Updates: Israel kills 67 as Gaza aid seekers, ‘safe zones’ attacked

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Before we close, here’s a recap of the latest updates:

• At least 67 people were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza today, the majority in Gaza City.
• Hamas said it remains committed to the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire announced on August 18, which it had agreed to alongside other Palestinian factions.
• A group of armed Israeli settlers attacked a Palestinian family in the Bir Arka area, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to local reports.
• The Israeli military has acknowledged it struck the Soussi Tower in Gaza City, displacing dozens more Palestinians, as it continues its campaign to seize the city and forcibly drive all residents south.
• Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said that government ministers from Netanyahu’s Likud party support taking over the occupied West Bank, and urged the prime minister to move forward with the plan.
• Police in the UK arrested more than 400 supporters of Palestine Action – a group the government has proscribed under anti-terrorism laws.

The Israeli military has bombed another residential high-rise in Gaza City. It’s part of a large-scale offensive to seize the biggest urban centre in the Strip.

The assault is rendering it almost uninhabitable.

Al Jazeera’s Ferdia Carr reports:

As we’ve been reporting, thousands of protesters flooded the streets of Israel’s cities this evening, issuing direct appeals to US President Donald Trump to force an end to the Gaza war and secure the release of the remaining captives.

Protesters packed a public square outside the military headquarters in Tel Aviv, waving Israeli flags and holding placards with images of the captives. Some carried signs, including one that read, “Trump’s legacy crumbles as the Gaza war persists”.

Another said: “PRESIDENT TRUMP, SAVE THE HOSTAGES NOW!”

“We think that Trump is the only man in the world who has authority over [Netanyahu], that can force Bibi to do this,” Tel Aviv resident Boaz told Reuters, referring to the Israeli prime minister.

Orna Neutra, the mother of an Israeli soldier who was killed on October 7, 2023, and whose body is being held in Gaza by militants, accused the government of abandoning its citizens.

“We truly hope that the United States will push both sides to finally reach a comprehensive deal that will bring them home,” she told the rally. Her son, Omer, is also American.

Israeli settlers backed by Israeli authorities are intensifying their campaign to forcibly expel Palestinians from the occupied West Bank.

The United Nations has recorded a 39 percent increase in attacks since the war on Gaza began in October 2023.

One of the villages repeatedly targeted is in Masafer Yatta, where people have been forced from their homes but refuse to leave their land.

Al Jazeera’s Julide Ayger reports from the occupied West Bank:

A group of armed Israeli settlers has attacked a Palestinian family in the Bir Arka area, west of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to local reports.

Witnesses cited by the Wafa news agency said the settlers assaulted an elderly man, Saadi Abdel Afu al-Qawasmeh, while he was in his car with his wife, children and grandchildren.

The family members were beaten, several suffered bruises and injuries, and one son was shot at after being assaulted. The settlers also held them for some time before leaving, the report added.

Settler attacks against Palestinians and their property, as well as deadly raids by Israeli forces, have intensified in the occupied West Bank since the genocidal war on Gaza began.

Roughly 10 percent of Israel’s Jewish population, totalling between 600,000 and 750,000 people, live in about 250 settlements and outposts dispersed throughout the West Bank and East Jerusalem. These settlements are illegal under international law.

Settlers are often backed by Israeli soldiers and are usually armed themselves.

As we reported earlier today, police in the UK are arresting supporters of Palestine Action – a group the government has proscribed under anti-terrorism laws.

The number of people detained has now risen to more than 425, the police said.

“The majority of these arrests were made for supporting a proscribed organisation which is an offence under the Terrorism Act,” it said in a statement.

“Throughout the demonstration, there was a coordinated effort to prevent officers from carrying out their duties which escalated to violence where officers were punched, kicked, spat on and had objects thrown at them,” it added.

Israeli forces have detained three Palestinian children in the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.

Mohammed Awad, a local activist, told the agency that troops raided the Wadi al-Sheikh area near the town’s entrance and detained the children while they were working with a farmer.

The children were identified as Saif Mohammed al-Alami, 15; Mahmoud Sabarneh, 15; and Oday Raed Awad.

Israeli forces routinely raid Palestinian towns and villages across the West Bank, often arresting and assaulting residents. According to Addameer, a prisoners support group, at least 450 children are being held by Israel, many held without charge or trial.

The Israeli military has destroyed more than 70 percent of the buildings in Gaza City, according to local reports, as its campaign against residential towers widens.

The destruction in Gaza’s most populous city has forced dozens of families to flee once again, leaving them without shelter.

Israeli soldiers have stepped up attacks in the area as their commanders plan to seize the urban centre and forcibly displace more than one million people from the famine-stricken area.

The Israeli military has acknowledged it has struck the Soussi Tower in Gaza City today, claiming the high-rise was used by Hamas, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reports.

Israel has used similar justification for its attacks on other residential buildings throughout its assault on Gaza.

Hamas has vehemently denied the allegations and condemned the strike as a “crime”.

It was the second high-rise hit in as many days in the city as Israeli forces pound the area in a bid to seize it and force residents to flee south.

The building was sheltering displaced families who have lost their homes throughout the nearly two-year war.

In Paris, protesters are demanding an end to international complicity as Israel escalates its assault on Gaza City.

France announced in July that it would recognise a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly this month.

Al Jazeera’s Natacha Butler reports from Paris:

Israel’s far-right finance minister says on X that government ministers from the Likud party, headed by Netanyahu, support taking over the occupied West Bank, and he urged the prime minister to move forward with the plan.

Bezalel Smotrich, leader of the Religious Zionist Party, is currently under sanctions from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK and Norway for inciting violence against Palestinians.

In July, Israel’s parliament approved a symbolic measure calling for the annexation of the West Bank, voting 71-13 in favour of the motion in a nonbinding vote, which called for “applying Israeli sovereignty to Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley”, the Israeli terms for the West Bank.

Hamas says it remains committed to the mediators’ proposal for a ceasefire announced on August 18, which it had agreed to alongside other Palestinian factions.

In a statement, the group said it was open to “any ideas or proposals” that would achieve a permanent ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.

It added that it was also prepared to consider proposals ensuring unconditional entry of humanitarian aid and a “genuine” prisoner exchange through serious negotiations mediated by third parties.

Protesters and family members of the captives held in Gaza are again protesting in Jerusalem. They’re demanding Netanyahu reach a deal to secure their loved ones’ release.

Many of the families accused Netanyahu of sabotaging a potential agreement with Hamas and putting the captives’ lives at risk. Weekly protests since the war began have become a near-daily occurrence recently.

Israel’s campaign to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza City is an “enormous threat” for almost one million people, half of whom are children, says Tess Ingram, a UNICEF spokesperson.

“It’s important to remember that every second person in Gaza is a child, and life is becoming almost impossible for them,” Ingram told Al Jazeera from al-Mawasi, an area near the southern city of Khan Younis, where Israel earlier said it had established a “humanitarian zone” earlier in the war.

Watch the whole interview in our video below:

Lebanese President Joseph Aoun has met with the commander of the US military’s Central Command (CENTCOM), Admiral Brad Cooper, at the Baabda Presidential Palace.

During their meeting, Aoun called on the US to pressure Israel to withdraw from Lebanon and stressed the importance of continued US support for the Lebanese army to enable it to carry out missions.

Cooper announced that a committee overseeing the implementation of the ceasefire in Lebanon will meet on Sunday to discuss the situation.

Aoun also announced that the Lebanese army has completed its deployment in 85 percent of the area south of the Litani River. The deployment is part of the ceasefire, which also calls for the withdrawal of Hezbollah and Israel from the area in southern Lebanon.

Israel maintains a military presence at five locations in southern Lebanon and has given no timeline for a withdrawal.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says 17 people have been wounded after Israeli forces stormed the occupied West Bank governorate of Tubas, near Nablus.

Separately, Israeli forces detained a young man, identified as Karim Naji Abu Alia, after raiding his home in the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah, according to local officials.

During the raid, Wafa news agency said soldiers fired live bullets and tear gas, though no injuries were reported.

Earlier, settlers escorted by Israeli forces attacked the southern part of the village, assaulting a young man and leaving him with bruises.