Hamas reportedly gives up demand for permanent cease-fire before signing truce agreement: Gaza war, day 274

Thank you for following our live coverage of the war in Gaza and its repercussions, particularly in Lebanon.

We will continue our coverage of the conflict tomorrow morning.

At 5:25 p.m., Hezbollah successfully targeted the Ruwaisat al-Alam Israeli site in the occupied Lebanese hills of Kfar Shuba with missiles, the group said in a statement.

The Israeli army says that an interceptor launched at suspicious aerial target in northern Israel's Hula Valley was due to false alarm, Haareta reports, adding that shrapnel fell in the town of Hatzor HaGlilit, which faces the Lebanese village of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil district).

The Hatzor Haglilit Regional Council announced in a statement, "the explosion is apparently the result of a drone interception, parts of the interceptor fell in the area of Kramim and Bustan HaGalil neighorhood," a report in the Jerusalem Post adds.

Protesters hold a placard depicting Britain's new Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his predecessor Rishi Sunak reading "Same circus different clowns" as they march in London during the "National March for Gaza," calling to "end the genocide" and "stop

A Palestinian child looks out of the window of a building damaged in an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 6, 2024. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on July 6 that at least 38,098 people have been

Fighting continued on Saturday in Shujaia, an eastern district of Gaza City (north), where the Israeli army has been conducting a ground operation supported by artillery and the air force since June 27, AFP reports.

The Israeli army said Hamas members had been "eliminated in fighting" in Shujaia and reported the "destruction of weapons and infrastructure" including tunnels.

Soldiers are also continuing the fighting in Rafah (south), where according to the army "terrorist cells have been eliminated" and "several tunnels destroyed and weapons seized"with the help of the air force.

A man working for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (URNWA) stares at the blood of a victim at the entrance of the agency's warehouse after it was hit by an Israeli strike in the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on July 6, 2024

Palestinian reports say that six Palestinians were wounded by Israeli army fire at the Balata refugee camp in Nablus in the occupied West Bank, Haaretz reports.

An Israeli military source told Haaretz that the soldiers entered the area and opened fire after being shot at.

MP Hassan Fadlallah, a member of Hezbollah's parliamentary bloc, reiterated today that the Israeli army is "on the verge of being defeated" by Hamas "after two months of attack on Rafah and nine months of genocide against the Palestinian people."

Fadlallah's remarks reiterated a recurring theme in Hezbollah's rhetoric since hostilities began on the border between southern Lebanon and Israel on Oct. 8, the day after the outbreak of the Gaza war.

Fadlallah made his comments during a tribute to the memory of a Hezbollah fighter, Nosrat Hussein Choukeir, who was killed in southern Lebanon by the Israeli army. 

Strikes continued southern Lebanon early this morning:

* At 3 a.m., Israeli warplanes targeted a three-story building in the town of Kafr Kila (Marjayoun), destroying it.

* Hezbollah said in a statement this morning that it launched an air attack this morning with a round of assault drones on the artillery position of Israel's 403rd Battalion of the 91st Division in Beit Hilal, causing it to catch fire.

Here's what happened on the Lebanon-Israel border last night, according to information from our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah: 

* At 9:30 p.m., Hezbollah said in a statement that it bombed the new headquarters of the 91st Division in the Ayelet barracks with rounds of Katyusha rockets.

* The Amal-affiliated medical association al-Risala Scouts said in a statement that it carried out firefighting operations in Odaisseh (Marjayoun district) after Israeli attacks triggered a fire in the village.

* After 10 p.m., Israel targeted the outskirts of Houla (Marjayoun) with phosphorus shells, triggering a fire. The Israeli bombing also targeted the outskirts of the towns of Markaba (Marjayoun) and Honin (Bint Jbeil), according to our correspondent in the south.

* Also after 10 p.m., an Israeli aircraft targeted the outskirts of Bint Jbeil. Ambulance teams headed to site of the attack and reported two wounded people.

* After 10:30 p.m., Hezbollah issued a statement saying that it had bombed Israel's Margaliot settlement with rounds of Katyusha rockets.

* Israeli warplanes targeted the outskirts of Bint Jbeil with two missiles, while the firefighting team of the Bint Jbeil District Municipalities Union was present. The strikes wounded two of the team, who were subsequently transported to a nearby hospital.

* At 11 p.m., Israeli warplanes raided, in two batches, the area between the towns of Yarin and al-Bustan in Sour district. The warplanes also raided the town of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil) but the missile launched did not explode.

Announcing on Thursday that Benjamin Netanyahu had told the U.S. president Israel would send a delegation to Doha, his office reiterated Israel's determination "to end the war only if all its objectives are met."

U.S. President Joe Biden and Netanyahu "will probably see each other when the prime minister" of Israel is in Washington, where he is scheduled to address Congress on July 24, the White House said.

The latest elements provided by Hamas "could provide the necessary basis for reaching an agreement," a senior US official commented, while warning that "much remains to be done" and that it would be "difficult."

Some 1.9 million Gazans, i.e., 80 percent of the population, are now displaced, according to the U.N., across the besieged territory which is also threatened by famine.

The World Health Organization warned yesterday that the lack of fuel, recurrent since the start of the war, poses a "catastrophic" risk to Gaza's health system, which is faced with a massive influx of sick and wounded.

Late June deliveries of fuel for water supply and wastewater treatment "have covered only 10 percent of daily needs," according to the United Nations Office for Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 

The war was triggered on Oct. 7 by a Hamas attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. Of the 251 people kidnapped during the attack, 116 are still being held hostage in Gaza, with 42 of them believed to be dead, according to the Isreali army.

In response, the Israeli army launched a multi-stage offensive on Palestinian territory that continues to this day.

After advancing from the north, on May 7 the army launched a ground operation in Rafah, a town in southern Gaza bordering Egypt, then presented as the final stage of the war. However, after nearly nine months of deadly conflict, fighting has resumed in several areas the Israeli army had previously said it controlled, notably in Shujaia, an eastern district of northern Gaza City, where the army has been conducting a ground operation backed by bombardments since June 27.

On Friday, new fighting pitted Israeli soldiers and Palestinian fighters in Shujaia, according to a Hamas source. Witnesses also reported Israeli artillery fire and airstrikes in Khan Younis (south) and Rafah, where ground fighting was taking place.

⚡ The Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip has announced a new death toll of 38,098 in the Palestinian territory since the war with Israel began nearly nine months ago, AFP reports.

At least 87 people have been killed in the last 48 hours, it said in a statement, adding that 87,705 people have been wounded in the enclave.

On the Israeli side, following the return to Israel yesterday evening of Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea, who held talks in Doha with Qatari officials, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office announced that a "team will leave next week to continue negotiations" in Qatar.

"It is emphasized that there are still gaps between the parties," added the spokesman for the Israeli prime minister's office, quoted by AFP.

Netanyahu had ordered the Mossad chief to Doha on Thursday after Hamas announced new "ideas" for a cease-fire. Barnea was due to meet Qatar's prime minister, Mohammed ben Abdelrahman Al-Thani, among others.

Before announcing the continuation of talks, Hamas had said it expected an initial response from Israel to its new "ideas" by Saturday.

Starting with the latest news from Gaza:

Hamas has accepted a U.S. proposal to begin talks on releasing Israeli hostages, including soldiers and men, 16 days after the first phase of an agreement aimed at ending the Gaza war, a senior Hamas source, speaking on condition of anonymity, told Reuters on Saturday.

The source said the proposal calls for mediators to guarantee a temporary cease-fire, the delivery of aid and the withdrawal of Israeli troops as long as indirect talks continue to implement the second phase of the agreement.

According to the source, Hamas has dropped its demand that Israel first commit to a permanent cease-fire before signing the agreement, and would allow negotiations to achieve this throughout the first six-week phase.

Hello!

It's day 273 of the war in the Gaza Strip. It is also the 272nd day since the opening of a front in southern Lebanon between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

Follow our live coverage of the conflict and its repercussions in the region throughout the day.