Israel’s war on Gaza updates: UN says Israeli ‘strikes are now relentless’

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Read about the Israeli army’s latest evacuation orders in Deir al-Balah, as well as the ongoing military operations in the central Gaza city, here.

o read more on the Israeli forces raid in Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank, killing at least three people, check out our story here.

Finally, you can find all our latest coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, here.

We will be closing this live page soon but before we do, here is a recap of the day’s main developments:

• A Hamas spokesperson has reiterated the group’s stance that it will agree to the ceasefire that President Biden proposed and “which we agreed to a few months ago”.
• Hamas’s Osama Hamdan says that “the Israelis have retreated from issues included in Biden’s proposal. Netanyahu’s talk about agreeing to an updated proposal indicates that the US administration has failed to convince him to accept the previous agreement”.
• US Secretary of State Blinken says Israel has accepted a US-backed bridging proposal for a ceasefire and says it is also “incumbent” on Hamas to do the same.
• UNRWA said 207 of its members have been killed in Gaza.
• At least 35 Palestinians are reported to have been killed by Israeli attacks on Monday. Many others were wounded.

Undoubtedly, this conflict’s trajectory is on the rise. There has been an escalation in hostilities since the killing of Hezbollah’s top commander in Beirut.

What we’re seeing is that Israel is carrying out attacks deeper inside Lebanon, causing more civilian casualties.

In the past, it used to make sure that these were surgical strikes, and that civilians were not hurt. But in recent days, we’ve seen some targeted killings in busy intersections. These attacks have caused further displacement in the south [of Lebanon].

We’re talking to up to 7,000 people leaving their homes. That’s an 8 percent increase in the last 10 days alone.

Now Hezbollah, in turn, is trying to do the same. It has expanded its attacks in northern Israel, striking deeper up to 18km [11.2 miles], hitting military targets but also hitting new towns that have not been evacuated.

So, they are still not deliberately targeting civilians but are trying to create a bigger buffer zone along the border with Israel, putting more military pressure, trying to cause further displacement, because all this adds pressure on the Israeli government.

Al Jazeera spoke to Dr Khalil al-Degran, spokesman for Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah. He said Israeli forces “continue to target and pound unsuspecting residents” who are staying in civilian areas.

“Yesterday, the Israeli official forces targeted a residential building. In this building, seven members of the same family were killed. Six children, together with their mother,” he said.

He said 25 hospitals are out of operation in the besieged enclave, and very few are still functioning. With the Rafah border crossing with Egypt closed for more than 200 days, he said the hospital is experiencing a severe shortage of medical supplies.

The staff at the hospital cannot provide “the most basic medical necessities” for injured patients, “a clear signal that the entire health sector has collapsed in Gaza”, he said.

Al-Degran said Israeli forces have a clear intent to commit “genocide and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian population”.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has urged Israel to immediately release its volunteer doctor Suliman Abu Shari’a and three of his colleagues.

“Our colleague … has been forcibly disappeared for 230 days after being arrested by Israeli occupation forces during their raid on the PRCS EMS center in Jabalia, northern Gaza,” the PRCS said in a post on X.

“To this day, his fate remains unknown,” the PRCS added, noting with “deep concern” the “testimonies from released colleagues about mistreatment and abuse”.

Our colleague, Suliman Abu Shari’a, the PRCS volunteer doctor, has been forcibly disappeared for 230 days after being arrested by Israeli occupation forces during their raid on the PRCS EMS center in Jabalia, northern Gaza. To this day, his fate remains unknown#NotATarget… pic.twitter.com/aT2ZPFz1jG

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) August 18, 2024

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 35 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip on Monday, medical sources tell Al Jazeera.

Among the casualties were 13 people killed by Israeli forces in Gaza City. At least nine of them were killed in an air attack targeting a group of Palestinians in the UN-run Shati refugee camp in western Gaza City.

Earlier in the day, four people were killed in the Israeli bombing of a civilian car in the az-Zarqa neighbourhood in northern Gaza City.

Read full story here.

With the Biden administration resolutely supporting Israel’s war in Gaza, antiwar demonstrators have been looking at the Chicago convention as a prime place to make their voices heard.

People are rallying on the sidelines of the event.

The thousands of demonstrators outside the Democratic National Convention site are only the latest push in Chicago to protest against Israel’s war in Gaza.

Chicago has the distinction of being the largest city in the US to pass a resolution calling for a ceasefire in the conflict.

Only Los Angeles and New York have larger populations.

The Chicago ceasefire resolution, however, passed by a tight margin in February. The city council was evenly split over the issue, with progressive Mayor Brandon Johnson casting the tie-breaking vote.

Lebanon’s Ministry of Public Health says the Israeli army raided the town of al-Mansouri where an 18-year-old female was injured, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reports.

A Palestinian man was wounded by Israeli military fire in the town of Dura, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

Earlier, we reported that a man was wounded with a live round in his right eye and was taken to hospital in critical condition.

We also reported that an Israeli military raid at the Fawwar refugee camp, south of Hebron, has wounded at least one man. That number has now risen to three – all of whom were taken to hospital with wounds caused by live ammunition.

Here in southern Gaza, we’ve been documenting the damage to underground water wells, tanks and pipe networks as a result of Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza, as it nears its 11th month.

We spoke to engineer Salam Shurab about the situation in Khan Younis. He told us that the water share per capita has fallen sharply and that on the best of days, it does not go beyond 7 to 8 litres [about 2 gallons] of water per person.

He also told us that four out of the five major tanks in the city have been destroyed.

The destruction does not stop with these wells and tanks, however.

It extends to water distribution networks all across the city. The municipality is facing great difficulty in getting them working again. Pumping water to the city’s residents is now close to impossible.

This means people in Gaza are struggling to get their basic water needs met.

Even those Palestinians in Gaza who have not been killed in this war are barely surviving. On top of the missiles, bombs and bullets, Israel has created countless other causes of death in every part of the Gaza Strip.

Top among them – the destruction of infrastructure and the dangerous health hazards they create.

Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan has reiterated the group’s stance that it will agree to the ceasefire that Biden proposed and “which we agreed to a few months ago”.

Hamdan’s comments came after Blinken urged Hamas to accept the latest ceasefire proposal, which he asserted Netanyahu had.

“We will only agree to the implementation of Biden’s proposal, which we agreed to a few months ago,” Hamdan told Al Jazeera.

“The Israelis have retreated from issues included in Biden’s proposal. Netanyahu’s talk about agreeing to an updated proposal indicates that the US administration has failed to convince him to accept the previous agreement.”

Biden laid out a three-phase ceasefire proposal in an address on May 31. Washington and regional mediators have since tried arranging the Gaza ceasefire-for-captives deal but have run into repeated obstacles.

Moreover, Hamdan said the US was “merely buying time for Israel to continue its genocide”.

Hamas has insisted that a ceasefire deal must result in a permanent end to the war in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said Netanyahu is leading Israel into a regional war while creating a “death sentence” for Israeli captives held in Gaza.

In a post on X, Barak also criticised the current prime minister’s claim that Israel should stay in the Philadelphi Corridor, saying there was “no political interest” for Israel in seizing the demilitarised zone along both sides of the Israel-Egypt border.

A man was critically injured by Israeli military fire in the town of Dura, south of Hebron, in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency has reported.

According to the Palestinian Authority’s Health Ministry, a man was hit with a live round in his right eye and it lodged in his skull. He was taken to hospital in critical condition.

Wafa said that fighting erupted when Israeli forces raided the town, shooting live rounds and sound grenades at a group of young Palestinian men.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN chief, has given an update on the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Here is a summary of what he said:

• “Repeated waves of displacement, combined with overcrowding and security, crumbling infrastructure and active hostilities and limited services, is worsening the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which is already catastrophic.”
• “Some 13,500 displaced Palestinians across 18 sites have been affected by the latest Israeli evacuation order on Saturday. That order encompasses the entire Maghazi refugee camp and several other neighbourhoods located in the Deir el-Balah region f Gaza.”
• “Initial mapping indicates that areas newly placed under evacuation order include five school buildings, 14 water sanitation and health facilities, and 10 health sites, including two primary healthcare centres and five medical points.”
• Since October, 86 percent of the Gaza Strip – about 314sq km (121sq miles) – has been placed under evacuation orders.

Blinken has described ongoing negotiations as “maybe the last” chance to secure the release of Israeli captives and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Speaking in Tel Aviv after meeting Netanyahu, Blinken said the Israeli leader, who has consistently said he will not agree to a deal that would bring the war to an end without the destruction of Hamas, has agreed to a “bridging proposal” put forward by the US.

Hamas has insisted that a ceasefire deal must result in a permanent end to the war in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The US news outlet Axios reported on Sunday that Hamas said the US proposal would give Israeli forces control of the Netzarim Corridor, which divides north Gaza from south Gaza, as well as the Rafah border crossing with Egypt and the Philadelphi Corridor along the border with Egypt.

After meetings in Qatar last week, officials are due to hold talks in Egypt this week.