Hamas agrees to negotiate on hostages in the absence of a permanent cease-fire, senior movement official says: Gaza war, day 275

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.

Here are the latest developments from the Lebanese-Israeli border:

* Israeli artillery fire targeted the outskirts of Markaba, Houla and Tallousa (Marjayoun), residents told our correspondent.

* In response to the Israeli attack on the village of Maaroub (Sour), Hezbollah claimed to have fired dozens of Katyusha rockets at the 91st Division headquarters in the Ayelet barracks.

* Hezbollah also targeted military positions in Liman, Israel, with Katyusha missiles, in response to Israeli strikes on Naqoura (Sour) and Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).

A senior Hamas official says the group has agreed to negotiate on the release of Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners in the absence of a permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, AFP reports.

"Hamas demanded Israel's agreement to a complete and permanent cease-fire as a condition before negotiating," he said. "This point has been overcome, with the mediators committing to the fact that as long as negotiations are ongoing, the cease-fire remains in force."

Of the 251 people kidnapped during the Oct. 7 attack, 116 are still being held hostage in Gaza, 42 of whom have died, according to the Israeli army. Last month, a senior Israeli official claimed that "dozens of hostages [were] definitely alive."

Britain's new prime minister, Keir Starmer, has called on all parties to exercise "caution" on the border between Israel and Lebanon, during his first telephone conversation with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

According to a spokesman for Starmer, the prime minister told his Israeli counterpart, whose country is one of his closest allies, that the situation on Israel's northern border is "deeply worrying and it was crucial that all parties act with caution."

The new head of the British government reiterated the U.K.'s position in the conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, stressing "the clear and urgent need for a cease-fire, the release of hostages and an immediate increase in the volume of humanitarian aid" in the Palestinian territory. Keir Starmer also advocated for the establishment of "long-term conditions" for a two-state solution, "including ensuring that the Palestinian Authority has the financial means to take real action."

The British prime minister also spoke with the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to inform him of his positions and priorities regarding the situation in the region, in particular to put an end to the "devastating suffering and loss of life in Gaza."

The U.N. Human Rights Office says Israel is facilitating an environment characterized by fear, forcing Palestinian communities from their homes and land in the occupied West Bank.

“Settlers, acting with the protection and support of Israeli security forces, are escalating violent attacks on herding communities in the South Hebron Hills, Jordan Valley and East Jerusalem that have been encircled by settlements and outposts,” the office said in a statement.

Israeli jets have broken the sound barrier over several areas of southern Lebanon twice today, and once in the western Bekaa, our correspondents report.

More than 2,000 Israelis are taking part in a demonstration in Tel Aviv, according to Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth. The protesters are demanding a cease-fire agreement with Hamas in exchange for the release of Israeli hostages from Gaza, as well as early elections in Israel. 

The armed wing of Islamic Jihad claims to have fired a barrage of mortar shells at Israeli soldiers and vehicles entering the Shujaia neighborhood of Gaza City.

The group also said on Telegram that its fighters had engaged in violent clashes with Israeli soldiers west of the city of Rafah.

Two people have been respectively seriously and moderately injured by an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah towards the western Galilee, in northern Israel, Haaretz reports.

The two wounded were evacuated to the Galilee Medical Center in the town of Nahariya, it adds.

Here's an update on the situation in south Lebanon:

* Israel targeted the outskirts of several villages in the western and central sectors of south Lebanon, including Boustan, Om al-Tout and Jabal Bassil, as well as the outskirts of Beit Leif and Zibqine, with phosphorus shells, causing fires in the forests of the targeted areas, al-Risala Scouts, a medical association affiliated with the Amal Movement, reports.

* Hezbollah claimed it targeted Israeli soldiers at the Israeli site of Birket Riché, opposite the Lebanese town of Boustan (Sour), with guided missiles. The party claimed the strike caused a fire and left dead and wounded.

* Hezbollah also claimed to have successfully targeted the Israeli site of Bayad Blida, opposite the Lebanese village of Blida (Marjayoun), with rockets at 2:45 p.m.

An Israeli airstrike on Gaza City has killed Ihab al-Ghoussein, a senior Hamas government official, Reuters reports, citing the Palestinian group.

Al Jazeera is reporting Israeli army radio as saying that around 60 rockets have been fired towards northern Israel from southern Lebanon in the last few hours.

The Israeli air force attacked a Hezbollah military structure in Aita al-Shaab, after anti-tank missiles were fired from this village towards Israel, the Israel army reports according to Haaretz.

According to the Israeli army, around 20 missiles were fired at Meron, starting fires in the area.

Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, say their fighters targeted a Merkava tank 4 with an al-Yassin 105 rocket in Baghdad Street in the Shujayea neighborhood of eastern Gaza, where intense fighting was reported, the group said on its Telegram channel.

According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, 10 fire departments and six aircraft have been working in the Lower Galilee region to extinguish fires caused by missiles launched from southern Lebanon.

The Jordanian Foreign Affairs Ministry has condemned Israeli attacks on shelters for displaced Palestinians in Gaza, in particular the latest attack on a United Nations Refugee Agency (UNRWA) school in the Nuseirat refugee camp, which left 15 people — mostly women and children — dead and dozens injured.

In a statement published on X, the ministry stressed that Palestinians are experiencing "an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe due to the ongoing Israeli aggression."

Israeli protesters have blocked roads in Tel Aviv for a second day today, demanding that the government secure a hostage deal with Hamas as the Gaza war enters a 10th month, AFP reports.

A nationwide "disruption day" began at 6:29 a.m., corresponding to the start of the Hamas Oct. 7 attacks on southern Israel that set off the conflict.

Flag-wielding demonstrators stopped traffic at an intersection in Tel Aviv, calling for elections and for the government to do more to free remaining captives in Gaza.

Police stepped up security around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Jerusalem residence before a rally called for Sunday.

Here’s an update on Hezbollah attacks against Israeli positions:

* Hezbollah said that in response to the attack and assassination carried out by Israel yesterday in the Bekaa region, the party “shelled the air surveillance and operations management unit at the Meron base on Mount Jarmaq [in northern Israel] with dozens of Katyusha rockets, hitting it directly, which led to the destruction of part of its equipment and the outbreak of fires inside it.”

* Hezbollah targeted the Israeli Baghdadi site, opposite Aita al-Shaab, at 11:50 a.m. Haaretz reported that rocket sirens sounded in communities in northern Israel.

Here’s an update on the security situation in southern Lebanon:

* Israeli warplanes targeted a house in the town of Naqoura (Sour district,) local residents reported.

* Israeli artillery targeted houses in the southern neighborhood of the town of Tallousa (Marjayoun district) with four shells, according to local residents.

The Hamas government's Health Ministry has announced a new death toll of 38,153 in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war.

At least 55 people have been killed in the last 24 hours, it said in a statement, adding that 87,828 people had been wounded in the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, according to AFP.

The Israeli government is discussing budget cuts for government offices in order to divert funds to help evacuees until the end of August from locations up to seven kilometers from the Gaza Strip and up to five kilometers from the border with Lebanon.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said he would oppose the proposed cuts to his office.

"We are at war. Just as it didn't occur to anyone to cut funding for the Ministry of Defense and the Israeli army, it shouldn't occur to anyone to cut funding for the Ministry of National Security," the minister said.

Egypt will host Israeli and U.S. delegations for talks on the "outstanding points" of a potential agreement between Israel and Hamas on a cease-fire and the release of hostages, Egyptian television reports, according to Haaretz.

Egypt's state-run al-Qahera News TV, citing a senior source, reported late yesterday that Egypt is also holding "consultations and contacts" with Hamas as part of efforts to reach an agreement.

Here are the latest developments on the Lebanese-Israeli border:

* Hezbollah said that in response to "the aggression and assassination perpetrated by the Israeli enemy in the Bekaa region" yesterday, its fighters targeted the Nimra base (one of the main bases in northern Israel), west of Tiberias, with dozens of Katyusha rockets.

* An Israeli drone targeted a water tank in the village of Maaroub, northeast of the city of Sour, residents told our correspondent. Ambulances were dispatched to the scene.

Hezbollah parliamentary group leader Mohammad Raad delivering a speech at a ceremony commemorating the death of a party fighter killed in Kfar Melki, July 7, 2024. (Credit: photo provided by our correspondent Mountasser Abdallah)

"We are paying the price of this war to preserve our national dignity and the sovereignty of our country," said Hezbollah parliamentary group leader Mohammad Raad at a ceremony commemorating the death of a Hezbollah party fighter killed in Kfar Melki (Saida).

"We watch over the [Israeli] enemy's capabilities and strike at him to weaken him, defeat him and thwart his aggressive objectives. It's true that this confrontation requires resistance and a certain price to pay, but isn't that more noble and dignified than letting the enemy end up burning and destroying our homeland and occupying it?" the MP added.

"We're not just confronting the enemy now; we're building the basis for our confrontations in the phases to come, because this enemy won't stop his aggression until he's gone. We must be ready to face any aggression he perpetuates," Raad concluded.

An Israeli has been "seriously wounded by rocket shrapnel after the last barrage fired from south Lebanon towards the Lower Galilee in northern Israel," Haaretz reports.

Yesterday, the Gaza government's media office reported that Israeli strikes had killed three journalists in the Nuseirat refugee camp and two in Gaza City, bringing the total number of media professionals killed since Oct. 7 to at least 158.

Amjad Jahjouh and Rizq Abu Ashkian of the Palestinian Media Agency and Wafa Abu Dabaan of Islamic University Radio were killed in Nuseirat. Wafa Abu Dabaan, Amjad Jahjouh's wife, also lost her children in the strike.

On Friday, Palestinian journalists Saadi Madoukh and Ahmed Sukkar were killed in an Israeli raid on the Madoukh family home in Gaza City.

Yair Lapid, the Israeli opposition leader, called for an end to the Gaza war, urging the Israeli government to reach a permanent cease-fire agreement with Hamas and bring back Israeli hostages, according to Israeli army radio, quoted by Al Jazeera.

This morning strikes continued on the Lebanese-Israeli border:

* Israeli artillery fire targeted Maroun al-Ras, Hanine and Aitaroun (Bint Jbeil) as early as 8:30 a.m., as well as the village of Blida (Marjayoun), residents told our correspondent.

* Hezbollah claimed it targeted spy equipment at 8:45 a.m. at the Israeli site of Raheb, which faces Aita al-Shaab (Bint Jbeil).

Here's what happened in south Lebanon on Saturday night:

* Israeli aircraft twice bombed Houla (Marjayoun), targeting homes, according to a security source contacted by our correspondent Muntasser Abdallah.

* Israeli aircraft then targeted the outskirts of Odaisseh (Marjayoun).

* Hezbollah claimed responsibility for an attack on the "Samaka" site in the disputed Kfar Shuba heights.

* After 9 p.m., Israeli artillery targeted the outskirts of Yaroun (Bint Jbeil), security sources told our correspondent.

* After 10:30 p.m., al-Risala Scouts, the medical association affiliated with the Amal Movement, said it have helped extinguish a fire that had broken out in Kfar Kila (Marjayoun) following an Israeli raid.

* After 11 p.m., heavy Israeli artillery fire targeted Wadi Slouki (Bint Jbeil), according to security sources.

Mayssam Attar was "an important Hezbollah air defense expert," the Israeli army said, via a message posted on X by its Arabic-speaking spokesman Avichay Adraee. The post adds that Attar played "a role in the planning and execution of terrorist attacks" against Israel, having gained experience "during trips to Iran."

After the deadly drone strike, Israeli aircraft continued to fly over the area.

The war threatens to take a regional dimension with daily exchanges of fire between Israel and Hezbollah on both sides of the border.

On Saturday evening, an Israeli drone fired a missile at a van passing through the village of Chaat, some 10 kilometers from Baalbeck, according to a security source quoted by our correspondent in the region, Sarah Abdallah.

The strike, carried out by the Israeli air force, killed at least one person, according to the same source and the Lebanese state-run National Information Agency (NNA). According to our correspondent's information, the deceased was a Hezbollah fighter. Hezbollah shortly afterwards announced the death of Mayssam Moustapha Attar, born in 1991 and originally from Chaat.

A senior Hamas source told Reuters that a revised proposal for an agreement between Hamas and Israel provided that talks for the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza, including soldiers and other men, would begin within a 16-day period after the first phase of the agreement.

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, the source told Reuters on condition of anonymity because the talks are private.

Against this backdrop, new efforts are underway for a cease-fire in Gaza, ahead of a visit to the United States by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to address Congress on July 24.

Following talks on Friday in Doha by Israeli Mossad chief David Barnea, a team will continue negotiations in Qatar "next week," Netanyahu's office said.

He reported persistent "gaps" with Hamas, which for its part announced new "ideas."

Fighting also continued in Shujaia, an eastern district of Gaza City, where soldiers have been conducting an air-supported ground operation since June 27.

Israeli soldiers are also fighting in Rafah (south), where witnesses have reported heavy artillery fire in the city center. According to the army "terrorist cells were eliminated" and "several tunnels destroyed and weapons seized."

Gaza's Hamas government denounced the strike on al-Jawni school as a "heinous massacre" and also reported that 50 wounded were transferred to hospital. According to Hamas, 7,000 displaced people were sheltering in the school.

"Shrapnel reached me when I was in a classroom, the children were injured," Samah Abou Amsha, at the school, testified to AFP. "Where should we go? Our children are scared to death.

The Israeli army carried out new deadly strikes in the Gaza Strip on yesterday, one of which killed 16 people in a school housing displaced persons, according to Hamas.

Israel said its air force had targeted "several terrorists" "in the area of al-Jawni school" in Nuseirat. According to reports, the school was run by the U.N. and was housing displaced persons. However, the Israeli army said,  "This location served as a hideout and operational infrastructure from which attacks were carried out against soldiers."

Good morning,

Today marks the 275th day of the war in the Gaza Strip. It is also the 274th day since the opening of a front in southern Lebanon between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

Follow our live updates on the conflict and its repercussions in the region here.