Israel-Hamas war latest: Palestinian death toll surpasses 40,000 as mediators hold cease-fire talks

The White House says a new round of talks aimed at halting the Israel-Hamas war has resumed in Doha and is expected to run into Friday. The talks will also focus on securing the release of scores of hostages, with a potential deal seen as the best hope of heading off an even larger regional conflict.

The United States, Qatar and Egypt were to meet with an Israeli delegation in Qatar as the Palestinian death toll from the 10-month-old war surpassed 40,000. A Palestinian official said Hamas would not take part in Thursday’s talks but that its senior officials, who reside in Qatar, were ready to discuss any proposals from the mediators, as they have in past rounds.

A cease-fire in Gaza would likely calm tensions across the region and may persuade Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah to refrain from retaliatory strikes on Israel after the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike and of Hamas’ top political leader in an explosion in Iran’s capital.

The mediators have spent months trying to hammer out a three-phase plan in which Hamas would release scores of hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war in exchange for a lasting cease-fire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

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Here’s the latest:

Cease-fire talks in Doha are ongoing

DOHA, Qatar — Qatar’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Majed al Ansari said the cease-fire talks are still ongoing and will resume Friday.

In a statement carried by the Qatari News Agency, he said “the mediators are resolute in their commitment to move forward in their endeavors to reach a cease-fire in (Gaza) that would facilitate the release of hostages and enable the entry of the largest possible amount of humanitarian aid” into the territory.

Israeli prime minister and military issue rare and swift condemnation of attack by Israel settlers in West Bank

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli military issued rare and swift condemnations of the attack by Israeli settlers on a village in the occupied West Bank that killed at least one Palestinian and injured another.

The attack in the village of Jit, near the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, was the latest in a series of settler incursions in the volatile territory since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war Oct. 7.

The Israeli military said that dozens of settlers, some masked, had torched vehicles and structures in the town, hurling rocks and Molotov cocktails in what it called a “violent riot”. It said forces used “riot dispersal means” and arrested one Israeli civilian.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the attack.

“Those who fight terrorism are only the IDF and security forces, not anyone else,” read a statement from his office. “Those responsible for any crime will be caught and prosecuted.”

The Israeli military said it was opening an investigation into the attack.

Over 633 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, most by Israeli raids into Palestinian cities and towns.

UN chief says toll of more than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza during war is likely an undercount

UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. chief believes the more than 40,000 Palestinians killed in Gaza during the 10-month war are an approximation, and if anything an undercount, given the large and “disturbing” number of people unaccounted for who may be trapped or dead under the rubble, the U.N. deputy spokesman says.

Farhan Haq told reporters Thursday that from Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ standpoint, “this is yet another reason why we need to have a cease-fire now, as well as the release of all hostages and unimpeded humanitarian assistance.”

The Gaza Health Ministry reported earlier Thursday that more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war. The count does not distinguish between civilians and militants.

The announcement came during new efforts to broker a cease-fire to the conflict.

Haq said the U.N. urges the parties at the talks brokered by the United States, Qatar and Egypt which began in Doha Thursday “to go the extra mile to actually reach an agreement on a cease-fire.”

Israeli representatives are in Doha and the U.S. State Department said that representatives from Qatar and Egypt are engaged on behalf of Hamas, which is not directly participating in the talks.

On the ground, Haq said the U.N. humanitarian office reports that “hostilities and recurrent evacuation orders are driving a seemingly endless cycle of displacement — and making it increasingly difficult for people to access the humanitarian assistance they need to survive after 10 months of war.”

One Palestinian shot and killed by Israeli settlers storming village in occupied West Bank

JERUSALEM — One Palestinian was shot and killed by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank Thursday night, Palestinian health officials said, as footage from the village showed settlers storming it.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said settlers killed 23-year-old Rasheed Mahmoud abed Al Khadier Sadah. It said settlers also shot another Palestinian in the chest, sending him to the hospital in critical condition.

The attack in the village of Jit, near the city of Nablus in the northern West Bank, was the latest in a series of settler incursions in the volatile territory since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war Oct. 7.

Israeli and Palestinian media reported that dozens of masked settlers had entered the village, setting homes and cars on fire. Footage circulating from the scene showed flames engulfing vehicles and structures in the village.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports but had no immediate comment.

Over 623 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire in the West Bank since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, most by Israeli raids into Palestinian cities and towns.

Hamas has representatives engaging on their behalf at cease-fire talks focused on implementing Biden peace plan

WASHINGTON — Though Hamas is not directly participating in cease-fire talks, representatives from Qatar and Egypt are engaged on their behalf, a U.S. State Department spokesperson said Thursday.

“There are representatives on the ground there from Israel, from the United States, from Qatar and Egypt. And Qatar and Egypt as part of that process are mediating with Hamas,” spokesperson Vedant Patel said during a briefing with reporters.

He said much of the talks will focus on the details of implementing a peace plan proposed by President Joe Biden in May.

“It is our view and it continues to be the case that the broader framework of what the president laid out at the end of May has generally been accepted. But of course this is a negotiation with two parties and this is a process,” Patel said. “I don’t anticipate that coming out of the talks that there will be a deal today,."

“We expect this process to continue,” he added.

Israel’s foreign minister to meet with UK and French counterparts

JERUSALEM — Israel’s foreign minister will meet with his counterparts from the United Kingdom and France this week to discuss preventing regional escalation, said the ministry on Thursday.

Israel Katz will meet with the ministers on Friday during their quick visit to the country, where the three are expected to discuss a deal to release the hostages among other issues.

The visit comes as the United States, Qatar and Egypt is meeting with an Israeli delegation in Qatar for a new round of talks aimed at halting the 10-month long war and as regional tensions rise. Iran and Lebanon’s Hezbollah are vowing to retaliate for the killing of a top Hezbollah commander in an Israeli airstrike in Beirut and of Hamas’ top political leader in an explosion in Tehran.

A cease-fire in Gaza would likely calm those tensions.

During Friday’s meeting, Katz is also expected to discuss the need to promote severe economic sanctions against Iran regarding for its nuclear program, said the ministry.

Firefighters in Israel tackle fires caused by rockets from Lebanon

JERUSALEM — Israeli firefighters Thursday were battling back blazes ignited by rockets from Lebanon, fire officials said.

Five trucks of firefighters spent the afternoon putting out a fire in the Upper Galilee, near Kibbutz Shamir, Israeli fire spokesperson Isaac Ben-David told The Associated Press.

The Lebanese Hezbollah militant group Thursday said it fired salvos of Katyusha rockets targeting Shamir for the first time. The group said the attack was in retaliation to an Israeli strike that targeted the southern Lebanese town of Marjayoun, an area that has largely been a safe area since the conflict started, and wounded several civilians.

Israel’s military said five rockets from Lebanon fell in open areas near Shamir and reported no injuries. 20 more rockets were fired into Israel soon after, it said.

Hezbollah announced three other attacks on Israeli military positions near the tense border with Lebanon, including an attack using exploding drones.

Israel and Hezbollah have exchanged cross-border fire since Oct. 8, racking up civilian and combatant casualties and wreaking devastation to towns on both sides of the border.

French Foreign Minister meets top Lebanese officials in Beirut

BEIRUT — France’s top diplomat Thursday met with top Lebanese officials in Beirut, as the region anticipates a retaliatory attack on Israel from Iran and the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah group and as negotiations for a cease-fire in the war-torn Gaza Strip recommence in Qatar.

“We are all concerned about the regional situation. Our message is simple which is de-escalation,” said French Foreign Minister Stéphane Séjourné following a meeting with Lebanese Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri.

Hezbollah militants and the Israeli military have traded strikes along the Lebanese-Israel border since Oct.8, a day after Hamas’ surprise attack into southern Israel sparked the ongoing war in Gaza. Hezbollah maintains that it will stop its attacks on northern Israel once there is a ceasefire.

Hezbollah and Iran's promised strikes come after a rare Israeli strike into southern Beirut killed a top Hezbollah commander last month and an explosion hours in Tehran later widely blamed on Israel that killed Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. Neither have launched their strikes over two weeks after the attacks.

According to a statement from Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati’s office, Séjourné said he had appreciated the “self-restraint” from the southern Lebanese side, where Hezbollah has launched its attacks on Israel.

Mikati told journalists following the meeting that “we can only be silent, patient and pray” during the ongoing tense situation.

France and the United States for months have scrambled to lay the foundations for talks between Lebanon and Israel to implement a United Nations Security Council resolution that would demarcate the two countries’ land border and keep armed forces away from southern except the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers.

Séjourné’s visit also comes a day after United States envoy Amos Hochstein met with Lebanese political and military officials, in his ongoing bid for regional deescalation and a ceasefire in Gaza based on a proposal presented by U.S. President Joe Biden.

Palestinians in Gaza hope the latest talks will end the Hamas-Israel war

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip —Palestinians in the Gaza Strip say they hope the latest round of cease-fire talks hosted by Qatar will bring an end to the devastating Israel-Hamas war.

“Oh Lord, we hope they reach an agreement and the war ends, because the population has been annihilated completely,” Abu Nidal Eweini told The Associated Press in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah. “People have no breath left in them anymore. People are tired.”

Riyad Hasan, who was displaced from Gaza City, said people want to return to their homes. The vast majority of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are living in squalid tent camps.

“We are people who want to live,” he said. “Let them accept the deal and end this. Find a solution for us.”

Amna Abu Hajaier, who is living in a tent, said one of her sons was killed and another is missing.

“We have suffered a lot,” she said. “We hope that someone will stand with us and support us and care for us a bit. The Palestinian people have been destroyed.”

Iranian military adviser in Revolutionary Guard dies from injuries sustained in airstrike in Syria

TEHRAN, Iran — Iranian military adviser Colonel Ahmadreza Afshari, a member of the country’s powerful paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, has died from injuries sustained in an airstrike in Syria, the state-run IRNA news agency reported on its Telegram channel.

He died on Thursday after being wounded days earlier in the coalition strike and transferred to Iran for medical treatment, it said.

Iran occasionally reports on its fallen military personnel in Syria, though officials say Iranian forces only have an advisory role there.

Iran has been the No. 1 regional supporter of Assad in that nation’s lengthy civil war. Hundreds of Iranian forces have been killed in the war.

Palestinian death toll tops 40,000 in Israel-Hamas war, says Health Ministry in Gaza

DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — The Health Ministry in Gaza says more than 40,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war.

Thursday’s announcement comes during new efforts to broker a cease-fire to the conflict, now in its 11th month. The count does not distinguish between civilians and militants.

It reflects the magnitude of Israel’s offensive in Gaza, one of the most devastating military campaigns in recent history. The war began Oct. 7 after Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people and dragging roughly 250 hostages to Gaza.

The United Nations’ human rights chief said the latest number of dead in Gaza “marks a grim milestone for the world.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement issued in Geneva that “this unimaginable situation is overwhelmingly due to recurring failures by the Israeli Defense Forces to comply with the rules of war.”

Türk added that “the scale of the Israeli military’s destruction of homes, hospitals, schools and places of worship is deeply shocking.”

He said that his office has documented serious violations of international humanitarian law both by the Israeli military and Palestinian armed groups, including the armed wing of Hamas.

11 children with cancer evacuated from Gaza for medical treatment, WHO says

KHAN YOUNIS, Gaza — The World Health Organization says 11 children with cancer have been evacuated from the Gaza Strip for medical treatment.

Israel has mostly sealed off the territory since launching an operation in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, in May. Israel controls all transfer points into and out of Gaza and has only allowed a small number of patients to leave for treatment.

Nermine Abu Shaaban, the patient evacuation coordinator for the WHO, says the children were transferred through the Kerem Shalom crossing into Israel and were headed to neighboring Jordan for treatment. Seven of the children were transferred by ambulance and the remainder on a bus. The evacuation was organized by the WHO and two U.S. charities.

One of the children being transferred, 2-year-old Mecca Zorab, has already undergone three surgeries in war-ravaged Gaza since a tumor was found in her head three months ago. Her mother, Fatima, could be seen holding and kissing her tiny hand as she lay on a stretcher in an ambulance with a breathing tube.

With another infant child to care for, Fatima is unable to accompany her daughter. She said the child’s grandmother will go with her instead.

Israel allows each patient to be accompanied by a female escort vetted by security services, who can bring a small bag of clothes, one mobile phone and a charger.

The war between Israel and Hamas, now in its 11th month, has decimated Gaza’s health system.

Most hospitals have shut down after running out of fuel or supplies, or following raids by Israeli forces. Israel accuses Hamas and other militants of sheltering in hospitals, allegations denied by hospital staff.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says some 28,000 patients require medical treatment outside Gaza.

Five-year-old Careeman al-Farra, who was also included in Thursday’s evacuation, was diagnosed with blood cancer as a baby and previously received treatment outside Gaza. Her mother said the cancer returned shortly before the war.

“There was no clean place for her to stay or be well fed to help with her medical condition,” Zaher al-Farra said. “We tried to provide those things, but it was hard because we were displaced from one place to the other.”

Israeli forces kill 2 Palestinians in West Bank, says the Health Ministry in the occupied territory

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Health Ministry in the West Bank said Thursday that Israeli forces killed two Palestinians in the occupied territory, the latest deaths in surging violence there.

The Israeli military said aircraft killed two gunmen who were identified as a threat to troops operating in the city of Nablus. It said it also returned fire when troops were shot at.

The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the men killed as Wael Misha, 18, and Ahmed Khalil, 20. There was no immediate claim from militant groups over whether the men had any affiliation.

The West Bank has seen surging violence since the war in Gaza erupted last year.

More than 600 Palestinians have been killed since then, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, most in clashes with the Israeli military or people throwing stones. Others not involved in the confrontations have also been killed.

Australian opposition leader called ‘racist’ in heated exchange in Parliament

WELLINGTON, New Zealand — Australia's opposition leader was called “racist” by an independent lawmaker in a heated scene in Parliament on Thursday after the leader repeated a call for the country to stop the arrival of refugees from Gaza.

Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, said those fleeing the conflict between Israel and Hamas were a “national security risk” and that Australia had inadequate screening measures for those arriving in the country as refugees.

Australia has issued almost 3,000 visitor visas to people fleeing Gaza or the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023, while denying applications for just over 7,000 others, according to figures the government released in response to Dutton’s remarks initially made on Wednesday — and then repeated on Thursday.

“These are families that you are seeking to paint — that somehow they are all terrorists, that they should all be mistrusted and not worthy of humanitarian aid,” lawmaker Zali Steggall told Dutton in Parliament on Thursday.

As Dutton interjected, Steggall told him to “stop being racist.”

Steggall withdrew the rebuke after the opposition leader said it was “offensive and unparliamentary.”

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese also criticized Dutton in Parliament on Thursday, saying: “He sows fear and he sows division. That is what he does, that’s what he has done his entire political career and that’s what he continues to do.”

Albanese said the government would not divulge all of its national security screening practices.