Palestine

• Casualty count: Over the last 24 hours, 16 Palestinians were killed and 39 were injured across Gaza. The total recorded death toll since October 7, 2023 has risen to 72,819 killed, with 172,894 injured. Since October 11, the first full day of the so-called ceasefire, Israel has killed at least 922 Palestinians in Gaza and wounded 2,786, while 781 bodies have been recovered from under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.
• Israeli strikes kill at least 12 on Eid Al-Adha:
  • Israeli strike in Gaza City kills at least ten: An Israeli strike hit a home in Gaza City on Wednesday evening, killing at least ten, including five children, and wounding more than 20 others, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. Videos filmed by journalists at the scene show residents pulling bodies from the rubble, children covered in blood being rushed into ambulances, and crowds screaming in panic as flames and smoke fill the area.
  • Israel claims strikes in northern Gaza killed two Hamas leaders: Israel’s military announced on Wednesday that strikes in northern Gaza killed Izz-al-Din Bik and Imad Aslim, a deputy commander of Hamas’ Gaza City brigade and the commander of its Zeitoun battalion, respectively. The strikes come a day after Israeli strikes killed Mohammed Odeh in Rimal, whose death Hamas confirmed on Wednesday. Odeh’s wife and two sons were killed in the Tuesday strike, according to a statement from the group. Drop Site contributor Mohammed Ahmed submitted a video report from Odeh’s funeral, which is available here.
• UN adds Israel to blacklist of perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict zones: The United Nations has added Israel to a blacklist of perpetrators of sexual violence in conflict zones. Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon revealed the news in a social media post on Thursday, calling it a “blood libel.” The Israeli Prison Service is among several entities added to the UN list, according to Israeli media reports, alongside other official Israeli bodies. The move follows mounting Palestinian and international reports documenting torture and sexual abuse of Palestinians during arrest, interrogation, and detention across Gaza, the occupied West Bank, and Israeli prisons.
• Israel blocks sacrificial animals used in Eid Al-Adha ceremonies from entering Gaza: Israel blocked an estimated 17,000 calves and 24,000 sheep from entering Gaza ahead of Eid Al-Adha, the Government’s Information office said on Thursday, preventing residents from participating in a central ritual that accompanies the holiday.
• U.S. returns UN’s Francesca Albanese to sanctions list: The U.S. returned UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese to its list of “Specially Designated Nationals” on Wednesday, Reuters reported, subjecting her once again to sanctions applied by the Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control. A U.S. district court judge had ruled in Albanese’s family’s favor when they had brought forward a lawsuit against the sanctions. Albanese could not access her American bank account and was prevented from traveling to see her daughter and relatives who lived in the U.S. Albanese has been a target of the Trump administration because of her criticism of Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
• “Board of Peace” to make first appearance in Gaza, Israeli media says: Representatives of Trump’s “Board of Peace” submitted a request to the IDF to enter the Gaza Strip on Wednesday, Israel’s Kan News reported, in what would be the body’s first visit to the territory.
• GSF participants detained in Libya, organizers say: Forces loyal to Khalifa Haftar, the commander of the Libyan National Army, detained ten members of the Global Sumud Flotilla in the central Libyan state of Sirte, the group announced on Wednesday. Organizers said the group, which included nationals from Poland, the U.S., Argentina, Uruguay, Portugal, Tunisia, and Italy, was detained after entering Libya’s ceasefire security zone to negotiate safe passage toward Gaza. Haftar’s LNA has been in de facto control of the eastern half of the country since 2017.
  • New Zealand man describes abuse in Israeli detention: Hāhona Ormsby, a citizen of New Zealand and participant in the Global Sumud Flotilla, described his brutal treatment at the hands of Israeli soldiers to the New Zealand outlet Stuff, with the one primarily responsible for his torture telling him, “I’m a crazy MF. I’m going to hurt you every minute you’re with me.” Ormsby describes being punched repeatedly, knocked unconscious, and having his head pushed into a wall during a strip search, as well as a harrowing moment when a soldier threatened to taser his genitals. His testimony is available here.

Source: Israeli strikes kill 16 in Gaza on Eid Al-Adha; Trump threatens to “blow up” Oman; DOJ opens perjury investigation into E. Jean Carroll