In the West Bank, a Palestinian man succumbs to wounds sustained during the Israeli raid on Tulkarm on 7/23, raising the death toll to 6. During a raid in Qalandia refugee camp Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian child, ram and kill a man, and punitively demolish the family home of a Palestinian man who was shot and killed on 2/29. Israeli forces also shoot and kill a Palestinian customs officer and injure another man during a raid in Tubas. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shoot and injure a Palestinian child during a raid in Bayt Dajan. Israeli forces also raid Artas, causing tear-gas related injuries. Meanwhile, Israeli forces raze farmland in Burqa. Israeli forces also raid Sabastia, issuing a notice that the military will seize 1.2 dunams (.3 acres) of land at the town’s archeological site and build a military barracks there. Separately, Israeli forces arrest 25 Palestinians during raids in and around Tulkarm, Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tubas, Nablus, and Jerusalem. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish parts of a Palestinian home in al-Tur and 2 commercial structures in Silwan. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Beit Lahiya, Nuseirat refugee camp, Khan Yunis, Gaza City, Jabalia refugee camp, al-Bureij refugee camp, and Rafah, killing at least 55 people. Israeli forces also open fire on an aid trunk carrying aid from World Central Kitchen near Dayr al-Balah, injuring the driver. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Chihine and Kfarhamam. Hezbollah forces fire rockets at Shebaa Farms, injuring an Israeli soldier. In Iraq, the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launches a drone at Eilat. (AJ, HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 7/24)
More than 39,145 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 16,054 children and 10,869 women, and around 90,257 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 10,000 people are missing in rubble. 583 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 137 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 2,147 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. 32 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. The Gaza Ministry of Health releases a list from 6/30 of 28,185 names of those killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since 10/7/2023. The WHO says that Al-Ahli Arab Baptist Hospital has partially resumed operations. The Nasser Hospital says most people volunteering to donate blood at the hospital are being turned away because they are malnourished. 8 Palestinians, including 2 women, are released to Gaza from the Ofer Prison. All of them recount being tortured while in Israeli custody. (AJ, AP, UNOCHA, UNOCHA, WAFA 7/24; AJ, WAFA 7/25; UNRWA 7/26)
Haaretz reports that Israel, in coordination with the WHO, will evacuate 250 injured Palestinians from Gaza to the UAE next week. (HA 7/24)
Israel’s military announces that it has recovered the bodies of 5 captives in Khan Yunis that had already been declared dead. (HA, REU 7/24; AJ, AP, NYT, REU 7/25)
A Palestinian official says that Tulkarm refugee camp’s infrastructure has been completely destroyed due to consecutive Israeli raids. (AJ 7/24)
The Knesset approves the transfer of authority over the Israeli Finance Ministry’s Real Estate Enforcement Division to National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, putting him in charge of demolitions of unlicensed homes in Israel. Palestinian lawmakers in the Knesset say that Ben-Gvir will target the Palestinian community. (TOI, WAFA 7/25)
Hezbollah releases an 8-minute video of drone footage taken over the Ramat David Air Force base 20 miles south of the Blue Line. (AJ, AJ, HA 7/24)
Airwars says they have conducted an investigation which determined that the Gaza Health Ministry’s death toll is “largely reliable.” (Airwars, AJ 7/24; NYT 7/25)
Times of Israel reports, quoting Israeli officials, that Egypt is showing flexibility on Israel’s demand that its troops remain in the Philadelphi Corridor between Egypt and Gaza. U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken speaks with Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, discussing the ceasefire negotiations. (AJ, HA 7/24)
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office releases a statement saying the status quo at the Haram al-Sharif has not changed and will not change after National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said in the Knesset that Jewish people were now allowed to pray at the compound. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant calls Ben-Gvir “a pyroman who is trying to set the Middle East on fire.” Israeli police also says that Jews are not allowed to pray at the compound. Ben-Gvir also endorses Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. (AJ, AP, HA, HA, HA, REU, WAFA 7/24)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses a joint session of the U.S. Congress, thanking President Joe Biden “for half a century of friendship to Israel and for calling himself a proud Zionist,” and thanking presidential nominee Trump for brokering normalization agreements, moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem, and “standing up to Iran.” Netanyahu also calls pro-Palestinian protesters “useful idiots of Iran,” denying that there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza and saying Israel is not blocking aid to Gaza. Netanyahu asks Congress to provide Israel with more military assistance so he can “finish the job faster.” He says he wants a post-war Gaza that is “demilitarized and de-radicalized,” governed by Palestinians that “do not want to destroy Israel,” and that Israel will not resettle Gaza but will retain the security responsibility there. Around half of the Democrats in Congress boycott the address, including 100 members of the House of Representatives and 28 senators. Republican representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) also skips the address, saying he refuses to be a prop for Netanyahu. Palestinian American representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) attends the address, wearing a keffiyeh and holding up a sign that says “guilty of genocide” and “war criminal.” Vice President Kamala Harris, who is the presumptive Democratic nominee for president, did not attend the speech. 6 protesters are arrested for disrupting the speech. Outside of the Capitol building a large pro-Palestine demonstration is violently dispersed with pepper spray during Netanyahu’s speech and at least 17 people are arrested. Netanyahu says he has canceled a planned trip by Israeli ceasefire negotiators to Qatar on 7/25, saying he wants to meet with President Joe Biden before the delegation leaves for Doha. Polling in Israel suggest that 70% of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign. Hamas says Netanyahu’s speech shows that he does not want to enter a ceasefire agreement and that it was “full of lies.” After his speech, Netanyahu meets with SpaceX owner Elon Musk, who attended the speech as a guest of Netanyahu. (AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AP, AP, AX, AX, AX, AX, AX, AX, HA, HA, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, NYT, REU, REU, REU, REU 7/24; AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, AP, AX, HA, HA, HA, HA, HA 7/25; HA, HA, REU 7/26)
U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller calls the Knesset’s approval of the first reading of a bill declaring UNRWA a terrorist organization “incredibly unhelpful,” saying “UNRWA is not a terrorist organization and we urge the Israeli government and the Knesset to halt the movement of this legislation.” Miller says that UNRWA plays an important role in delivering humanitarian assistance in Gaza and throughout the region. (AJ 7/24)
Republican presidential nominee Trump posts a letter from PA president Mahmoud Abbas dated 7/14/2024 on his social media platform Truth Social. Abbas’s letter denounces the assassination attempt on Trump and wishes Trump “strength and safety.” In response, Trump writes on the letter “Mahmoud – So nice – Thank you – Everything will be good. Best wishes.” In his post Trump says, “Looking forward to seeing Bibi [Benjamin] Netanyahu on Friday, and even more forward to achieving Peace in the Middle East!” (AJ, AX, HA 7/24)
30 civil society organizations sign a letter to the Biden administration calling for an investigation of, and accountability for, Israeli covert operations against Americans. (AJ 7/24)