Israel levels entire neighbourhoods in bid to occupy Gaza City

TNA’s live coverage of the latest from the war on Gaza concludes for today. Join us again tomorrow at 0800 GMT for updates from the besieged Palestinian enclave.
 

Ilana Gritzewsky, a freed Israeli hostage, addressed the United Nations Security Council, calling for the return of Israelis still held in Gaza.

She said, “People in Israel want this war to end.”

She added, “I'm here ... for the 50 hostages still in Gaza, for their families.”

Addressing her partner, Matan Zangauker, who remains captive, she said, “Matan, stay strong. Don't lose hope. Your mom, sister, our dog, Nuni and I, we are waiting.”

Gritzewsky was abducted during Hamas’s attack on October 7 and freed about two months later in the first prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas.

Israeli drone strikes on a southern suburb of the Syrian capital Damascus killed eight soldiers and wounded others, officials and a war monitor reported Wednesday.

Syria's Foreign Ministry said in a statement that drone strikes Tuesday in the southern Damascus suburb of Kiswah killed eight soldiers. It called the attack “a grave violation of international law” and “clear breach of (Syria's) sovereignty and territorial integrity.”

“It also comes in the context of the repeated aggressive policies pursued by the Israeli occupation aimed at undermining security and stability in the region,” the statement said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on the strikes.

Joyce Msuya, UN assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, told the Security Council that "over half a million people currently face starvation, destitution and death" in Gaza.

"By the end of September, that number could exceed 640,000. … Virtually no one in Gaza is untouched by hunger," Msuya added.

She explained that the famine stems from more than 22 months of "restricted and compromised" humanitarian aid deliveries, a weakened healthcare system, poor sanitation and hygiene, and inadequate shelter.

Although there has been a slight increase in aid trucks entering the enclave, Msuya emphasized that far more assistance is needed, and all restrictions must be lifted to feed Gaza’s population.

She urged the Security Council to “immediately ensure” an end to the fighting, secure the release of all captives, and protect civilians and critical infrastructure.

The EU's humanitarian chief Hadja Lahbib on Wednesday urged the bloc to take tougher action over the war in Gaza as divisions among member states stall moves to punish Israel.

"We are at a turning point and now it's time for the EU to act in a way that matches its international stature," Lahbib, European Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, told journalists.

"Now it's time for the EU to find a collective voice on Gaza."

Splits within the 27-nation bloc between countries backing Israel and those favouring the Palestinians have seen the EU often left hamstrung in the face of the dire humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"We cannot stand by and simply watch innocent civilians, aid workers, journalists being killed and starving to death," Lahbib said.

"Saving lives takes the political courage to find a strong voice that reflects our values and principles."

EU foreign ministers meeting in Denmark this week will discuss a proposal to suspend funding to Israeli start-ups as punishment for the situation in Gaza.

But the bloc has so far failed to garner the majority needed to take that step -- let alone move ahead with more forceful measures against Israel.

The EU's top diplomat Kaja Kallas announced a deal in July with Israel to increase the flow of aid into Gaza but so far it has not met expectations.

Lahbib said that the situation had improved "very, very partially" but that the aid getting into the territory remained a "drop in the ocean".

The Israeli military’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee, stated that residents of Gaza City, which Israel plans to seize, will inevitably be forced to leave. He suggested families could relocate to southern areas like al-Mawasi, which has faced near-daily attacks.

Adraee claimed on X that those moving south would receive “the maximum humanitarian assistance,” despite Israel’s history of restricting aid, targeting displacement zones, and attacking designated safe areas.

“The evacuation of Gaza City is unavoidable,” he said.

The UN Security Council has convened to address the situation in the Middle East, with a focus on the Palestinian issue.

Ramiz Alakbarov, the UN humanitarian coordinator for the occupied Palestinian territory and deputy special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, is set to deliver the opening remarks.

Israel on Wednesday called on UN-backed hunger monitor the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) to immediately retract a report which determined that famine was present in parts of Gaza.

"Israel demands that the IPC will retract immediately its fabricated report and publish a notice," the director general of Israel's foreign ministry, Eden Bar Tal, told a press conference.

He said Israel would share "evidence" of misconduct in preparing the report with IPC's donors if the organisation fails to heed "within a short time", calling it a "politicised" institute that is "working for an evil terror organisation".

Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said on Wednesday that there will be more information in the “next few days” on a strike on Nasser hospital in Gaza on Monday, that killed at least 20 people, including five journalists.

“We're still looking into the details of that incident, and so that in the next few days we will have more information about that,” Danon told reporters.

“Our goal is to fight terrorists, not journalists, not anyone who is not involved in terrorism,” he said.

Oscar-winning Spanish director Pedro Almodovar urged Madrid to cut all diplomatic and commercial ties with Israel Wednesday over the war in Gaza, calling the conflict a "genocide".

The "All About My Mother" director called on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez to convince other European leaders to do the same in a video posted on Instagram by his production company.

"I ask our government to sever diplomatic, commercial, and all types of relations with the State of Israel as a sign of repulsion against the genocide it is committing against the people of Gaza before the eyes of the entire world," he said.

Almodovar has previously signed a letter with other Spanish artists including Javier Bardem denouncing the "silence" over Gaza during the Cannes film festival in May.

Sanchez's leftist government has been among the most vocal critics in the European Union of Israel's ongoing military campaign in Gaza.

He called it a "genocide" in June having recognised a Palestinian state in May 2024, but Spain has not broken ties with Israel.

Israel will add two humanitarian aid distribution centres in the southern Gaza Strip to receive Palestinians it expects to relocate there when the military carries out its planned takeover of Gaza City, the Israeli military said on Wednesday.

It said in a statement that the work would be completed in coming days, replacing the centre in the Tel al-Sultan neighbourhood and bringing the number of distribution centres to a total of five.

The Gaza health ministry said on Wednesday 10 more people had died of malnutrition and starvation, raising deaths from such causes to 313 people, including 119 children, since the Gaza war started nearly two years ago. 

Syria on Wednesday condemned an Israeli drone strike that killed six soldiers the previous day, calling it a "clear violation" of the country's sovereignty.

In a statement, Syria's foreign ministry called the strike "a gross violation of international law and the United Nations Charter".

It added that the attack represented "a clear breach of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic".

State television reported six army personnel "were killed in strikes by Israeli occupation drones" near Kisweh, outside Damascus in the Tuesday attack.

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said in a speech on Wednesday that her government condemned the "unjustifiable" killing of journalists in Gaza.

Israel struck Nasser Hospital in the south of the Gaza Strip on Monday, killing at least 20 people, including five journalists who worked for Reuters, the Associated Press, Al Jazeera and others.

"It is an unacceptable attack on press freedom and on all those who courageously risk their lives to report on the tragedy of war," she said during a political conference in the beach town of Rimini.

Meloni is one of the latest Western leaders to condemn Monday's strike, which has drawn wide international criticism.

Turkey's foreign ministry lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday over remarks acknowledging the Armenian "genocide", denouncing them as a bid to cover up the bloodshed in Gaza.

"Netanyahu's statement regarding the events of 1915 is an attempt to exploit past tragedies for political reasons. Netanyahu ... is attempting to cover up the crimes he and his government have committed," it said.

Israeli and American officials will meet in Washington on Wednesday to discuss the aftermath of war in Gaza, despite no sign that the conflict, which has killed tens of thousands and pushed its largest city into famine, is nearing its end.

Their meeting comes as ceasefire talks show little apparent movement and outrage mounts over deadly Israeli strikes on a southern Gaza hospital that killed 20, including journalists and emergency responders.

U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff told Fox News on Tuesday that President Donald Trump would chair the meeting, which would feature “a very comprehensive plan we’re putting together on the next day.” He did not offer details.

Talks about the strip’s future are unfolding as aid groups warn an expanded Israeli offensive could worsen the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory, where most residents are displaced, neighborhoods lie in ruins, and parts teeter on famine.

The meeting comes nine days after Hamas said it accepted a ceasefire plan from Arab mediators, following Israel’s announced plans to seize Gaza’s biggest city, where some health and infrastructure services remain online and hundreds of thousands are sheltering.

Lebanese state media said US envoy Tom Barrack cut short a visit to the south on Wednesday amid protests in two planned stops against US pressure to disarm Hezbollah.

The official National News Agency (NNA) reported that Barrack arrived by helicopter at a Lebanese army barracks in Marjayoun near the border, with soldiers deploying in the area.

The news agency later reported that the envoy had cancelled planned stops in nearby Khiam, which was pummelled by Israel during its latest hostilities with Hezbollah, and in the coastal city of Tyre.

A spokesperson told news agency AFP the US embassy did not comment on officials' schedules for security reasons.

According to AFP, a group of residents in Khiam were seen waving Hezbollah flags or holding pictures of fighters killed in the conflict, demonstrating against Barrack.

Some were standing on a Star of David that had been drawn on the road in blue, near the words in Arabic "America is the great Satan", and "Barrack is animal" written in English.

The last was a reference to comments by the US envoy at a Beirut press conference on Tuesday which sparked an outcry in Lebanon.

Barrack told journalists to "act civilised", adding: "The moment that this starts becoming chaotic, like animalistic, we're gone."

Bilal Kashmar, an official from the southern municipalities union, said dozens of people had demonstrated in Tyre on Wednesday against Barak's expected visit and Washington's "biased policies".

Bosnia's national museum has defended a decision to donate funds from the display of a precious Jewish manuscript to the people of Gaza.

It said ticket sales to see the Sarajevo Haggadah, one of the most precious religious manuscripts of the Middle Ages, would be donated to "support the people of Palestine who suffer systematic, calculated and cold-blooded terror, directly by the state of Israel".

The move drew intense criticism earlier this month from Jewish organisations, with some abroad accusing the museum of antisemitism.

But museum director Mirsad Sijaric, 55, stood by the decision and said he had received numerous messages of support from Jewish people around the world.

"Did we choose one of the sides? Yes, we chose one of the sides," Sijaric told news agency AFP.

Sijaric insisted the move was "absolutely not" directed against Jewish people, but was instead a message of opposition to what was happening in Gaza.

"Feigning neutrality is siding with evil. In my opinion, this is pure evil, and one must oppose it."

Australia has rejected claims that Israeli intervention prompted the government of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to expel Iran’s ambassador to Canberra, following allegations that Tehran directed antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne.

“Complete nonsense,” Australian Minister for Home Affairs Tony Burke told ABC Radio on Wednesday when asked about Israel claiming credit for Australia’s decision to order Tehran’s ambassador, Ahmad Sadeghi, to leave the country.

Albanese said on Tuesday that Australia had reached “the deeply disturbing conclusion” through “credible intelligence” that found Iran’s government had “directed” at least two attacks against the country’s Jewish community.

In response to ABC questions, Israeli government spokesperson David Mencer praised Australia for taking “threats seriously” against the Jewish community, attributing this to a “forthright intervention” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Mencer added that Netanyahu had “made very forthright comments about the [Australian] prime minister himself,” which triggered Albanese to act.

Israeli police said Wednesday that security forces seized roughly 1.5 million shekels ($447,000) of "terror funds" during a raid in the occupied West Bank a day earlier.

Israeli forces targeted a currency exchange in Ramallah on Tuesday, leaving dozens of Palestinians wounded, according to the Red Crescent.

Israel carries out frequent raids across the West Bank, where tensions have remained high throughout the Gaza war, but incursions into central Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, are relatively rare.

A statement from a police spokesman on Wednesday said Israeli border police and the military "raided a money exchange business in the heart of Ramallah that was used to transfer funds to the Hamas terror organisation".

"Forces seized significant sums of money in both foreign and local currencies, with a total value of approximately 1,528,832 shekels, including US dollars, Jordanian dinars, euros, and other foreign currencies," the statement said.

"Nine wanted suspects accused of involvement in terror activity were arrested and taken, together with the seized evidence, for investigation," it added.

Pope Leo made a "strong appeal" to the global community on Wednesday to end the nearly two-year genocidal war in Gaza, calling for a permanent ceasefire, release of hostages and the provision of humanitarian aid.

"I once again issue a strong appeal ... so that an end may be put to the conflict in the Holy Land, which has caused so much terror, destruction, and death," the pontiff said in his weekly audience at the Vatican.

"I implore that all hostages be freed, that a permanent ceasefire be reached, that the safe entry of humanitarian aid be facilitated, and that international humanitarian law be fully respected," he said.

Israeli drone strikes killed six Syrian soldiers outside Damascus, state television reported Wednesday, updating the toll for attacks the previous day, which also saw a man killed in the south.

Israel has carried out hundreds of strikes in Syria since an Islamist-led alliance toppled longtime ruler Bashar al-Assad in December.

It has also opened talks with the interim authorities in Damascus.

"Six members of the Syrian Arab Army were killed in strikes by Israeli occupation drones" near Kisweh, outside Damascus, state television said referring to the Tuesday attack.

A defence ministry official had previously told news agency AFP on condition of anonymity that an Israeli drone targeted "one of the military buildings of the 44th Division".

The Israeli military did not respond following the latest reports.

Earlier Tuesday, state news agency SANA reported that "a young man was killed in an Israeli strike on a home in the village of Taranja", on the formerly Syria-controlled side of the armistice line on the Golan Heights.

Gaza’s Health Ministry reported that 10 people, including two children, have died from famine and malnutrition in the past 24 hours.

This raises the total number of hunger-related deaths to 313, including 119 children.

A young man has died from injuries sustained when Israeli forces targeted people waiting for humanitarian aid south of Khan Younis, according to Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, the Arabic-language sister site of The New Arab.

Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli forces carried out a series of overnight raids across the occupied West Bank.

During the incursions, Israeli forces arrested five people in towns near Bethlehem after storming their relatives’ homes.

They also deployed dozens of military vehicles and snipers in central Nablus, forcing some residents to evacuate.

Additionally, raids were conducted in the town of Tammun near Tubas, while a home in al-Yamoun, near Jenin, was stormed and property damaged.

At least 21 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks since early Wednesday, according to Al Jazeera Arabic- citing medical sources in Gaza hospitals.

Among the dead were four people who had been seeking humanitarian aid, its sources added.

The Israeli military said Wednesday it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, where Houthi rebels have regularly launched attacks they say are in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted by the IAF," Israel's army said on Telegram, referring to the air force.