Ministry warns oxygen stations face ‘complete paralysis’ in Gaza amid Israeli restrictions

Gaza’s Health Ministry has warned that the besieged territory’s remaining oxygen stations are operating beyond their maximum capacity and could stop functioning, amid ongoing Israeli restrictions on the entry of aid and essential supplies into the enclave.

The ministry said just 12 of 34 oxygen stations remain operational, while only four of 30 devices used to fill oxygen cylinders are functioning and “may stop at any moment” because engineering teams cannot complete emergency maintenance.

“The availability of oxygen is not a medical luxury, but is the lifeline for many vital and life-saving departments,” the ministry said. It warned the remaining stations face “complete paralysis”, threatening oxygen supplies to hospitals and patients receiving care at home.

The ministry called for the immediate entry of spare parts and technical equipment needed to repair existing stations, as well as the urgent provision of new ones.

Gaza death toll rises

At least two Palestinians have been killed and 14 injured in new Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip in the past 48 hours, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry.

Israel has killed at least 1,262 people and injured 4,168 in Gaza since the US-brokered “ceasefire” came into effect last October, the ministry said in a statement on Telegram.

Since October 2023, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed at least 73,391 people and injured 174,280, it added.

Gaza water insecurity worsening amid colonist attacks in occupied West Bank: OCHA

The UN humanitarian office (OCHA) has released its latest assessment of conditions across the occupied Palestinian territory. Here are some of its key findings:

• Most people in Gaza remain internally displaced and exposed to ongoing Israeli military attacks. About 90 percent of people experienced moderate-to-high water insecurity in early July, up from 84 percent in June.
• An estimated one in four Palestinians injured in Gaza since October 2023 is living with spinal cord or brain injuries or other potentially life-changing conditions, while
• Israel continues to restrict the entry of rehabilitation supplies and assistive products.
• In the occupied West Bank, a large-scale Israeli military operation in Qalandiya refugee camp injured 51 Palestinians and disrupted health services.
• OCHA recorded 38 Israeli colonist attacks in just one week that resulted in casualties, property damage or both. In Masafer Yatta, colonists injured five Palestinians and destroyed three homes, displacing 23 people, including 14 children.
• Israeli authorities demolished 25 Palestinian-owned structures across eight incidents, displacing 29 people, including 17 children. The demolitions included part of a school in Masafer Yatta used by 54 students.

Israeli drone attack injures three people in central Gaza

Three Palestinians have been injured in an Israeli drone attack on the city of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, according to the Wafa news agency.

One of the injured people was in critical condition, the agency noted. All three were transferred to the city’s Al-Aqsa Hospital for treatment.

Remains of 21 Palestinians recovered in Gaza, search begins for 40 more

Gaza civil defence teams recovered the remains of 21 Palestinians today from beneath two homes destroyed by Israeli attacks during its genocidal war in the Gaza Strip, according to a spokesman cited by Anadolu news agency

They began searching for the remains of 40 more believed trapped under a third house.

Mahmoud Basal told Anadolu that rescue teams recovered the remains of 12 Palestinians from beneath the Batniji family home near the Asqula area in eastern Gaza City after completing search operations at the site.

He said crews also recovered the remains of nine Palestinians from the Gharbiyah family home in the Katiba area in western Gaza City.

Basal said teams later moved to the al-Maghribi family home in the Zeitoun neighborhood in eastern Gaza City after receiving reports that the remains of 40 Palestinians were buried beneath the rubble.

He renewed warnings about the severe challenges facing civil defence teams due to acute shortages of heavy machinery, equipment, logistical supplies and fuel needed for recovery operations.

Israeli army says two Palestinians killed for crossing ‘yellow line’

The Israeli military has said its Paratroopers Brigade killed two Palestinians who crossed the so-called “yellow line” in Gaza.

The demarcation line divides the Strip into an eastern area under Israeli military control and a western area where Palestinians are under constant threat of air strikes and forced displacement.

In a statement, the army said the Palestinians had “posed a threat” to Israeli forces.

Israel’s genocidal war has destroyed or damaged more than 80 percent of the buildings in the enclave of more than 2.3 million people.

According to UN agencies and humanitarian organisations operating in Gaza, the “yellow line” has shifted repeatedly, creating de facto boundaries that shape civilian movement, access and survival.

Amnesty official condemns ‘state-backed colonist terror’ in occupied West Bank

Erika Guevara Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns, has warned of an “accelerating pattern of state-backed colonist terror and forced displacement” across the occupied West Bank.

In a post on X, Rosas highlighted the situation in Qusra, where three Palestinian families have been “under siege for days” following colonist attacks on their homes, access to food and water being blocked, and assaults on ambulances trying to reach them.

She stated that instead of protecting the families, Israeli forces “allowed the colonists to remain”.

Rosas called on the international community to “act now to protect Palestinians, end impunity, and hold Israel accountable”.

Colonist attacks and Israeli military raids continue across West Bank

From the Palestinian news agency Wafa:

• A 26-year-old nurse was shot outside his home by colonists attacking the town of Dura, suffering injuries to his back and spine that caused paralysis. A young woman was also injured.
• Israeli forces assaulted and arrested a Palestinian man in the Silwan neighborhood of East Jerusalem. They also detained a journalist in the city of Tulkarem and arrested another man during a raid on his home in the Tulkarem suburb of Iktaba.
• In Nablus, Israeli forces arrested six Palestinians, including a 14-year-old boy.
  In Jabal al-Qarn, near the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, Israeli forces arrested a man after he was run over by a colonist while working on his land.
• Also in Jerusalem, Israeli forces stormed an area of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during Friday prayers and increased their presence around the mosque’s gates, erecting metal barriers and conducting random searches of young people’s bags.
• Israeli forces assaulted people at an event hall in the town of al-Eizariya, raided a family home in the Jabal al-Mukabber neighborhood of Jerusalem, and attacked another family in the city’s Batn al-Hawa neighbourhood.
• Israeli forces prevented activists attempting to support a group of Palestinian families besieged by colonists in Qusra from reaching the site, south of Nablus.
• About 15 Palestinians, including two children, are inside one of the besieged homes and running low on basic necessities.
• Colonists attacked Palestinian farms in the Marj Si’a plain between the villages of al-Mughayyir and Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah. Under the protection of Israeli forces, they also set up a tent and an outpost on land belonging to the towns of Silwad and Deir Jarir, to the city’s east.

Israeli forces fire tear gas at Palestinians near Ramallah

The Israeli military has fired tear gas at Palestinians who confronted an attack by Israeli colonists in the village of al-Mughayyir, northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to our colleagues on the ground.

Earlier, the Wafa news agency reported that colonists had attacked Palestinian farms in the Marj Si’a plain between al-Mughayyir and Abu Falah.

It also reported that colonists, under the protection of Israeli forces, had set up a tent and an outpost on land belonging to the towns of Silwad and Deir Jarir, east of Ramallah.

Israeli army continues siege on Palestinian homes in occupied West Bank’s Qusra

Jonathan Pollak, an activist with the Sumud Network who was in the West Bank village of Qusra on Friday, trying to help besieged Palestinians, but was prevented by Israeli soldiers from delivering aid, said that Israeli colonists, who laid siege to Palestinian homes in the village for a week, were not in the area on Saturday morning, but that the Israeli army itself was still besieging the houses.

“What is happening is that this is a mutual siege on these families by the Israeli army and the colonists,” Pollak said, adding that they are working together to implement a policy of “ethnic cleansing”.

Senior Israeli army officials were involved, Pollak said, including the head of Israel’s central command, who he said was present in the town on Friday and prevented food from reaching the trapped families. The activist said it’s unclear how much longer these families can manage to sustain themselves, as only a small amount of food and water has reached them.

Pollak said the army’s removal of colonist tents in Qusra was merely a show to “appease” the international community. He added that the Israelis involved were from the same illegal colony that had previously laid siege to Palestinians in the Jalud area, where colonists cut water and power supply lines to homes. Despite this, the army continues to “cooperate” with them, he said.

Israeli colonist siege of Palestinian homes in Qusra enters seventh day

It’s day seven of the siege, and two children below the age of seven are in one of the homes.

Israeli forces have taken over another home. About 20 minutes ago, an Israeli colonist drove past the soldiers and around near the homes that have been laid siege to.

There was an attempt by Israeli peace activists yesterday to bring a few essentials – water, juice and bread – but they were blocked by soldiers. They were, however, able to get some of the supplies to the families.

The mayor of Qusra has just told me they are waiting for coordination to allow UNICEF to bring medical supplies and food to the besieged families.

One of the homes belongs to a US citizen, who has raised the situation with US lawmakers, saying his family is in danger. He says he still does not believe the US ambassador has done enough to protect them because the colonists have not left.

Resident in Israeli-besieged Qusra home says food and water running low

Qusai Abu Raideh, a resident of one of the besieged homes in Qusra, in the occupied West Bank, said dozens of Israeli colonists have attempted to enter his house in the past few hours. He said they claimed the house was theirs and that they would control it, but that the Israeli army has managed to push them away.

But he said the situation is like a “game”, as the Israeli army allows the colonists through before forcing them back again.

The colonists have laid siege to the area for a week now, and have cut water and electricity to the besieged homes, essentially trapping three families.

Abu Raideh said there’s been no change in the situation for a week, despite statements by US officials condemning the colonist attacks.

Meanwhile, necessities are running low, Abu Raideh said, as only a little food and water have managed to get through the siege, and that will soon run out, he said.

Israeli activist recounts colonists opening fire in occupied West Bank

Avner Wishnitzer, cofounder of Combatants for Peace, says Israeli colonists opened fire as dozens of Palestinian and Israeli activists attempted to reach privately owned Palestinian land near the town of Beit Sahour in the occupied West Bank on Friday.

Speaking from West Jerusalem, Wishnitzer said about 70 to 80 activists had gone to an uninhabited building on the land that he said had been taken over by colonists.

“Yesterday we came with the intention of reclaiming the house, a building that is not populated but has been taken over by colonist terrorists,” he said. “As we were already around the house, colonists opened fire in the air and directly around us, so we had to take cover.”

Wishnitzer said the Israeli military arrived about 20 to 25 minutes later. “The army wasn’t there when the shots were fired,” he said, adding that soldiers “allowed colonist terrorists who were heavily armed with rifles to remain in and around the house that they illegally took for themselves”.

Qatar condemns escalation in Israeli colonist attacks in occupied West Bank

Qatar is condemning the escalation of colonist attacks in the occupied West Bank, including the use of systematic violence against civilians in violation of international law.

“These blatant crimes reflect the occupation government’s approach of empowering colonists to commit further attacks under the protection of the Israeli army and security apparatuses,” Qatar’s foreign ministry said on X, while also calling on the international community to take “urgent action”.

Palestinian youth injured in colonist attack near Tubas

The youth has been injured in a colonist attack at the Ein Shibli checkpoint, southeast of Tubas, the Wafa news agency has reported.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society was quoted by the Palestinian news outlet as saying that the victim had been severely beaten by Israeli colonists.

It added that Israeli forces had delayed the arrival of emergency services for over an hour.

Siege of Palestinian homes in Qusra reflects Israeli policies, activist says

Mattan Berner-Kadish, an Israeli-American activist based in Jaffa, says the siege in Qusra was just the latest example of dispossession of Palestinian property, which he described as a “constant theme” in Israel.

“The goal [is] removing Palestinians, either pushing them into Area A or ideally off the land entirely and preventing any sort of [geographical] continuity for Palestinians in the West Bank,” Berner-Kadish said.

“The most recent [Israeli] government has spent millions of dollars, if not billions, directly towards settler regional council that are supporting new colonies and building new roads that are often entirely unavailable to Palestinians,” he added.

“There have been tens of thousands of guns distributed to settlers and very little oversight as to who has them and who uses them, and no consequences when used.”

Berner-Kadish said Israel obtained funding from US donors donating through non-profits, in the form of tax-deductible donations sent directly to colonies.

Israeli colonists attack Qusra municipal workers, soldiers detain three

Israeli colonists have attacked a group of Qusra municipal workers as they attempted to restore electricity to homes that have been besieged for nearly a week, the Wafa news agency is reporting.

Israeli forces detained three municipal workers, the Palestinian agency added, as colonists continue to besiege Palestinian homes amid a heavy Israeli military presence.

Five Palestinians injured in Israeli settler attack in Masafer Yatta

Israeli settlers have injured five Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reports.

Two women and a child were among those injured in the attack, which took place in the Umm al-Khair village of Masafer Yatta.

The area has been featured in the Oscar-winning documentary, No Other Land, which depicts life under Israeli occupation.

Palestinian killed, 7 wounded by Israeli fire in Gaza

A Palestinian was killed and seven others injured by Israeli army fire in incidents in the Gaza Strip late Saturday, as Israeli air strikes, artillery shelling and demolitions continued in different parts of the enclave.

A source at the al-Awdah Hospital told Anadolu news agency that Mohammed Bashir Abu Armana was killed after being shot by Israeli forces on 20th Street in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

In the southern city of Khan Younis, two people wounded by Israeli gunfire were taken to the Nasser Hospital after separate incidents near the Jordanian Hospital in Khan Younis refugee camp and Abu Hamid roundabout, medical sources told Anadolu.

Witnesses said Israeli warplanes carried out air strikes while artillery shelling and heavy gunfire targeted central Khan Younis. The strikes also hit evacuated homes in the Jorat al-Lot area south of the city.

In Gaza City, medical sources said two wounded Palestinians arrived at the Al-Ahli Hospital after Israeli military vehicles opened fire in the Daloul area of the Zeitoun neighborhood in the southeastern part of the city.

Israeli military vehicles also opened heavy fire east of the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza.

Three Palestinians were injured earlier Saturday in an Israeli strike targeting a motorcycle in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.

Israeli forces also carried out extensive demolitions in areas under their control in Rafah in southern Gaza and east of Gaza City.