- Hamas announces it agreed to release Israeli-American Idan Alexander and the bodies of four dual nationals as it demands Israel enter the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire.
- Israeli forces launch more attacks on Gaza, killing at least two children in Gaza City and Beit Lahiya, as Israel’s total blockade on all aid into the Strip enters its 13th day.
- UN experts say Israel has carried out “genocidal acts” against Palestinians by systematically destroying women’s healthcare facilities during its war on Gaza and using sexual violence as a war strategy.
- Gaza’s Health Ministry says at least 48,524 Palestinians have been killed and 111,955 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. Gaza’s Government Media Office has updated its death toll to more than 61,700, saying thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks and more than 200 were taken captive.
Hamas spokesman: We will not renegotiate Gaza ceasefire
Hazem Qassem, a senior spokesperson for Hamas, says the group’s decision to release Israeli-American soldier Idan Alexander from captivity was a “positive gesture”.
He said this was not intended to signal that Hamas is open to renegotiating the Gaza ceasefire.
“We are not talking about new or side agreements but rather moving forward with implementing the truce agreement in its various stages,” he said.
Pro-Palestine students lead mass march in New York in support of Khalil
Pro-Palestine students are leading a large march this evening from Columbia University in Manhattan, New York, to demand the release of Palestinian student Mahmoud Khalil and to denounce the university’s decision to expel students supporting Palestine.
The students raised pictures and banners in support of Khalil and
80,000 Palestinians perform Ramadan prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque
More than 80,000 worshippers have performed Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Islamic Waqf Department, despite restrictions imposed by the Israeli military on movement from the West Bank.
The majority of those attending the second Friday prayer of the holy month of Ramadan were Palestinians living in Israel, as its military capped the number of permits for worshippers traveling from the West Bank to Islam’s third holiest site.
Only men over the age of 55 or women 50 or older are allowed to enter the mosque, and all must have a valid permit, making the site inaccessible to the vast majority of Palestinians.
Palestinians getting hurt while visiting damaged Gaza homes
Dr Feroze Sidhwa, a trauma surgeon with MedGlobal, says civilians returning to their damaged homes to retrieve items or clean up are sustaining severe injuries from structures crashing down.
“The buildings are so damaged they’re collapsing on them. Just two days ago, we had a young man – a wall fell on him, broke his spine, and tore his left kidney off his aorta,” he told Al Jazeera outside Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.
“So we had to remove his left kidney or he would have bled to death.”
Sidhwa said with high prices at markets and aid running out “people are turning on each other sometimes and disputes are becoming violent.”
He said surgeries are limited now because of the lack of medical supplies.
“We don’t have the proper hardware. We’re reusing things we shouldn’t reuse. We have some things that are inappropriate, but we use them anyway because it’s the only thing that is available, and this is resulting in a lot of extra mortality.”
Young Palestinian killed following Israeli raid near Nablus
A young Palestinian man died after being wounded in an Israeli army raid in Salem, a town east of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, Wafa reports, quoting local sources.
Amer Dawoud Shtayyeh, 21, was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after, the agency said.
Sources told Wafa that Israeli forces stormed the town, triggering confrontations.
Soldiers fired barrages of live ammunition and tear gas canisters, critically wounding a 21-year-old in the head, the agency said. They also briefly detained a minor.
Hamas says Israel’s attempts to sabotage Gaza deal will not succeed
Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua has told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed that mediators are making “strenuous efforts” in the talks despite Israel’s attempts to sabotage it, apparently referring to Qatar and Egypt.
“We are working with the mediators to ensure the success of the negotiations, compel the occupation, and complete the agreement’s stages,” he said.
“We hope that the results of the negotiations will ensure the implementation of all stages of the agreement.”
Settlers fire live ammunition, use tear gas in attack on West Bank village: Residents
Israeli settlers, who took part in a previously reported attack on the Palestinian village of Khirbet al-Marajim in the occupied West Bank, burned down three houses and a number of cars.
Local residents told the Reuters news agency they fired live ammunition and hurled tear gas bombs at people trying to put out the flames in the latest in a series of raids that have surged during the war on Gaza.
CCTV footage showed masked individuals entering Palestinians’ property, throwing objects around and destroying a security camera.
“They climbed on top of the house and started to throw stones,” resident Maysoom Msalam told the agency.
“They broke the door and the windows. Then they burnt this door and entered and set fire inside the house.”
Ghassan Daghlas, governor of the nearby city of Nablus, dismissed suggestions that Palestinians had provoked the attack.
“This is an attack aimed at expelling citizens from their lands by settlers, a project to displace Palestinians from their lands,” he told Reuters.
Hamas says negotiating team heads to Cairo
The negotiating delegation of Hamas, led by Khalil al-Hayya, is going to Cairo to meet with Egyptian officials, according to a statement on the group’s Telegram.
They will follow up on developments in the negotiations and the ceasefire agreement, the brief statement added.