Live: Strike announced in Israel amid mounting anger at Netanyahu

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid called on the head of Israel's labour federation Histadrut to announce a general strike in response to the death of six captives in the Gaza Strip.

Lapid called on "every citizen whose heart is broken" to join protests on Sunday night.

"Netanyahu and the death cabinet decided not to rescue the hostages. I call on the Histadrut, the employers and the local authorities to shut down the economy," he said in a video posted on X.

נתניהו וקבינט המוות החליטו לא להציל את החטופים. הדם הזה על ראשם.

אני קורא לכל אזרח שליבו נשבר הבוקר לבוא ב-19:00 לבגין להפגין איתנו. אני קורא להסתדרות ולמעסיקים ולרשויות המקומיות להשבית את המשק. אי אפשר להמשיך ככה. pic.twitter.com/ohqxIf3TJH

— יאיר לפיד - Yair Lapid (@yairlapid) September 1, 2024

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• Separate Israeli air strikes on Gaza City and the Bureij refugee camp killed four Palestinians, including one child in Gaza City, the Wafa news agency reports.

• Israeli forces continue their attacks on Jenin and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, with 14 people killed in the area since Wednesday.

• Israeli forces recovered the bodies of four Israeli captives in Gaza, claiming Hamas killed them.

• Hamas blames the captives' deaths on Israel, saying it was unwilling to reach a deal.

• Families of Israeli captives have called for a general strike in the country to pressure the government "to stop the abandonment" and "save the living hostages".

• Palestinian gunmen shot and killed three Israeli police officers near the occupied West Bank city of Tarqumiya.

• Gaza's polio vaccination campaign officially began on Sunday, as the UN announced "humanitarian pauses" to allow for large-scale inoculation.

Our live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are some of the day's key developments:

• Israeli forces have killed at least 40,691 Palestinians and wounded 94,060 since their incursion into Gaza began in October 2023, according to the Palestinian health ministry

• Israeli raids across the besieged Gaza Strip on Saturday have killed at least 61 Palestinians

• Israeli soldiers have forcibly removed Palestinians from their homes in Jenin as a major offensive in the occupied West Bank enters its fourth day

• The Palestinian Health Ministry in the occupied West Bank reported that at least 22 people have been killed in Israel's ongoing operation in Jenin

• The UN Human Rights Office has called for an immediate end to Israeli military raids in the Jenin refugee camp

• The Israeli army announced on Saturday that one of its soldiers was killed in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank

• The Jenin Government Hospital has suspended its daily dialysis services due to ongoing disruptions in essential supplies caused by the Israeli military siege of the city, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported

• Yemen's Houthi Foreign Minister, Jamel Amer, announced that tugboats are expected to begin towing the Greek tanker Sounion on Sunday after it was damaged by the group on 21 August

• Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has expressed concern over the Israeli forces' actions in Jenin, accusing them of obstructing access to health facilities and targeting ambulances

• Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is calling for the ongoing assault on the northern occupied West Bank to be expanded to the south of the territory

• The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports that Gaza’s children will receive polio vaccinations en masse

The UN Human Rights Office has called for an immediate end to Israeli military raids in the Jenin refugee camp.

In a statement, the office criticised Israel's use of weapons and military tactics in the densely populated area, which is home to around 11,000 Palestinians.

The ongoing incursion in the camp and "adjacent parts of the city has apparently resulted in unlawful killings, insecurity for Palestinian residents, and enormous destruction of the camp," the statement said.

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has denied reports that Gaza’s children will receive polio vaccinations en masse.

According to the office, "claims of a complete ceasefire to facilitate mass polio vaccinations are incorrect."

"Israel will allow the entry of polio vaccines through humanitarian corridors, and vaccinations will be administered at designated safe sites for limited hours," it added in a statement. 

Mira, a 9-year-old severely injured in an Israeli bombing attack in Gaza, arrived on Friday in South Africa where she and two other Palestinian children will receive medical treatment.

She was greeted by a crowd at the OR Tombo International Airport in Johannesburg, near the private hospital which will provide the children with medical for complex fractures and burns, and psychosocial support.

Seventeen-year-old Lina and 1-year-old Sanad, also wounded by Israeli bombing, were set to follow Mira. Eight companions, parents and siblings will join them.

Their evacuation, the first-ever to bring children wounded in the war in Gaza to the country, was secured by the US-based Palestinian Children's Relief Fund.

Read more: Wounded Palestinian child arrives in South Africa for medical treatment

The director of Jenin Hospital in the occupied West Bank spoke to Al Jazeera Arabic about the increasingly difficult situation the medical facility finds itself in as Israel continues its siege: 

• “The occupation forces are stationed around the hospital, and we are facing a severe situation due to the Israeli attack.
• "Ambulances in Jenin are being obstructed and searched by the occupation forces. Many injured individuals have been unable to reach Jenin Hospital because of the forces surrounding the building.
• "The siege by the occupation forces has significantly reduced the number of people who can reach the hospital.
• A major challenge for us is the power outage at the hospital, and we are concerned that the generators may fail"

Israel's far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich is calling for the ongoing assault on the northern occupied West Bank to be expanded to the south of the territory.

“We are committed to expanding the operation in northern Samaria to the Judea region as well and to act decisively against any threat,” said Smotrich, who also oversees affairs in the West Bank as a minister in the Defense Ministry. He used the biblical names for the territory in a bid to erase Palestinian right to their own land.

"Palestinian terrorism aims to destroy the State of Israel, and the Israeli settlement in Judea and Samaria is at the forefront of the defense of the entire state," he tweeted. "Therefore, our response must be to strengthen the settlement enterprise and prevent the formation of a Palestinian state that would endanger our security and existence."

He added, "We are actively working on this, and I will soon present a strategic plan to the government to achieve these goals."

The Lebanese group Hezbollah reported that its forces fired rockets at the Israeli Ramtha site in the Kfarchouba Hills, claiming direct hits.

This attack followed an earlier statement from Hezbollah, in which the group claimed that its fighters had targeted the "al-Marj" military outpost in northern Israel with projectiles earlier in the morning.

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has expressed concern over the Israeli forces' actions in Jenin, accusing them of obstructing access to health facilities and targeting ambulances.

The organisation also claimed that soldiers are "delaying" medical care for wounded Palestinians.

"The scale and intensity of Israel's four-day incursion in Jenin is very alarming," MSF stated.

The Israeli army announced on Saturday that one of its soldiers was killed in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

Israel has been carrying out a days long assault in on the besieged city that has seen at least twenty-two Palestinians killed. 

The Palestinian Health Ministry in the occupied West Bank reported that at least 22 people have been killed in Israel's ongoing operation in Jenin.

The Israeli army launched attacks in the northern West Bank on Wednesday in its largest operations in more than 20 years. 

Yemen's Houthi Foreign Minister, Jamel Amer, announced that tugboats are expected to begin towing the Greek tanker Sounion on Sunday after it was damaged by the group on 21 August.

The tanker is carrying nearly one million barrels of crude oil.

The Houthis have been targeting vessels they say are linked to Israel, as part of an effort to pressure the Israeli government to end their war in Gaza, which has resulted in the deaths of more than 40,600 Palestinians since October. 

The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli air raids near al-Ahli Arab Hospital (Baptist Hospital) have resulted in the deaths of two Palestinians and injuries to others.

Citing local sources, Wafa stated that Israeli fighter jets targeted the hospital's perimeter, and emergency and rescue teams are still working to retrieve the deceased and injured.

The academic semester has kicked off at many US universities this week, and schools are working in a myriad of ways to tamp out the pro-Palestinian and student-led demonstrations that roiled the country this past spring.

As students make their way back to campus, familiarising themselves with class schedules and reconnecting with university life, administrations have been working - often in conjunction with the police - to weed out the possibility of a repeat of last semester when university authorities were blindsided by the scale and potency of pro-Palestinan protests that swept campuses. 

Several campuses morphed into battle zones with police, often resorting to brutal tactics on unarmed student protesters in scenes streamed live for the world to see.

The efforts to halt the regrowth of the movement have materialised in several different ways.

Read more: How US universities are trying to muzzle pro-Palestine protests before they begin