29 Palestinians, 5 Israeli troops killed in Gaza amid ceasefire push

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

Gaza’s Health Ministry has raised alarm over a surge in meningitis cases, particularly among children under five, amid worsening humanitarian and environmental conditions across the territory.

In a statement, the ministry reported a sharp increase in both suspected and confirmed meningitis infections, citing the collapse of the healthcare system and mass displacement as key drivers of the crisis.

It warned that the rapid spread of disease is being fuelled by overcrowded shelters, contaminated water, sewage overflow, and waste accumulation, all of which have contributed to a severe public health emergency.

Palestinian Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Varsen Aghabekian has called on the European Union to take immediate and tougher measures to stop what she described as Israel’s campaign of “genocide, displacement, and starvation” in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Speaking in Ramallah during a meeting with Christophe Bijou, the EU’s new special representative for the Middle East peace process, Aghabekian outlined the escalating humanitarian and political crisis in Gaza and the West Bank amid ongoing Israeli attacks.

She urged the EU to turn its stated policies into concrete actions that support a just peace and the realisation of an independent Palestinian state.

US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have concluded their second meeting in under 24 hours, according to the White House press pool.

The closed-door meeting, which lasted an hour, ended shortly after 6pm local time in Washington.

Earlier, Trump said the talks would focus solely on Gaza.

Two Palestinians were injured on Tuesday after a group of Israeli settlers raided the town of Surif, northwest of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.

According to security sources cited by Wafa news agency, the settlers launched multiple attacks, set fire to agricultural land, and physically assaulted local residents, injuring two Palestinians.

The Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission reports that settlers have carried out over 2,150 attacks in the first half of 2025 alone, resulting in four Palestinian deaths.

Iran's nuclear programme has been "very, very delayed" by US and Israeli strikes, France's foreign intelligence chief said on Tuesday, wading into a contentious debate over just how hard it was hit.

US President Donald Trump has insisted that Iran's key nuclear facilities were "obliterated" in last month's air strikes, angrily bashing assessments to the contrary, including, reportedly, by his own administration.

Asked how much the strikes had delayed Iran's nuclear programme, Nicolas Lerner, head of the DGSE French spy agency, said: "Undeniably various months, certainly."

"Our assessment today is that every stage of the process", from enriching uranium to designing a nuclear warhead and mounting it on a missile, "was very seriously affected, very seriously damaged", Lerner told French news channel LCI.

"The Iranian nuclear programme as we know it has been very, very delayed," he said.

He added that the assessment "nevertheless... needs to be fine-tuned".

"No intelligence service in the world was capable in the hours after these strikes of making a perfect, full evaluation of what happened," he said.

A memoir by an Israeli man held in captivity for more than a year by Hamas is coming out this fall in the U.S.

Eli Sharabi's "Hostage," written in Hebrew and already a bestseller in Israel, is the first published memoir by anyone kidnapped by Hamas during the deadly surprise attack of Oct. 7, 2023.

Harper Influence, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced Tuesday that the English-language edition of his book will come out this Oct. 7, the 2-year anniversary.

Sharabi, 53, was released in early February and has said that he had shrunk to under 100 pounds- less than the weight of his youngest daughter, who was killed along with his wife and older daughter.

More than 1,000 were killed in the attack and more than 200 taken hostage.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has strongly condemned the ongoing Israeli attacks in Gaza and criticised Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, DC.

CAIR stated, “In a sane world, the Israeli government’s slaughter of nearly 80 helpless Palestinians in a single day using American weapons would be major news and members of Congress would treat Benjamin Netanyahu like Hannibal Lecter. Instead, Israel’s daily killing machine is largely ignored while Netanyahu, a wanted war criminal, walks freely on Capitol Hill.”

They further accused Israel of attempting “to slaughter as many Palestinians as it can as ceasefire discussions progress, and then place those remaining in modern-day concentration camps for reeducation and deportation.” CAIR called on the Trump administration to stop supporting what they described as “this madness.”

Before his second meeting with Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed reporters on Capitol Hill, asserting that any post-war vision for Gaza must exclude Hamas.

Netanyahu reiterated Israel’s commitment to achieving its war objectives: “to free all our hostages, to bring about the destruction of Hamas’s military and governance capacities, and to ensure that Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel”.

He emphasised: “That means no Hamas. This must be understood.”

Netanyahu acknowledged the strategy would involve “some moves that are very painful [to Israel] and some that are very painful to Hamas”, but maintained that the ultimate goal remains “the freeing of our hostages and the defeat of Hamas”.

Despite international pressure for the permanent end to the war, he dismissed the need to reveal Israel’s military plans, stating: “We are fighting a very cruel, cynical enemy, and we don’t need to tell it our plans.”

Trump’s special envoy, Steve Witkoff, said a 60-day Gaza ceasefire deal could be reached by the end of the week.

His remarks follow meetings in Washington with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to return to Israel on Thursday after further talks.

Trump confirmed a second meeting with Netanyahu will take place today.

A Qatari delegation arrived at the White House on Tuesday for talks about a Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, Axios reported, citing a source familiar with the details.

The Qatari delegation met with senior White House officials for several hours, prior to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's arrival for his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, according to the Axios report.

Since January, US President Donald Trump has made a series of controversial and widely condemned statements and proposals regarding Gaza. On 15 January, before taking office, he announced a ceasefire and hostage deal.

By 25 January, just days into his presidency, he suggested relocating Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and Jordan. He reiterated this plan on 27, 30, and 31 January, insisting neighbouring countries would accept displaced Palestinians.

On 4 February, Trump escalated his proposal by calling for the permanent displacement of Gazans, later suggesting a full US takeover and redevelopment of Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East". His aides later walked back parts of these comments, framing them as temporary measures.

On 10 February, Trump stated Palestinians would not have a right to return, and a day later, he told Jordan’s King Abdullah that the US would "take and hold" Gaza.

On 26 February, Trump shared an AI-generated video depicting a redeveloped Gaza under US control.

In April and July, during meetings with Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Trump reiterated his vision of post-war displacement and US control, while Israel said it was working with Washington to find countries willing to absorb Palestinians.

Meanwhile, Trump announced progress on a potential 60-day ceasefire deal, though Hamas has called for a permanent end to the war. 

Gaza ceasefire negotiations in Doha have made progress, especially on the humanitarian aid issue, according to a source speaking to The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site al-Araby al-Jadeed.

According to al-Araby al-Jadeed, rump’s envoy, Steve Witkoff, is expected to arrive in Doha on Friday or Saturday to announce a 60-day truce- but only if all parties finalise key issues.

Hamas has reportedly secured an agreement for aid to be delivered through the UN, bypassing the controversial US-Israeli backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Remaining hurdles include Israeli army redeployment maps, the exchange of Israeli and Palestinian detainees, and Hamas’s demand for US guarantees that Israel won’t resume war after the truce ends.

The source said Trump is committed to avoiding renewed conflict, though no official U.S. assurance will be issued.

Five Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, the military said Tuesday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lamented a "difficult morning" as he visited Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump, who is pressing for a ceasefire in the more than 21-month war.

"All of Israel bows its head and mourns the fall of our heroic soldiers, who risked their lives in the battle to defeat Hamas and free all our hostages," Netanyahu posted on X.

The Israeli military said the five soldiers, aged between 20 and 28, "fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip".

Two others were severely wounded and "evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment", it said, adding their families had been notified.

"The investigation indicates that the force was hit by three (improvised explosive devices) that were activated within a matter of minutes," military spokesman Effie Defrin said.

A force that was deployed to rescue the troops, "encountered fire that opened towards it, wounding some of the fighters", Defrin added.

He said Israeli troops were now "surrounding the Beit Hanoun area from all directions, above and below ground," and that dozens of militants were located there.

Abu Obeida, the spokesman for Hamas's armed wing, said "the complex Beit Hanun operation is yet another blow delivered by our valiant fighters".

"The war of attrition our fighters are waging against the enemy -- from the north of the Strip to its south -- will inflict additional losses on it every day," the spokesman of the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement.

United Airlines confirmed Tuesday that it will resume daily flights to Tel Aviv later this month after suspending service there intermittently due to recent escalations in the Middle East conflicts.

The airline said flights from New York and Newark to Tel Aviv will restart on July 21, with a second daily flight resuming the following day. Tickets for the Tel Aviv flights became available on Tuesday.

Major U.S. airlines suspended flights in and out of Israel after the nation declared war following a massive attack by Hamas in October of 2023. There have been on-again-off-again resumptions of flights there during the past year-and-a-half as the violence there has subsided and then escalated again.

United announced in February that it was resuming the same New York/Newark service to Tel Aviv in March, only to suspended it again later in the spring after Houthi missiles landed near Tel Aviv's main airport, according to media reports.

Delta announced in early April that it had resumed its daily, non-stop service to Tel Aviv before suspending it again after the Houthi attack. Delta re-started service weeks later, then suspended its New York-Tel Aviv service again in June after Israel and the U.S. launched strikes on Iran. Delta said at the time that the latest pause would last until Aug. 31.

United says it has flown to Tel Aviv more than any other U.S. carrier this year while following “a detailed assessment of operational considerations in the region” and consulting with the unions representing its flight attendants and pilots.

United also offers connections to Tel Aviv through partners including Lufthansa.

Saudi Arabia's foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud met his Iranian counterpart Abbas Araghchi in Mecca on Tuesday and they discussed bilateral ties and the latest developments in the region, Saudi state news agency SPA said.

Earlier, Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson had said Araqchi would visit Saudi Arabia on his way back from Brazil to discuss the peace and security of the region.

U.S. President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to meet again on Tuesday at the White House, Israeli media reported.

The White House did not immediately comment on reports that Trump would meet Netanyahu again.

French President Emmanuel Macron demanded on Tuesday a ceasefire in Gaza "without any condition," saying that a war without end in Gaza poses a threat to the whole region.

He made the comments during a state visit to the UK.

European powers would have to restore UN sanctions on Iran if there were no nuclear deal that guaranteed European security interests, a French diplomatic source said on Tuesday.

The source spoke after a call between French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot and his British counterpart David Lammy ahead of a Franco-British summit.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi on Tuesday said that Iran remains interested in diplomacy but "we have good reason to have doubts about further dialogue."

In recent days, Iran received messages indicating that the United States may be ready to return to negotiations, Araghchi wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times newspaper titled "Israel’s war sabotaged diplomacy. The US can revive it."

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Saudi Arabia on his way back from Brazil to meet with officials on bilateral relations and the peace and security of the region, Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesperson said on Tuesday in a post on X.

The Israeli army said Tuesday it killed a member of the Palestinian Hamas group in a rare air strike on north Lebanon.

The strike targeted a vehicle just outside the port city of Tripoli, which is neighboured by two Palestinian refugee camps.

Lebanon's health ministry said two were killed and three were wounded in the attack.

This is the first Israeli strike on northern Lebanon since the 27 November ceasefire. Israel carried out a handful of air strikes in regions outside south Lebanon, Beirut's southern suburbs and the eastern Beqaa region during the war.

"النهار": استهداف سيارة في العيرونية قضاء زغرتا شمالي لبنان pic.twitter.com/C8TpqKzGm2

— Annahar النهار (@Annahar) July 8, 2025

European Union naval force in the Middle East said a Houthi attack on a ship in the Red Sea killed three mariners and wounded two others on Tuesday.

An Israeli military official said on Tuesday that Iranian air strikes had hit some Israeli military sites during the war last month, the first such apparent public acknowledgement that such locations had been struck.

The official, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with military briefing rules, said that "very few" sites had been hit and that they remained functional.

The official declined to provide further details, including identifying which military locations were affected or how severe the damage was to military infrastructure.

The E3 - Germany, France and the UK - could snap back on sanctions on Iran that could lead to greater pain for the Iranian regime unless they get serious about stepping back from their nuclear programme, UK Foreign Minister David Lammy warned Tuesday.

British Foreign Minister David Lammy on Tuesday stressed the need for a ceasefire in Gaza, saying that London will go further in its measures against Israel if the situation continues.

"We have to get the ceasefire," he told a parliamentary committee of lawmakers. Asked if he would take further measures against Israel if the situation in Gaza continued, he said: "Yes. Yes, we will."

The Israeli army said they have killed a member of Hamas, who has allegedly involved in one of the Palestinian group's attacks on southern Israel on 7 October, 2023.

The military said it had 'eliminated' Taha Abu Ayadeh on 1 July after striking the Khan Younis area.

The army said he was also involved in a number of attacks against the Israeli army amid the war in Gaza.

Israeli Foreign minister Gideon Sa’ar will reportedly resign from the Israeli Knesset, opening up his seat under the so-called Norwegian Law to Akram Hasson, The Times of Israel reported.

The Norwegian Law allows ministers and deputy ministers from large factions to resign from the Knesset, with their seats then filled by other members of their parties.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said one of its medics was injured while rescuing wounded Palestinians after an Israeli attack on civilians in the eastern Sheikh Radwan area of Gaza City, Al Jazeera is reporting.

Negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas are continuing but "need time", host Qatar cautioned on Tuesday, after US President Donald Trump voiced optimism about a possible breakthrough.

A fresh round of indirect talks, after 21 months of fighting in Gaza, began on Sunday, with Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman Majed al-Ansari confirming discussions had gone into a third day.

"I don't think that I can give any timeline at the moment, but I can say right now that we will need time for this," Majed Al-Ansari told reporters at a regular briefing, when asked if a deal was close.

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Tuesday urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to call back a delegation conducting indirect talks with Hamas in Qatar for a ceasefire in Gaza.

"I call on the Prime Minister to immediately recall the delegation that went to negotiate with the Hamas murderers in Doha," Ben Gvir said in a post on X on the third day of talks between Israel and the Palestinian group.

Instead, the minister who lives in a West Bank settlement called for "total siege, military crushing, encouraging emigration (of Palestinians outside of Gaza), and (Israeli) settlement" in the Gaza Strip.

He called these measures "the keys to total victory, not a reckless deal that would release thousands of terrorists and withdraw the (Israeli army) from areas captured with the blood of our soldiers".

Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a truce in Gaza are focused on a "framework" for a deal, mediating nation Qatar's foreign ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

"What is happening right now is that both delegations are in Doha. We are speaking with them separately on framework for the talks. So talks have not begun, as of yet, but we are talking to both sides over that framework," Majed Al-Ansari told a Doha news conference.

Two people were killed on Tuesday in an attack by Yemen's Houthi rebels on the Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated Eternity C vessel off Yemen's Hodeidah, a Liberation delegation told the International Maritime Organization.

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said Tuesday that a "sharp surge" in deaths and injuries in incidents around aid distribution sites in Gaza is pushing the territory's already stretched health system past its capacity.

The ICRC said in a statement that its field hospital in south Gaza recorded 200 deaths since the new aid distribution sites were launched in late May.

The facility also treated more than 2,200 "weapon-wounded patients, most of them across more than 21 separate mass casualty events", it added.

"Over the past month, a sharp surge in mass casualty incidents linked to aid distribution sites has overwhelmed Gaza's shattered healthcare system," the ICRC said.

The Israeli army said in a statement Tuesday that it targeted a commander in Hezbollah's Radwan Force a day earlier in south Lebanon.

Ali Abd al-Hassan Haidar was killed when an Israeli drone strike hit his car in the village of Deir Kifa.

#عاجل - غارة من مسيّرة إسرائيلية استهدفت سيارة رابيد في بلدة ديركيفا في جنوب لبنان https://t.co/KdpC5Qulnk pic.twitter.com/Fv0JJ5HNDr

— Annahar النهار (@Annahar) July 7, 2025

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian came under fire Tuesday after voicing support for renewed talks with the United States, with critics accusing him of being "too soft" in the wake of last month's attacks on the country.

The backlash followed the release of an interview with US media personality Tucker Carlson, in which Pezeshkian said Iran had "no problem" resuming talks so long as trust could be rebuilt between the two sides.

"Have you forgotten that these same Americans, together with the Zionists, used the negotiations to buy time and prepare for the attack?" said an editorial in the hardline Kayhan newspaper, which has long opposed engagement with the West.

The conservative Javan daily also took aim at Pezeshkian, saying his remarks appeared "a little too soft".

Iran did not request a meeting with the United States to resume nuclear talks, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei said on Tuesday according to state media.

U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff said he would meet with Iranian diplomats "next week or so".

Gaps in Gaza ceasefire talks under way in Qatar between Israel and Hamas can be bridged but it may take more than a few days to reach a deal, Israeli officials said on Tuesday.

Senior Israeli officials briefing journalists in Washington, said it may take more than a few days to finalise agreements in Doha but they did not elaborate on the sticking points. Another Israeli official said progress had been made.

Israeli minister Zeev Elkin, who sits in Netanyahu's security cabinet, said that there was "a substantial chance," a ceasefire will be agreed. "Hamas wants to change a few central matters, it's not simple, but there is progress," he told Israel's public broadcaster Kan on Tuesday.

Yemen's Houthi rebels continued an hours-long attack Tuesday targeting a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea, authorities said, after the group claimed to have sunk another vessel in an assault that threatens to renew combat across the vital waterway.

The Greek-owned Eternity C remains "surrounded by small craft and is under continuous attack," the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations centre warned Tuesday. At least two people on board the ship were reported to be hurt and two others missing.

While the Houthis haven't claimed the attack, Yemen's exiled government and the EU force blamed the rebels for the attack.

The Houthis separately attacked the Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier Magic Seas on Sunday with drones, missiles, rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire, forcing its crew of 22 to abandon the vessel. The rebels later said it sank in the Red Sea.

Another merchant ship, Eternity C, was attacked about 50 nautical miles from Yemen’s Hodeidah port while en route to Saudi Arabia. The vessel suffered severe damage, lost mobility, and is still surrounded and attacked by Houthi boats, according to UKMTO. pic.twitter.com/WcGUYQGObo

— Faytuks Network (@FaytuksNetwork) July 8, 2025

Israel and Hamas did not achieve a breakthrough in their latest round of indirect talks on Tuesday in Doha for a Gaza ceasefire, a Palestinian official said.

"No breakthrough has been achieved so far, and the negotiations are ongoing," the source close to the negotiations told AFP on the third day of talks aiming to bring an end to more than 21 months of war in the Palestinian territory.

The United States on Monday announced it was revoking its "foreign terrorist organization" designation of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a group once linked to Al-Qaeda that toppled Syria's Assad regime in December.

"In line with President (Donald) Trump's May 13 promise to deliver sanctions relief to Syria, I am announcing my intent to revoke the Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) designation of al-Nusrah Front, also known as Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS)," said US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a statement.

Washington's move will formally take effect on Tuesday, and comes after US President Trump last week formally dismantled his country's sanctions against Syria.

"Tomorrow's action follows the announced dissolution of HTS and the Syrian government's commitment to combat terrorism in all its forms," said Rubio.

Iran's government has issued a new death toll for its war with Israel, saying at least 1,060 people were killed and warning that the figure could rise.

Saeed Ohadi, the head of Iran's Foundation of Martyrs and Veterans Affairs, gave the figure in an interview aired by Iranian state television late Monday.

Ohadi warned the death toll may reach 1,100 given how severely some people were wounded.

The Washington-based Human Rights Activists group, which has provided detailed casualty figures from multiple rounds of unrest in Iran, has said 1,190 people were killed, including 436 civilians and 435 security force members. The attacks wounded another 4,475 people, the group said.

Five Israeli soldiers were killed in combat in the Gaza Strip, the military said Tuesday, in one of the deadliest days for Israeli forces in the Palestinian territory this year.

The five soldiers aged "fell during combat in the northern Gaza Strip", the Israeli military said.

Two others were severely wounded and "evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment", it said, adding their families had been notified.

It brings the number of Israeli soldiers killed in Gaza since the ground invasion began in October 2023 to 88.

Gaza ceasefire talks have resumed in Doha, according to a source close to the negotiations.