AOC Urges Israel To Release Gaza Hospital Director Hussam Abu Safiya From Detention

AOC called on Israel to "release pediatrician Dr. Hussam Abu Safiya, who has been held without charge for 18 months and now faces an imminent threat to his life from torture," as the Haaretz live updates described his detention and the pressure on Israeli authorities to free the Gaza hospital director.

Haaretz also reported that AOC said Israel must "end the targeting of health workers and the inhumane treatment of Palestinians in arbitrary detention," framing the demand around treatment of detainees and health workers.

Al Jazeera

The same Haaretz update said the comments came after top U.S. Democratic lawmakers urged Israeli authorities to release the Gaza hospital director, who has been held without charge since his arrest in late 2024 in "life-threatening danger," according to his lawyer.

In parallel, Haaretz reported that the U.S. Treasury Department issued sanctions against Dubai-based Iranian financial facilitator Ali Ansari, describing him as overseeing "a sprawling global network of assets benefitting Iran's leader" and other regime elites.

The Haaretz update also said President Donald Trump wrote on X that Iran has "asked us to continue 'talks,'" but that the United States has declared "the Cease Fire is OVER."

Shafaq News reported that Israeli airstrikes killed two Lebanese people in southern Lebanon, targeting areas in Nabatieh district, and listed strikes hitting Nabatieh al-Fawqa, Kfar Roummane, Choukin, Qaaqaaiyet al-Jisr, and Zawtar al-Gharbiyeh.

Shafaq News said the Israeli military spokesperson claimed the army carried out more than 20 strikes across Lebanon over the past week to remove "threats," and claimed that more than 10 Hezbollah fighters were killed during the operations.

Al-Jazeera Net

The same Shafaq News update said that since March 2, Israeli operations in Lebanon have killed 4,321 people and wounded 12,204 others, according to Lebanon’s Ministry of Health.

Amnesty International, as quoted in Al-Monitor, called for investigating Israeli strikes in Lebanon as war crimes, saying in its report that Israeli attacks failed to distinguish between civilian and military targets and resulted in the death of entire families and children.

Al-Monitor reported that Amnesty cited evidence that three Israeli airstrikes at the start of the war killed 24 civilians, including 12 children, and that Kristine Beckerle condemned the attacks as "Within the space of just a week — the Israeli military obliterated entire families, including a dozen children, in Lebanon, demonstrating a callous disregard for civilian lives."

Amnesty’s report, as described by Al-Monitor, said it interviewed 15 people, including survivors, relatives, paramedics and journalists who visited the attack sites and analyzed satellite imagery, concluding that "Israeli forces violated international humanitarian law" in Lebanon.

In the same Al-Monitor account, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that "We did not ask permission from any party to enter Lebanon, and we do not need permission to remain in Lebanon," stressing that Israeli forces would remain until Hezbollah is fully disarmed.

Al-Monitor also reported that Israel Katz said Israel would continue to remain in the security zone in Lebanon and operate from it "for as long as necessary, until Hezbollah is disarmed," tying the stated end condition to Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Meanwhile, Yeni Şafak reported that Lebanon’s Ministry of Health announced that the death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression against Lebanon has risen to 4,321 dead and 12,204 injured since March 2, and said displacement of more than one million people occurred since the start of the aggression.

Yeni Şafak added that the Israeli occupation forces continue their aggression on Lebanon despite both sides signing a framework agreement brokered by the United States on June 26 and Tel Aviv’s announcement of a round of negotiations with Beirut in Rome next week.