Israeli attacks on Gaza residential areas leave 54 dead since dawn

The US Treasury has sanctioned Al Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) over their cooperation with the International Criminal Court, which itself faced US sanctions under the second Trump administration.

“These entities have directly engaged in efforts by the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate, arrest, detain, or prosecute Israeli nationals, without Israel’s consent,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement.

The three organisations were added to the Treasury’s Specially Designated Nationals list, “a list of individuals and companies owned or controlled by, or acting for or on behalf of, targeted countries,” according to its website.

The move comes as Washington intensifies pressure on the ICC over its arrest warrants for Israeli leaders accused of war crimes in Gaza.

The Israeli military on Thursday said it controls 40 percent of Gaza City, the largest urban centre in the Palestinian territory which it is preparing to conquer after nearly two years of devastating war.

Israel has intensified in recent days its bombardments of the area of Gaza City, in the territory's north, ahead of the planned offensive, despite mounting international pressure to halt the campaign.

Gaza's civil defence agency said Israeli strikes on Thursday killed more than 30 people in the city, out of at least 64 Palestinians killed across the Gaza Strip.

A senior European Union official said on Thursday that Israel's operations in Gaza constitute genocide, the first member of the bloc's commission to make that charge.

"The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe's failure to act and speak with one voice, even as protests spread across European cities and 14 U.N. Security Council members call for an immediate ceasefire," Teresa Ribera said at the opening ceremony of the academic year at the Sciences Po university in Paris.

Ribera is the European Commission's Executive Vice President, second only in seniority to President Ursula von der Leyen. The Spanish socialist, whose portfolio includes climate and anti-trust issues, is not responsible for EU foreign policy.

U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff met on Thursday in Paris with senior Qatari officials to discuss a deal to halt the Gaza war and free hostages held there, Axios reported citing two sources familiar with the details.

Axios, citing a source, reported that there was no progress in the negotiations.

Israel's foreign minister said Thursday that his government would not agree to a visit by French President Emmanuel Macron so long as Paris plans to recognise a Palestinian state.

A statement from Israel's foreign ministry said Gideon Saar told France's top diplomat Jean-Noel Barrot in a phone call that "there is no room" for a presidential visit "as long as France persists in its initiative and efforts that harm Israel's interests".

Paris should "reconsider its initiative" to recognise a Palestinian state later this month, Saar said according to the statement, arguing that such a move would undermine regional stability and harm "Israel's national and security interests".

One of the European Union's most senior officials on Thursday called the war in Gaza a "genocide", ramping up criticism of Israel and slamming the 27-nation bloc for failing to act to stop it.

"The genocide in Gaza exposes Europe's failure to act and speak with one voice," European Commission vice president Teresa Ribera said during a speech in Paris.

Top EU officials have so far shied away from calling Israel's actions in the territory a "genocide". One spokesman said it was for the courts to make a legal judgement on whether genocide was happening.

The EU has struggled to take steps over the war in Gaza due to deep divisions between member states pushing for action against Israel and those backing the country.

The splits are also present inside the EU's executive, where Spanish commissioner Ribera has expressed frustration over the failure to push on the issue.

Ribera's use of the term "genocide" could put more pressure on EU commission chief Ursula von der Leyen to take a tougher stance against Israel.

Von der Leyen's commission in July proposed cutting funding to Israeli start-ups over the war in Gaza, but so far the move has not got the backing of a majority of countries.

A Syrian security official said a drone strike near Aleppo airport on Thursday killed two people, with state media reporting the attack but without saying who may be behind it.

According to news agency AFP, its Thursday report noted that a vaporised car was spotted by its correspondent near the airport in Syria's north, with shrapnel scattered around it.

Official news agency SANA reported that "a drone targeted a civilian car on the road to Aleppo International Airport".

Citing the health ministry, it added that at least one person was killed.

Ali al-Youssef, an official with the interior ministry's security forces, told AFP that "two people who were in the car" were killed.

It was not immediately clear who carried out the attack.

Both Israel and a US-led coalition have carried out repeated drone strikes in Syria, but there was no immediate comment from either of them.

The coalition has often struck northern Syria targeting Islamic State (IS) group members.

In August, Syrian state television said coalition forces killed a senior IS leader in Atme, northwest Syria.

South Sudan will not accept Palestinians from Gaza, its government said Thursday, telling reporters there was also no deal with Washington to take more third-nation deportees.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that he would permit Gazans to emigrate voluntarily, and that his government was talking to a number of potential host countries.

Among them was reportedly South Sudan, which in August welcomed Israel's deputy foreign minister Sharren Haskel, calling it "the highest-level engagement from an Israeli official to South Sudan thus far".

But the desperately poor country, which is itself struggling with a worrying uptick of violence, has repeatedly denied reports it would take Palestinians.

"There has never been any question that has been discussed... on the issue of Palestinians being resettled in South Sudan," Philip Jada Natana, director general for bilateral relations, told reporters.

The Israeli military is firing artillery rounds to force civilians out of Gaza City ahead of an expected ground offensive, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz.

Israel is attempting to expel the city's one million inhabitants to southern Gaza before launching an operation to occupy the urban territory.

Military officials believe that between 70,000 and 80,000 people have fled the bombardment in recent weeks but that around a fifth of the population is unlikely to leave their homes.

Israeli forces have killed at least 54 Palestinians across Gaza since dawn today, Al Jazeera Arabic reports, citing medical sources.

More than 30 people were killed in Gaza City as the Israeli military continues its brutal offensive in the north of the enclave.

Another seven were killed while seeking aid in central and southern Gaza.

Two people have been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli attack in the centre of Deir al-Balah, a medical source at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital tells Al Jazeera Arabic.

Pope Leo discussed the "tragic situation in Gaza" during a meeting on Thursday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and called for negotiations toward the release of remaining hostages and a permanent ceasefire in the Palestinian enclave, the Vatican said.

"A prompt resumption of negotiations was hoped for ... to secure the release of all hostages, urgently achieve a permanent ceasefire, facilitate the safe entry of humanitarian aid into the most affected areas, and ensure full respect for humanitarian law," said the statement.

Herzog earlier thanked Leo for the meeting in a post on X, and said he had received a "warm welcome" at the Vatican. The Vatican did not immediately release further details about the meeting.

According to Al Jazeera Arabic, Israeli forces fired on a crowd gathered at an aid distribution site in Rafah, killing seven people and wounding several others.

The deaths add to at least four other aid seekers killed earlier in separate attacks in central and southern Gaza.

At least 84 Palestinians were killed and 338 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza over the past 24 hours, the territory’s health ministry reported.

Many victims remain trapped under rubble, as rescue teams struggle to reach them. At least 17 people were killed while seeking aid, bringing the total number of aid-seeker deaths to 2,356 and injuries to 17,244.

The ministry also verified 401 additional deaths, raising the overall Gaza toll since October 7, 2023, to 64,231 dead and 161,583 injured.

UN staff arrested by Yemen's Houthi rebels earlier this week are suspected of spying for Israel and the United States, a Houthi official told news agency AFP Thursday on condition of anonymity.

At least 11 United Nations workers were detained on Sunday after an Israeli air strike killed the Houthis' prime minister and about half of his cabinet last week.

"Those who were arrested from among the United Nations employees are accused of spying for the American and Israeli aggression," the official said.

"Whoever has the accusations against them confirmed will be referred to trial."

The detainees included workers from the World Food Programme and UNICEF, which provides aid and support for children.

Dozens of other people were arrested on Saturday "on suspicion of collaborating with Israel", a Yemeni security source told AFP at the time.

An official at a Jordanian government-affiliated charity said on Wednesday that aid airdrops over the Gaza Strip had stopped, without providing a reason for the change.

Several foreign countries had joined operations coordinated by the Jordanian military since late July to parachute parcels of humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the UN has declared famine after nearly two years of war.

The airdrops, which aid groups have said were insufficient and could not replace land access, took place with Israeli approval. The last airdrop took place on August 26.

Hussein Al-Shebli, head of the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, told news agency AFP that the airdrops had been suspended "in recent days", without elaborating.

A Jordanian government source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told AFP that unspecified "Israeli obstacles" were behind the change.

The source said Jordan was ready to resume the airdrop operations "if the Israeli obstacles are removed".

Israel's Kan public broadcaster reported on Sunday that the airdrops had been suspended "until further notice".

The Israeli broadcaster said Egypt and Jordan, which led the aid effort, decided to stop it "for their own reasons", adding that no country had submitted new requests to parachute aid into Gaza.

Pope Leo XIV met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog on Thursday as Israel continues its offensive to capture Gaza City, while the Vatican called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of captives taken by Hamas.

Herzog’s motorcade arrived at the Apostolic Palace, where he was escorted through frescoed halls past a line of Swiss guards.

According to Herzog’s office, discussions were expected to focus on the release of captives, combating global anti-Semitism, and protecting Christian communities in the Middle East. The visit was described as occurring “at the invitation of the pope.”

However, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni suggested that Herzog had requested the meeting, noting: “It is the practice of the Holy See to grant requests for audiences addressed to the pope by heads of state and government; it is not the practice to extend invitations to them.”

The suspect accused of gunning down two Israeli embassy staffers outside a Washington museum in what U.S. authorities have called an anti-Israel hate crime is set to appear in court on Thursday to enter a plea to a raft of criminal charges.

Elias Rodriguez, 31, of Chicago, is facing nine federal charges including murder of a foreign official and perpetrating a hate crime resulting in death.

US prosecutors have alleged that Rodriguez was motivated by hatred of Israel when he fatally shot Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Lynn Milgrim, 26, as they were leaving an event at the Capital Jewish Museum in downtown Washington on May 21.

Rodriguez is due to appear for a 10 a.m. EST (0200 GMT) hearing before U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss in Washington federal court.

A London event scrutinising the UK’s role in Israel’s war on Gaza, led by former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn, has officially opened.

“The suffering of the Palestinian people has gone on for a long time, but 63,000 have died since October 2023, and we are watching, livestreamed on television, children being starved to death,” Corbyn said in his opening remarks at The Gaza Tribunal.

“It is our job as members of parliament, it is our job as citizens to hold our government to account for what is going on,” added Corbyn, now an independent MP who recently launched a new left-wing party.

At least 370 Palestinians, including 131 children, have died from starvation in Gaza since Israel’s war began in October 2023, according to the territory’s health ministry.

The ministry reported that three more people succumbed to malnutrition in the past 24 hours.

 The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency said it received a report of an incident 178 nautical miles northwest of Yemen's Red Sea port of Hodeidah, where an unknown projectile was seen to hit the sea some distance from a vessel.

The vessel and crew were safe and proceeding to their next port of call, UKMTO addd ina post on X.

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that Israeli forces carried out a new wave of raids and arrests across the occupied West Bank.

Five people were detained in towns near Hebron, while another five- including a local Fatah leader- were arrested in the Salfit area, where troops also seized money and jewellery from a resident’s home.

In the town of Beit Dajan, near Nablus, soldiers erected a military checkpoint and stopped vehicles for searches. One additional arrest was reported in Bethlehem.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has renewed its appeal for Israel to lift restrictions on its Gaza operations, saying it has been unable to deliver supplies for six months.

“Families in Gaza have been left without essentials. UNRWA has not been allowed to bring in any aid for six months now,” the agency said in a post on X.

It stressed that items such as mattresses, blankets and tents are urgently needed, adding: “UNRWA is ready to deliver – the siege must be lifted.”

An Israeli law barring UNRWA from operating on Israeli soil or coordinating with Israeli authorities came into effect in January, severely impacting the agency’s life-saving work in Gaza.

Since then, Israel has largely shifted aid distribution in Gaza to the US-backed GHF, where distribution centres have repeatedly been the site of deadly shootings targeting aid seekers.

Families in #Gaza have been left without essentials. UNRWA has not been allowed to bring in any aid for 6 months now.

Shelter items like mattresses, blankets, and tents are much needed. UNRWA is ready to deliver—the siege must be lifted. pic.twitter.com/1USNxkGe0y

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) September 4, 2025

Hamas’s military wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, announced on Wednesday that it had launched a series of operations dubbed "The Staff of Moses" in response to Israel’s attempt to capture Gaza City.

A source from the Brigades told Al Jazeera that the initial attacks took place in the Zeitoun district and in Jabalia, in northern Gaza.

The group also released a video purporting to show its fighters targeting Israeli tanks.

Hamas announced late on Wednesday that it was prepared to reach a “comprehensive deal” to end the war, secure a captive exchange and facilitate the withdrawal of all “occupation forces” from Gaza.

The group said it was also open to forming an independent technocratic administration to oversee governance of the enclave.

Hamas reiterated that it was still awaiting Israel’s response to a proposal it accepted on 18 August.

The statement came after remarks by US President Donald Trump, who urged Hamas to release all captives, warning that “things will change rapidly” and “it will end.”

British authorities have charged six people for participating in meetings to plan a demonstration in support of the banned group Palestine Action, prosecutors said Wednesday.

The six, aged from 26 to 62, were charged "with various offences of encouraging support for a proscribed terrorist organisation", the Crown Prosecution Service said in a statement.

They were placed in detention and are due to appear in court on Thursday. They risk up to 14 years in prison.

Palestine Action was designated a terrorist organization and banned in July after vandalism at a Royal Air Force base.

The charges result from 13 online meetings they attended to prepare for several protests over the summer.

During an online press conference Wednesday, representatives of the group Defend Our Juries, to which the arrested individuals belonged, confirmed that demonstrations would go ahead on Saturday in London, Derry in Northern Ireland, and Edinburgh in Scotland.

British police have made arrests at recent protests in support of Palestine Action.

Israel's defence minister vowed Thursday to inflict the biblical 10 plagues of Egypt on Yemen's Houthi rebels after they stepped up their missile attacks against Israel.

"The Huthis are firing missiles at Israel again. A plague of darkness, a plague of the firstborn -- we will complete all 10 plagues," Israel Katz posted on X.

He was referring to the 10 disasters that the Book of Exodus says were inflicted on Egypt by the Hebrew God to convince the pharaoh to free the enslaved Israelites.

Earlier on Thursday, the Israeli army said a missile fired from Yemen struck outside Israeli territory, a day after it intercepted two Houthi missiles.

The Houthis' military spokesman Yahya Saree said the rebels had targeted Tel Aviv's Ben Gurion Airport with a ballistic missile.

The Iran-backed Huthis have vowed to step up their attacks on Israel, after their prime minister and 11 other senior officials were killed in Israeli air strikes last week.

The Houthis have launched repeated drone and missile attacks against Israel since the Gaza war erupted in October 2023, saying the launches are in support of the Palestinians.

Israel has carried out several rounds of retaliatory strikes in Yemen, targeting ports, power stations and the international airport in Sanaa, the rebel-held capital.