Live
A Palestinian boy stands among rubble, after Israeli forces withdrew from a part of Gaza City, following a ground operation, July 12, 2024. [Dawoud Abu Alkas/Reuters]
By Federica Marsi and Joseph Stepansky
Published On 12 Jul 2024

This live page is now closed. You can continue to follow our coverage of the war in Gaza here.

12 Jul 2024 - 23:59
 (23:59 GMT)

Thank you for joining us

This live page is now closed.

Read about a Palestinian mother’s struggle to feed her baby amid the war in Gaza here.

Learn more about the new British government’s position on the war here.

And for all of our coverage of the Gaza conflict, click here.

12 Jul 2024 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

We will be closing the live blog soon. Here’s a recap of the day’s main events.

  • Hamas has accused Israel of committing “heinous abuses” in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of Gaza City as the Palestinian Civil Defence reported the discovery of dozens of bodies after Israeli troops left the area.
  • The International Court of Justice (ICJ) has said it will issue an advisory opinion on July 19 on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory.
  • Hamas’s Qassam Brigades has said it carried out several attacks against Israeli forces, including targeting military vehicles with explosive devices in Gaza City.
  • Israeli media reports say disagreements between Netanyahu and his intelligence chief David Barnea are complicating diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire.
  • US President Joe Biden hinted at progress in ongoing diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire deal in Gaza, saying both Israel and Hamas have agreed to a “framework” he laid out six weeks ago.
  • At a pledging conference, 118 countries signed a shared commitment to support and bolster financial and political support for UNRWA. Funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency has been guaranteed through September.
12 Jul 2024 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

UNRWA’s Lazzarini says funding guaranteed until September

Speaking to the press after a pledging conference, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini says funding for the UN Palestinian refugee agency had been guaranteed through September.

He added that the pledged amount was not yet known but would be disclosed in the coming days.

Out of the 16 countries that suspended funding after Israeli allegations against UNRWA, 14 have now resumed funding. The US and the UK did not resume funding, but Lazzarini said he was confident Britain – which elected a new government last week – would soon resume its financial support.

Displaced Palestinians walk in the courtyard of a destroyed UNRWA school following an Israeli air strike in the Nusairat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on June 6, 2024 [Mohammed Saber/EPA]
12 Jul 2024 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

Gaza media office details destroyed infrastructure

In its latest data release, the office also gave an update on the widespread destruction wrought on the enclave.

As of today, at least 80,000 housing units have been destroyed, the office said.

At least 34 hospitals have been put out of service, with a total of 161 health institutions targeted by Israeli strikes.

At least 609 mosques and three churches have been destroyed, the office said.

At least 115 schools and universities have also been destroyed.

12 Jul 2024 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

Michigan’s Arab community feels ‘disrespected’ by Biden: Activist

Suehaila Amen, a community advocate, says Arab and Muslim Americans in the Detroit area – where Biden is holding campaign events today – feel “disenfranchised and disrespected” by the US president and his Democratic Party over their unconditional support for Israel’s war on Gaza.

“He is a warmonger and genocide supporter. He continues to aid and abet a genocide on the innocent civilians of Gaza,” Amen told Al Jazeera.

“Biden continues to show the greater global community that the only thing he cares about is ensuring his allies have carte blanche to slaughter as they wish with our tax dollars funding the murder of innocent men, women and children. He is a disgrace to the nation as a leader.”

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march during a visit by President Joe Biden in Warren, Michigan, February 1, 2024 [Paul Sancya/AP Photo]
12 Jul 2024 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

Who are the Lebanese Resistance Brigades that claimed attack against Israel?

Hezbollah announced today that the Lebanese Resistance Brigades launched their first attack against Israel since the start of the cross-border clashes with the outbreak of the war in Gaza.

The Lebanese Resistance Brigades are a Hezbollah-affiliated group that includes non-Shia Lebanese fighters.

Hezbollah’s religious ideology is rooted in Shia Islam, so it formed the brigades in 1997 with a Lebanese national identity to allow fighters from other religious denominations to join it in fighting Israel.

The Lebanese Resistance Brigades said on Friday that they launched a rocket attack against an Israeli base in the disputed Shebaa Farms, which Lebanon claims as its own. The group said the operation was in defence of Lebanon and in support of the Palestinian people.

12 Jul 2024 - 22:31
 (22:31 GMT)
Analysis

Netanyahu ‘running the clock’ on Biden

As Biden faces growing calls for him to step aside as a presidential candidate amid concerns over his age, he is likely to have little “political capital” left to take a hard line with Israel, Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst Marwan Bishara says.

“Biden has been weakened over the past several weeks, and already over the past several months, he refused to put enough pressure on Netanyahu to change course,” Bishara said.

“There’s no doubt that Netanyahu is running the clock on Biden, that he is waiting for the next administration,” he said.

Meanwhile, Bishara added that many US voters in places like Michigan, where Biden is currently holding a campaign event, “are really stuck in this choice between tyrant Trump and genocide Joe”.

12 Jul 2024 - 22:21
 (22:21 GMT)

16,054 children killed since beginning of war: Gaza authorities

The figure has been released as part of the Gaza Government Media Office’s latest data on the war.

Of the children killed, 34 died from hunger, the office said.

At least 10,700 women are among the 38,345 Palestinians killed in Gaza since the war began, and about 10,000 Palestinians remain missing, according to the office.

12 Jul 2024 - 22:16
 (22:16 GMT)

Hezbollah official says Israel knows it would pay ‘heavy price’ in Lebanon

Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem has suggested that Israel is deterred from launching an all-out war against the Lebanese group.

“The Israeli enemy cannot take a stupid step because it knows that it would pay a heavy price,” Qassem said.

He added that Netanyahu is the only party that has not agreed to a ceasefire deal in Gaza, saying that the US administration has a responsibility to force the Israeli prime minister to accept ending the war.

12 Jul 2024 - 22:02
 (22:02 GMT)

Families of captives say Netanyahu’s behaviour in negotiations ‘reckless’

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum has denounced Netanyahu’s hardening position during negotiations on a ceasefire in Gaza that could free the captives held in the besieged territory.

“Netanyahu’s behaviour is reckless. This is an opportunity that we may never get again,” the organisation was quoted as saying by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz.

“It’s now or never. By the time everyone comes to their senses and works together, there might not be anyone to bring back. The families address the prime minister – we stand behind the Netanyahu deal, now it is your turn to stand behind the deal you put on the table.”

The comments come after media reports that Netanyahu was hardening his position amid disagreements with his own team, including intelligence chief, David Barnea.

Supporters of Israeli captives held in the Gaza march in protest calling on their government to negotiate a deal to free them [File: Menahem Kahana/AFP]
12 Jul 2024 - 21:46
 (21:46 GMT)

Poll finds majority of Israelis want Netanyahu to resign

A poll by Israeli news outlet Channel 12 has found that 72 percent of the Israeli public want Netanyahu to resign over the October 7 Hamas attack.

According to the poll, 44 percent of respondents believe Netanyahu needs to quit now, while 28 percent say he should resign after the war in Gaza ends.

The poll also found that 64 percent of respondents favour a ceasefire deal that would free Israeli captives in Gaza.

12 Jul 2024 - 21:32
 (21:32 GMT)

Israel announces more attacks in Lebanon

The Israeli military says it struck Hezbollah positions and infrastructure in several villages in southern Lebanon. The army had announced similar attacks earlier.

For its part, Hezbollah has also claimed several military operations against Israeli bases throughout the day.

12 Jul 2024 - 21:19
 (21:19 GMT)

‘Save Palestinian lives’: Protesters gather for Biden Michigan rally

Speaking to Al Jazeera, activist Lexi Zeidan says protesters gathered for Biden’s upcoming speech in Detroit have a unifying purpose – “to save Palestinian lives”.

Zeidan was among the organisers of the “uncommitted” movement, which saw hundreds of thousands of voters across the country cast ballots in protest of Biden’s policy towards Israel’s war in Gaza during the primaries.

“The goal was to get him to understand that if he did not listen to the demands of the people, which is to ensure a permanent ceasefire … then he’s going to lose the White House,” she said.

Zeidan added that there is still a chance that Biden could win back some voters in Michigan – a key battleground state – but only if he shows an abrupt change.

“I think that what he’s doing right now is playing on a very, very, very hot fire,” she said. “What I know to be true is that people are waiting for him to change course to potentially vote for him in November.”

US President Joe Biden arrives at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County airport in Romulus, Michigan, July 12, 2024 [Elizabeth Frantz/Reuters]
12 Jul 2024 - 21:06
 (21:06 GMT)

Photos: Protesters take to the street in Amman in support of Palestinians

Jordan, which established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1994, has seen regular protests in support of Gaza since the outbreak of the war.

Demonstrators in Amman carry signs and flags during a protest in support of Palestinians in Gaza [Jehad Shelbak/Reuters]
Jordanians are denouncing the Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip [Jehad Shelbak/Reuters]
Dozens of demonstrators light lights in the streets of the Jordanian capital in a show of support for Palestinians in Gaza [Jehad Shelbak/Reuters]

12 Jul 2024 - 20:53
 (20:53 GMT)

Ex-Israeli PM warns Israel has ‘no defence’ for crimes in West Bank

Ehud Olmert, who led the Israeli government in the mid-2000s, has issued a warning for Israeli leaders over the escalating settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

He suggested that the country will not be able to defend itself if charged with crimes over its conduct there.

“I am warning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: The day is drawing near when arrest warrants will be issued against you for the crimes being carried out every day in Judea and Samaria by Israel, with the support of its government, while you intentionally turn a blind eye to it,” he wrote in an op-ed for Haaretz, using a biblical name for the West Bank.

“The events in Gaza can be defended, because it’s possible to claim they are not a result of policy, order or intention by Israel, not even by you. In the worst case, as we all know, you are not really managing, leading or directing. After all, you’re not responsible for anything.”

12 Jul 2024 - 20:41
 (20:41 GMT)

Biden to campaign in Michigan, home to large Arab community

By John Hendren

Reporting from Detroit, Michigan

There is a big Arab and Muslim American population in Michigan. They are centred in Dearborn, just south of Detroit.

To put it in perspective, in the primary, Biden got about 600,000 votes in Michigan, easily winning over any other rivals, but about 100,000 voters voted “uncommitted”. Those were largely Arab and Muslim Americans and young Americans who are upset about his handling of the war in Gaza.

So Biden’s got to turn those voters around. But Biden’s also underwater with Black voters, young voters, Hispanic voters. He’s down from where he was in polling last time around, so it’s really a problem across the board for him.

He’s just not drawing the numbers he was four years ago.

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators march during a visit by President Joe Biden in Warren, Michigan, February 1, 2024 [File: Paul Sancya/AP Photo]
12 Jul 2024 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

US forces destroy three Houthi drones: CENTCOM

US Central Command has said the drones were destroyed in a Houthi-controlled area of Yemen over the past 24 hours.

It added that the drones presented an “imminent threat to US, coalition forces, and merchant vessels in the region”, without providing further details.

The announcement came as the Houthis said they targeted a commercial vessel twice – in both the Red Sea and the Bab al-Mandab Strait – with a number of ballistic and naval missiles and drones.

The group has for months been launching attacks on ships off Yemen’s waters in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.

12 Jul 2024 - 20:20
 (20:20 GMT)

PRCS appeals for Gaza workers to be rotated with West Bank colleagues

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said that more than 1,000 staff members and volunteers in Gaza have been working “day in day out, in horrific conditions” for more than nine months.

“Many are themselves displaced, looking after family, unable to ever really clock off,” the rescue agency said.

It added that while PRCS’s headquarters in Ramallah is only a two-hour journey from Gaza, its workers from the West Bank are currently not permitted to enter the besieged enclave.

“We urgently call for the rotation of humanitarian staff to allow PRCS members from the West Bank to replace their colleagues in Gaza,” it said.

12 Jul 2024 - 20:10
 (20:10 GMT)

Disagreement between Netanyahu, Mossad complicating ceasefire talks: Israeli media

Israeli media outlets are reporting that disagreements between Netanyahu and intelligence chief David Barnea are complicating diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of all captives.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation quoted informed sources saying Netanyahu has been tightening his position while conducting negotiations almost single-handedly.

Israeli Channel 12 said Barnea did not voice support for the new negotiating conditions set by Netanyahu. Yedioth Ahronoth also confirmed that the prime minister and the Mossad chief did not see eye-to-eye on the Gaza ceasefire framework.

Netanyahu has hardened his demands for a ceasefire on several issues this week, including the possibility of maintaining operational control of the Palestinian side of Gaza’s Rafah Crossing at the Egyptian border.

12 Jul 2024 - 20:00
 (20:00 GMT)

‘We must not forget Gaza’: Bernie Sanders

As US and international attention turns to the American election and Biden’s political struggle, Senator Bernie Sanders has stressed the need to keep focus on the suffering in Gaza.

“While much of the media is focused on the drama of the US presidential election, we must not lose sight of what is happening in Gaza, where an unprecedented humanitarian crisis continues to get even worse,” the progressive US senator said in a statement.

He highlighted the growing death toll and hunger and hygiene crises in the besieged territory.

“Yet, in the midst of this horror and violations of international law, the United States continues to send billions of dollars and thousands of bombs and other weapons to support this war. We, as Americans, are complicit,” Sanders said.