LiveLive Updates July 16, 2026Share to FacebookShare to XArticle printing is available to subscribers onlyPrint in a simple, ad-free formatSubscribeComments: Zen reading is available to subscribers onlyAd-free and in a comfortable reading formatSubscribeJuly 16, 2026Updates7 hours agoGaza hospital director jailed in Israel says he was assaulted by prison guards following lawyer's visitDr. Hussam Abu Safiya, the director of a major Gaza hospital who has been imprisoned by Israel since 2024, told his lawyer he was assaulted by prison guards following his previous lawyer's visit earlier this month.He further stated that since that visit, he has been held alone in a cell in solitary confinement.According to Physicians for Human Rights Israel, Safiya's reports call for "immediate intervention and an independent and impartial medical and legal examination."Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, handcuffed during a video-link High Court hearing, earlier this month. Credit: Reuters TV via ReutersDr. Hussam Abu Safiya, handcuffed during a video-link High Court hearing, earlier this month. Credit: Reuters TV via ReutersPhysicians for Human Rights Israel has filed a petition demanding the release of 14 Palestinian doctors from the Gaza Strip, including Dr. Abu Safiya, who are detained in Israel without indictment and without trial. The state has called for the petition to be dismissed without a hearing, while the court has requested the petitioners' response by July 19.The state argued in its response to the petition that there was "no indication that Dr. Abu Safiya's life was at risk," and that since he was transferred to Rakefet detention facility, he has been examined several times by medical personnel. According to Safiya's lawyers, he did not receive further medical treatment and was not informed of the results of an X-ray following previous medical examinations.Escalating Israeli strikes kill five people in Gaza, medics sayIsraeli strikes killed at least five Palestinians in the Gaza Strip on Thursday, Palestinian health officials said, ⁠as a U.S.-based research group reported a surge in Israeli attacks to levels not seen since the latest truce took effect in October.Medics said an Israeli airstrike killed two people near the Tuffah neighbourhood in the north of the enclave, while a third person was killed ‌in Israeli tank shelling in the Zeitoun suburb in eastern Gaza City.Another airstrike at a tent encampment ‌for displaced people in western Gaza City killed one person and wounded several, while an attack on a vehicle in Khan Younis, in the south, killed another, medics said. Witnesses also reported that an airstrike hit a residential building in Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza.FILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip earlier this month. Credit: Haseeb Alwazeer/ REUTERSFILE PHOTO: Displaced Palestinians shelter at a tent camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip earlier this month. Credit: Haseeb Alwazeer/ REUTERSThe Israeli military had no immediate comment on any of the incidents. The deaths add to a toll of more than 1,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, killed by Israeli attacks since an October cease-fire between Israel and Hamas to end the war took effect, according to Gazan health officials. Hamas does not usually disclose its losses.Conflict monitor ACLED, which tracks Israeli ‌attacks in Gaza, said air- and drone ⁠strikes against Hamas and other militants increased to more than 40 in June, ‌the highest monthly total since the cease-fire."With polls showing the opposition in the lead, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing growing domestic pressure to take a tougher security position against Hamas," ACLED Middle ⁠East Assistant Research Manager Nasser Khdour said, referring to Israel's legislative election in October.RECAP: Trump considers expanding U.S. military operations in IranHere are Thursday's latest updates:■ Syrian ‌authorities foiled an attempt ⁠to smuggle advanced weapons and missiles ‌over the ‌border from Iraq, the state news agency SANA reported on ⁠Thursday, citing an Interior Ministry ‌source, ⁠who said ‌preliminary investigations showed the ⁠shipment was intended for Lebanon's Hezbollah.■ MK Dan Illoz said that Likud MKs worked to oust Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a few weeks after October 7, 2023, in an interview in Ynet, adding that the campaign fell through because of "ego struggles" within the party over who would be its next leader.■ Iran will "target all infrastructure in the region" if President Donald Trump "follows through with his threats of attacking Iranian infrastructure," a spokesperson for Tehran's top joint military command said.■ In the northern West Bank, settler attacks were reported in the Tulkarm and Nablus area that included rock throwing and setting fire to several cars.■ The government has approved a budget of over a billion shekels for paving roads and securing settlements in the West Bank.■ Trump is considering expanding U.S. military operations in Iran following briefings from top aides, U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal.■ The United States intensified its strikes targeting Iran early Thursday, hitting targets further north as American forces also fired into a ship it accused of trying to break its naval blockade on the Islamic Republic. Strikes also reached into areas around Iran's capital, Tehran, for the first time in the latest round of violence.■ Several international airlines have suspended or canceled flights to destinations across the Middle East amid the escalating conflict between the United States and Iran.IDF says it struck four Hamas weapons storage facilities in Gaza overnightThe IDF announced that it struck four Hamas weapons storage facilities in the Gaza Strip overnight, said to contain Kalashnikov rifles, RPGs, grenades, explosive devices, and additional military equipment.Palestinian residents save their belongings from destroyed buildings following an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday overnight at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Credit: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Palestinian residents save their belongings from destroyed buildings following an Israeli airstrike on Wednesday overnight at al-Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip. Credit: Abdel Kareem Hana/AP Lebanon's foreign minister: 'There will be no return to dual authority,' vows to end Hezbollah presenceLebanon's Foreign Minister Youssef Raggi said that Lebanon made a decision to "end Hezbollah's military presence," which affirms that all decisions on war and foreign policy are the "exclusive prerogative of the Lebanese state.""There is no longer any place for weapons outside the authority of the state or for decisions taken outside its constitutional institutions," Raggi wrote on X.From the French Senate, I reaffirmed that Lebanon has made its choice: there will be no return to dual authority, and there is no longer any place for weapons outside the authority of the state or for decisions taken outside its constitutional institutions.