Israeli strike kills children near Gaza clinic as truce talks enter fifth day

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Israel said it detected the firing of a missile from Yemen Thursday evening, but it fell before reaching Israeli airspace.

Yemen's Houthi rebels have continued to fire missiles at Israel in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza.

Human rights defenders rallied on Thursday to support the top U.N. expert on Palestinian rights, Francesca Albanese, after the United States imposed sanctions on her over what it said was "unfair" criticism of Israel.

"Even in the face of fierce disagreement, U.N. Member States should engage substantively and constructively, rather than resort to punitive measures," said United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk, as he urged Washington to reverse course.

The sanctions on Albanese set a dangerous precedent, said the spokesperson for U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, adding that the special rapporteurs do not report to Guterres and he has no authority over them.

"The use of unilateral sanctions against special rapporteurs, or any other U.N. official or expert, is unacceptable," said U.N. spokesperson Stephane Dujarric.

Juerg Lauber, the Swiss permanent representative to the U.N. who now holds the rotating presidency of the Human Rights Council, said he regretted the sanctions, and called on states to "refrain from any acts of intimidation or reprisal" against the body's experts.

Ten people have been rescued after Yemen's Huthis sank a cargo ship, an EU naval force said Thursday, with three killed and 12 missing in one of the rebel group's deadliest Red Sea attacks.

Three Filipino crew and a Greek member of the Eternity C ship's onboard security team were plucked from the sea overnight, "bringing the total number of those rescued to 10", the European Union's Operation Aspides naval task force posted on X.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that Israel was ready to negotiate a permanent ceasefire in Gaza during a 60-day truce but only if the Palestinian territory was demilitarised.

US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff has proposed a 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of half of the 20 living captives still in Gaza, Netanyahu said on Wednesday.

"At the beginning of this ceasefire, we will enter negotiations for a permanent end to the war," he said in a video message from Washington on Thursday.

He said Israel's "fundamental conditions" were that "Hamas lays down its weapons" and no longer has "governing or military capabilities".

"If this can be achieved through negotiations, great. If it cannot be achieved through negotiations within 60 days, we will achieve it through other means, by using force, the force of our heroic army," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Thursday urged joint UK-France recognition of a Palestinian state, calling such moves "the only hope for peace" in the conflict-ridden region.

Flanking UK leader Keir Starmer at a news conference as he wrapped up a three-day state visit to Britain, Macron said he wanted to "initiate this political dynamic" of recognising Palestinian statehood.

A United Nations team got about 75,000 litres of fuel into Gaza on Wednesday, the first such delivery in 130 days, said UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric on Thursday.

"The amount entered yesterday isn’t sufficient to cover even one day of energy requirements. Fuel is still running out and services will shut down if far greater volumes do not enter immediately," Dujarric told reporters.

Israel will strike Iran again if it is threatened by Tehran, Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Thursday.

"Israel’s long arm will reach you in Tehran, Tabriz, Isfahan, and anywhere you try to threaten or harm Israel. There is no place to hide", Katz said at an air force graduation ceremony, according to a statement from his office.

"If we must return, we will do so with greater force."

Israel's Magen David Adom (MDA) emergency service said an attack in a commercial area in the occupied West Bank on Thursday left one person dead, without specifying the cause of death.

"Following the terror attack at Gush Etzion junction... paramedics have pronounced a 20-year-old male deceased," an MDA spokesperson said. The circumstances of the attack remain unclear.

UN rights expert Francesca Albanese on Thursday denounced US sanctions against her as "calculated to weaken my mission" as rapporteur on the Palestinian territories.

"I will continue to do what I have to do. Yes, of course, it will be challenging... I'm putting everything I have on the line," Albanese told reporters during a visit to Ljubljana.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday announced sanctions against the outspoken UN special rapporteur on the rights situation in the Palestinian territories.

Yemeni Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said on Thursday that no company could be permitted to transport goods related to Israel through designated areas at sea.

He reiterated that a Houthi ban on navigation, the group sees as associated with Israel through the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, would remain in place.

The Iran-aligned Houthis sank two ships in the Red Sea earlier this week after months of calm. 

The European Union's foreign policy arm on Thursday presented 10 options for diplomatic action against Israel after it found "indications" last month that Israel breached human rights obligations in a pact governing its ties with the bloc.

In a document prepared for EU member countries and seen by Reuters, the options included major steps such as suspending the EU-Israel Association Agreement and more minor actions such as suspending EU-Israel technical projects.

Most of the measures would require the approval of all or most EU member countries. Diplomats say it is not clear whether there is a willingness among a sufficient number of member states to pursue any of them. 

The UN called on Washington Thursday to reverse its decision to sanction a UN expert who has repeatedly accused Israel of committing genocide in Gaza and has criticised US policy on the war there.

United Nations rights chief Volker Turk also called for a halt to "attacks and threats" against people appointed by the UN and other international institutions like the International Criminal Court, whose judges have also been hit with US sanctions.

"I urge the prompt reversal of US sanctions against a Special Rapporteur of the UN Human Rights Council, Francesca Albanese, in response to work she has undertaken under the mandate on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory," Turk said in a statement.

Hamas said the two stabbing attacks against Israeli soldiers in the village of Rummanah near Jenin and at the Gush Etzion settlement near Hebron followed escalating crimes by Israeli forces against Palestinians. 

The Palestinian group condemned "the ongoing massacres, assassinations, and brutal attacks carried out by the army and settler militias, which have not spared children, women, or the elderly", and it mourned two Palestinian suspects of today's attacks shot dead by Israeli soldiers.

"Our people and their resistance will not stand idly by in the face of this ongoing criminality and will continue to confront the occupation with all forms of resistance until it is defeated and our national rights are restored," it said in a statement published on Telegram.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Thursday that the US is hopeful of securing a ceasefire deal in Gaza and that US envoy Steve Witkoff is optimistic that proximity talks will be held soon.

"I think we're closer, and I think perhaps we're closer than we've been in quite a while," Rubio told reporters at the ASEAN summit in Malaysia. He said he spoke with Witkoff on Wednesday night.

Indirect negotiations aimed at securing a truce in Gaza between Hamas and Israel entered their fifth day in Qatar on Thursday, an official with knowledge of the talks told AFP.

"Hamas and Israel remain in Qatar," the official said on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of talks.

Mediators were "shuttling between the two sides to exchange ideas with the aim of closing the remaining gaps and maintaining momentum towards a deal", the official added.

The EU struck a deal with Israel on Thursday to increase aid access to Gaza, which should see more food trucks entering and the opening of additional crossing points, the bloc's top diplomat said.

"Today, we reached an agreement with Israel to expand humanitarian access to Gaza," European Union foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas wrote on X.

"This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers. We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed," Kallas added.

Today, we reached an agreement with Israel to expand humanitarian access to Gaza.

This deal means more crossings open, aid and food trucks entering Gaza, repair of vital infrastructure and protection of aid workers.

We count on Israel to implement every measure agreed.

— Kaja Kallas (@kajakallas) July 10, 2025

An Israeli strike hit Palestinians near a medical centre in Gaza on Thursday, killing 16, including children and wounding more people, local health authorities said.

Khalil al-Deqran, spokesperson for the health ministry in Gaza's government, said Israel had targeted a medical centre and that six of the dead were children.

Many of those injured had suffered severe wounds to the head and chest, he said.

Hamas on Thursday said it opposes any ceasefire deal that includes a large Israeli military presence in Gaza, after offering to release some captives.

The group said in its announcement of the partial captive release that disagreements over the free flow of aid into Gaza and Israel's military withdrawal were sticking points in the discussions.

It also wants "real guarantees" for a lasting peace.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim on Thursday said the group was committed to the talks to end the war "as soon as possible".

But he told AFP: "We cannot accept the perpetuation of the occupation of our land and the surrender of our people to isolated enclaves under the control of the occupation army (Israel).

"This is what the negotiating delegation is presenting to the occupation so far in the current round of negotiations in Doha."

A man was killed Thursday in an Israeli drone strike on southern Lebanon, the health ministry said, after Israel announced it was carrying out "special, targeted operations" against Hezbollah.

"One man was killed and two others wounded in an Israeli enemy drone strike that targeted a motorcycle in the village of Mansouri" near the coastal city of Tyre, the ministry said.

At least 47 Palestinians have now been killed in a series of Israeli attacks since Thursday, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

At least 16 Palestinians, including 10 children, were killed after Israeli strikes targeted aid seekers lining up to receive nutritional supplements for children in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, Wafa ​​​​​​reports.

Yemen's Houthi rebels claimed responsibility on Thursday for a missile attack targeting Israel's Ben Gurion airport, after the Israeli military said it had intercepted the strike.

The Iran-backed Houthis "carried out a qualitative military operation" using a ballistic missile, military spokesman Yahya Saree said in a video statement.

Israeli soldiers killed a 55-year-old man in the north of the occupied West Bank on Thursday, an incident the Israeli army said involved a stabbing attack.

The Ramallah-based health ministry said the body in charge of coordination with Israel informed it that soldiers "shot and killed" the man in Rummanah, near Jenin, in the morning.

The Israeli military said separately that troops deployed in the village "neutralised" a man after he stabbed and "moderately injured" a soldier.

The Israeli army said early Thursday it had intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, days after carrying out strikes on Huthi rebel targets in the country.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted," the army wrote on social media platform X.

Hamas has said it is ready to release 10 captives as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal under negotiations.

In a statement last night, the group said it had "demonstrated the necessary flexibility" and was keen on "making the ongoing efforts succeed".

The statement added that the core issues which remain under negotiation are the flow of humanitarian aid, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip, and applying "genuine guarantees" for a permanent ceasefire.

Recent reports have suggested that no breakthrough was achieved during the indirect truce talks between Hamas and Israel in Doha.

Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip have killed at least 24 Palestinians since Thursday, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

At least 13 were waiting in line for the distribution of nutritional supplements in Deir el-Balah.