At least 55 people, including many women and children, have been killed since dawn Thursday in Israeli raids on the central and southern Gaza Strip, hospital sources told Al Jazeera. The deadliest attack hit a group of civilians in Deir el-Balah, in the center of the enclave, killing at least 13 people, including at least 10 people waiting to receive food supplements at a medical clinic. According to the NGO Project Hope, an aid group that runs the clinic, among them were at least five children and two women."This is a tragedy, a violation of humanitarian law. No child waiting for food and medicine should be at risk of being bombed," said Dr. Mithqal Abutaha, the organization's project manager, who was at another clinic at the time.
At least four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli attack on the al-Karama neighborhood, northwest of Gaza City. The Gaza Media Office reported that 773 people have been killed near aid distribution centers operated by the American Gaza Humanitarian Fund since it began operating with Israeli support at the end of May. 5,101 people have been injured, while 41 are still missing.
The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) are intensifying their offensive as negotiations continue in Doha, Qatar, between the Israeli and Hamas delegations to reach a truce that will allow the release of the hostages. The IDF announced that it is continuing its military activity in the Strip"to target terrorist organizations and protect the civilian population, particularly communities living near the border with Gaza." The army claims to have "dismantled over 130 terrorist structures, both above and below ground. These include weapons depots, booby-trapped buildings, observation posts, and launch pads aimed at Israeli troops." The death of 25-year-old reservist sergeant major Abraham Azulay was reported overnight, killed by Hamas militants – it says – while he was fighting to avoid a kidnapping attempt.
“We are determined to bring all the hostages home,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video released by his office: “At the beginning of this ceasefire, we will immediately enter into negotiations to permanently end the war. But to achieve this, there must be minimum conditions: disarmament of Hamas, demilitarization of Gaza, and no military or governing capacity for Hamas.” He then emphasized that “if it is possible to achieve these through diplomacy, so much the better.” Otherwise, “if this does not happen within 60 days of the truce, we will achieve it by other means, with the use of force, the might of our heroic army,” he concluded.
In the early hours of the morning, alarm sirens sounded in Tel Aviv – for the first time since the truce with Iran on June 24 – due to the launch of a missile from Yemen controlled by the Houthi rebels, which was intercepted by air defenses.
Meanwhile, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the United Nations had managed to deliver approximately 75,000 liters of fuel into the Gaza Strip for the first time in 130 days."The amount is not enough to cover even one day of energy needs. Fuel is already running out, and services will be disrupted if much larger volumes do not arrive immediately," Dujarric told reporters.
