A damaged building, following an Israeli attack on Hamas leaders, according to an Israeli official, in Doha, Qatar. Photograph: Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
We’re closing this blog soon. In the meantime, here’s a rundown of the latest developments:
Donald Trump has said that Israel’s decision to attack Hamas leaders in Qatar was made by Benjamin Netanyahu alone and not by him. As questions continue to swirl over the timeline and sequence of events that led to the US being told of Israel’s attack on Doha, and over the level and nature of Trump’s involvement, if any, the US president wrote a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform distancing himself from the strikes.
Six people were killed in the strike on Doha, according to Hamas, but its top leadership, including the team negotiating for a peace deal in Gaza, survived the attack. The dead included the son of its exiled Gaza chief, Khalil al-Hayya, and an aide to the leader, along with a member of Qatar’s internal security forces.
Trump and White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the US military informed the Trump administration on Tuesday morning that Israel was going to strike Doha. But Leavitt would not answer when asked who informed the US military.
The White House also called the incident “unfortunate”, saying Trump “views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of the attack” – but stopped short of condemnation. In a carefully worded statement, Trump said that “unilaterally bombing inside Qatar … does not advance Israel or America’s goals” but added that “eliminating Hamas … is a worthy goal”.
Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said that US officials first warned Qatar of the Israeli attack 10 minutes after it began, describing the strike as “100% treacherous”. Al-Thani poured water on US claims that Qatar was given advanced warning of the attack, and blamed Israel for sabotaging what he said were chances for peace, sharply criticizing Netanyahu whom he said practiced “state terrorism”. He also said that mediation efforts are part of the Qatari identity and nothing would deter its role in that regard.
Qatar also told the United Nations Security Council that it will “not tolerate this reckless Israeli behaviour and the ongoing disruption of regional security”. “The state of Qatar strongly condemns this cowardly criminal assault, which constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms,” Qatar’s UN ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani wrote to the council on Tuesday in a letter seen by Reuters.
The security council is to meet on Wednesday to discuss the attack on Qatar, AFP reported, citing diplomatic sources.
Turkey accused Israel of adopting “terrorism as state policy” while UK prime minister Keir Starmer said it “violated Qatar’s sovereignty and risked further escalation across the region”. But UK sources confirmed that the prime minister still intended to meet the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, in London on Wednesday.
In other news, Trump announced that Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq over two years ago, had been released from captivity by Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah. Tsurkov, a Princeton University researcher, went missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023.
The flotilla attempting to reach Gaza reported that one of its boats, the British-flagged Alma had been hit by a suspected drone strike while docked in Tunisia, calling it a “very clear intimidation tactic to keep us from setting sail tomorrow”. The report came a day after the group said another of its vessels was struck in Tunisian waters.
Updated
After the request by Algeria we reported on earlier, AFP is now reporting that the UN security council will meet on Wednesday to discuss the Israeli attack on Qatar.
In a further update, the Global Sumud Flotilla has said it was the British-flagged Alma which was hit by the suspected drone strike.
In an Instagram post to the group’s account, one activist said the suspected attack took place while the boats docked in Tunisia and that activists were on standby to go and inspect the vessel for structural damage.
“From what we know so far there’s no significant structural damage,” she said, adding: “This is a very clear intimidation tactic to keep us from setting sail tomorrow.”
Gaza flotilla says one of its boats hit in suspected drone attack
The flotilla carrying aid for Gaza and pro-Palestinian activists said early on Wednesday that one of its boats was hit in a suspected drone attack, with no injuries reported, a day after the group said another of its vessels was struck in Tunisian waters.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) is an international initiative seeking to break Israel’s naval blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza using civilian boats supported by delegations from 44 countries.
On Tuesday the group said one of its boats has been struck in a drone attack while docked in Tunisia.
Tunisia’s interior ministry said reports of a drone hitting a boat in the port on Tuesday “have no basis in truth”, and that a fire broke out on the vessel itself.
Updated
US independent Senator Bernie Sanders has called on the US government to halt military aid to Israel, calling its government “out of control”. In a post on X he wrote,
Netanyahu’s extremist government is completely out of control. Not only are they starving children in Gaza, they are now breaking international law by dropping bombs on Qatar, a US security partner. When is enough, enough? NO MORE US MILITARY AID TO ISRAEL.
He has repeatedly tried to advance resolutions in the Senate to block arms sales to Israel, which have been defeated.
Algeria has asked the UN Security Council to meet after the Israeli attack on Hamas leaders, diplomats have said according to Reuters.
Algeria requested the 15-member council meet on Wednesday, diplomats said.
The day so far
Donald Trump has said that Israel’s decision to strike Qatar was made by Benjamin Netanyahu alone and not by him. As questions continue to swirl over the timeline and sequence of events that led to the US being told of Israel’s attack on Doha, and over the level and nature of Trump’s involvement, if any, the US president wrote a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform distancing himself from the strikes.
Trump and White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt said that the US military informed the Trump administration on Tuesdeay morning that Israel was going to strike Doha. But Leavitt would not answer when asked who informed the US military.
The White House also called the incident “unfortunate”, saying Trump “views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of the attack” – but stopped short of condemnation. In a carefully worded statement, Trump said that “unilaterally bombing inside Qatar … does not advance Israel or America’s goals” but added that “eliminating Hamas … is a worthy goal”.
Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said that US officials first warned Qatar of the Israeli attack 10 minutes after it began, describing the strike as “100% treacherous”. Al-Thani poured water on US claims that Qatar was given advanced warning of the attack, and blamed Israel for sabotaging what he said were chances for peace, sharply criticizing Netanyahu whom he said practiced “state terrorism”. He also said that mediation efforts are part of the Qatari identity and nothing would deter its role in that regard.
Qatar also told the United Nations Security Council that it will “not tolerate this reckless Israeli behaviour and the ongoing disruption of regional security”. “The state of Qatar strongly condemns this cowardly criminal assault, which constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms,” Qatar’s UN ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani wrote to the council on Tuesday in a letter seen by Reuters.
Six people were killed in Israel’s strike on Doha, according to Hamas, including the son of its key negotiator and an aide to the leader, along with a member of Qatar’s internal security forces.
Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney joined the chorus of world leaders condemning Israel’s attack, saying the attack was “an intolerable expansion of violence” that poses a risk of escalating conflict throughout the region. “Canada condemns Israel’s strikes in Qatar — an intolerable expansion of violence and an affront to Qatar’s sovereignty,” Carney said on X.
In other news, Trump announced that Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq over two years ago, had been released from captivity by Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah. Tsurkov, a Princeton University researcher, went missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023.
Qatari PM says nothing will deter Qatar's mediation role and accuses Netanyahu of 'state terrorism'
Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said on Tuesday that mediation efforts are part of the Qatari identity and nothing would deter its role in that regard, hours after Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Doha, along with Cairo and Washington, has been a key mediator between Israel and Hamas during the war in Gaza.
“Qatar has spared no efforts and will do everything it can to stop this war in Gaza, but for current talks, I do not think there’s something valid right now after what we saw from today’s attack,” al-Thani said at a news conference.
He blamed Israel for sabotaging what he said were chances for peace, sharply criticizing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu whom he said practiced “state terrorism”.
Netanyahu has claimed the attack was “entirely justified” and was ordered after an attack in Jerusalem and the loss of four Israeli soldiers in Gaza.
Al-Thani said US officials first warned Qatar of the Israeli attack 10 minutes after it began, describing the strike as “100% treacherous”.
“Qatar reserves the right to respond to this blatant attack and will take all necessary measures to respond,” he added, saying a legal team has been formed to handle the Gulf country’s response to the attack.
Updated
Another notable addition in Trump’s post is the claim that “I immediately directed Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did, however, unfortunately, too late to stop the attack.”
Earlier, the statement read out by White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt made a similar claim but did not include the line that the warning came “too late to stop the attack”.
Following Leavitt’s press briefing, Qatar said that reports that it was given advanced warning from the US of the Israeli attack on Doha are false and that US officials first warned Qatar of the attack 10 minutes after it had begun.
It’s therefore unclear what Trump means, as my colleague Robert Mackey notes, in that he seems to suggest that he both has the power to stop Israeli strikes, but for some reason did not have the power to stop the one that took place today.
Updated
Trump says decision to strike in Qatar was Netanyahu's alone
Donald Trump has said that Israel’s decision to strike Qatar was made by Benjamin Netanyahu alone and not by him.
As questions continue to swirl over the timeline and sequence of events that led to the US being told of Israel’s attack on Doha, the US president has written a lengthy post on his Truth Social platform.
Much of it paraphrases the statement read out earlier at the White House press briefing. But a notable addition, amid questions over the level and nature of Trump’s involvement, if any, is the US president’s distancing himself from the strikes:
This was a decision made by Prime Minister Netanyahu, it was not a decision made by me.
Updated
Princeton researcher Tsurkov released from militia captivity in Iraq, Trump says
Donald Trump has said that Israeli-Russian researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov, who was kidnapped in Iraq over two years ago, had been released from captivity by Shiite militia Kataib Hezbollah.
The US president just posted on his Truth Social account:
I am pleased to report that Elizabeth Tsurkov, a Princeton Student, whose sister is an American Citizen, was just released by Kata’ib Hezbollah (MILITANT Hezbollah), and is now safely in the American Embassy in Iraq after being tortured for many months. I will always fight for JUSTICE, and never give up. HAMAS, RELEASE THE HOSTAGES, NOW!
Tsurkov, a Princeton University researcher, went missing in Iraq during a research trip in March 2023.
Updated
Qatari prime minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani said during a press conference on Tuesday that the mediation efforts are part of the Qatari identity and nothing would deter its role in that regard, hours after Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
Al-Thani added US officials first warned Qatar of the Israeli attack 10 minutes after the attack began, describing the attack as “treacherous”.
Six killed in Israeli strike on Doha, says Hamas
Six people were killed in the Israeli strike on Doha, but Hamas claims its negotiating team survived.
Hamas said that among those killed was the son of the group’s key negotiator, Khalil al-Hayya, and an aide to the leader. Al-Hayya himself survived the strike.
Among the dead was also a member of Qatar’s internal security forces, Corporal Badr Saad Mohammed Al-Humaidi, the group said.
Canada's Mark Carney condemns Israel's airstrike on Doha
Canada’s prime minister Mark Carney has joined the chorus of world leaders condemning Israel’s airstrike against Hamas leaders in Qatar on Tuesday, saying the attack was “an intolerable expansion of violence” that poses a risk of escalating conflict throughout the region.
“Canada condemns Israel’s strikes in Qatar — an intolerable expansion of violence and an affront to Qatar’s sovereignty,” Carney said on X.
“Regardless of their objectives, such attacks pose a grave risk of escalating conflict throughout the region, and directly imperil efforts to advance peace & security, secure the release of all hostages, and achieve a lasting ceasefire — efforts in which Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani plays a highly constructive role,” Carney added.
Updated
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan told Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani in a phone call on Tuesday that Ankara will stand by Doha by its all means after Israel’s attack against Hamas in Qatar, the Turkish presidency said.
In a statement reported by Reuters, the Turkish presidency added that Erdoğan and Thani discussed possible joint steps after the Israeli attack.
Somewhat in line with the vagueness coming out of the White House, an Israeli official told Politico on Tuesday that the attack was coordinated with the United States, then later clarified that such an attack wouldn’t happen without Israel notifying Washington — and said they believed such a notification had taken place but could not say for sure.
Benjamin Netanyahu’s office has said on X that the strike “against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation,” adding: “Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.”
Qatar tells UN it will not tolerate 'reckless Israeli behaviour'
Further to that, Qatar has told the United Nations Security Council that it will “not tolerate this reckless Israeli behaviour and the ongoing disruption of regional security” after Israel carried out an attack targeting Hamas leaders in Doha.
“The state of Qatar strongly condemns this cowardly criminal assault, which constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms,” Qatar’s UN ambassador Alya Ahmed Saif Al-Thani wrote to the council on Tuesday in a letter seen by Reuters.
“Investigations are underway at the highest level, and further details will be announced as soon as they are available,” she added, describing the Israeli attack as a “serious escalation”.
Qatar will take all necessary measures to protect its security, emir tells Trump
Reuters is reporting that Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani told Donald Trump in a phone call on Tuesday that Qatar will take all necessary measures to protect its security and preserve its sovereignty.
I’ll bring you more on this as it comes through.
EU condemns Israel's strike in Qatar as 'breach of international law'
Israel’s air strike against Hamas leaders in Doha breaches international law and Qatar’s territorial integrity, the European Union said in a statement late on Tuesday, warning against risks of a further escalation of violence in the region.
“We express full solidarity with the authorities and the people of Qatar, a strategic partner of the EU,” a spokesperson for EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said in a post on X.
“Any escalation of the war in Gaza must be avoided - it is in no one’s interest. We will continue to support all efforts towards a ceasefire in Gaza.”
White House dodges questions over who informed US military of Israel's attack on Doha
Just to clarify the lack of clarification from the White House, press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that the US military informed the Trump administration on Tuesday morning that Israel’s strike on Doha was going to take place. But she would not answer when asked who informed the US military.
So, we remain unclear about the timeline and sequence of events that led to the US being told of the attack.
Updated
Asked if at any point the Trump administration tried to dissuade Israel from attacking Doha, Leavitt again refers to the statement.
Asked what was Trump’s involvement – apart from the phone call after - in Israel’s attack on Doha, if any, Leavitt refers again to the statement.
White House says US military was notified about Israel's strike 'this morning, just before the attack'
In a follow-up, asked when the US military was notified about the strike, given that the largest US military base is in Doha, Leavitt says: “This morning, just before the attack, as I said earlier.”
Updated
Leavitt notably, does not confirm that Israel informed the US about the strike in Doha. “What I can tell you is the United States military informed the Trump administration,” she says.
Updated
Asked if Trump believes Israel is undermining negotiations by striking Qatar, Leavitt refers again to the statement.
Referring back to the wording in the White House statement, Leavitt is asked whether Trump told Netanyahu that “this would not happen again”.
She says Trump told that to the prime minister and emir of Qatar, and stressed to Netanyahu the importance of peace in the region.
Qatar says US reports about being informed of Israeli attack on Doha beforehand are false
On that subject, Reuters is reporting that Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari has just said that reports about Qatar being informed of an Israeli attack on Doha beforehand were false and the call received from a US official was when the sound of explosions were heard.
Updated
The statement from the White House, which suggests the Trump administration was notified this morning by the US military about the attack, appears at odds with earlier reports citing an Israeli official that Donald Trump green lit Israel’s strike on Doha.
Asked for clarification on whether Trump spoke to Netanyahu before the strike and if he urged him to not go through with it, Leavitt refers back to the timing outlined in the statement.
Updated
Asked how often Trump spoke to Netanyahu before the strike, Leavitt doesn’t give an answer.
And asked what Trump meant when he said on Sunday that he had given his “last warning” to Hamas and was he refering to this strike, Leavitt says he wasn’t referring to this strike, of which he was notified this morning.
Updated
Asked if there would be consequences for Netanyahu for doing this against Trump’s wishes, and if there is concern that Israel’s actions could jeopardise the Abraham Accords, Leavitt says: “That’s a decision only the president can make.” She repeats that Trump feels this could be an opportunity for peace.
Asked whether Trump is “upset” with Netanyahu now, Leavitt says: “The president made his thoughts and concerns about this very clear.”
Reiterating that Trump wants peace in the region, Leavitt adds: “He expects all of our allies and friends in the region – that includes both Qatar and Israel – to seek peace as well.”
Asked whether Trump passed on his disagreement with the location of Israel’s strike on to Netanyahu, Leavitt says that was in the statement.
White House calls Israeli strike on 'strong US ally' Qatar ‘unfortunate’ but stops short of condemnation
Asked how much of a heads-up Donald Trump got from Israel about its plans to strike Doha and does the US president support the strike, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt reads out this carefully worded statement:
This morning the Trump administration was notified by the US military that Israel was attacking Hamas, which unfortunately was located in a section of Doha, the capital of Qatar.
Unilaterally bombing inside Qatar – a sovereign nation and close ally of the United States that is working very hard and bravely taking risks with us to broker peace – does not advance Israel or America’s goals.
However, eliminating Hamas – who have profited off the misery of those living in Gaza – is a worthy goal.
President Trump immediately directed special envoy [Steve] Witkoff to inform the Qataris of the impending attack, which he did.
The president views Qatar as a strong ally and friend of the United States, and feels very badly about the location of the attack.
President Trump wants all of the hostages an the bodies of the dead and this war to end now.
President Trump also spoke to prime minister Netanyahu after the attack. He told president Trump that he wants to make peace and quickly. President Trump believes this unfortunate incident could serve as an opportunity for peace.
The president also spoke to the emir and prime minister of Qatar and thanked them for their friendship to our country. He assured them that such a thing will not happen again on their soil.
Updated
Here is footage from Doha, shared on social media and local television channels, showing what appeared to be a huge blast centred on a residential area with smoke towering above the city and residents running for safety.
Qatar became the latest Middle Eastern country to be targeted by Israeli airstrikes after Tel Aviv launched a – widely condemned - attack on senior Hamas members meeting in the Qatari capital.
The United States has been notably silent on Israel’s strikes on Hamas leaders in Doha. Amid reports that Donald Trump gave the green light for the attack, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt is sure to face questions on the US’s role at a press briefing due to start shortly.
The claim, reported by Israel’s Channel 12, citing an Israeli official, that Trump green lit the attack is especially shocking given that Qatar has acted as a key intermediary in the long and ongoing negotiations to reach a ceasefire for Gaza.
I’ll bring you any relevant lines from the briefing when it starts at 1.30pm ET.
British prime minister Keir Starmer has condemned Israel’s military strikes on Qatar targeting Hamas leaders, saying it risked further escalation in the region.
In a post on X, the UK leader said:
I condemn Israel’s strikes on Doha, which violate Qatar’s sovereignty and risk further escalation across the region.
The priority must be an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, and a huge surge in aid into Gaza. This is the only solution towards long-lasting peace.
The day so far
Israel has launched an attack on senior Hamas members meeting in Doha, reportedly including the group’s chief negotiator, making Qatar the latest Middle Eastern country to be targeted by an Israeli military operation. Israel’s Channel 12, citing an Israeli official, claimed Donald Trump had given the green light for the attack, which is especially shocking given that Qatar has acted as a key intermediary in the long and ongoing negotiations to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Reuters said Hamas sources had told them the delegation negotiating on a ceasefire had survived the attack. Video footage from Doha, shared on social media and local television channels, showed what appeared to be a huge blast centred on a residential area with smoke towering above the city and residents running for safety.
Hamas claimed the US proposal they were sitting down to consider was a “deception aimed at bringing Hamas members to a meeting in order to attack them”. Eyewitnesses described several blasts in the Katara district of Doha, an area popular with tourists. Al Jazeera reported that Hamas sources had told it the blasts struck a meeting of a delegation involved in the talks.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered the attack against Hamas’s leadership in Doha following recent attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza, Reuters reports. He went on to say in a statement that the attacks were “entirely justified” and that the decision was green lit at 12pm today after identifying an “operational opportunity”.
Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the shooting that killed six people on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday. The victims of yesterday’s attack included a 79-year-old former cardiologist, a 43-year-old rabbi and a 25-year-old who had recently emigrated from Spain.
Hamas leader Khalil Al-Hayya’s son and an aide were killed by the Israeli attack, according to reports. Suhail al-Hindi, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said the strikes killed Hayya’s son, Hammam, and one of his top aides.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held by Hamas in Gaza, has posted on X, saying she is “trembling with fear” that the attack in Doha has “sealed his fate”. “It could be that at this very moment the Prime Minister has actually assassinated my Matan, sealed his fate.” she writes. “Why does he insist on blowing up every chance for a deal? This is about my child’s life!!!
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Tuesday condemned Israel’s strikes as a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar”. He said Qatar has been playing a very positive role to try and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.
Pope Leo expressed concern on Tuesday for the consequences of Israel’s strikes on Qatar. “There’s some really serious news right now: Israel’s attack on some Hamas leaders in Qatar. The entire situation is very serious,” Leo said outside the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, as quoted by ANSA news agency.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday the days when “terrorist” leaders were immune anywhere were over, hours after Israel attacked Hamas leaders in Doha.
“The days are over when terror leaders can enjoy immunity of any kind ... I won’t allow that kind of immunity to exist,” he said in a televised address.
The Spanish government has “categorically condemned” the attack, describing it as “a violation of Qatari territorial sovereignty and a flagrant violation of international law”.
In a statement, it added: “Spain reiterates its call for restraint and respect for international law to preserve regional stability, for an immediate cessation of violence, and for a return to diplomatic negotiations.”
Hamas figure says Khalil Al-Hayya’s son among fatalities in Doha attack
Khalil Al-Hayya’s son and an aide were killed by the Israeli attack on the Hamas leadership in Doha earlier today, according to reports.
Suhail al-Hindi, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, said the strikes killed Hayya’s son, Hammam, and one of his top aides.
Contact has also been lost with three other bodyguards, he said.
“The blood of the leadership of the movement is like the blood of any Palestinian child,” he told Al Jazeera TV.
Mohammed al-frah, a member of the Houthis’ political office, posted his condemnation of the Israeli attack on X, saying Israel and the United States are fully responsible.
“This cowardly operation was nothing but a deliberate assassination attempt against the negotiating delegation, a despicable effort to eliminate any prospect for peace, and an execution of any diplomatic hope in the region,” he said.
The Egyptian presidency said in a statement that the attack “targeted a meeting of Palestinian leaders in the Qatari capital, Doha, to discuss ways to reach a ceasefire agreement” in Gaza.
“This attack sets a serious precedent and an unacceptable development, and constitutes a direct assault on the sovereignty of the sisterly State of Qatar, which plays a pivotal role in mediation efforts to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip,” it said.
Lebanese president Joseph Aoun said the Israeli strikes were “part of a series of attacks committed by Israel, demonstrating its insistence on undermining all efforts made to achieve stability and security in the countries of the region and the safety of its people.”
Since a ceasefire nominally put an end to the latest war between Israel and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah in November, Israel has continued to launch near-daily strikes in Lebanon.
Aoun urged “the international community to put an end to these Israeli practices that continue to violate all international laws and agreements and obstruct every commendable effort made by the state of Qatar to establish peace in the region and put an end to the suffering of the brotherly Palestinian people.”
The commissioner general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) has said the Gaza Strip is being “obliterated” and “reduced to a wasteland”.
In a post on X, Philippe Lazzarini wrote:
Gaza is being obliterated, reduced to a wasteland. Gaza is being emptied from its starving population forced to move into the so called “humanitarian” area of Mawasi.
There is no safe place in Gaza, let alone a humanitarian zone. It is a large and growing camp concentrating hungry Palestinians in despair.
Warnings of #famine have fallen on deaf ears. Will warnings of this deepening catastrophe also fall on deaf ears? #Ceasefire, before it is way too late. End the impunity before atrocities become the new norm.
His comments come ahead of a planned Israeli offensive to occupy Gaza City, which has been under attacks for weeks.
Palestinian people in Gaza City are being told by the Israeli military to go the al-Mawasi area – a small area in the south of the territory the IDF has labelled a “humanitarian zone” despite it being overcrowded and having been targeted in deadly Israeli attacks.
Meanwhile, the mayor of Bethlehem, Maher Canawati, has called on the international community to “show more humanity” towards the Palestinian people in a visit to Athens, Bethlehem’s sister city for almost 50 years.
“The children of Gaza are starving, neighbourhoods are being wiped out, there is no water, no electricity, no medication and no hospitals,” he told a press conference after holding talks with the Greek capital’s mayor Haris Doukas.
“Everything is collapsing. Everything that moves in Gaza is targeted. The international community has to understand that there are people who live in Palestine, they are humans and they need to be handled as humans.”
Even mayors, who spoke out in support of the besieged Palestinians, from across Europe were being targeted, said Canawati.
“We have experienced lately that those who are helping us and supporting us, who call for truth, who call for justice, are also being suffocated. The mayor of Barcelona, ten days ago, was denied access to Bethlehem and three months ago mayors from France were also denied access to Bethlehem.”
Doukas, who represents Greece’s social democrat main opposition Pasok party, is an outspoken critic of Israeli policies and using the visit he urged the Greek government to “finally” recognise the Palestinian state.
Israel’s envoy to Athens has publicly rebuked Doukas for failing to clean up the “anti-Semitic graffiti” that has recently spread across the capital, eliciting a fiery response from the Greek mayor.
“We do not accept lessons in democracy from those who kill civilians and children in food lines, from those who lead dozens of people to death in Gaza every day, from bombs, hunger and thirst,” Doukas wrote on X.
The UK government has criticised Israel’s decision to launch airstrikes against Hamas officials based in Qatar.
Commenting on the attack, the prime minister’s spokesperson told journalists:
We do not want to see a further escalation in violence in the region. This can only risk further destabilisation.
We want to see an end to the suffering in Gaza starting with the release of all hostages, an immediate ceasefire, and a surge in aid to the region so there can be a long lasting peace in the wider region.
Netanyahu says Doha attack on Hamas leadership was ordered in response to Jerusalem shooting
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he ordered the attack against Hamas’s leadership in Doha following recent attacks in Jerusalem and Gaza, Reuters reports.
He went on to say in a statement that the attacks were “entirely justified” and that the decision was green lit at 12pm today after identifying an “operational opportunity”.
Updated
China’s embassy in Qatar on Tuesday issued a safety advisory to Chinese nationals after Israeli strikes on Doha.
In a notice published on its social media platform, the embassy urged Chinese to “try to reduce unnecessary outings and avoid going to high-risk areas”.
Pope Leo expressed concern on Tuesday for the consequences of Israel’s strikes on Qatar.
“There’s some really serious news right now: Israel’s attack on some Hamas leaders in Qatar. The entire situation is very serious,” Leo said outside the papal summer residence of Castel Gandolfo, as quoted by ANSA news agency.
Einav Zangauker, whose son Matan is being held by Hamas in Gaza, has posted on X, saying she is “trembling with fear” that the attack in Doha has “sealed his fate”.
“It could be that at this very moment the Prime Minister has actually assassinated my Matan, sealed his fate.” she writes.
“Why does he insist on blowing up every chance for a deal? This is about my child’s life!!!
Turkey condemns Israel’s attack against Hamas members in Qatar’s capital Doha, its foreign ministry said on Tuesday, adding this showed Israel had adopted “expansionist politics in the region and terrorism” as state policies.
“The targeting of the Hamas negotiating delegation while ceasefire talks continue shows that Israel does not aim to reach peace, but rather continue the war,” the ministry said in a statement.
“This situation is clear proof that Israel has adopted its expansionist politics in the region and terrorism as a state policy,” it added.
Khalil Al-Hayya, a senior Hamas official targeted by Israel in Qatar on Tuesday, has become an increasingly central figure in the leadership of the Palestinian militant group since both Ismail Haniyeh and Yahya Sinwar were killed last year.
Israeli officials told Reuters the attack was aimed at top Hamas leaders including Hayya, its exiled Gaza chief and top negotiator. Two Hamas sources told Reuters the group’s ceasefire negotiation delegation in Doha survived the attack.
At the heart of ceasefire negotiations during the war that erupted two years ago, Hayya has been widely seen as the group’s most influential figure abroad since Haniyeh was killed by Israel in Iran in July 2024.
He is part of a five-man leadership council that has led Hamas since Sinwar was killed by Israel last October in Gaza.
Here is a Reuters summary of Hayya’s background:
Hailing from the Gaza Strip, Hayya has lost several close relatives - including his eldest son - to Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, and is a veteran member of the Islamist group.
Regarded as having good ties with Iran, a vital source of arms and finance for Hamas, he has been closely involved in the group’s efforts to broker several truces with Israel, playing a key role in ending a 2014 conflict and again in attempts to secure an end to the current Gaza war.
Born in the Gaza Strip in 1960, Hayya has been part of Hamas since it was set up in 1987. In the early 1980s, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood - the Sunni Islamist movement from which Hamas emerged - along with Haniyeh and Sinwar, Hamas sources say.
In Gaza, he was detained several times by Israel.
In 2007, an Israeli air strike hit his family home in Gaza City’s Sejaiyeh quarter, killing several of his relatives, and during the 2014 war between Hamas and Israel, the house of Hayya’s eldest son, Osama, was bombed, killing him, his wife and three of their children.
Hayya was not there during the attacks. He left Gaza several years ago, serving as a Hamas point person for ties with the Arab and Islamic worlds and basing himself in Qatar for the role.
Hayya accompanied Haniyeh to Tehran for the visit in July during which he was assassinated.
Hayya has been cited as saying the October 7 attacks that ignited the Gaza war had been meant as a limited operation by Hamas to capture “a number of soldiers” to swap for jailed Palestinians.
“But the Zionist army unit completely collapsed,” he said in comments published by the Hamas-linked Palestinian Information Center, referring to Israel’s military.
UN chief Guterres condemns Israeli strikes on Qatar
United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres on Tuesday condemned Israel’s strikes as a “flagrant violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Qatar”.
He said Qatar has been playing a very positive role to try and achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all hostages held by Hamas.
“All parties must work towards achieving a permanent ceasefire, not destroying it,” Guterres told reporters.
Footage shows smoke towering above buildings in Doha after several explosions were heard across the Qatari capital on Tuesday.
The IDF and Shin Bet say they targeted those “directly responsible for the brutal 7 October massacre”.
The blasts were reported in the Katara district, which is home to the Katara cultural quarter, a reconstructed souk full of restaurants popular with tourists.
Israel has launched an attack on senior Hamas members meeting in Doha, reportedly including the group’s chief negotiator, making Qatar the latest Middle Eastern country to be targeted by an Israeli military operation.
Israel’s Channel 12, citing an Israeli official, claimed Donald Trump had given the green light for the attack, which is especially shocking given that Qatar has acted as a key intermediary in the long and ongoing negotiations to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.
Reuters said Hamas sources had told them the delegation negotiating on a ceasefire had survived the attack.
Video footage from Doha, shared on social media and local television channels, showed what appeared to be a huge blast centred on a residential area with smoke towering above the city and residents running for safety.
Hamas claimed the US proposal they were sitting down to consider was a “deception aimed at bringing Hamas members to a meeting in order to attack them”.
Eyewitnesses described several blasts in the Katara district of Doha, an area popular with tourists. Al Jazeera reported that Hamas sources had told it the blasts struck a meeting of a delegation involved in the talks.
Hamas leaders have survived attack, Reuters reports
Hamas’s ceasefire negotiation delegation have survived the Israeli attack on Doha, two sources from the group have told Reuters.
It comes as the Israeli prime minister’s office confirmed the attack was a “wholly Israeli operation”.
In a statement issued, it said:
Today’s action against the top terrorist chieftains of Hamas was a wholly independent Israeli operation.
Israel initiated it, Israel conducted it, and Israel takes full responsibility.
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Video footage from Doha, shared on social media and on local television channels, showed what appeared to be a huge blast centred on a residential area of white walled compounds with smoke towering above the city and residents running for safety.
Qatar condemns 'cowardly criminal assault' on Doha it says violated international laws
Dr Majed Al Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, has issued a statement on X in response to the Israeli attack in Doha.
Here is the statement from the foreign ministry’s spokesperson in full:
The State of Qatar strongly condemns the cowardly Israeli attack that targeted residential buildings housing several members of the Political Bureau of Hamas in the Qatari capital, Doha.
This criminal assault constitutes a blatant violation of all international laws and norms, and poses a serious threat to the security and safety of Qataris and residents in Qatar.
The Ministry affirms that the security forces, civil defense, and relevant authorities immediately began addressing the incident and taking necessary measures to contain its repercussions and ensure the safety of the residents and surrounding areas.
While the State of Qatar strongly condemns this assault, it confirms that it will not tolerate this reckless Israeli behavior and the ongoing disruption of regional security, nor any act that targets its security and sovereignty.
Investigations are underway at the highest level, and further details will be announced as soon as they are available.
Qatar, along with Egypt and the US, has been mediating between Hamas and Israel and this attack is likely to undermine negotiations even more than they already have been.
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Here are some images being sent to us over the newswires from Qatar as Israel confirmed it had targeted senior Hamas leaders with strikes in the capital, Doha:
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The Israeli military confirms it targeted senior Hamas leaders in Doha
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Shin Bet (ISA) has now put out a statement claiming responsibility for the Doha attack.
The IDF and ISA conducted a precise strike targeting the senior leadership of the Hamas terrorist organization.
For years, these members of the Hamas leadership have led the terrorist organization’s operations, are directly responsible for the brutal October 7 massacre, and have been orchestrating and managing the war against the State of Israel.
Prior to the strike, measures were taken in order to mitigate harm to civilians, including the use of precise munitions and additional intelligence.
The IDF and ISA will continue to operate with determination in order to defeat the Hamas terrorist organization responsible for the October 7 massacre.
Reports of assassination operation carried out against Hamas officials in Qatar
Peter Beaumont is a senior international reporter for the Guardian
Reuters is snapping reports of several explosions in the Katara district of Doha, the capital of Qatar, with the Axios news website and Israel’s Kan television, both quoting Israeli officials, saying it was an assassination operation against Hamas officials, a claim the Guardian could not immediately confirm.
The blasts were reported in the Katara district, which is home to the Katara Cultural Quarter, a reconstructed souk full of restaurants popular with tourists.
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Hamas claims responsibility for Monday's deadly Jerusalem shooting
Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, on Tuesday claimed responsibility for the shooting that killed six people on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday.
The victims of yesterday’s attack included a 79-year-old former cardiologist, a 43-year-old rabbi and a 25-year-old who had recently emigrated from Spain.
Twenty-six others suffered injuries, including six who were left in a serious condition with gunshot wounds.
The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades posted a statement on Telegram on Tuesday reading: “The Al-Qassam Brigades announces its responsibility for the shooting attack that took place yesterday (Monday) morning … near the Ramot settlement junction, which lies on the lands of our beloved Jerusalem.”
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A woman walks along the coastal road used by people evacuating southbound from Gaza City, in Nuseirat in the central Gaza Strip, earlier today.
The UK has not concluded that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, nor that any of the British-made parts for F-35 jets sold to Israel have directly led to breaches of international humanitarian law, ministers have told parliament.
Ministers have also rejected calls for an independent audit of UK arms sales, but admitted they were not in a position to say if Israel’s assault in Gaza had led to any breaches of humanitarian law owing to the complexity of the fighting terrain.
They rejected a proposal that the crime and policing bill for England and Wales be amended to make it easier to prosecute foreign nationals in the UK courts suspected of war crimes, including deprivation of aid or the killing of aid workers, a reform that would make it easier Israeli government leaders to be arrested if they visited the UK.
Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, is due to visit London on Wednesday, where he will give an address and visit No 10.
The UK government’s position came in a letter to Sarah Champion, the chair of the international development select committee, from David Lammy, who was foreign secretary until last week, in response to recommendations from the committee in a report on protecting humanitarian workers.
The government said it was still studying the implications for the British government policy of a provisional finding by the UN international court of justice that Israel’s occupation of Palestine was unlawful.
Death toll from Israeli attacks on Gaza reaches 64,605, says health ministry
At least 64,605 Palestinian people have been killed and 163,319 others injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 7 October 2023, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.
At least 83 Palestinian people were killed and 223 others injured in the last 24 hours alone, the ministry said.
The ministry added:
A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the streets, as ambulance and civil defense crews are unable to reach them at the moment …
Hospitals in the Gaza Strip continue to record more deaths due to famine and malnutrition, most of them children, in light of the severe shortage of food and medicine.
The US has been pushing for the Lebanese government to disarm Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shia militant and political movement. This is something the government had already been doing, but not at the pace the Trump administration wanted.
Hezbollah, created in the 1980s in reaction to Israel’s occupation of Lebanon during the Lebanese civil war, emerged badly weakened from Israel’s war on Lebanon last year, and under US pressure the Lebanese government has ordered the army to devise a plan to disarm the group by the end of the year.
Since the war ended last November with a US-brokered ceasefire, Hezbollah officials have said the group would not discuss its disarmament until Israel withdrew from five hills it controls inside Lebanon and stop the airstrikes that have killed or injured hundreds of people.
Israel has accused Hezbollah of trying to rebuild its military capabilities. Israel’s military has said the five locations in Lebanon provide vantage points or are located across from communities in northern Israel, where about 60,000 Israelis were displaced during the war.
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Lebanon to disarm Hezbollah near Israel border within three months, minister says
Lebanon’s army is set to fully disarm Hezbollah near the border with Israel within three months, the country’s foreign minister Youssef Raggi has told the Agence France-Presse (AFP) news agency.
Raggi said army chief Rodolphe Haykal had presented the government with a five-stage plan last week to monopolise arms within the hands of the Lebanese state.
The first stage should take “three months … during which the removal of weapons will be completed south of the Litani River”, about 30 kilometres (20 miles) from Israel, in November.
Recognising Palestinian statehood will destabilise the Middle East, Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Saar, has warned after several western countries announced their intention to make the move.
French President Emmanuel Macron said in July that France would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN general assembly meeting later this month.
As the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, Patrick Wintour, notes in this story it is almost certain that the UK, France, Canada, Belgium and Malta will recognise the state of Palestine at a UN conference on 22 September to be held on the sidelines of the general assembly.
Britain had suggested it may not recognise Palestine if Israel and Hamas reached a ceasefire, but the Israeli government has adamantly rejected a ceasefire and announced an intention to capture Gaza City.
“The current initiative to recognise a so-called Palestinian state... rewards Hamas for the October 7 massacre,” Saar said in Zagreb on Tuesday, referring to the October 2023 Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, in which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage.
“This initiative will not bring us closer to peace or security, the opposite, it will only destabilise the region,” he added.
Saar spoke at a joint press conference with his Croatian counterpart Gordan Grlic Radman, who emphasised his belief in the two-state solution that Israel rejects.
Flotilla boat carrying aid to Gaza struck by flaming object, video shows
A flotilla carrying aid for Gaza and pro-Palestinian activists has published a video showing one of its boats being struck by a flaming object at Sidi Bou Said port in Tunisia.
The Global Sumud Flotilla (GSF) said the boat had been hit by a drone and that it sustained fire damage to its main deck and below-deck storage, though all six passengers and crew were safe.
Tunisia’s interior ministry said reports of a drone hitting a boat in the port “have no basis in truth”, and that a fire broke out on the vessel itself.
The GSF video showed an object landing on a vessel, with smoke rising soon after.
Dozens of people gathered at the port after the strike, waving Palestinian flags and chanting: “Free Palestine.”
The GSF said an investigation was under way and its results would be released once available.
You can read the full story by my colleague, Lorenzo Tondo, here:
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Gaza’s civil defence agency said Israeli airstrikes continued across Gaza City, and that at least 15 people had been killed across the territory since the early hours of Tuesday.
The agency had said at least 39 people had been killed by Israeli attacks on Monday, including 25 in Gaza City.
Israel's expanded assault on Gaza City will endanger the lives of 'countless civilians', charity warns
ActionAid has said it is “gravely alarmed by the planned reoccupation of Gaza City” which the charity says will endanger the lives of “countless civilians” and heap further devastation on communities already suffering from famine conditions caused by Israel’s aid restrictions.
More than half of ActionAid’s local partners are based in Gaza City – the Strip’s largest urban area – and the charity says in a press release that they “remain determined to continue their lifesaving work for as long as conditions allow”.
One such partner organisation is the Palestinian Development Women Studies Association (PDWSA), which helps with emergency response efforts and offers mental health support for women and girls who have survived violence.
PDWSA staff member Mohammad Al Madhon said:
Where I live in Gaza City, it is subjected to systematic destruction carried out by the occupying army as part of the ongoing war of extermination.
The occupation is using remotely detonated “robots,” in addition to heavy gunfire from quadcopter drones targeting anyone who moves, along with random artillery shelling that strikes our homes and the surrounding area around the clock.
We tried to endure and remain in our homes, but as bombardment intensified, water was cut off, and food became nearly impossible to find, we were forced to search for another place to flee.
We have been looking for a place in the central or southern parts of the Strip, but the immense population density there and the absence of empty spaces prevented that.
On top of this, the insane rise in the prices of land and houses available for rent left us with no choice. Therefore, alongside many other families, we decided to stay in Gaza City with no safe alternative.
ActionAid, which is calling for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and for Israel to allow a surge in humanitarian aid, says the expanded assault on Gaza City poses particular dangers to pregnant women who often have to walk long distances with no food and whose babies development is severely affected if they are malnourished.
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Gaza’s health ministry said in a post on Telegram that over the past day it recorded six new deaths caused by “famine and malnutrition”.
This brings the total number of Palestinian people who have died from famine and malnutrition to 399, including 140 children.
In August, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC), a globally recognised organisation that classifies the severity of food insecurity and malnutrition, said that an “entirely man-made” famine was taking place in Gaza’s largest city, Gaza City, and its surrounding area.
In May, Israel eased a two-month total blockade on aid entering Gaza but supplies remain totally inadequate for the population’s basic needs. Israel has been accused of continuing to obstruct life-saving aid from entering the territory.
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Israel to demolish homes in Palestinian villages of Jerusalem attackers
Israel has ordered the demolition of homes in the West Bank home towns of two Palestinian gunmen who carried out a deadly attack a bus stop in Jerusalem yesterday morning.
The gunmen, from the towns of Qatanna and Qubeiba north of Jerusalem in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, opened fire at a bus stop on the outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday, killing six people.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said he had ordered sanctions to be imposed on the attackers’ family members and residents of the two villages.
Every structure that had been built without permits in the two towns would be demolished, and 750 people would have their permission revoked to work in Israel, the main source of income for many Palestinian families.
Israel claims that demolishing the homes of relatives of attackers and their fellow villagers is a deterrent to future attacks. But it is widely seen as a form of collective punishment, prohibited by international law.
Dan Sabbagh is the Guardian’s defence and security editor
Fifty-one Israeli arms makers and the US defence giant behind the F-35 fighters used to bomb Gaza are among the 1,600 exhibitors at the biennial DSEI trade show that begins in London’s Docklands on Tuesday.
Their presence will be the focus for hundreds planning to demonstrate outside the four-day arms fair, at which the defence secretary, John Healey, is expected to speak alongside senior British military officials.
Campaign Against Arms Trade (Caat) said Israel’s three biggest arms companies – Elbit Systems, Rafael and Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) – were among those planning to attend despite the UK barring an Israeli government delegation last month.
Emily Apple, Caat’s media coordinator, said the British government had reached “peak complicity in genocide” in allowing Israeli arms makers to exhibit, a decision that she said allowed “companies to market their genocide-tested weapons” to international buyers.
You can read the full story here:
At least 11 people have been killed in Israeli air attacks across Gaza since dawn, Al Jazeera is reporting. We have no been able to independently verify this information yet.
Here are some recent images sent to us over the newswires from Gaza:
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Sam Jones is Madrid correspondent for the Guardian
Spain’s prime minister, Pedro Sánchez, has stepped up his scathing criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, accusing Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of “exterminating a defenceless people” by bombing hospitals and “killing innocent boys and girls with hunger”.
Speaking on Monday morning to announce a raft of measures designed to increase the pressure on Netanyahu to stop the military campaign, Sánchez said that while the Spanish government would always support Israel’s right to exist and to defend itself, it felt compelled to try to “stop a massacre”.
“Protecting your country and your society is one thing, but bombing hospitals and killing innocent boys and girls with hunger is another thing entirely,” he said.
“What Prime Minister Netanyahu presented in October 2023 as a military operation in response to the horrific terrorist attacks has ended up becoming a new wave of illegal occupations and an unjustifiable attack against the Palestinian civilian population – an attack that the UN special rapporteur and the majority of experts already describe as a genocide.”
The Spanish prime minister pointed to the numbers of dead, injured, displaced and malnourished. “That isn’t defending yourself; that’s not even attacking,” he said. “It’s exterminating a defenceless people. It’s breaking all the rules of humanitarian law.”
Sánchez also hit out once again at the international community, saying major world powers had ended up “paralysed between indifference over a conflict without end and complicity with the government of Prime Minister Netanyahu”.
You can read the full story here:
Israeli airstrikes and demolitions have destroyed dozens of buildings in areas of Gaza City, with intense bombardments having levelled several neighbourhoods in recent weeks.
Israel has bombed Gaza City residential high-rises in recent days ahead of a long-threatened ground offensive.
Gaza City residents are being told to move to the southern part of the territory to areas that are under frequent Israeli bombardment and are already overcrowded.
The UN, for example, has said the tent camps in al-Mawasi, an area between southern Gaza’s Khan Younis and the coastline, are overcrowded and unsafe, with southern hospitals overwhelmed and undersupplied.
As my colleague William Christou notes in this story, tens of thousands of people have already left the city as Israel has stepped up its bombardment, and the roads leading south have been packed with residents carrying their belongings in carts and trucks.
Gaza City is being gripped by famine caused by Israel’s restrictions on aid and the expanded assault will only deepen the widespread suffering of the civilian population there and could forcibly displace hundreds of thousands of Palestinian people, many of whom are ill or frail.
The Israeli military warned on social media on Tuesday that it would act with “greater force” in Gaza City and told residents to leave.
“To all residents of Gaza City … the defence forces are determined to defeat Hamas and will act with greater force in the Gaza City area,” Colonel Avichay Adraee said in the post on X.
Evacuate immediately via the Al-Rashid axis.
Adraee, the Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, also said: “Your remaining in the city is extremely dangerous.”
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The Israeli military’s order for a large-scale evacuation of Gaza City on Tuesday morning is the first warning for a full evacuation of Gaza’s capital in the current round of fighting.
Also on Tuesday, the AP reported, defence minister Israel Katz said Israel had demolished 30 high-rise buildings in Gaza, which it accused Hamas of using for military infrastructure.
As just reported, Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel planned to destroy at least 50 “towers of terror” that he said were used by Hamas.
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Here’s footage of Benjamin Netanyahu warning residents of Gaza City on Monday to “leave now”, hours after Israel said it would escalate airstrikes on the territory.
It came as Gaza’s health ministry said hospitals had received the bodies of 65 people killed by Israeli fire over the past 24 hours, with another 320 people wounded.
The Israeli prime minister says in his address that over the past couple of days the Israeli air force has taken down 50 “terrors towers” and “this is only an introduction” to a “powerful main act, which is a ground manoeuvre of our forces which are now assembling and organising, into Gaza City”.
Netanyahu also said, addressing “the residents of Gaza”: “you have been warned: leave now”.
The footage is here:
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Israel’s large-scale evacuation order for Gaza City residents comes as mediation efforts by the US, Qatar and Egypt have failed to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas in order to secure a ceasefire and the release of remaining hostages Hamas holds in Gaza.
Israel had already taken control of 75% of Gaza since the war began with Hamas’ October 2023 assault on southern Israel in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken as hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.
Israeli authorities say 20 of the remaining 48 hostages in Gaza are alive, as Reuters reports.
Israel’s subsequent military assault has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, Gaza’s health ministry says, as well as internally displacing nearly the entire population and leaving much of the territory in ruins.
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Israel’s military orders Gaza City residents to evacuate
Israel’s military has ordered Gaza City residents to evacuate ahead of an expanded offensive to seize the territory’s largest urban centre, part of a planned takeover stirring international alarm.
Taking over the city of 1 million Palestinians complicates ceasefire efforts to end the nearly two-year war. On Monday, Benjamin Netanyahu warned residents of Gaza City to leave immediately, hours after Israel said it would ramp up airstrikes. The Israeli prime minister said forces were now organising and assembling into Gaza City for a ground “manoeuvre”.
International critics say Israel’s plan – which includes demilitarising the whole strip as Israel takes security control of it – could deepen the humanitarian plight of the 2.2 million people living there, who are also facing a growing famine.
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