Police investigating shooting after off-duty soldier ‘opens fire’ in Jerusalem
Police in Jerusalem are investigating an incident in the Old City that saw an off-duty Israeli soldier open fire and reportedly injure four people.
Israeli news outlet Kann has reported that an IDF soldier – who was with other off-duty troops – shot at a suspect who was then seriously injured, while another three have been lightly hurt.
The report adds that police are investigating a claim made by the off-duty soldiers that the suspect attempted to snatch one of their weapons.
Netanyahu holding security assessment after rocket barrage
Israeli’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is holding a security assessment this evening “in light of the developments in the north, and Hamas’s negative response regarding the release of the hostages”, according to The Times of Israel quoting his office.
Hezbollah earlier fired more than 200 rockets at northern Israel after the IDF killed a senior commander.
No injuries or deaths were reported in Israel following the attack.
The IDF later responded to the barrage by striking targets in southern Lebanon.
‘He was a good person’: Mourners bury Lebanese utility worker killed by Israeli drone strike
Dozens gathered in the southern Lebanese town of Naqoura today to mourn the death of a public utility worker killed by an Israeli drone strike.
Saleh Ahmad Mehdi was severely injured when he was struck by a drone while driving his motorcycle in the coastal town, according to Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency.
Mr Mehdi, identified as a worker for the South Lebanon Water Establishment, was helping to supply water to Naqoura when he was hit, later succumbing to his injuries.
Funeral attendee Samir Al Hassan told reporters: “Saleh was one of the guys who was persistent and patient. He was a good person.
“He didn’t want to leave the town because he wanted to serve the public with water. Some people asked him why he didn’t leave. He said he wanted to stay to give people water and he wasn’t scared of death.”
More than 400 people have been killed in Lebanon over the past eight months in ongoing clashes between the Israeli military and the Hezbollah group.
Hezbollah, a key Hamas ally, maintains that it will stop attacking northern Israel when the war in Gaza ends.
WHO: Gaza population facing ‘catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions’
The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) says a significant proportion of Gaza’s population is now facing “catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.”
Since 7 October, the escalating crisis in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territory has caused large numbers of civilian deaths and injuries.
The vast majority of these have been in Gaza, where airstrikes and a lack of medical supplies, food, water and fuel have almost completely wiped out an already under-resourced health system.
“Despite reports of increased delivery of food, there is currently no evidence that those who need it most are receiving sufficient quantity and quality of food,” said WHO director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“A significant proportion of Gaza’s population is now facing catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions.”
Tedros says there are more than 8,000 children under five years old who have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition, including 1,600 children with severe acute malnutrition.
He said: “Our inability to provide health services safely, combined with the lack of clean water and sanitation, significantly increases the risk of malnourished children.”
Crowds mourn senior Hezbollah commander in Lebanon
In the southern suburbs of Beirut, crowds turned out to mourn the death of senior Hezbollah commander Taleb Sami Abdullah.
He was killed late yesterday in an Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.
Hezbollah fired a huge barrage of rockets into northern Israel today in response.
White House says some Hamas ceasefire proposal changes ‘differ substantially’
A blame game appears to be taking place between Hamas and the US today, with both sides accusing the other of causing problems with the ceasefire proposal.
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan has been discussing the proposal this afternoon, after the US said Hamas had proposed “unworkable” changes.
“Many of the proposed changes are minor and not unanticipated,” Mr Sullivan said.
“Others differ more substantially from what was outlined in the UN Security Council resolution.”
Mr Sullivan did not provide details as to the changes the US is claiming Hamas proposed.
He added that the US would work with Egypt and Qatar to bridge the gaps in the proposal.
Hamas earlier denied it had put forward new changes to the potential deal.
Some clue as to the nature of the disagreement – and the changes the US is referring to – was offered in comments senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan made to Al Mayadeen yesterday.
He told the outlet that the plan discusses a ceasefire in Gaza but does not specify that it is permanent – despite Joe Biden having referred to a permanent ceasefire.
“We have amended this,” Mr Hamdan said.
Fires in northern Israel brought under control, firefighters say
Firefighters in northern Israel have brought fires sparked by Hezbollah rockets under control, according to a report in the Times of Israel.
More than 160 rockets were launched at Israel from southern Lebanon, after Israel struck and killed a senior Hezbollah commander overnight.
No casualties have been reported.
Teams are still working to fully extinguish the blazes in the Birya Forest and the Kadita, Ein Zeitim, and Zivon communities.
Hamas denies it put forward ideas for proposed ceasefire deal
A Hamas official has denied the militant group put forward new ideas for the US-backed ceasefire proposal.
Osama Hamdan told Al-Araby TV that US secretary of state Antony Blinken was “part of the problem, not the solution” in the conflict.
Mr Blinken earlier blamed Hamas for the lack of a deal, saying it had suggested numerous changes – some of which were “unworkable”.
The proposal was initially outlined by Joe Biden at the end of last month, but has so far failed to produce a deal.
Analysis: Without compromise, there might not be a deal to be done
We’re just hearing from our Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall on the latest developments in ceasefire talks.
He says Hamas has always stuck to its position that there will be no deal unless a ceasefire is made permanent from the outset, while Israel has always refused to countenance this.
Israel says it wants to keep fighting Hamas until “total victory”.
“That gap has never been bridged between the two sides,” says Bunkall, adding that compromise will be needed from one of the parties in order for a deal to be done.
US secretary of state Antony Blinken is putting the blame at Hamas’s door for the lack of deal, saying everyone else is signed up to the most recent proposal.
But Bunkall says he is “not entirely sure that’s true” as there is “disquiet” in the Israeli cabinet, particularly on the far right.
He says it’s possible the “ultimate outcome” is that the two sides keep fighting but with Mr Blinken in the region visiting the major stakeholders in this conflict, there will be a “push” to get a ceasefire deal closer.
Blinken responds to UN findings on war crimes
A little earlier we brought you comments from US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Hamas’s proposed ceasefire changes.
We can now bring you more on what he said on UN findings that both Israel and Hamas committed war crimes in the early months of the war.
Mr Blinken said the US continues “to do the work to make our own assessments” on whether there have been violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
He said he had not seen the findings “but of course we’ll look at that”.
“We continue to look very carefully at international humanitarian law, laws of armed conflict, human rights,” he said.