Israel war on Gaza updates: ‘Breakthrough’ in Hamas-Israel deal – officials

The group’s leader has issued the threat during a televised address in Lebanon to mark the Shia holy day of Ashura.

“Continuing to target civilians will push the resistance to launch missiles at settlements that were not previously targeted,” Hassan Nasrallah said, noting a spike in the number of civilians killed in Lebanon in recent days.

Five civilians – including three children – all of them Syrian, were killed in Israeli strikes in Lebanon on Tuesday and at least three Lebanese were killed the day before.

Since the start of the war in Gaza, exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israel have become a daily occurrence.

In Lebanon, estimates say the fighting has killed more than 100 civilians and about 300 Hezbollah fighters and led to levels of destruction in border towns and villages not seen since the 2006 Israel-Lebanon war.

Nasrallah promised that damaged or destroyed homes would be rebuilt “more beautiful than they were before”.

This live page is now closed.

To read more about the latest cross-border attacks on the Lebanon-Israel border, read this story.

And to follow all of our coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, go here.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of today’s events:

• US and Israeli officials said a “breakthrough” has been achieved following Hamas’s latest response to a ceasefire proposal, with a senior US official saying a framework has been established to reach a final agreement.
• The Lebanese group Hezbollah has said it launched more than 200 rockets and drones targeting Israeli military positions, a day after its senior commander Muhammad Nimah Nasser was killed in an Israeli attack.
• Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, including Jabalia and Gaza City in the north, as well as Khan Younis in the south.
• Hamas and the Palestinian Authority have slammed a decision by Israel to approve the largest land seizure in more than three decades in the occupied West Bank.
• Medical sources have said Nasser Hospital, the last functioning medical facility in Khan Younis, and the Kuwaiti Field Hospital near Rafah are expected to shut services as generators are running out of fuel.

A large number of Israeli settlers attacked several homes in the occupied West Bank overnight, vandalising them. Two homes were burned down, and some livestock was stolen in various areas. International activists who provide protection to Palestinian communities were also attacked.

Israeli settler attacks are averaging four per day, with the UN documenting 1,050 attacks since October 7. According to the UN, more than 20 Palestinian communities, comprising at least 1,000 people, have disappeared in the Masafer Yatta area and the Jordan Valley since the start of the war. These rural communities are being pushed into cities while the land is cleared of Palestinians.

Al Jazeera’s Nour Odeh reports from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank:

The Palestinian Wafa news agency says “several” people have been killed and others wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza City and Jabalia.

It said a number of Palestinians have been killed in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood. At least five, including three children, have been killed in strikes on the Jabalia refugee camp.

Israeli artillery fire also targeted Beit Lahiya in the north and Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

Israeli settlers have opened fire on Palestinian families in towns and villages near the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

Settlers living in illegal outposts have also attacked the tents of families in the villages of Dura and Berin, Wafa said.

No casualties have been reported.

Settler attacks against Palestinians and their property have increased in scale and intensity since October 7.

The latest attacks come as Israeli authorities approved the largest land seizure in more than three decades in the West Bank, a move that has been slammed by various nations as well as rights groups.

The Palestinian Red Crescent (PRCS) says its teams retrieved the body of a slain Palestinian, as well as three others who were wounded in an Israeli attack in northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp.

“Palestine Red Crescent crews retrieved a martyr and three injuries as a result of being targeted by an Israeli reconnaissance aircraft on Al-Sikka Street, east of Jabalia camp,” the group said in a post on X.

“They were transported to the Indonesian Hospital,” it added.

Palestinian social media platforms have shared videos of Israeli forces raiding Nablus in the occupied West Bank, as well as Beita, to the south of the city.

Verified footage shows Israeli forces firing tear gas canisters in the streets of Nablus.

Israeli forces conduct near-nightly raids across the occupied West Bank, even before the beginning of the war on Gaza.

Hamas has slammed a decision by Israel to approve the largest land seizure in more than three decades in the occupied West Bank.

In a statement, Hamas said the move shows the Israeli government’s “blatant disregard for international laws and decisions that criminalise settlements”, while still allowing settlers to continue attacking Palestinians in the West Bank.

These “fascist” decisions, Hamas said, will only strengthen the Palestinian people’s, their steadfastness towards their land, and their “resistance against occupation on all fronts”.

The group called on the UN and the international community to take immediate steps to stop Israel from “changing the reality on the ground”.

Gaza’s civil defence says its teams have retrieved the bodies of two slain Palestinian women after an Israeli attack struck a residential home in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood.

Several others were wounded and were pulled from under the rubble following the attack on the al-Bardawil family home. The civil defence added that two children remain “missing” under the debris.

The head of Israel’s Mossad spy agency will travel to Qatar for talks likely to take place on Friday, Reuters reports, citing a source with knowledge of the talks.

David Barnea will meet Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani as part of efforts to reach a deal, the official added.

Its 11pm (20:00 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel. Let’s bring you up to speed with the most significant developments in the past few hours:

• US and Israeli officials have been indicating that there is potential for a ceasefire to be reached with Hamas, but there are still outstanding issues related to the implementation of the agreement, according to reports.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has informed US President Joe Biden that Israel had decided to send a delegation to negotiate a captive release with Hamas.
• Hezbollah has launched rockets towards northern Israel, killing a 38-year-old reservist, in what the group said was attacks launched to avenge its assassinated commander, Muhammad Nimah Nasser.
• At least 22 Palestinians have been killed across Gaza as Israeli attacks across the enclave continue to intensify.
• The Palestinian Authority has slammed a decision by Israel to approve the largest occupied West Bank land grab in more than three decades.

At least 10 Palestinians have been killed in new Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip, and several others have been wounded, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.

In Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis, the bodies of two slain Palestinians were taken to Nasser Hospital after Israeli forces struck Sheikh Nasser neighbourhood.

At least four others were killed after Israeli fighter jets targeted a residential home in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, while two others were killed in an attack on al-Mawasi in western Rafah.

A raid on a home in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood killed two people and wounded six others. In the same area, the bodies of two slain Palestinians were recovered following an attack on a home belonging to the al-Rifi family.

We’ve been reporting on a decision by Israel to approve the largest West Bank land seizure in more than three decades as the rate of land grabs in the occupied Palestinian territory peaks.

Nabil Abu Rudeineh, spokesman for the Palestinian Authority (PA) presidency, slammed the move, saying expanding illegal settlements aims to prevent Palestinians from establishing an independent and contiguous state.

He was quoted as saying by the Palestinian Wafa news agency that expanding illegal settlements and outposts will not bring about peace and security.

Abu Rudeineh added that the Palestinian people will not remain idle in the face of measures imposed by Israel’s far-right government.

He blamed the US for allowing such measures to take place and urged the US administration to intervene.