Israel-Hamas war updates: Some 8,000 people missing in debris from bombing

This live page is now closed. Follow along with our coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza on our new page, here.

To see pictures of Al Jazeera journalist Samer Abudaqa’s funeral in southern Gaza, read our story here.

To read how Israel mistakenly killed three Israeli captives in Gaza, see more about what an Israeli army official said here.

Masha Gessen, a Russian-American writer and activist, has been awarded a German literary prize in a scaled-back ceremony after a backlash over an article that compared Gaza to a Jewish ghetto in Nazi-occupied Eastern Europe.

Gessen had been due to receive the Hannah Arendt Prize for Political Thought at city hall in Bremen, northwest Germany, on Friday, but the ceremony was called off after the Heinrich Böll Foundation, which sponsors the prize, and the city’s Senate withdrew support.

Gessen, who writes for the New Yorker, was instead given the award on Saturday at a small venue with about 50 guests present and police officers guarding the door, the German news agency dpa reported.

In a New Yorker article “In the Shadow of the Holocaust” published earlier this month, Gessen argued that Germany suppresses legitimate criticism of Israel and described Gaza as a ghetto that is being “liquidated.”

The Heinrich Böll Foundation branded the comparison “unacceptable”, saying it did not contribute to understanding the war.

We will soon be closing this live page. Below is a recap of the day’s main developments:

• Gaza health minister calls for inquiry into witness reports Israeli bulldozers “buried people alive” at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza.
• Al Jazeera is referring what it calls “the assassination” of its cameraman Samer Abudaqa in Gaza to the International Criminal Court.
• Netanyahu appears to confirm captive release negotiations have resumed as families of captives rally in Tel Aviv.
• At least three Palestinians have been killed in Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
• Israeli defence minister says Israel is “ready to act” against Houthis.

The families of captives held in Gaza have rallied in Tel Aviv where right win protesters also held a separate protest near the Defence Ministry.

Al Jazeera cameraman was killed by an Israeli drone attack while reporting on the bombing of a school in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a statement on Saturday, the Qatar-based network said it instructed its legal team to “urgently” refer the case to the International Criminal Court.

“Al Jazeera Media Network reiterates its denunciation and condemnation of the assassination crime of its colleague, Samer Abudaqa, who devoted 19 years with the Network to covering the ongoing conflict in the occupied Palestinian territories,” it said.

Read the full story here.

From Jakarta to San Francisco, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets over the past two months to protest Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza.

The BDS movement, established by a coalition of Palestinian civil society groups in 2005, has seen a renewed global interest despite being banned on many US and Canadian campuses and in at least 35 US states.

Read the full story here.

Al Jazeera asked 10 people in Gaza to record moments of their day. The result is both inspiring and heartbreaking.

Who better to tell the stories of life in Gaza than the people themselves who are living there through the horror of siege and war?

US General Michael Kurilla met with Israeli military Chief of Staff Staff Herzi Halevi in Israel.

Kurilla also conducted a security review with the head of the Shin Bet security agency, according to the Kan public broadcaster.

The meeting comes as US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has departed for the Middle East, where he is set to travel to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar.

Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin is headed to the Middle East where he will meet with Bahrain on “US efforts to convene multilateral coalitions to respond to aggression at sea that threatens shipping and the global economy”, a statement says.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels have launched a series of drone and missile strikes on vessels near the strategic Bab el-Mandab Strait at the southern tip of the Red Sea, saying they are pressuring Israel over its devastating war.

In Israel, Austin will highlight the US’s steadfast support of its ally but also “discuss steps Israel is taking to mitigate civilian harm”, it said. He is to meet Israeli military leaders on “the next steps in the conflict after an eventual cessation of high-intensity ground operations and air strikes”.

Austin also is scheduled to visit Qatar, a key mediator in negotiations with Hamas.

One Palestinian was killed when Israeli forces raided the town northwest of Ramallah in the West Bank.

The raid led to a confrontation with Palestinian youths, during which Israeli forces fired live rounds and gas canisters, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Two other Palestinians were seriously wounded.

In a post on X, the progressive congresswoman wrote: “Shooting someone with a white flag is a war crime, not a mistake.”

She described the killing of three Israeli captives by Israeli forces as “a reminder that Netanyahu and his cronies’ cruel siege of Gaza is only putting Israeli and international hostages’ lives at more risk, along with the 2+ million Palestinians in Gaza who are being terrorised”.

Omar is among 62 members of the US Congress who have come out in support of a ceasefire.

Questions are growing about the power of the UN in stopping the war, which has killed nearly 19,000 people, mostly women and children.

Thousands more are missing and feared dead beneath the rubble. The war has flattened much of Gaza and driven 85 percent of the territory’s population of 2.3 million from their homes.

Speaking with Al Jazeera after travelling with an aid convoy to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, OCHA representative Gemma Connell said many civilians remain in the city in dire need of aid.

“It’s a reminder that Gaza City and the northern part of Gaza still have thousands upon thousands of civilians who are in desperate need of food, of water, of shelter. They are still there. They are still surviving and they are doing everything they can to get through every day,” she said.

“They are right to be frustrated with the international community. And they are right … to be frustrated with us,” Connel said. “But what I also told them was that we, the United Nations, international NGOs, are responding to this humanitarian catastrophe and will not stop until we can reach those in need.”

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) says about three-quarters of all media-worker deaths in 2023 have been in Gaza.

They have mainly been Palestinians covering Israel’s war on Gaza as international news outlets have been prevented from entering the enclave by the Israeli military.

The latest to die is Al Jazeera’s Samer Abudaqa, who was reporting from a United Nations-run school in the southern city of Khan Younis when it was hit by a drone.

Al Jazeera discussed the high price paid by journalists with Palestinian investigative reporter Tamer Almisshal, IFJ representative Jim Boumelha and professor of law Triestino Mariniello.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared to confirm new Qatar-mediated negotiations are under way.

Netanyahu sidestepped a question at a news conference about a meeting on Friday in Europe between his lead negotiator, Mossad head David Barnea, and Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.

However, he confirmed he had given instructions to the negotiating team.

“We have serious criticisms of Qatar, about which I suppose you will hear in due course, but right now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,” he said.

Netanyahu said he will not divulge details of the talks. “There is one mistake that we can make, which is to relay our calculations to Hamas, to the world. We shall not be getting into the details of the negotiations.”

The far-right Israeli minister described one of the border officers suspended after the incident as “outstanding”. He said he was working to restore the officer to duty after he was suspended along with another following the assault.

Photojournalist Mustafa al-Haruf was filming Friday prayers in occupied East Jerusalem when officers began beating him as they demanded journalists leave the area.

Part of the attack was caught on video showing al-Haruf huddled on the ground being repeatedly kicked by police.

At a joint news conference, Yoav Gallant says that before Israel responds to the Yemen-based group, Israel is “giving the world a chance first”.

“If we have to – we will know how to act,” he said.

A Houthi spokesman said earlier that the armed group is participating in Oman-led mediation efforts with unidentified “international parties”. It has repeatedly targeted Israel with missile and drone attacks in what it describes as acts of solidarity with Gaza.

The Houthis have also vowed to attack any commercial vessel going to or from Israel. Earlier, the Semafor news site, citing US officials, said Washington was considering striking the group in response to the targeting of ships.

Former captives, families and supporters of the captives still held in Gaza are marching towards an Israeli military base near Tel Aviv where the war cabinet is plotting its next move.

“We will entrench there 24/7 until the cabinet presents an Israeli outline for releasing the hostages,” the Hostages and Missing Persons Families Forum said in a statement.

Raz Ben-Ami, who has been released from Hamas captivity, said military operations in Gaza threatened the lives of those still being held.

“Ten days ago, I warned cabinet members the fighting could harm the hostages. Unfortunately, I was right. Military action alone will not save their lives. Israel must lay out another round of cycles to release the hostages,” Ben-Ami said.

Palestinian journalist Mohammed Balousha has filmed himself bleeding out after reportedly being shot in both legs by an Israeli sniper and then denied access to medics. He had been wearing a press vest. He filmed two videos – one moments after the shooting.

He then filmed a second after regaining consciousness six hours after being shot. He called for help but medics said they would not be able to reach him before the morning because of the dangerous situation.

This is the second incident in two days in which Israeli forces fired at a journalist – the first being the killing of Al Jazeera’s Samer Abudaqa.

We’ve been to the rallies of the captives’ families this evening. There is enormous anger and frustration and fear over the killing of the three captives by Israeli forces.

That is why I think Netanyahu and his war cabinet have come out tonight to sort of apologise. But there was no criticism from any of those three men of the terms of engagement of the Israeli military. “This is war,” they said.

We understand before this happened, the Israeli war cabinet was not enthusiastic about restarting negotiations, but it hinted something might happen next week. It wanted, it said, to get Hamas into a weaker position so Israel could extract more concessions.

Because of what happened on Friday, because of the killings of those three young men, Israel’s government is now on the back foot. It looks like they are now having to proactively look for an opportunity to talk to Hamas.