LIVE UPDATES: Hamas says ready for ceasefire talks, Israeli attacks on Gaza kill 18

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Here’s where things stand on Saturday 5 July 2025:

• Medical sources in Gaza report that Israeli attacks have killed at least 18 people across the besieged enclave since midnight (21:00 GMT, Friday), according to the Palestinian Information Center and the Quds News Network.
• Hamas says it is ready to start talks “immediately” on a proposal for a ceasefire in Gaza, where the civil defence agency said Israel’s ongoing offensive killed more than 50 people on Thursday.
• Hamas ally Islamic Jihad says it supports plans for talks on a truce with Israel in Gaza, but demanded “guarantees” that the process would lead to a permanent ceasefire.
• The announcement came after it held consultations with other Palestinian factions and before a visit on Monday by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Washington, where President Donald Trump is pushing for an end to the war, now in its 21st month.
• Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 57,268 people and wounded 135,625, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the October 7, 2023, attacks, and more than 200 were taken captive.

From Gaza to ICE raids, why is US firm Palantir under scrutiny?

From anti-immigration raids, Gaza kill lists and lucrative government contracts, US data firm Palantir has been under increasing scrutiny. Soraya Lennie breaks it down.

If you’re just joining us

Let’s get you up to speed with the latest developments:

• The Israeli military has continued its relentless bombardment of Gaza, killing at least 18 people in attacks across the Palestinian enclave since midnight local time.
• Among the dead are at least seven people killed in a strike on tents housing displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area of southern Gaza and five people in a strike on the al-Shafi’i School in Gaza City.
• Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, President Trump said it was good that Hamas had responded in “a positive spirit” to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal, adding that he believed there could be a deal next week.
• Israeli media has reported that Israel’s government has received Hamas’s response to the ceasefire proposal, and the details are currently being examined.
• Commanders for Israel’s Security, a group of more than 550 former senior Israeli security officials, have penned a letter to Trump urging him to use Monday’s meeting with Prime Minister Netanyahu to push for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.

Israeli military arrests two Palestinians during West Bank raid, settlers attack ambulance

An Israeli military convoy has stormed the occupied West Bank village of Rummana, west of Jenin, and arrested two Palestinian men, the Wafa news agency reports.

In the Jabal Qamas area south of Nablus, Israeli settlers, under the protection of Israeli soldiers, have attacked a Palestinian Red Crescent Society ambulance, according to Wafa.

Israeli soldiers and settlers fired bullets and tear gas canisters during clashes with local Palestinian residents. No injuries have been reported.

Trump says Iran may restart nuclear programme in new locations

Earlier, we reported that President Trump said it was good that Hamas had responded in “a positive spirit” to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal, and he believed there could be a deal next week.

Speaking to reporters on board Air Force One, Trump also said that Iran’s nuclear programme was set back “permanently” by US strikes last month, but he believes Tehran could restart its programme in new locations.

He added that Iran has not agreed to allow inspections of its nuclear programme or to give up enriching uranium.

‘US-Israel Relationship is an unequal one’

Israel’s attack on Iran is the latest example of Washington giving Israel the freedom to harm the United States’ own interests, argues the Center for International Policy’s Matt Duss.

“This is not in any sense an equal partnership,” he told Al Jazeera.

Trump says there could be a Gaza deal next week

President Donald Trump says it was good that Hamas said it had responded in “a positive spirit” to a US-brokered Gaza ceasefire proposal.

He told reporters on board Air Force One that there could be a deal on a Gaza ceasefire by next week, but that he had not been briefed on the current state of negotiations.

Israeli military bombs school in northern Gaza, killing at least 5

The Israeli military has carried out more deadly attacks across Gaza, Al Jazeera reports.

In Gaza City’s Zeitoun neighbourhood, Israeli forces have bombarded the al-Shafi’i School, killing at least five people and injuring others.

The Israeli military has also bombed the Abu Breik family home in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza, killing at least two people and injuring others.

We will bring you more information when we have it.

At least 18 killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since midnight

We have been reporting on the Israeli military’s overnight assault on Gaza, including an attack on tents housing displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, which killed at least seven Palestinians.

Now, the Palestinian Information Center and the Quds News Network, citing medical sources in Gaza, report that Israeli attacks have killed at least 18 people across the besieged enclave in the five hours since midnight.

We will bring you further updates when we have them.

UK’s Palestine Action loses bid to pause ban as ‘terrorist group’

Pro-Palestinian campaign group Palestine Action’s cofounder has lost a bid to pause the British government’s decision to ban the group under anti-terrorism laws, with the group losing an urgent appeal, meaning it will be banned from midnight.

Huda Ammori, who helped found Palestine Action in 2020, asked London’s High Court to stop the proscription of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation, before a full hearing of her case that banning the group is unlawful later this month.

The High Court refused to pause the ban and, following a late-night hearing, the Court of Appeal rejected an appeal against that decision on Friday at just after 21:30 GMT.

British lawmakers this week decided to ban Palestine Action after its activists broke into a Royal Air Force base and damaged two planes in protest against what the group says is Britain’s support for Israel.

Proscription will make it a crime to be a member of Palestine Action, which carries a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.

Palestine Action has increasingly targeted Israel-linked companies in Britain, often spraying red paint, blocking entrances or damaging equipment. The group accuses the British government of complicity in what it says are Israeli war crimes in its ongoing bombardment of Gaza.

Australia police search for suspect in arson attack on Melbourne synagogue

Police in Australia are looking for a man suspected of starting a fire at a Melbourne synagogue filled with worshippers.

The fire was sparked on Friday night at the synagogue in Melbourne’s east. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the entrance and there were no injuries, police said.

“There were approximately 20 people inside the synagogue at the time of the incident,” a police statement said, adding that there is “no place in our society for antisemitic or hate-based behaviour”.

Australia has experienced an uptick in anti-Semitic incidents targeting homes, schools and synagogues since Israel launched its war on Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attacks.

Which global companies are benefitting from the genocide in Gaza?

UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese has said some of the world’s largest companies are complicit in and profiting from Israel’s actions in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Albanese’s landmark report identified Microsoft, Amazon and Google as just some of the major US tech firms helping Israel sustain its genocide in Gaza. But UN reports like this have no legal power, and Israel has rejected Albanese’s findings as “groundless”.

Will big companies, despite their financial interests, start to question their ties with Israel? And will consumers around the world bring commercial pressure on those implicated firms?

Israel has received Hamas response on Gaza ceasefire proposal: Report

Israel has received Hamas’s response on the Gaza ceasefire proposal with details currently being examined, Israeli media reported on Saturday, citing Israeli officials.

Israeli ex-security officials urge Trump to use Netanyahu meeting to end war

Commanders for Israel’s Security, a group of more than 550 former senior Israeli security officials, have penned a letter to President Trump urging him to use Monday’s meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.

“It is our professional judgement that the [Israeli military] has long accomplished its dual mission of dismantling Hamas governance and essentially destroying its military capabilities,” wrote the group’s chair, Matan Vilnai.

Vilnai added that “Hamas no longer poses a strategic threat to Israel, and as demonstrated this year on multiple fronts, Israel possesses overwhelming power and ability to neutralise any threat that might arise from Gaza in the future”.

Vilnai also said that further fighting “risks the lives of hostages, will continue to cost yet more [Israeli military] casualties and prolong the suffering of innocent Palestinians”.

Several dead after Israeli army bombs Palestinian homes, tents in Gaza

The Israeli military has carried out deadly attacks across Gaza over recent hours, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues report, including:

• Six Palestinians were killed and more than 10 others injured after Israeli forces shelled tents housing displaced Palestinians in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, in southern Gaza.
• A fire has broken out after Israeli warplanes bombed a tent housing displaced Palestinians near the Hanin Mosque in al-Mawasi.
• Two people have been killed after Israeli warplanes bombed a house in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.
• One person was injured after Israeli forces shelled tents housing displaced people inside a school in the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City, northern Gaza.

We will bring you more information on these attacks when we have it.

Islamic Jihad supports Gaza ceasefire talks but demands ‘guarantees’

The Hamas ally said on Saturday that it supports plans for talks between the Palestinian group and Israel on a truce in Gaza, but demanded “guarantees” that the process would lead to a permanent ceasefire.

“We presented [Hamas] a number of detailed points on the mechanism for putting in place the mediators’ proposal, and we want additional guarantees to assure us [that Israel] will not resume its aggression after [the captives] are freed,” Islamic Jihad said in a statement.

Hamas says it submitted ‘positive response’ to ceasefire proposal

As we have been reporting, Hamas has said it has submitted its response to a US-backed ceasefire proposal after completing consultations with Palestinian forces and factions.

“The movement has submitted a positive response to the mediators, and the movement is fully prepared to immediately enter into a round of negotiations regarding the mechanism for implementing this framework,” it said in a statement posted on Telegram.

A recap of recent developments

• Hamas has said it has submitted a “positive response” to mediators on a 60-day, US-backed ceasefire proposal, and it is “fully prepared” to enter negotiations.
• The deal would see the release of 10 live captives held in Gaza and 18 deceased, in exchange for Israel allowing aid into the enclave and stopping its military offensive.
• As part of the deal, US President Donald Trump would also guarantee Israel’s commitment to a ceasefire for an agreed duration. Israel is yet to respond.
• Israel’s military has said it has “operational control” over more than 65 percent of Gaza as it continues its assault on the enclave, killing dozens, including aid seekers at Gaza Humanitarian Foundation sites.
• Israel’s army also confirmed it was behind the assassination of a man in Beirut on Thursday, describing him as a “terrorist” who smuggled weapons for Iran’s Quds Force.
• The United Kingdom’s Royal Court of Justice rejected Palestine Action’s appeal to postpone government proscription, meaning the activist movement is now designated a “terrorist” group for its opposition to Israel’s war on Gaza.

Welcome to our live coverage

Hello, and welcome to our live coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza and the tenuous ceasefire with Iran.

Stay with us for the latest news, reaction and analyses.

You can find all our updates from Friday, July 4, here.