Israel war on Gaza updates: Israeli attack on Gaza school kills dozens

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To learn more about Israel’s attack on a school sheltering displaced people in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, that has killed at least 29 people, watch this video.

And for all of our coverage of the Gaza conflict, click here.

We’ll be closing this live page soon. Here’s a recap of the day’s main events:

• Gaza’s Government Media Office says 29 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed in an attack on a UN-run school in Khan Younis sheltering displaced families.
• There was no immediate comment from Israel, which has acknowledged carrying out three other attacks since Saturday on Gaza schools used as shelters for displaced people.
• The aid pier built by the US military will be reinstalled on a beach in Gaza and used for several days, but the plan is to pull it out permanently, several US officials have told The Associated Press news agency.
• UN experts have accused Israel of carrying out an “intentional and targeted starvation campaign” that has resulted in the deaths of children in Gaza.
• Israel’s outgoing chief of Central Command in the occupied West Bank has rebuked moves by Netanyahu’s far-right government to seize more Palestinian land amid a rise in settler violence.

The Israeli military says it is investigating reports civilians were “harmed” near the al-Awda school in Abasan near Khan Younis, after acknowledging Israeli fighter jets attacked a location “near” the school housing displaced civilians.

In a post on X, the Israeli military said an Israeli fighter jet had used “precision weapons” to attack a Hamas fighter, who it says “among other things” had participated in the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said that at least 25 Palestinians were killed in the Israeli strike which hit tents outside the school.

The attack on Tuesday was the fourth by Israeli forces on schools sheltering displaced people in Gaza in as many days.

Two injured elderly Palestinians arrived at Gaza City’s al-Ahli Hospital looking for help. They found a deserted facility instead.

Watch the full report below:

The US intelligence chief has accused Iran of egging on protests inside the United States against Israel’s assault on Gaza, including by paying demonstrators.

Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence, stressed she was not alleging that Americans taking to the streets against Israel or US policy were insincere or doing Iran’s bidding but said Tehran was stepping up efforts.

“In recent weeks, Iranian government actors have sought to opportunistically take advantage of ongoing protests regarding the war in Gaza, using a playbook we’ve seen other actors use over the years,” Haines said in a statement.

“We have observed actors tied to Iran’s government posing as activists online, seeking to encourage protests and even providing financial support to protesters,” she said.

“The freedom to express diverse views, when done peacefully, is essential to our democracy, but it is also important to warn of foreign actors who seek to exploit our debate for their own purposes,” she added.

The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) says its teams are receiving “dozens of humanitarian distress calls” from residents in Gaza City, but said its ambulance vehicles and medics are unable to reach them.

The group cited the “danger of the targeted areas and the intensity of the bombardment”, and said reports it received indicate that the situation for residents in Gaza City is “extremely dire”.

“The occupation forces continue to target residential blocks and displace citizens from their homes and shelters,” PRCS said.

Palestine Red Crescent: Operations room teams are receiving dozens of humanitarian distress calls from #Gaza City, but our ambulance teams are unable to reach them due to the danger of the targeted areas and the intensity of the bombardment. #IHL

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) July 9, 2024

The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says more than 9,600 Palestinians from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem are currently held in Israeli jails.

Thousands are held under administrative detention, a widely criticised practice where Palestinians are held without charge or trial for renewable six-month periods.

Israeli forces have stepped up near-daily raids on Palestinian towns and villages and have intensified the arrests of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. They have also cracked down on Palestinian citizens of Israel.

The prisoners’ group added many who are detained are often abused and severely beaten.

Yemen’s Houthis say they targeted the Maersk Sentosa ship in the Arabian Sea with several ballistic and wing missiles.

“The American ship Maersk Sentosa was targeted in the Arabian Sea by naval forces and missile force in a joint operation,” Yahya Saree, the Yemeni group’s military spokesperson, said in a televised speech.

Earlier, shipping giant Maersk said one of its vessels, the Maersk Sentosa, reported being targeted by a flying object in the north of the Gulf of Aden.

Maersk told the Reuters news agency that no injuries to the crew or damage to the ship or cargo were reported.

Saree also said the group targeted the Marathopolis ship in the Arabian Sea and the MSC Patnaree ship in the Gulf of Aden with a number of drones.

Houthis in Yemen have launched drone and missile attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, Bab al-Mandeb Strait and Gulf of Aden since November. They say they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

An attack on a school sheltering internally displaced Palestinians was hit by Israeli fire – killing at least 29 people.

Survivors drove casualties, dead and alive, to Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis for treatment. One boy sitting outside the morgue said he was the only member of his family left alive.

Hamas has called on people around the world to march in protest of Israel’s attack on the al-Awda school near the southern city of Khan Younis that killed dozens of Palestinians who were sheltering there.

In a statement, the group decried the attack and said it was the latest addition to “the genocide and massacres” being waged against Palestinians.

It called on people in the “Arab, Islamic, and free world” to renew protests in support of Palestinians.

The group called on people to “go out immediately, fill streets and squares with rallies and demonstrations in every city around the world to increase pressure” on Israel to end its ongoing assault on Gaza.

Hamas also called on residents of the occupied West Bank to “activate all tools of support … and escalate participation in battles associated with Operation al-Aqsa Flood”.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 25 Palestinians have been killed following an Israeli attack that struck the vicinity of the al-Awda school in Abasan near the southern city of Khan Younis.

It reported earlier that the bodies of 19 slain Palestinians arrived at Nasser Hospital following the attack.

Gaza’s Government Media Office said 29 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed in the attack on the United Nations-run school that was sheltering displaced families.

Balakrishnan Rajagopal, UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, has said that there is “famine across the whole of Gaza. All houses destroyed, food systems destroyed and healthcare destroyed. And kids are dying. Is there any humanity left?”

He made his comments in a post on X in response to a statement by a group of independent experts, himself included, who said that the recent deaths of more Palestinian children due to hunger and malnutrition leaves no doubt that famine has spread across the entire Gaza Strip.

Moazaz Obaiat, a Palestinian from Bethlehem, who was released after nine months of detention has likened the Negev prison where he was held to “Guantanamo”, saying he was subject to “unfathomable” conditions.

“It’s everything you can imagine: Assault, beatings, hunger, illnesses. There are so many prisoners with severe illnesses,” he said, according to the Commission for Detainees Affairs.

“We are dying daily,” he said, referring to Palestinians prisoners in Israeli jails. “Every day, detainees are dying inside.”

Several US officials have told AP news agency that the pier built by the American military to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza will be reinstalled on the beach to be used for several days, but then the plan is to pull it out permanently.

It would deal the final blow to a multimillion-dollar project long plagued by bad weather, security uncertainties and difficulties getting food into the hands of starving Palestinians.

The officials said that the goal is to clear whatever aid has piled up and get it to the secure area on the beach.

Once that has been done, the army will dismantle the pier and depart. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because final details are still being worked out.

The two people who were injured earlier in a Hezbollah attack have died, Israeli police have confirmed.

According to the Magen Adom rescue services, the rocket directly hit a vehicle they were in.

We reported earlier that the rocket hit an area in the occupied Golan Heights.

The bodies of 19 slain Palestinians have arrived at Nasser Hospital so far, following an Israeli attack that struck the vicinity of the al-Awda school in Abasan near the southern city of Khan Younis, the health ministry said.

At least 53 wounded also arrived at the hospital, it added.

Earlier, Gaza’s government media office said 29 Palestinians, mostly women and children, were killed in the attack on the United Nations-run school that was sheltering displaced families, many of whom fled the southernmost city of Rafah when Israeli forces launched a ground assault there in May.

Al Jazeera is reporting from Amman, Jordan, because the Israeli government has banned the network from the country.

Sources speaking anonymously to media have said that there was agreement on a wide variety of points, but there are still a lot of gaps left to bridge. And it comes as there will be continued discussions tomorrow  (Wednesday) in the Qatari capital, Doha, followed by more meetings in Cairo on Thursday.

It comes after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday released a statement with a list of non-negotiables. This statement was slammed by several Israeli lawmakers and anonymous officials who said that this is not the way to go into negotiations.

Hamas released its own statement saying that continued military action in northern Gaza is going to derail the talks, but also that Israel is not willing to be flexible. After this, we heard from the White House, the US National Security spokesperson John Kirby, who said that despite the statements given to the media by both sides, there is significant progress in these negotiations.

Even with that said, we are still nowhere closer to a deal, as mediators are still trying their best behind the scenes to fill the gaps in the areas where there are heavy disagreements and sticking points.