages”.

Hamas has blamed Israeli air attacks for the deaths of the captives. But Israel says they were found with bullet wounds.

US planning to present a ‘take it or leave it’ deal soon: Report

The Washington Post is reporting that the US is in discussions with mediating partners Egypt and Qatar about the contours of a final “take it or leave it” deal that it plans to present to Hamas and Israel in the coming weeks.

The US newspaper cited a senior Biden administration official, who spoke to it on condition of anonymity.

The official told the Post that if Israel and Hamas fail to accept the proposal, it could mark the end of the US-led negotiation effort.

“You can’t keep negotiating this. This process has to be called at some point,” they were quoted as saying.

And what does 'leave it' mean? Keep funding Israel and sending bombs to continue the genocide? So far Netanyahu has been in the 'leave it' camp.

Yet at least when the USA buggers off, someone better can step in. It has to be a country that can pressure the US as well. Russia is willing yet no doubt to get favors (weapons) from Iran to kill more people in Ukraine...

China could fill the role, but I doubt the Chinese government wants to stick their head in this hornets nest. China did broker a deal between Iran and Saudi-Arabia and helped unite the Palestinian factions. Yet China is as addicted to USD as the Arab states.

Young Palestinian killed in Israeli drone attack near Jenin

The Wafa news agency is reporting that a young Palestinian man has been killed and another wounded in an Israeli drone attack on the town of Silat al-Harithiya, in the Jenin governorate of the occupied West Bank.

A spokesman for the Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) said its crews took both of the young men to the Al-Hadaf Medical Center in the town of Al-Yamoun.

The latest death takes the toll from Israel’s ongoing operations in the northern parts of the occupied West Bank to 29, Wafa reported. These include 17 killed in the Jenin governorate, five in Tulkarem, four in Tubas and three in Hebron.

Melbourne orchestra rejects compensation claim from pro-Palestine pianist

Australian-British pianist Jayson Gillham has expressed deep disappointment after the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (MSO) rejected his claim for compensation for cancelling his performance over his pro-Palestinian views.

The dispute began on August 11 when Gillham played a piece of music dedicated to the Palestinian journalists Israel has killed in Gaza. The next day, the MSO told Gillham that his concert on August 15 had been cancelled.

The pianist has since accused the MSO of discrimination and called for compensation, including a public apology, the commission of a piano concerto by a Palestinian composer and a donation to the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music in Palestine.

Lawyers for MSO, however, told Gillham the demands were “outrageous” and that he had aired political views “improperly” and caused “distress to many members of the audience” during his August 11 performance.

Gillham responded by saying that the MSO letter “mischaracterises the events that transpired and fails to address the serious issues raised in my initial correspondence”.

He added, “The implication that my actions caused safety concerns is unfounded and deeply troubling. It appears to be an attempt to deflect from the real issues at hand and to stigmatise legitimate political expression.”

Israel’s foreign minister blames Hamas for captive deaths

Reacting to the deaths of six Israeli captives, Israel Katz says his country will respond with “full force”. “Hamas is responsible and will pay the full price,” Israel Katz posted on X.

On Sunday, Israel’s military announced the recovery of the captives’ bodies from a tunnel in southern Gaza amid its deadly assault on the Palestinian enclave.

Earlier, senior Hamas official Izzat al-Risheq said the captives were killed in Israeli air raids.

Israel’s UN envoy Danny Danon has requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council to address the situation of the captives still being held in Gaza.

UNSC to address the situation? It's been almost a year and the UNSC has still achieved nothing.

Palestinians pull bodies from rubble after Israeli attack on school

_{Palestinians carry a body recovered from the rubble of the Safad school destroyed in an Israeli attack in the Zeitoun district on the outskirts of Gaza City, on Sunday}

_{The Israeli attack reportedly killed at least 11 Palestinians at the school which was being used as a shelter}

The UN says more than half of the schools being used as shelters in Gaza have been ‘directly hit’ since October

And the IDF still uses the claim they're all Hamas Command centers. Kinda tracks with what they think of Palestinians, yet why would any 'terror' organization keep hiding in the places that for sure get bombed... Civilians have no where else to go however :/

Seventy percent of UNRWA schools ‘destroyed or damaged’

_{Palestinians inspects the area after Israeli attacks on a school belonging to the UNRWA, which is used as a refugee center in Nuseirat Refugee Camp, Gaza, on July 6}

The commissioner-general of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says that, across the region, children are starting their new school term at UNRWA facilities, but not in Gaza, as more than “600,000 children are … living in the rubble” due to the war.

In a post on X, Philippe Lazzarini said: “More than 70 percent of our schools are destroyed or damaged.” Those that still stand are being used as shelters for displaced families.

“They cannot be used for learning. With no ceasefire, children are likely to fall prey to exploitation, including child labour and recruitment into armed groups,” he wrote.

He added that a ceasefire is “a win for all”, including “respite” for civilians, the release of Israeli captives in Gaza and the increased flow of basic supplies, including learning materials.

Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital reopens after Israeli attack

Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza was left in ruins by Israeli forces five months ago. But now one of its medical units is back up and running. Al Jazeera’s Ibrahim al-Khalili reports on the effort to resurrect Gaza’s biggest hospital:

Three killed in Israeli attack on Gaza City

A spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza said the victims were killed after Israeli forces bombed a vehicle in front of the Remal Clinic in northern Gaza City. Mahmoud Basal said an unknown number of people were also wounded in the attack.

UN says 87,000 children vaccinated against polio in Gaza

UNRWA says 87,000 children in Gaza received the first dose of a polio vaccine as the inoculation drive continues for a second day.

“Efforts are ongoing to provide children with this key vaccine, but what they need most is a ceasefire now,” the agency said in a post on X.

The campaign aims to reach some 640,000 Palestinian children below the age of 10 and comes after health officials detected the first case of polio in Gaza in 25 years.

Safety concerns remain amid Gaza’s polio vaccination campaign

The continued Israeli bombardment across Gaza has been a challenge for Palestinian parents in order to safely access healthcare centres for polio vaccination. We know two towns in the central areas that are excluded from the humanitarian pauses. Families there are struggling to get their children vaccinated.

There is also constant hovering of military drones in Deir el-Balah, even as parents are getting their children vaccinated and they feel the lack of safety. They believe these drones might target any area at any moment.