Gaza live: Health ministry releases details of 34,000 dead as Israeli strikes continue

Israel is preventing critical materials necessary to purify drinking water from entering the besieged Gaza Strip, Pedro Arrojo-Agudo, the special rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation at the UN, said.

Arrojo-Agudo said that every person in Gaza is receiving only 4.7 litres of water daily.

He added that Israeli authorities are preventing 70 percent of the necessary materials to purify water from entering Gaza and warned about water pollution, calling it a “silent bomb with a much bigger effect than the one that destroys buildings”.

The US says it is still working with mediators Egypt and Qatar to draft a revised ceasefire proposal for Gaza.

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday that the US has no timeline for a draft deal. The US has been working on a new proposal for weeks. 

Miller said Washington wanted to make sure the proposal it puts forward is one Israel and Hamas can accept.

US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin warned his Israeli counterpart of “devastating consequences” should Israel and Hezbollah go into a full-scale war.

Austin’s warning to Defence Minister Yoav Gallant comes after the Israeli official said an offensive in Lebanon appeared closer. 

Austin said,  “Israel should give [hostage] negotiations time to succeed,” according to a Pentagon readout of their call. 

He noted “the devastating consequences that escalation would have on the people of Israel, Lebanon, and the broader region". 

Hamas's Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar has thanked Yemen's Houthis for launching a ballistic missile at Israel on Sunday. 

“I congratulate you on your success in sending your missiles deep into the enemy entity, bypassing all layers and defence and interception systems," Sinwar said in the message addressed to Houthi leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi.

Sinwar also said Hamas was ready for a long fight in Gaza. 

“We have prepared ourselves to fight a long war of attrition that will break the enemy’s political will."

The Palestinian Health Ministry said on Monday that 20 people were killed and 76 wounded over the past 24 hours by Israeli strikes. 

The rising death toll comes as Israel pounds sites across the Gaza Strip. 

Earlier today, the Palestinian Civil Defence, said Israeli strikes  targeted a family home in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 3 Palestinians. 

At least 41,226 Palestinians have been killed by Israel's offensive. 

Hamas’s Gaza chief Yahya Sinwar is using a complex system of couriers, codes and handwritten notes to direct Hamas’s operations inside Gaza and communicate with mediators, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The report also said that a “typical message from Sinwar” is handwritten and first passed to a trusted Hamas member who moves it along a chain of couriers, some of whom might be civilians.

The system is similar to what Sinwar and other Hamas officials used while in Israeli prisons.

The report also noted that Arab mediators have travelled to Gaza to receive messages from Hamas. Both Egypt and Qatar are mediating between the group and Israel. 

The UN special rapporteur to the occupied Palestinian territory said Palestinians "have the right to resist the oppression" of Israel's occupation.

Francesca Albanese said Israel's occupation of the occupied West Bank “constitutes an aggression against the right of self-determination”.

“The Palestinians – like it or not – have the right to resist the oppression,” she added. 

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant has warned President Biden's Middle East envoy Amos Hoschstein that Israel is inching closer to a military operation in Lebanon. 

“Gallant emphasized that the possibility for an agreement is running out as Hezbollah continues to ‘tie itself’ to Hamas and refuses to end the conflict," Israel's Defence Ministry said in a readout of the meeting. 

"The only way left to ensure the return of Israel’s northern communities to their homes will be via military action," the statement added. 

The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (Unrwa) warned that "sanitary conditions in Gaza are worsening by the day". 

Rubish collection has come to a standstill in Gaza amid Israel's offensive. Meanwhile, Polio broke out earlier this month, prompting a massive WHO vaccination campaign. 

The agency noted that "insects and rodents can spread diseases, threatening people's health and well being".
 

Five people were killed in an Israeli attack on a bakery in Mawasi, according to local media.

The Wafa news agency reported that the attack struck the al-Sumoud camp for displaced Palestinians

A number of others were also injured in the attack.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is preparing to sack Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, according to sources speaking to Kann News.

The outlet said his replacement would be Gideon Saar, a former justice minister and opposition MP.

Netanyahu and Gallant have been at odds a number of times since the beginning of the war on Gaza in October, most recently over the latter's opposition to an imminent invasion of Lebanon.

The Palestinian health ministry has released a document giving details on more than 34,000 people killed in Gaza between 7 October and 31 August 2024.

The name, age, gender, ID number are given in the list, which covers the majority of the more than 41,000 thought to have been killed since October.

The victims of Israel's assault are listed in order of age, beginning with those less than one year old:

The Ministry of Health in Gaza has just published a 649-page document with the the name, age, gender, ID number of every Palestinian killed in Gaza from October 7 to August 31 that it has info for (over 34k out of 40k). The 1st 14 pages the age is listed as 0 (under 1 year old) pic.twitter.com/NZZNLLf7ml

— Sharif Kouddous شريف عبد القدوس (@sharifkouddous) September 15, 2024

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid is set to meet with US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan during his visit to the country on Monday, his office said in a statement.

He will then hold meetings with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Republican senators including Lindsay Graham.

An Israeli attack on central Gaza's Nuseirat refugee camp killed at least 10 people and wounded 15, Al Jazeera's reporters have said.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• Separate Israeli bombings on Gaza City killed 10 Palestinians, while an Israeli attack on Beit Lahiya, northern Gaza killed two
• The Israeli army said that two soldiers were lightly wounded after two drones coming from Lebanon exploded near an intersection in the occupied Golan Heights
• Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told his US counterpart Lloyd Austin that the possibility of reaching a settlement with Lebanon's Hezbollah is "passing"
• This comes after reports in Israeli media claiming that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is once again threatening to fire Gallant over the latter's opposition to a major military operation in Lebanon