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St Louis group wished to donate money from bracelet sale to children’s relief fund but Girl Scouts said it could make political statementAt the height of cookie season, a time when Girl Scouts across America fundraise by selling their famous Thin Mints, Caramel deLites and shortbread, one troop in Missouri wasn’t in the mood.Instead, the eight girls of Troop 149 decided to make and...

Pramila Patten’s findings are based on interviews with released hostages, whose testimony suggests abuses are continuing in GazaThe UN’s special envoy on sexual violence in conflict has reported “clear and convincing information” that some women and children hostages held by Hamas had been subjected to rape and sexualised torture and that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe such abuses were “ongoing”.The special envoy, Pramila...

Officials at Cairo talks say list is first step in truce deal as militant group demands aid into Gaza Egyptian and Qatari officials are putting pressure on Hamas negotiators in Cairo to produce a list of hostages to be released as the first step in a phased ceasefire agreement with Israel, according to officials familiar with the talks.Israel has not sent a delegation to...

Five-month-old boy and girl born after 10 years of trying died in blast at home that also killed their fatherFive-month-old twins who were conceived after three rounds of IVF have been killed in an Israeli airstrike on their family home in Rafah, southern Gaza.Naeim and Wissam Abu Anza were among 14 Palestinians – including six children – killed in the strike at the weekend,...

Agency’s country director says deaths near aid convoy last week were avoidable and north of territory needs to be flooded with aidThe deaths of more than 100 people when Israeli forces opened fire near an aid convoy in Gaza was a tragedy that should have been foreseen and could have been prevented, the World Food Programme country director for Palestine has said.Matthew Hollingworth also...

Benny Gantz will also meet with Antony Blinken on visit that reportedly was not approved by Israeli PM Benjamin NetanyahuHere are some images sent over the news wires showing the aftermath of the latest Israeli strikes on Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.Reporting from Rafah for Al Jazeera, Hani Mahmoud writes “People have their eyes and ears on the talks in Cairo...

In today’s newsletter: As aid runs out in Gaza, and hundreds more die, a ceasefire before Ramadan begins is seen as essential by the international community• Sign up here for our daily newsletter, First Edition Continue reading...

Donors raise more than $100,000 for man who gave his $17.74 paycheck for 136.50 hours of work to relief efforts in GazaDonors have raised more than $100,000 for an incarcerated man in the US who, earning 13 cents an hour in a California prison doing janitorial and porter work, donated his paycheck of $17.74 to Gaza relief efforts.Last month, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Justin Mashouf...

Turnout was low for first ballot since Hamas’ 7 October attack, with security a high priority for votersLocal elections in Israel, delayed by the war in Gaza, have returned gains for Ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties after low turnout in most areas.The municipal votes were expected to serve as an indication of public opinion after the 7 October Hamas attack and the ensuing war in...

Israel indicated to have provisionally accepted six-week hostage and truce deal, but Palestinian official says: ‘We’re not there yet’A Hamas delegation was in Cairo on Sunday for talks on efforts to broker a ceasefire in the war in Gaza after indications that Israel had provisionally accepted a six-week phased hostage and truce deal before the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.Qatari and...

Senior Hamas official says if Israel accepts demand for military withdrawal from Gaza and increase in aid, it would pave way for agreement. This live blog is closedHamas delegation arrives for Gaza ceasefire talks in CairoBorn a month into Israel’s war in Gaza, infant twins Wesam and Naeem Abu Anza were buried on Sunday, the youngest of 14 members of the same family whom...

UN team visiting Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital found many gunshot injuries after Thursday’s attack, says spokesperson for UN chief Antonio Guterres; US ‘working hard’ for truce deal, says presidentSee all our Israel-Gaza war coverageThe latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 92 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 156 were injured in the past 24 hours.According to the...

Organiser suggests PM consider own MPs’ behaviour after speech about rise in ‘extremist disruption’Pro-Palestine protests are to continue across the UK on Saturday after Rishi Sunak’s warning that democracy was being targeted by “extremists”.In an address to the nation on Friday, the prime minister spoke about “forces here at home trying to tear us apart”, in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks by...

Calls for independent inquiry as UN team visiting the wounded in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital report seeing ‘large number of gunshot wounds’Israel is facing growing international pressure for an investigation after more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza were killed when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire on Thursday.Israel said people died in a crush or were run over by...

Decision to airdrop supplies suggests Biden has given up on being able to persuade Israel to coordinate ground-based reliefThe US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Joe Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened fire on Gazans seeking food aid.The use of airdrops is a spectacular but inefficient way...

Allegations against 12 employees led major donors to suspend funding to UN Palestinian agency despite hunger crisis in GazaA month after Israeli allegations that a dozen United Nations staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack, UN investigators have yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims, though they expect some material to be forthcoming “shortly”.The allegations against the 12...

‘We designate Hamas as a terrorist group, but we must also call things by their name when there are atrocities in Gaza,’ says Stéphane SéjournéFrance has called for an independent investigation into the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza who were gathered to receive humanitarian aid on Thursday.Stéphane Séjourné, the minister for Europe and foreign affairs, told France Inter:We will ask for explanations, and there...

Israeli military denies shooting into large crowds of hungry people and says most were killed in crush or run over trying to escape More than a hundred Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Thursday morning, Gaza health officials said, when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire, in an incident that the US president, Joe Biden, warned was...

More than 30 news organisations sign open letter demanding freedom to report conflict in safetyMore than 30 news organisations have signed an open letter expressing solidarity with journalists working in Gaza and calling for their protection and freedom to report.The letter, coordinated by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), was signed by global news agencies AFP, AP and Reuters, as well as other leading...

New Zealand also announced sanctions on ‘extremist Israeli settlers’ accused of violence against PalestiniansSee all of our coverage on the Israel-Gaza warCNN are reporting that concern is rising among Biden officials that Israel may launch an incursion into Lebanon.In a politics piece published on its website on Thursday, CNN cite US administration and intelligence officials as being “concerned that Israel is planning a ground...

Dozens of foreign staff have had to leave and new specialists can’t be brought in, says group representing aid agenciesIsrael has stopped issuing visas for international staff of humanitarian organisations that work in occupied Palestinian territories, hampering efforts to get food and other vital supplies into Gaza.Dozens of foreign aid workers, including heads of organisations, have had to leave Israel and the Palestinian territories,...

Women and children suffering acute malnutrition as territory faces ‘catastrophic conditions’, according to UNOne in five pregnant women treated at a central Gaza clinic are malnourished, doctors have warned, as fuel and medical supply shortages closed the last hospital operating in the north of the strip.“Every day, we see women and children coming into our clinic suffering from acute malnutrition,” said Dr Maram, the...

Palestinian ambassador to UK says Hamas will be consulted but would have no members in governmentMiddle East crisis – live updatesThe formation of a new Palestinian technocratic government would be aided by both Qatar and Egypt and involves consultations with all Palestinian political factions – including Hamas, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, has said.The move appears to be part of an...

Exclusive: UN special rapporteur on the right to food Michael Fakhri says denial of food is war crime and constitutes ‘a situation of genocide’Israel is intentionally starving Palestinians and should be held accountable for war crimes – and genocide, according to the UN’s leading expert on the right to food.Hunger and severe malnutrition are widespread in the Gaza Strip, where about 2.2 million Palestinians...