Updates: Child among two killed as Israeli air raids, drones target Gaza

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• An Israeli drone attack east of Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, has killed two Palestinians, including a child. The Israeli army claims those killed “posed an immediate threat” to its forces.
• US mediators have met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to discuss the second – and far more complex – phase of the Gaza ceasefire agreement.
• Hamas officials and mediators are reportedly holding talks on the hundreds of the group’s fighters who are trapped in tunnels in Rafah, in southern Gaza.
• The Palestinian group has reiterated its “precise” agreement to the ceasefire deal and slammed Israeli violations.
• Israel has handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinian prisoners to authorities in Gaza as part of the ceasefire deal.

Palestinian American comedian Mo Amer has spent years using humour to face pain, break the silence and speak for a people under fire. In a moment of deep loss, he turns to the stage again.

Listen to the latest episode by our podcast series The Take below:

In this episode:

• Mo Amer (@realmoamer), comedian, actor and writer

We have some more comments from Israeli government spokesperson Shosh Bedrosian about the meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the US envoy, Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“Together the two discussed phase one, which we are currently still in, to bring our remaining hostages, and the future of phase two of this plan, which includes the disarming of Hamas, demilitarising Gaza and ensuring Hamas will have no role in the future of Gaza ever again,” Bedrosian told reporters.

“Phase two also includes the establishment of the international stabilisation force, the details of which of course together are being discussed.”

Hamas has repeatedly rejected calls to give up its weapons.

It is not yet clear which countries will participate in the proposed force, but Netanyahu has repeatedly said Israel would not allow Turkiye to be one of them.

“The prime minister said … there will be no Turkish boots on the ground,” Bedrosian said.

Turkiye on Friday issued arrest warrants accusing Netanyahu and several senior Israeli officials of genocide.

Umm al-Khair, a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank that was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, is bracing on Monday for the arrival of Israeli military bulldozers.

Residents say that Israel has ordered the demolition of 14 structures, including the community centre, greenhouse and family homes. It is unknown when the demolitions will occur, but a press release from the community says they could begin Tuesday.

Israel says the structures were built illegally. Residents, determined to stay on their land, say it is impossible to secure permits to build in the West Bank, leaving them little choice but to rebuild their homes following demolitions.

The film No Other Land chronicles villagers’ attempts to survive rounds of state-backed demolitions and rampant violence from Israeli settlers.

Bimkom, an Israeli rights group that focuses on urban planning, says that between 2016 and 2021, Israel rejected 99 percent of Palestinian requests for building permits in Area C of the West Bank, where Umm al-Khair is located.

The village was founded in the 1950s by traditionally nomadic people, known as Bedouin, who settled there just after being uprooted from the Negev desert during the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s creation. Two decades later, Umm al-Khair fell under Israeli security control when Israel captured the West Bank.

Settler attacks, residents say, began in the 1980s, after Israel built the settlement of Carmel close to Umm al-Khair.

Earlier this year, an internationally-sanctioned Israeli settler shot and killed a community leader, Awdah Hathaleen, as he was standing inside the community centre – now slated for imminent demolition.

The chief of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has urged Israel to allow his organisation to carry out its duties in the war-torn enclave, warning that “there is no time to lose in tackling widespread hunger and disease”.

“UNRWA, with its thousands of Palestinian personnel, has the capacity, expertise and community trust required to provide healthcare, education and other public services to a devastated population,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote in an article published by The Guardian, the British daily.

“For decades, the agency’s teachers, doctors and engineers have formed a vital part of a functioning system of public services for millions of Palestinian refugees in Gaza and the region,” the UNRWA chief said.

Lazzarini noted that the International Court of Justice “reaffirmed the professionalism of UNRWA’s staff” in its advisory opinion last month, underlining “the agency’s indispensable humanitarian role and concluded that UNRWA remains an impartial and neutral actor”.

In October last year, Israeli MPs adopted a law that barred UNRWA from carrying out its operations in Israeli territory and curtailed its activities in Gaza and the occupied West Bank by banning state authorities from having any contact with the agency.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has condemned what it called a violent attack by Israeli settlers on Palestinian villagers, activists and journalists during the olive harvest in the occupied West Bank.

A Reuters news agency photographer and security adviser were among those injured in the attack when settlers reportedly used sticks, clubs and stones against Palestinians harvesting olives.

In a statement, the Washington-based group said such attacks stem from Israel’s “ongoing system of apartheid and impunity” and urged the US government to “hold accountable those responsible, including through the reimposition of sanctions on Israeli settlers”.

CAIR called on the US government to renew sanctions earlier this month, warning that unchecked settler violence continues to endanger Palestinians and those documenting the effects of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory.

Hamas says that since the ceasefire agreement came into effect last month, Israel “has not ceased its daily and continuous” violations. According to a Hamas statement published on Telegram:

• Israeli attacks have killed 271 people in Gaza, with more than 90 percent of them being civilians.
• Strikes also wounded 622 people – 99 percent of them civilians.
• Israel’s forces have arrested 35 Palestinians, with 29 of them still in detention.
• The military has daily and systematically demolished houses inside the yellow line, the temporary withdrawal line for Israeli forces.
• It continues to prevent the entry of humanitarian aid provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).
• Israel has not allowed entry of at least 600 aid trucks daily as agreed, including 50 trucks of various types of fuel.

Hamas says it has “adhered to the implementation” of the ceasefire agreement, handing over the 20 living captives within 72 hours “despite the extremely difficult field conditions created by the war”.

It added that it managed to recover 24 out of 28 bodies and, through intermediaries and the Red Cross, provided coordinates for other bodies located in areas under Israeli control.

Palestine’s ambassador to Brazil has told the COP30 climate summit that Israel’s genocide in Gaza and occupation of Palestinian land have significantly contributed to the climate crisis.

Ibrahim al-Zaben stressed that Palestine’s climate crisis is inseparable from the ongoing Israeli occupation, adding that Israel’s policies are major contributors to environmental issues.

Watch the video below:

Israeli settlers have vandalised several graves in the Bab al-Rahma cemetery, which is adjacent to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, according to Wafa news agency.

The cemetery has seen many attacks by settlers in the past, and has been subjected to excavation work by the Israeli authorities.

The attack comes just days after the United Nations said there were more than 260 settler attacks last month in the occupied West Bank – an average of eight per day – resulting in injuries, property damage, or both.

Following a meeting between Netanyahu and Kushner, the Israeli PM’s office says:

• The two discussed disarming Hamas and demilitarising Gaza.
• Any decision on Gaza will be made in collaboration with the Trump administration in the US.

The organisation representing international media in Israel and the Palestinian territories has condemned attacks by Israeli settlers on journalists in the occupied West Bank, urging Israeli authorities to halt the “violence immediately”.

“Journalists, both local and foreign, have proven to be a clear target as they document an unprecedented level of unchecked violence against Palestinians during this year’s olive harvest,” the Foreign Press Association (FPA) said.

It added that on Saturday, two employees of Reuters news agency wearing clearly marked press vests and helmets were assaulted by masked Israeli settlers armed with clubs and rocks near the Palestinian village of Beita.

“They also attacked those who tried to help her. A Reuters security person was hit, and two Palestinian freelance journalists were injured while being chased,” it added.

On October 10, settlers beat a veteran AFP news agency photographer with sticks when filming the olive harvest in the same area, with his car set on fire.

“The photographer, who testified it was one of the worst attacks in his 30-year career, reported that Israeli forces at the scene refused to intervene, instead firing rubber bullets and tear gas at olive pickers and activists accompanying them,” the FPA said.

The al-Araby al-Jadeed news outlet is reporting that Hamas officials and mediators are holding talks “regarding hundreds of the group’s fighters trapped in underground tunnels in Rafah”.

The report quoted Palestinian sources as saying the talks are focused on finding a “solution that guarantees that the fighters are allowed to remain in Gaza”, adding that “the option to deport them overseas is not on the table at the moment”.

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• Two Palestinians, including a child, were killed in a drone attack east of Khan Younis earlier today. The Israeli army says those killed “posed an immediate threat” to its forces.
• Israel has handed over the bodies of 15 Palestinian prisoners to authorities in Gaza as part of the ceasefire agreement.
• In Jerusalem, the Knesset is voting on a contentious bill that would allow the death penalty for Palestinians accused of killing Israelis.
• Aid continues to trickle into Gaza, with 270 trucks carrying humanitarian and commercial goods entering on Sunday through the Kerem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) and al-Karara (Kissufim) crossings.
• US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff have met Netanyahu in Jerusalem.
• In southern Lebanon, Israel carried out another drone attack on open land near al-Hamira, after an earlier attack in the area killed one person.
• Israeli forces launched a three-day military exercise across the occupied West Bank, as settlers attacked Palestinian shepherds near Nablus.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says it has received bodies from Israel of 15 more Palestinians.

It says 91 of the 315 bodies released by Israel so far as part of the ceasefire agreement have been identified.

According to the ministry, 38 bodies were transferred and buried today in the Cemetery for the Unknown.