In the West Bank, Israeli settlers set fire to a warehouse and spray racist graffiti on nearby walls in Burqa. Israeli settlers also set fire to farmland and throw stones at properties in al-Lubban ash-Sharqiya. Israeli forces shoot and injure a Palestinian child in al-Arroub refugee camp. Israeli forces also demolish a home in al-Walaja and a gas station in Hizma. Elsewhere, Israeli forces arrest 25 Palestinians during raids in and around Ramallah, Hebron, Tulkarm, Jenin, and Nablus. Israeli forces also shoot and injure 2 Israeli settlers near Ramallah, mistaking them for Palestinians. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Dayr al-Balah, Rafah, Gaza City, Maghazi, Shuja’iya, al-Bureij refugee camp, and Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 80 people. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Beit Jbeil, Marwahin, and Kfar Kila, killing 3 people in Beit Jbeil. Hezbollah forces fire rockets at Kiryat Shmona. In Syria, Israeli forces bomb a car in al-Sabboura near the Lebanese border, killing at least 1 person. (AJ, AP, HA, HA, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 7/15; AP, AP, NYT 7/16; UNOCHA 7/19)
More than 38,664 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 16,054 children and 10,700 women, and around 89,097 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 10,000 people are missing in rubble. 568 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 134 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, 326 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 2,128 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. 45 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. The UN says Israel has allowed it to bring in armored vehicles and personal protection equipment for its humanitarian missions in Gaza. UNOSAT finds that as of June 63% of crop fields in Gaza have been damaged. (AJ, HA, REU, UNOCHA, WAFA 7/15; UNRWA 7/17)
The Israeli High Court of Justice orders the government to explain why the Sde Teiman detention facility is not operated in accordance with the law. (HA 7/15)
China says it will host reconciliation talks between Hamas and Fatah in Beijing between 7/21 and 7/23. A planned meeting between the 2 sides in China in June was postponed. Hamas says political leader Ismail Haniyeh will lead the Hamas delegation while Fatah is expected to send deputy chairperson Mahmoud al-Aloul. (AJ, HA, NYT, REU 7/15)
The New York Times reports that Israel may be willing to withdraw from the Rafah crossing if Egypt agrees to measures that would prevent arms smuggling to Gaza, including sensors that can detect if tunnels are being dug and underground barriers. (NYT 7/15)
Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich says that if the ICJ rules that Israeli settlements are illegal then Israel must annex the West Bank. The ICJ is set to deliver a ruling on the legality and consequences of the Israeli occupation on 7/19. (AJ 7/16)
In an interview with Complex’s Speedy Morman, U.S. president Joe Biden reiterates that he is a Zionist, saying “every Jew in the world would be at risk” if it was not for Israel and claims that the U.S. is denying Israel “offensive weapons,” referring to 2,000-pound bombs, but acknowledges that he is sending “defensive weapons.” Biden also says “I am the guy that did more for the Palestinian community than anybody. I am the guy that opened up all the assets, I am the guy that made sure that I got the Egyptians to open the border to let goods and medicine and food through. I am the guy that has been able to pull together the Arab states to help the Palestinians with food and shelter.” Lastly, Biden says he received a call from Saudi Arabia which wanted to “fully recognize Israel if the U.S. will give them a guarantee that we will give them weapons if they are attacked by other Arab nations—one just around the corner [presumably mistaking Iran for an Arab country]—and we would put a civilian nuclear facility there and out military would operate it.” (HA, NYT 7/15; AJ, HA, HA 7/16; AJ 7/17)
U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken meets with Israeli national security advisor Tzachi Hanegbi and adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Ron Dermer. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says Blinken expressed serious concern over the high death toll in Gaza, calling it “unacceptably high.” (HA 7/15; AJ, HA, NYT 7/16)
The EU sanctions the Israeli settler activists Baruch Marzel, Bentzi Gopstein, Moshe Sharvit, and Zvi Bar Yosef, the Tzav 9 organization, and several settlement outposts. (AJ, AP, HA, HA, REU, WAFA 7/15; NYT, NYT 7/16)
Indonesia and India commit $1.2 million and $2.5 million respectively in funding for UNRWA. (WAFA, WAFA 7/15)