Far-right minister outlines plans to expand Israeli settlements in West Bank<\/p>\n
Israeli advocacy group Peace Now has condemned plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law, the group said.<\/p>\n
The plans, announced by Israel\u2019s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, approve tenders for more than 3,000 housing units in the controversial E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma\u2019ale Adumim in the West Bank.<\/p>\n
Smotrich said in a statement cited by the Times of Israel:<\/p>\n
Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government.<\/p>\n
After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma\u2019ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best \u2013 building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel.<\/p>\n
The E1 plan has been frozen for decades amid strong opposition from the international community, which warns it would divide the West Bank into northern and southern regions, and prevent the development of a Palestinian urban area linking East Jerusalem with Bethlehem and Ramallah.<\/p>\n
Peace Now said in a statement: \u201cThe E1 plan is deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed.\u201d<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.17 EDT<\/p>\n Key events<\/p>\n Show key events only<\/p>\n Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature<\/p>\n In a surviving upstairs room at Gaza College, its walls pocked with shrapnel and windows blown out, a boy sits for a guitar class.<\/p>\n His teacher, Mohammed Abu Mahadi, 32, says music can help heal the psychological wounds left by bombardment, loss and shortages.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat I do here is make children happy from music because it is one of the best ways for expressing feelings,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Music instructor Mohammed Abu Mahadi, 32, of the Edward Said National Conservatory of Music conducts a lesson for student Youssef Jibril, at Gaza College in Gaza City. Photograph: Dawoud Abu Alkas\/Reuters<\/p>\n The students were attending an Edward Said National Conservatory of Music lesson on 4 August, held in displacement camps and damaged buildings since Israeli strikes forced the school from its main base.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I play I feel like I\u2019m flying away,\u201d said Rifan al-Qassas, 15, who began learning the oud at nine. \u201cMusic gives me hope and eases my fear.\u201d<\/p>\n Founded in the West Bank, the conservatory opened its Gaza branch 13 years ago.<\/p>\n Palestinian Rifan Al-Qassas, 15, holds an oud as she poses for a portrait at Gaza College. Photograph: Dawoud Abu Alkas\/Reuters<\/p>\n But after 22 months of war, some students are now dead, including 14-year-old violinist Lubna Alyaan.<\/p>\n The old school building now lies in ruins, its walls collapsed and rooms littered with debris. A grand piano is gone. For many, music is now the last place of refuge.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Four more deaths from starvation recorded in Gaza, health ministry says<\/p>\n The health ministry in Gaza has just issued a statement, saying four more people have died from famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours.<\/p>\n This brings the total to 239 since the start of the war, including 106 children, according to the health ministry.<\/p>\n It warned that shortages of food and clean water, combined with the collapse of health services, are driving a worsening hunger crisis across the territory.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n The head of the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) says he is working to reinstate a documentary about the October 7 attacks after its removal from the schedule sparked a public outcry in Israel<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cameron Bailey, TIFF\u2019s CEO, said the Canadian film The Road Between Us: The Ultimate Rescue was initially withdrawn due to issues surrounding \u201clegal clearance of all footage\u201d.<\/p>\n However, in a statement published on X<\/a> last night, Bailey said his \u201cintention was to screen\u201d the film and described it as \u201can important story\u201d that adds to the festival\u2019s \u201crich tapestry of perspectives\u201d.<\/p>\n Bailey rejected claims of censorship as \u201cunequivocally false\u201d and urged \u201cpatience and understanding\u201d.<\/p>\n The documentary follows Noam Tibon, who set out to rescue his son, journalist Amir Tibon, and his family during the attack on Kibbutz Nahal Oz.<\/p>\n Its removal drew protests from Israel\u2019s foreign ministry and the Canadian Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Eight Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in central Gaza and northwest of Gaza City, according to medical sources, cited by Wafa news agency<\/a>.<\/p>\n Staff at Al-Aqsa hospital said three people died when an Israeli drone fired a missile at a group of civilians in the al-Hakr area, south of Deir al-Balah.<\/p>\n The Palestinian news agency also reported that Israeli drones also targeted a group of people northwest of Gaza<\/a> City, killing five and injuring others.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.31 EDT<\/p>\n Netanyahu rejects ‘genocide’ and starvation accusations<\/p>\n Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied accusations that Israel<\/a> is committing genocide or intentionally starving civilians in Gaza, saying such claims are \u201cfalse\u201d.<\/p>\n In a video posted to the Israeli prime minister\u2019s YouTube channel, speaking at the US Independence Day reception hosted by Newsmax in Jerusalem , Netanyahu said:<\/p>\n The first false accusation is genocide. The second false accusation is starvation. From the first second day of the war, we said there has to be another separation between civilians and combatants and that is that we supply humanitarian aid.<\/p>\n If we had a starvation policy, everybody in Gaza would be dead. But that\u2019s not our policy.<\/p>\n Netanyahu said diplomacy was \u201cjust another way to say defeat and surrender\u201d, adding: \u201cVictory\u201d was \u201cthe last word left in the army\u2019s lexicon\u201d.<\/p>\n He also told the audience: \u201cAmericans recognise that Israel stands for the same values as America. They recognise that we are fighting the barbarians at the gate \u2026 not only the goal of destroying Israel, it\u2019s even the method that they use to murder and mutilate the heathen, as they call them.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.18 EDT<\/p>\n We are just receiving pictures via the wires from inside Nasser Medical Complex, a hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza<\/a>.<\/p>\n In a statement carried by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the World Health Organisation says medical supply entry into Gaza remains \u201cdifficult and ever changing\u201d despite the delivery of 80 trucks of supplies since June 25, when a suspension of more than three months was lifted.<\/p>\n A large number of wounded people arrive at Nasser hospital every day while medical resources in Gaza are severely lacking Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty ImagesIn the Palestinian-American emergency room (ER), a nurse works hard to save lives at Nasser Hospital, where she started volunteering about a month ago in Khan Younis Photograph: Anadolu\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Many critical items, including ICU beds, anaesthesia machines and cold chain medicines, have been denied entry, while clearance processes for goods arriving via Ben Gurion Airport remain slow, the statement said.<\/p>\n WHO said it has delivered 6,000 blood units to Al Shifa and Nasser hospitals, but these are only a fraction of what is needed as health facilities face mass casualty incidents and rising cases of infectious disease.<\/p>\n Shortages of fuel for generators and spare parts are also crippling the 230 health points still partially functional across Gaza, the statement said.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a003.50 EDT<\/p>\n The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has just issued a warning on X, saying that soaring temperatures in Gaza are now above 40\u00b0C, making an already dire humanitarian situation \u201cfar worse\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWith very limited water available, dehydration is increasing,\u201d the agency said in a post on X. It added that bombardments and forced displacement continue, while limited electricity and fuel mean there is \u201cno relief from the extreme heat\u201d.<\/p>\n UNRWA reiterated its call for an immediate ceasefire.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Far-right minister outlines plans to expand Israeli settlements in West Bank<\/p>\n Israeli advocacy group Peace Now has condemned plans to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank, which are illegal under international law, the group said.<\/p>\n The plans, announced by Israel\u2019s far-right finance minister Bezalel Smotrich, approve tenders for more than 3,000 housing units in the controversial E1 settlement project between Jerusalem and Ma\u2019ale Adumim in the West Bank.<\/p>\n Smotrich said in a statement cited by the Times of Israel:<\/p>\n Approval of construction plans in E1 buries the idea of a Palestinian state and continues the many steps we are taking on the ground as part of the de facto sovereignty plan that we began implementing with the establishment of the government.<\/p>\n After decades of international pressure and freezes, we are breaking conventions and connecting Ma\u2019ale Adumim to Jerusalem. This is Zionism at its best \u2013 building, settling and strengthening our sovereignty in the Land of Israel.<\/p>\n The E1 plan has been frozen for decades amid strong opposition from the international community, which warns it would divide the West Bank into northern and southern regions, and prevent the development of a Palestinian urban area linking East Jerusalem with Bethlehem and Ramallah.<\/p>\n Peace Now said in a statement: \u201cThe E1 plan is deadly for the future of Israel and for any chance of achieving a peaceful two-state solution. We are standing at the edge of an abyss, and the government is driving us forward at full speed.\u201d<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a004.17 EDT<\/p>\n NGOs call for an end to Israel\u2019s \u2018weaponisation\u2019 of aid<\/p>\n More than 100 international NGOs have accused Israel<\/a> of using humanitarian aid as a weapon in Gaza, saying most major agencies have been unable to deliver a single truck of supplies since early March.<\/p>\n Despite Israeli authorities claiming there is no limit on humanitarian aid entering the territory, the groups say dozens of requests to bring in food, medicine, water and shelter items have been rejected on the grounds that the organisations are \u201cnot authorized to deliver aid\u201d. In July alone, more than 60 requests were denied, according to the statement.<\/p>\n The aid backlog has left millions of dollars\u2019 worth of goods stranded in warehouses in Jordan and Egypt, while hospitals run short of basic supplies and civilians die from hunger and preventable illnesses. Many of the affected organisations say they have worked in Gaza<\/a> for decades.<\/p>\n Trucks carrying humanitarian aid wait at the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip Photograph: Reuters<\/p>\n The groups link the obstruction to new registration rules introduced in March, which allow Israeli authorities to reject applications based on vague criteria such as alleged \u201cdelegitimisation\u201d of the state. Agencies say the process is being used to control independent organisations and censor humanitarian reporting.<\/p>\n \u201cSince the full siege was imposed on 2 March, CARE has not been able to deliver any of our $1.5m worth of pre-positioned supplies into Gaza,\u201d said Jolien Veldwijk, CARE\u2019s country director. Oxfam said it has over $2.5m worth of goods blocked from entering.<\/p>\n The signatories called on governments and donors to press Israel to end the restrictions, demand the opening of all land crossings, and ensure agencies can operate without compromising independence or staff safety.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Israel says it intercepts missile launched from Yemen<\/p>\n The Israeli military says the missile was fired overnight.<\/p>\n In a statement posted on X, it said: \u201cThe Air Force intercepted one missile launched from Yemen; according to policy, no alerts were activated.\u201d<\/p>\n A Houthi military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, later claimed the group had targeted Ben Gurion Airport near Tel Aviv \u201cusing a hypersonic ballistic missile\u201d.<\/p>\n Houthi rebels in Yemen have regularly launched missile and drone attacks on Israel, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.<\/p>\n Israel has previously carried out strikes on areas under Houthi control, including ports in western Yemen and Sanaa airport.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Welcome and opening summary<\/p>\n