Gaza live: Israeli protesters demand ceasefire as war enters 10th month

The armed wing of Hamas said its fighters killed 10 Israeli soldiers in an ambush on Thursday in Shujaiya. 

The ambush took place on Nazzar Street in the east Gaza City neighbourhood, according to the al-Qassam Brigades.

A building with soldiers inside was struck with the TBG shoulder-fired missile before it was attacked by Palestinian fighters who engaged the Israelis in close-quarter combat.

The building was later bombed by Hamas fighters using an explosive device, the statement added.

Middle East Eye could not independently verify the report The Israeli military did not immediately comment. 

Western countries must pressure Israel to accept the latest Gaza ceasefire proposal, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan was cited as saying by broadcaster Haberturk and others on Friday, adding that he believes a definitive ceasefire is possible.

"After US President Joe Biden's phone call to Benjamin Netanyahu, I hope a final ceasefire would be secured in a couple of days so that Israel's recent massacres would come to an end," Erdogan was quoted as telling reporters on his flight back from Kazakhstan.

Reporting by Reuters

Israeli forces concluded an hours-long raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Friday morning.

The Palestinian health ministry reported that six Palestinians were killed in the assault, which involved hitting houses in both aerial and ground attacks.

Israeli media reported that one soldier was wounded during exchanges of fire with Palestinian fighters.

The armed wing of Hamas said on Friday that its fighters its snipers shot an Israeli soldier in Rafah as the ground offensive there is set to enter its third month. 

The announcement comes as fierce fighting between Palestinian groups and the Israeli army continues across the Gaza Strip wherever troops are present. 

Battles are ongoing in Rafah in southern Gaza and Shujaiya neighbourhood east of Gaza City in the north. 

At least nine soldiers have been killed in the last five days alone across the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and the northern boundary with Lebanon. More than 675 officers and soldiers have been killed since 7 October. 

The Israeli military said "some 100 gunmen" have been killed in the Shujaiya assault that was launched on 27 June. The military did not provide further evidence or details about its claim. 

Keir Starmer's Labour party has swept to a landslide victory in the UK's general election, though it appears to have haemorrhaged votes to pro-Palestinian candidates, several of whom picked up shock wins. 

With almost all results in on Friday morning, Starmer is set to become British prime minister later on Friday with his party winning 410 out of 650 parliamentary seats. The outgoing Conservatives, led by Rishi Sunak, plummeted to just 119 MPs, while the centrist Liberal Democrats secured 71 MPs. 

Though the exit poll on Thursday night predicted Nigel Farage’s anti-immigration party Reform UK to perform better than expected, in the end its four MPs were outnumbered by independents running on platforms explicitly denouncing Israel’s war on Gaza.

For months, many voters across the UK had voiced dissatisfaction with Labour, especially over the party's early stance on Gaza when it called for an "enduring cessation of fighting" instead of an immediate and comprehensive ceasefire.

Starmer also appeared to back Israel's decision to cut off Gaza from power, water and other necessities, despite legal experts condemning the move as a war crime.

Although the party later shifted its position and Labour denied Starmer was supportive of Israel's total siege, much of the British public said they felt compelled to vote for an unwaveringly pro-ceasefire candidate.

Chief among the shock independent victories was Shockat Adam, who unseated Jon Ashworth, a prominent member of Labour's shadow cabinet, in the East Midlands constituency of Leicester South.

In the northwestern ex-industrial town of Blackburn, Adnan Hussain unseated Labour's Kate Hollern.

Former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, who was expelled from the party over his response to criticism of Labour’s response to antisemitism allegations, ran as an independent in London’s Islington North, demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and won the seat.

Read more: Pro-Palestine candidates’ victories stun as Labour sweeps to UK election win

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief has warned that a dire lack of fuel in the Gaza Strip could have a "catastrophic" impact on already devastated health services in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

Desperate fuel shortages have been a constant problem in Gaza as it suffers intense Israeli bombardment and a tight siege.  

"Further disruption to health services is imminent in Gaza due to a severe lack of fuel," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said late Thursday on X, formerly Twitter. 

The UN health agency cautioned that only 90,000 litres of fuel entered Gaza on Wednesday - even as the health sector alone needs 80,000 litres daily. 

This is forcing WHO and its partners working in Gaza "to make impossible choices", Tedros said. 

Gaza is completely sealed off and everything that enters it is controlled by the Israelis.

Fuel is vital to keep hospital generators running, as well as humanitarian and emergency vehicles. 

WHO said that its partners were currently directing limited fuel supplies to "key hospitals", including the Nasser Medical Complex and Al Amal Hospital in Khan Yunis and the Kuwaiti hospital in Rafah. 

Fuel was also going to 21 ambulances run by the Palestinian Red Crescent "to prevent services from grinding to a halt", Tedros said. 

He pointed out that the European Gaza Hospital in Khan Yunis had been out of service since Tuesday, and warned that "losing more hospitals in the Strip would be catastrophic".

Reporting by AFP 

Lebanon's Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah and top Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya discussed the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and negotiations aimed at reaching a ceasefire there during a meeting, Hezbollah said on Friday.

Nasrallah received Hamas deputy chief Hayya for the meeting, which reviewed "the latest security and political developments" in the Gaza Strip, the Iran-backed Hezbollah said in a statement.

"They also discussed the latest developments in the ongoing negotiations these days, their atmosphere, and the proposals presented to reach an end to the treacherous aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip," the statement said.

Reporting by Reuters

Pro-Palestine independent candidate Ayoub Khan pulled off a shock win against Labour's long-standing parliamentarian Khalid Mahmood in the UK general election on Friday, winning the seat of Birmingham Perry Barr by a slim majority of 507 votes.

Khan secured 13,303 votes in total, winning with 35.5 percent of the vote share, while Mahmood, who has represented the constituency since 2001, received 12,796 votes and 34.1 percent of the vote share.

Khan, a local councillor and barrister by profession, resigned from the Liberal Democrats in May, claiming that "they wanted to prevent me from speaking about Gaza".

Campaigning on local issues such as the cost of living, crime and unemployment, as well as on Israel's ongoing war on Gaza, he received significant backing from the constituency's Muslim voter base. 

Read more: Pro-Palestine candidate pulls off shock win against Labour's Khalid Mahmood

Israel's Mossad spy chief David Barnea travelled to Doha on Friday without the negotiation team, according to Israeli media. 

Barnea is set to discuss the ceasefire proposal with Qatar’s foreign minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani before heading back to Israel later today. 

According to the Kan public broadcaster, Israeli officials said people "should curb their expectations talks will be successful".

This comes after Israeli sources described the latest response by Hamas as "positive" but some feared Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may derail it. 

The death toll in Jenin has risen to five Palestinians killed in the ongoing raid by Israeli forces on the occupied West Bank city, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Hamas official Mohammad Nazzal said the Palestinian group's demand for a permanent ceasefire as part of a deal with Israel to end the war has not changed. 

In an interview with Saudi-funded Al Arabiya broadcaster on Thursday, Nazzal said he wouldn't disclose the details of the latest response by Hamas to avoid disrupting the ongoing negotiations process.

The Hamas response has been described as positive by Israeli and US sources, prompting a fresh round of indirect talks set to start in Doha later on Friday.

Nazzal said the group's response did not include substantial changes from previous proposals and ensured the group's general demands were met. 

Hamas in previous talks insisted any deal must include a permanent end to the war, full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, return of displaced people to their homes, increased relief and reconstruction, and a prisoner swap deal.

One the other hand, Netanyahu repeatedly vowed to continue the war until its goals - to eliminate Hamas and return all captives - are met.

Israeli and foreign sources have expressed concern that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu may sabotage a potential Gaza ceasefire deal despite a recent breakthrough in indirect negotiations with Hamas, Haaretz reported on Friday. 

Netanyahu on Thursday night authorised the dispatch of a negotiation team, led by Mossad chief David Barnea, to advance a deal. 

Barnea is set to land in Doha later on Friday. 

The moves come after Hamas reportedly delivered a fresh proposal, which has been described as positive by Israeli and US official sources. 

However, there's still concern that Netanyahu might sabotage the deal at a later stage, according to Haaretz.

Israel launched a deadly raid in Jenin in the occupied West Bank on Friday morning, which is still ongoing. Here is what you need to know:

• Israeli special forces infiltrated the city and surrounded a house, calling on people inside to hand themselves over. 

• Israeli forces later hit the house with shoulder-fired missiles, causing a fire. 

• Clashes with Palestinian fighters erupted outside the house, and they are still ongoing. 

• Elsewhere, an Israeli drone hit a house in the city. 

• At least four Palestinians have been killed in the attacks so far, with one more seriously wounded. 

• According to local media, the director of a hospital in Jenin said Israeli forces were surrounding it.  

Pro-Palestine candidate Iqbal Hussain Mohamed was elected to parliament with an overwhelming majority in the West Yorkshire constituency of Dewsbury & Batley on Friday, with a resounding victory over Labour's Heather Iqbal.

Mohamed secured 15,641 votes, winning with 41.1 percent of the total vote share, while Labour's Iqbal received 8,707 votes, or 22.9 percent of the vote share.

Johnathan Thackray from the Reform party came third with 6,152 votes while the Tory candidate, Lalit Suryawanshi, came fourth, with 4,182 votes. 

Mohamed, who was born and raised in Dewsbury, is an engineer and IT consultant whose parents arrived from India in the 1960s.

Formerly a Labour member, he quit over Keir Starmer's early support for Israel’s war on Gaza after the 7 October attacks on southern Israel. 

Read more: Pro-Palestine candidate wins with thumping majority in UK's Dewsbury & Batley

At least four Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Friday, according to the Palestinian health ministry.