In the West Bank, a Palestinian woman succumbs to injuries sustained from Israeli forces during her arrest on 5/21 in Jenin. The woman was first placed in administrative detention but later released due to her deteriorating health condition. Israeli settlers set fire to farmland in Burin. Israeli settlers also steal 2 solar panel systems and 2 refrigerators near Tubas. Israeli forces shoot and injure 5 Palestinians and ram vehicles, injuring 2 others, during a raid in Jenin. Israeli forces also shoot and injure a Palestinian man in Hableh. Elsewhere, Israeli forces raid Nablus in preparation for a settler tour of Joseph’s Tomb, violently dispersing Palestinians with tear gas and starting a fire at a vegetable market. Israeli forces also open fire at vehicles during a raid in Sinjil, causing damage. Meanwhile, Israeli forces demolish 2 homes in Jalamah, a home in Bayt Jala, and a water well in al-Juwaya in the Masafer Yatta area. Israeli forces also arrest 28 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Nablus, Bethlehem, and Jenin. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Gaza City, Nuseirat refugee camp, Maghazi, Dayr al-Balah, Khan Yunis, and Rafah, killing at least 40 people, including 5 police officers in Dayr al-Balah. Israeli forces also order the evacuation of 9 neighborhoods in the center of Khan Yunis. 15 rockets are launched at Israel; no damage is reported. Off the coast of Gaza, Israeli naval forces shoot and kill a fisherman. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Meiss Ej Jabal and Jebchit, killing a paramedic and a Hezbollah member. In Iraq, 5 American soldiers and 2 military contractors are injured in a rocket attack on the Ain al-Asad Air Base. (AJ, AP, HA, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 8/5; AJ, HA 8/6; UNOCHA 8/7)
More than 39,623 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 16,314 children and 10,980 women, and around 91,469 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 10,000 people are missing in rubble. 598 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 139 children. More than 5,420 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 329 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 2,176 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 79,000 housing units have been destroyed and 370,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7/2023. 82 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. Israeli forces return back to Gaza the bodies of 89 Palestinians that were exhumed from cemeteries in Gaza in a shipping container. The remains of the mostly unidentifiable bodies were buried in a mass grave in Khan Yunis. (AJ, AJ, HA, NYT, REU, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA 8/5; UNRWA 8/8)
PA prime minister Mohammad Mustafa speaks with Belgian foreign minister Hadja Lahbib, discussing the situation in Gaza. (WAFA 8/5)
B’Tselem releases a report titled “Welcome to Hell – The Israeli Prison System as a Network of Torture Camps,” based on testimony from 55 Palestinians who have been held at Israeli prisons and detention camps since 10/7/2023, including 30 from the West Bank, 21 from Gaza, and 4 Palestinian citizens of Israel. The report says that the “testimonies clearly indicate a systematic, institutional policy focused on the continual abuse and torture of all Palestinian prisoners held by Israel,” including “[f]requent acts of severe, arbitrary violence; sexual assault; humiliation and degradation, deliberate starvation; forced unhygienic conditions; sleep depravation, prohibition on, and punitive measures for, religious worship; confiscation of all communal and personal belongings; and denial of adequate medical treatment.” The Israeli government says it will expand the Sde Teiman detention camp with 2 new wings and allow prisoners to walk around in the yards in response to a petition filed at the High Court of Justice for the detention camp to be closed. The government also claims that prisoners receive appropriate medicine, warm showers, and food. (AJ, BTS, HA, REU 8/5; AJ, HA 8/6; HA, HA 8/8)
UNRWA announces that it has fired 9 of its Gaza staffers who a UN Office of Internal Oversight Services investigation found “may have been involved in the armed attacks of 7 October 2023.” The investigation also clears 10 other UNRWA employees of the allegations against them. There are 13,000 UNRWA employees in Gaza. (AJ, AJ, AP, AX, HA, NYT, REU 8/5)
Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel is removing the threat of Palestinian statehood by “strengthening settlements in construction, development and regulation of settlements and infrastructure.” Smotrich also says “it may be just and moral” for Israel to starve 2 million Palestinians in Gaza until the Israeli captives are released, but that “no one in the world would let us.” The EU condemns Smotrich’s comments, calling on “the Israeli government to unequivocally distance itself from the words of Minister Smotrich.” The UK, Germany, and France also criticize Smotrich for his comments. (AJ, HA, HA 8/5; CNN 8/6; AJ, HA, HA 8/7; AJ, AP, NYT, WAFA 8/8)
U.S. president Joe Biden speaks with Jordanian king Abdullah II, discussing efforts to de-escalate tensions between Israel and Iran. Abdullah II warns Biden that Israel is taking unilateral measures in East Jerusalem that threaten the status quo. Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks with Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, reportedly urging him to press Iran and Hezbollah not to attack Israel. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says the Biden administration has conveyed a message to Iran that the U.S. will defend Israel in case of an attack. Hungarian foreign minister Peter Szijarto tells Israeli foreign minister Israel Katz that Iran has informed Hungary that it will attack Israel in response to the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh. U.S. Central Command commander Michael Kurilla meets with Israeli military chief of staff Herzi Halevi and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Israel, coordinating a joint U.S.-Israeli response to a potential attack. Gallant also speaks with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin in a phone call. Russian Security Council secretary Sergei Shoigu meets with Iranian president Masoud Pezeshkian and commander of the Iranian armed forces Mohammad Bagheri in Tehran. (AJ, HA, NYT, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, REU, REU 8/5; AX 8/6; HA 8/7)