Israel Hamas War Live Updates: Deadly shooting prompts Israel and Jordan to shut border crossings

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Israeli strike kills senior rescue service official in Gaza as fighting rages

An Israeli airstrike on a house in Jabalia on Sunday killed Mohammad Morsi, deputy director of the Gaza Civil Emergency Service in the northern areas of the Gaza Strip, and four of his family, health officials said.

The Civil Emergency Service said in a statement that Morsi's death raised to 83 the number of its members killed by Israeli fire since Oct. 7.

There was no immediate Israeli comment on Morsi's death.

Residents said Israeli forces had also blown up several houses in the Zeitoun suburb of Gaza City 5 km from Jabalia. Medical teams said they were unable to answer desperate calls by some of the residents who had reported being trapped inside their houses, some wounded.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Allenby crossing serves as only portal for Palestinians

For Palestinians, the King Hussein (Allenby) Bridge is the sole entry and exit point from the occupied West Bank. Without an airport or alternative routes, many Palestinians are uncertain about their future travel plans, with some unsure if they will be able to return home within a day or even a week, as the reopening timeline remains unclear.

In terms of trade, the crossing is crucial, with thousands of trucks transporting goods into Israel daily, highlighting its significant role in the region's commerce.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Israel closes its land border crossings with Jordan after deadly attack at Allenby bridge crossing

Three Israeli civilians were shot and killed at the Allenby Bridge Crossing, situated between the West Bank and Jordan, on Sunday. According to Israeli officials, the assailant, who approached from the Jordanian side in a truck, opened fire on Israeli security forces and was subsequently killed in a shootout. The victims were identified as Israeli civilians in their 50s by Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service. There was no immediate comment from Jordan.

Israel Hamas War Live Updates: Hezbollah fires rockets, Israel strikes after attack kills Lebanon rescuers

Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon and Israeli forces traded cross-border attacks, both sides said early Sunday, a day after the Lebanese health ministry reported three rescuers killed in an Israeli attack.
The Iran-backed Lebanese movement has exchanged near-daily fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel triggered the war in the Gaza Strip, with repeated escalations during 11 months of the cross-border violence.

Hezbollah said it had bombarded the northern Israeli town of "Kiryat Shmona with a volley of Falaq rockets" early Sunday "in response to the enemy attacks... and particularly the attack" that killed the emergency workers in the Lebanese village of Froun.

Israel Hamas War Live Updates: Turkish President Erdogan calls for alliance of Islamic nations against Israel

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has called for an alliance of Islamic nations to stop "Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism," Israel-based i24 News reported.
Erdogan made the remarks after Palestinian and Turkish officials said that a Turkish-American woman taking part in a protest on Friday against settlement expansion in the West Bank was killed by Israeli troops.

Speaking at an Islamic schools' association event near Istanbul, Erdogan said, "The only step that will stop Israeli arrogance, Israeli banditry, and Israeli state terrorism is the alliance of Islamic countries," i24 News reported.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Israeli army announces strikes on Hezbollah

Israeli army launched strikes on Hezbollah in southern Lebanon. Hezbollah announced retaliatory rocket fire targeting a town in northern Israel early Sunday, hours after Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli attack killed three civil defence personnel in the country's south.

The Palestinian ambassador to India, Adnan Abu Al-Haija, urged India on Sunday to mediate the current ongoing crisis between Palestine and Israel. The ambassador called on India to facilitate a ceasefire, organize an international conference, and back the creation of an independent Palestinian state.

"We are always looking for a friend like India to play a mediator role. And I know India is a peaceful country," Al-Haija said.

"So we are calling on them to play that role especially if they (India) are friends of both (countries) to make a ceasefire, to call for an international conference, to lead to the independence of the state of Palestine and the land of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital," he added.

New Delhi has reiterated its consistent stance in favor of peace since the outbreak of the conflict.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Hezbollah says rockets fired at Israeli town after attack kills Lebanon rescuers

Hezbollah announced retaliatory rocket fire targeting a town in northern Israel early Sunday, hours after Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli attack killed three civil defence personnel in the country's south.

The Iran-backed Lebanese movement has exchanged near-daily cross-border fire with Israeli forces in support of ally Hamas since the Palestinian militant group's October 7 attack on Israel triggered the war in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah said it had bombarded "Kiryat Shmona with a volley of Falaq rockets" early Sunday "in response to the enemy attacks... and particularly the attack" that killed the emergency workers in the Lebanese village of Froun.

Hezbollah usually says it targets military positions in northern Israel, while Israel has said it targets Hezbollah infrastructure and fighters in south and east Lebanon.

On Saturday, Lebanon's health ministry said the "Israeli enemy targeting of a Lebanese civil defence team that was putting out fires sparked by the recent Israeli strikes in the village of Froun led to the martyrdom of three emergency responders".

Family demands independent probe into 'Israeli military' killing of American

The family of a Turkish-American woman shot dead while demonstrating against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank demanded an independent investigation into her death on Saturday, accusing the Israeli military of killing her "violently".

Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, was "shot in the head" while participating in a demonstration in Beita in the West Bank on Friday, the United Nations rights office said.

"Her presence in our lives was taken needlessly, unlawfully, and violently by the Israeli military," Eygi's family said in a statement.

"A US citizen, Aysenur was peacefully standing for justice when she was killed by a bullet that video shows came from an Israeli military shooter.

"We call on President (Joe) Biden, Vice President (Kamala) Harris, and Secretary of State (Antony) Blinken to order an independent investigation into the unlawful killing of a US citizen and to ensure full accountability for the guilty parties."

The Israeli military said its forces "responded with fire toward a main instigator of violent activity who hurled rocks at the forces and posed a threat to them" during the protest.

Eygi was a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), a pro-Palestinian organisation, and was in Beita on Friday for a weekly demonstration against Israeli settlements, according to ISM.

The group on Saturday dismissed claims that ISM activists threw rocks at Israeli forces as "false" and said the demonstration was peaceful.

"Aysenur was more than 200 metres away from where the Israeli soldiers were, and there were no confrontations there at all in the minutes before she was shot," ISM said in a statement. (ANI)

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says war death toll at 40,939

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Saturday that at least 40,939 people have been killed in the war between Israel and Palestinian militants, now in its 12th month.

The toll includes 61 deaths in the previous 48 hours, according to ministry figures, which also list 94,616 people as wounded in the Gaza Strip since the war began when Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7.

Heads of CIA and MI6 issue joint call for cease-fire in Gaza

The heads of the American and British foreign intelligence agencies said Saturday they are "working ceaselessly" for a cease-fire in Gaza, using a rare joint public statement to press for peace. CIA Director William Burns and MI6 Chief Richard Moore said their agencies had "exploited our intelligence channels to push hard for restraint and de-escalation."

In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, the two spymasters said a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war "could end the suffering and appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians and bring home the hostages after 11 months of hellish confinement."

Burns has been heavily involved in efforts to broker an end to the fighting, traveling to Egypt in August for high-level talks aimed at bringing about a hostage deal and at least a temporary halt to the conflict.

Gaza enters its 2nd school year without schooling. The cost could be heavy for kids' futures

This week, when they would normally be going back to school, the Qudeh family's children stumbled with armfuls of rubble they collected from a destroyed building to sell for use in building graves in the cemetery that is now their home in southern Gaza. "Anyone our age in other countries is studying and learning," said 14-year-old Ezz el-Din Qudeh, after he and his three siblings - the youngest a 4-year-old - hauled a load of concrete chunks. "We're not. We're working at something beyond our capacities. We are forced to in order to get a living."

As Gaza enters its second school year without schooling, most of its children are caught up helping their families in the daily struggle to survive amid Israel's devastating campaign.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Thirteen Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, WAFA says

At least 13 Palestinians were killed and 15 wounded in Israeli strikes on a school sheltering refugees and a residential building in Gaza, the Palestinian Authority's official news agency WAFA reported early on Saturday.

At least eight of the dead were in refugee tents at Halima al-Sa'diyya School in Jabalia in northern Gaza, WAFA said, as per Reuters report.

The Israeli army said in a statement it had "conducted a precise strike on terrorists who were operating inside a Hamas command and control centre... embedded inside a compound that previously served as the 'Halima al-Sa'diyya' School in the northern Gaza Strip."

In a separate incident, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli strike on a residential building in the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza.

The latest bloodshed in the decades-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict was triggered Oct. 7 last year when Hamas-led militants stormed into Israel, killing 1,200 and taking about 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: UN investigator accuses Israel of a 'starvation campaign' in Gaza that Netanyahu denies

The UN's independent investigator on the right to food has leveled a serious accusation against Israel, alleging that the country engaged in a "starvation campaign" targeting Palestinians during the conflict in Gaza. Israel has strongly refuted these claims.

According to the investigator, Michael Fakhri, the alleged campaign was initiated two days following a surprise attack by Hamas in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of approximately 1,200 individuals. Fakhri's report suggests that Israel's military response to the attack involved blocking the entry of essential supplies, including food, water, and fuel, into Gaza.

In response to the allegations, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vehemently denied any accusations of Israel restricting humanitarian aid, calling them "outrageously false". During a press conference on Wednesday, Netanyahu dismissed the claims, stating, "A deliberate starvation policy? You can say anything - it doesn't make it true."

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: ICC drops case against ex-Hamas chief Haniyeh, killed in July

The International Criminal Court on Friday dropped its case against former Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh, who was killed in Iran on July 31 by a strike blamed on Israel.

ICC prosecutor Karim Khan had requested the court issue an arrest warrant for Haniyeh, along with other top Hamas officials, Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant.

But Khan dropped the application for Haniyeh on August 2 "because of the changed circumstances caused by Mr Haniyeh's death," the ICC said in a statement.

"As a result, (the court) terminates the proceedings against Mr Ismail Haniyeh," the statement added.

The court is still weighing Khan's application for an arrest warrant for Netanyahu and Gallant.

Khan also sought warrants for Yahya Sinwar, named by Hamas to replace Haniyeh, and military strategist Mohammed Deif.

Deif was killed by a strike on July 13 in southern Gaza, according to Israel.

Khan charged Netanyahu and Gallant of war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, including "starvation of civilians", "extermination", and "intentionally directing attacks against a civilian population."

The three Hamas leaders were charged with war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza, and Israel during the attacks on October 7.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Walz says Gaza demonstrators are protesting for 'all the right reasons' while condemning Hamas

Vice presidential candidate Tim Walz said Thursday that those protesting American support for Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza are doing so for “all the right reasons," as the Democratic ticket looks to balance its support for Israel with the humanitarian plight of civilians in the war-torn enclave.

Walz' comments came in an interview with a local Michigan public radio station — a state with a large Muslim American population that is also a potentially pivotal swing state in this November's election. His comments appeared to mark tonal shift, though not a policy one, from the steadfast support for Israel that Vice President Kamala Harris espoused at the Democratic National Convention last month.

Walz said the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas that touched off the war, was “a horrific act of violence against the people of Israel. They certainly have the right to defend themselves.” But, he also said that, “we can’t allow what’s happened in Gaza to happen. The Palestinian people have every right to life and liberty themselves.”

During the interview, Walz was also asked how a Harris administration might handle the nearly 11-month Israel-Hamas conflict and whether she would break with President Joe Biden, who has supported Israel while working to broker a ceasefire and a deal to release hostages held by Hamas.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Blinken 'deplores' American death in West Bank, says US to act 'as necessary'

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Friday deplored the death of an American citizen in the Israeli-occupied West Bank and promised action "as necessary."

"We deplore this tragic loss," Blinken told reporters on a visit to the Dominican Republic, offering his "deepest condolences" to the family of Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, a US-Turkish dual national.

Asked if the United States would take action against Israel, Blinken said: "First things first -- let's find out exactly what happened and we will draw the necessary conclusions and consequences from that."

"When we have more info, we will share it, make it available and, as necessary, we'll act on it," he said.

"I have no higher priority than the safety and protection of American citizens wherever they are."

Palestinian officials said that Eygi was shot in the head by Israeli troops during a demonstration against Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank town of Beita.

Israel's military said it was investigating and acknowledged that forces opened fire, saying it was responding to "violent activity."

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Jenin refugee camp is left to deal with the aftermath of an Israeli raid

Israeli forces appeared to have withdrawn from the Jenin and two other refugee camps in the occupied West Bank after a more-than-weeklong military operation that left dozens dead and a trail of destruction.

Israel says the large-scale raids in the territory were aimed at dismantling militant groups and preventing attacks. Palestinians fear a widening of the war in Gaza.

Senior Hamas leader Khalil al-Hayya accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of deliberately stalling cease-fire negotiations, and urged the United States and the international community to put more pressure on Israel.

The United Nations says the humanitarian situation in Gaza is “beyond catastrophic,” with more than 1 million Palestinians not receiving any food rations in August and a 35% drop in people getting daily cooked meals. Health workers resumed vaccinating children against polio in the southern Gaza Strip early Friday for the second phase of a massive immunization campaign.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: American woman killed in West Bank during protest

Israeli soldiers killed an American woman during an anti-settlement protest in the West Bank on Friday, a witness told The Associated Press, in a shooting that raised calls from Washington for an investigation.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller confirmed the death of the 26-year-old woman born in Turkey as Aysenur Ezgi Eygi. The White House said it was “deeply disturbed” by the killing.

Eygi was also a Turkish citizen, Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Keceli said, adding that the country would exert “all effort to ensure that those who killed our citizen is brought to justice.”

The Israeli military said it was looking into reports that troops had killed a foreign national while firing at an “instigator of violent activity” in the area of the protest.

Israel-Hamas War Live Updates: Erdogan condemns 'Israel's barbaric intervention' in West Bank

Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Friday condemned what he called "Israel's barbaric intervention" which led to the death of a US-Turkish dual national activist in the occupied West Bank.

"I condemn Israel's barbaric intervention against a demonstration against the occupation in the West Bank and I pray for God's mercy for our citizen Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, who lost her life in the attack," he wrote on X.