“We are at the stage of decisive victory. I came today to the Gaza Division in order to approve the plans that the IDF presented to me and to the Defense Minister for taking control of the city of Gaza and for defeating Hamas.”
 
“At the same time, I instructed to begin immediate negotiations for the release of all our hostages and for ending the war under conditions acceptable to Israel,” he continues, apparently referring to the decision approved by the cabinet earlier this month under which Israel will only agree to end the war if Hamas releases all of the hostages at once and agrees to Israel’s surrender terms.
 
“These two things — the defeat of Hamas and the release of all our hostages — go hand in hand,” Netanyahu asserts, adding that he “greatly appreciate[s] the mobilization of the reserve soldiers, and of course the standing army, for the sake of this vital mission.”

Relatives of Israeli hostages held in Gaza urged the government on Thursday to accept a proposed ceasefire deal that would free at least some of the hostages held in Gaza, fuming at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for appearing to ignore the Hamas terror group’s ostensible acceptance of terms he previously okayed.

Under intense international pressure, Hamas agreed earlier this week to a 60-day ceasefire that would reportedly free 10 living hostages, in line with an American proposal previously backed by Netanyahu’s government, and launch negotiations for the return of the rest of the hostages and an end to the war.

However, Netanyahu has in recent weeks shifted from supporting the partial agreement and instead now insists on a comprehensive deal rather than a partial, phased agreement. He has not convened his cabinet to discuss Hamas’s acceptance of the 60-day truce.

“Someone who has chosen for three days now not to respond to [Hamas’s acceptance of] an agreement the government already approved, not to convene the security cabinet or the [general] cabinet, has essentially chosen to sacrifice the hostages,” said Bar Goddard, daughter of Manny Goddard, who was killed on October 7 and whose body is one of at least 28 deceased hostages being held in Gaza.
An unnamed senior Israeli official told Hebrew media outlets on Wednesday that Israel does not currently plan to dispatch a team to Qatar or Egypt to take part in talks aimed at reaching a deal. Reports also suggested that Israel has, for the time being, decided to avoid responding at all to the phased deal approved on Monday by Hamas.

“There’s an agreement on the table that can save living hostages and bring deceased ones back for a proper burial,” Miran Lavi said. “Hamas has agreed, but the Prime Minister’s Office is working on torpedoing it, which will be a death sentence for the living hostages and condemn the deceased ones to remain lost.”

UK among 27 countries to demand press given immediate access to Gaza
Germany, Australia and Ukraine also sign statement calling on Israel to end block on international media access

“In light of the unfolding humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, we, the undersigned members of the Media Freedom Coalition, urge Israel to allow immediate independent foreign media access and afford protection for journalists operating in Gaza,” they say.
 
“Journalists and media workers play an essential role in putting the spotlight on the devastating reality of war. Access to conflict zones is vital to carrying out this role effectively. We oppose all attempts to restrict press freedom and block entry to journalists during conflicts.”
 
The governments condemned the alleged targeting of journalists in Gaza, after analysis indicating at least 192 journalists and media workers have been killed in Gaza, the West Bank, Israel, and Lebanon since the war began.
 
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which compiled the data, said it was the deadliest period for journalists since it had begun gathering data in 1992. It is investigating 130 additional cases of alleged killings, arrests and injuries of journalists.

David Lammy among 21 foreign ministers to condemn plan for illegal West Bank settlement
Israeli ambassador to UK summoned as joint statement says move will fuel further violence and break international law
 
David Lammy has joined 20 other foreign ministers around the world in condemning Israeli plans to build an illegal settlement on the West Bank, with the Foreign Office summoning the Israeli ambassador to communicate the government’s displeasure.
 
The foreign secretary co-signed a joint statement on Thursday criticising the so-called E1 plan, a 3,400-home settlement that critics say would divide the West Bank in half.
 
Officials then summoned Tzipi Hotovely to the Foreign Office in a rare public rebuke for the Israeli ambassador. The actions marked a further intensification of recent international criticism for Israel over its tactics in Gaza and the West Bank.
 
The statement, which was signed by 21 countries including the UK, Australia, Canada and France, said: “The decision by the Israeli higher planning committee to approve plans for settlement construction in the E1 area, east of Jerusalem, is unacceptable and a violation of international law. We condemn this decision and call for its immediate reversal in the strongest terms.”

The Israeli military did not dispute the existence of the database or dispute the data on Hamas and PIJ deaths when approached for comment by Local Call and +972 Magazine. When the Guardian asked for comment on the same data, a spokesperson said they had decided to “rephrase” their response.
 
A brief statement sent to the Guardian did not directly address questions about the military intelligence database.
 
It said “figures presented in the article are incorrect”, without specifying which data the Israeli military disputed. It also said the numbers “do not reflect the data available in the IDF’s systems”, without detailing which systems.

The military also considers the Gaza health ministry toll reliable, Local Call has reported, and the former head of military intelligence appeared to cite it recently, even though Israeli politicians regularly dismiss the numbers as propaganda.

The military also considers the Gaza health ministry toll reliable, Local Call has reported, and the former head of military intelligence appeared to cite it recently, even though Israeli politicians regularly dismiss the numbers as propaganda.

The military also considers the Gaza health ministry toll reliable, Local Call has reported, and the former head of military intelligence appeared to cite it recently, even though Israeli politicians regularly dismiss the numbers as propaganda.
 

Norway's soccer federation says it "cannot remain indifferent" to humanitarian suffering in Gaza and will donate any profits from an upcoming World Cup qualifying game against Israel to aid work there.
 
Norway plays Israel in Oslo on Oct. 11.
 
"Neither we nor other organizations can remain indifferent to the humanitarian suffering and disproportionate attacks that the civilian population in Gaza has been subjected to for a long time," Norwegian Football Federation president Lise Klaveness said in a statement Tuesday.
 
"We want to donate the proceeds to a humanitarian organization that saves lives in Gaza every day and provides active emergency aid on the ground," she said.

La ville de Gaza sera détruite si le Hamas n'accepte pas la paix aux conditions dictées par Israël, a menacé, vendredi 21 août, le ministre israélien de la Défense Israël Katz. "Bientôt, les portes de l'enfer s'ouvriront sur les meurtriers et les violeurs du Hamas à Gaza, jusqu'à ce qu'ils acceptent les conditions posées par Israël pour mettre fin à la guerre, principalement la libération de tous les otages et le désarmement" du mouvement islamiste palestinien, écrit le ministre sur son compte X. "S'ils n'acceptent pas, Gaza, la capitale du Hamas, deviendra Rafah ou Beit Hanoun", a-t-il ajouté, faisant référence à deux villes de la bande de Gaza largement rasées par Israël dans la guerre qui l'oppose au Hamas depuis bientôt deux ans.

Revealed: Israeli military’s own data indicates civilian death rate of 83% in Gaza war

Figures from a classified Israeli military intelligence database indicate five out of six Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Gaza have been civilians, an extreme rate of slaughter rarely matched in recent decades of warfare.
 
As of May, 19 months into the war, Israeli intelligence officials listed 8,900 named fighters from Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad as dead or “probably dead”, a joint investigation by the Guardian, the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine and the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call has found.
 
At that time 53,000 Palestinians had been killed by Israeli attacks, according to health authorities in Gaza, a toll that included combatants and civilians. Fighters named in the Israeli military intelligence database accounted for just 17% of the total, which indicates that 83% of the dead were civilians.

That apparent ratio of civilians to combatants among the dead is extremely high for modern warfare, even compared with conflicts notorious for indiscriminate killing, including the Syrian and Sudanese civil wars.

A spokesperson did not immediately respond when asked why the military had given different responses to questions about a single set of data.
 
The database names 47,653 Palestinians considered active in the military wings of Hamas and PIJ. It is based on apparent internal documents from the groups seized in Gaza, which have not been viewed or verified by the Guardian.

The military also considers the Gaza health ministry toll reliable, Local Call has reported, and the former head of military intelligence appeared to cite it recently, even though Israeli politicians regularly dismiss the numbers as propaganda.

Selon une enquête conjointe du quotidien britannique The Guardian, du média israélo-palestinien + 972 Magazine et du site Local Call, au moins 83 % des morts à Gaza en mai étaient des civils. Des données classifiées de l’armée israélienne répertoriaient 8 900 combattants du Hamas et du Jihad islamique palestinien comme morts ou « probablement morts » à cette date, ne représentant ainsi que 17 % du total de Palestiniens tués alors (53 000).

‘I’m afraid to go home’: Canadian IDF soldiers fear fallout from war crimes probe

Mastracci, an editor for an outlet called the Maple, aimed to identify Canadians who had fought for the Israel Defense Forces, either during the current war or previously. At the time, Hubberman said, the exposure felt disturbing but marginal.
 
Then, in June, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police announced that it had opened an investigation into “matters related to the Israel-Hamas armed conflict,” with the possibility of uncovering “a perpetrator of core international crimes — such as genocide, war crimes, or crimes against humanity.”

The RCMP stated that its investigation wasn’t focused on “any community or group.” But to Hubberman and others, the target appeared clear: Canadian IDF soldiers.

“I was supposed to go to Canada last week,” N. told The Times of Israel in July. “But after the investigation was announced, I felt afraid to go home.”