Israel-Palestine live: Week three ends with over 7,000 Palestinians killed

Palestine's health ministry announced on Sunday that the Israeli army had killed at least 266 Palestinians in the space of 24 hours.

Over 100 of the victims were children, according to a ministry spokesman. 

An Israeli soldier was killed during a raid into Gaza, an Israeli military spokesperson has confirmed. Three others were injured. 

The incident reportedly took place on the frontier between Gaza and Israel. 

The White House is pressuring Israel to delay an expected ground invasion into Gaza in order to allow for negotiations to release further hostages, according to reports in CNN.

According to two sources who were present at the discussions, the US "pressed Israeli leadership to delay because of progress on the hostage front", as well as the need for aid trucks into Gaza.

However, a senior Israeli official denied that the US is seeking a delay of its ground incursion into Gaza. "We deny this report. We have a close dialogue and consultations with the US administration. The US is not pressing Israel in regards to the ground operation," the official said.

MEE columnist and University of Birmingham professor Kamel Hawwash has resigned from the Labour Party in protest of its stance on Israel's bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

"I am resigning from the Labour Party with effect from the 21st of October but still hope you will end your blind support for Israel, value Palestinian lives as much as other lives and work for a just peace. Stand on the right side of history," Hawwash wrote in a blog post.

The professor lauded the eight Labour Counsellors that have resigned in recent weeks, including six that pulled out of the party on Saturday over the Labour leadership's "refusal to condemn collective punishment of Palestinians".

"I salute the Labour Counsellors for saying enough is enough and resigning and I hope that more will reflect and come to the same conclusion that Palestinian lives are no less valuable than other lives and that the party's line on Palestine under your leadership is shameful and wrong," Hawwash said.

Israeli forces have shot and killed a 29-year-old Palestinian man identified as Jihad Mazen Subhi Saleh, and 17-year-old Mohammed Qaasim Abu Zar, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. 

The shooting took place in the occupied West Bank City of Nablus, during an Israeli raid on homes. 

Two more people were wounded in the raid, and have been transferred to the Rafidia Governmental Hospital. One of them is described as being in a serious condition after being shot in the chest. 

Another Palestinian was taken to the Arab Specialist Hospital with minor wounds in the foot. 
 

Israeli forces have fatally shot a 29-year-old Palestinian man identified as Jihad Mazen Subhi Saleh, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. 

The shooting took place in the occupied West Bank City of Nablus, during an Israeli raid on homes. 

Two more people were wounded in the raid, and have been transferred to the Rafidia Governmental Hospital. One of them is described as being in a serious condition after being shot in the chest.

Ashraf al-Qudra, a spokesperson for the Palestinian Ministry of Health, says that Israel has increased its threats to target and bomb hospitals in the besieged Gaza Strip, and that the international community must stop this before "more massacres are carried out".

Speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic in a live interview, Qudra said: "Palestinian hospitals keep getting threats from Israel to evacuate which violates Geneva conventions. We need oxygen tanks in hospitals and plenty of equipment yet these threats pose a real danger. If what happened at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital happens again, it will be a real catastrophe."

"Israel keeps carrying out massacres which are beyond comprehension… The international community needs to hold Israel accountable for the threats targeted at hospitals. Medical staff should be able to carry out their duties without threats, as should ambulances trying to get around," he added.

According to Qudra, al-Quds Hospital in Gaza has received multiple bomb threats and forced evacuation threats in recent days. 

"The hospital has over 400 people in it at the moment, with many of them in intensive care. The hospital is integral in saving the remaining lives in Gaza. If it is bombed it will create even more deaths and casualties than we saw in the bombing of al-Ahli Hospital," he added. 

Two Palestinian men have been wounded by live fire, after Israeli forces shot at them during a raid on the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.

According to initial local media reports, the shooting took place near a cemetery in the Zuwata area in the west of Nablus.

Video footage shared online shows heavily armed Israeli military vehicles in the area. 

There is no further information yet on the condition of the wounded Palestinian men.

Thousands gathered in Paris today to support Palestinians, calling on Israel to stop its bombardment of the Gaza Strip.

At least 15,000 protesters were estimated to have taken part in the demonstration.

Earlier this month, France had initially banned all pro-Palestine protests from public streets.

On Thursday, however, a Paris court suspended the ban, saying that bans imposed by regional prefects were "a serious and clearly illegal threat to the freedom to protest".

Nine Egyptians have been wounded in an Israeli explosion on an Egyptian position near the Gaza border on Sunday, according to Mada Masr.

Ambulances took the wounded to the Arish Military Hospital, according to a medical source and two north Sinai governorate officials who spoke to Mada Masr on condition of anonymity. 

The Israeli army confirmed that they fired in the area, and said it was an accident, with the incident being investigated.

The explosion came at the same time that a second aid convoy was entering Gaza since the start of the war on 7 October. 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) has said that Gaza is set to totally run out of fuel in three days. 

Israel cut off all fuel, aid, water, food and electricity supplies to the Gaza Strip on 9 October. 

"Without fuel, there will be no water, no functioning hospitals and bakeries. Without fuel, aid will not reach many civilians in desperate need. Without fuel, there will be no humanitarian assistance," Unrwa commissioner-general Philippe Lazzarini said.

He said the lack of fuel will add to the struggle of children, women and people of Gaza.

"Without fuel, we will fail the people of Gaza, whose needs are growing by the hour, under our watch. This cannot and should not happen," Lazzarini said.

While the second aid convoy since the start of the war entered Gaza today, aid organisations warn that this is a miniscule amount considering the significant needs on the ground. 

Yousef Hammash, the advocacy officer for the Norwegian Refugee Council in Palestine, says it takes five hours to get one bag of bread in Gaza, as fuel has been cut off to the besieged enclave and several bakeries have been bombed by Israel.

"Today, the mission of getting bread really wasn't easy," he said in a voice recording posted on social media platform X. "There are a lot of people waiting in line... every day is more challenging than the previous day... it's a chaotic situation and it's affecting peoples' mental health now."

According to Hammash, people are now in a state of stress, "people have exceeded what they can handle," he said. "This is nothing compared to whatever we witnessed before."
 

Palestine's Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said on Sunday that the international community must create a "united front" to put an end to Israel's attacks on the Gaza Strip. 

"We place at the top of our priorities stopping the Israeli aggression... and bringing in medical and relief aid to prevent a major humanitarian catastrophe," Shtayyeh said during a meeting with 25 ambassadors, representatives and consuls.
 

The Israeli army has confirmed a bombing that took place at the Rafah crossing earlier today, which wounded two Egyptians and destroyed an Egyptian watchtower.

According to the Israeli army "an army tank accidently fired and hit an Egyptian position near the border... the incident is being investigated and the details are under review," they said in a statement posted on social media platform X.

The bombing of the crossing came as a second aid convoy was entering Gaza from Egypt. 

Since the start of the war on 7 October, Israel has bombed the Rafah crossing four times, causing widespread damage. 
 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (Unrwa) stated on Sunday that it is in "shock and mourning" after it was confirmed that 29 of its staff in Gaza have been killed since the start of the war on 7 October. 

"Half of these colleagues were Unrwa teachers," it said on social media platform X, adding that "as an agency, we are devastated. We are grieving with each other and with the families."