Israel-Hamas War: What happened on day 314?

The Gaza Hamas-run Health Ministry claimed to have identified the first case of polio in the Gaza Strip on Friday.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for a humanitarian ceasefire in favor of a vaccination campaign. Hamas called for a week-long ceasefire.
 

The Hamas Government Media Office stated on Friday that the death toll in Gaza has reached 40,005 since the war started on October 7 of last year.

A further 92,401 have thus far been wounded in the conflict, the office added.

The number has not been independently verified, and the office did not differentiate between civilians and combatants in its toll.

Peace activists from several countries are setting out on a converted trawler to defy an Israeli blockade and deliver humanitarian aid to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

"The purpose of this mission is to send a message that civil society is not OK with what's happening in Gaza," said Fellipe Lopes, the Portuguese media coordinator of the Freedom Flotilla Coalition on board the ship Handala during a stopover in Malta.

It will be a trip fraught with danger. Another coalition ship on a similar mission to Gaza in 2010 was stopped and boarded by Israeli troops, and nine activists died. Other ships were similarly stopped and boarded, without loss of life.

An interceptor was launched toward a suspicious aerial target that crossed from Lebanon, following the sirens that sounded in the upper Galilee on Friday, the IDF stated.

Sirens were sounded following the possibility of fallen shrapnel from the interception, the military added. 

A projectile was identified crossing from Lebanon toward the area of Netu'a and fell in an open area earlier on Friday.

No injuries were reported in either incident.

The IAF struck Hezbollah military structures in the areas of Maroun El Ras and Ayta ash Shab in southern Lebanon, following the sirens.

Israel hopes that the United States can pressure Hamas to accept the Gaza hostage deal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Office said on Friday after the US published a joint statement with Qatar and Egypt announcing that new talks would be held in Cairo late next week.

"Israel appreciates the efforts of the US and the mediators to dissuade Hamas from its refusal to agree to a hostage release deal.

"Israel's fundamental principles are well known to the mediators and the US," the PMO said. "Israel hopes that their pressure will lead Hamas to accept the May 27 principles so that the details of the agreement can be implemented," it stated.

Foreign Minister Israel Katz suggested a connection between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hamas in a Friday post to X, formerly Twitter, implying the Turkish head of state was involved with the terror organization's finances.

השבוע פרץ סכסוך בין ארדואן @RTErdogan לבניו של איסמעיל הנייה, שהגיעו אליו כדי לדרוש לעצמם את 3 מיליארד הדולרים שמצויים בחשבונות בבנקים בטורקיה על שמו של אביהם, וארדואן סירב לתת להם את הכסף.

איך צבר הנייה, יליד מחנה הפליטים שאטי, הון עצום כזה? כמה פלסטינים בעזה יכלו לחיות חיי… pic.twitter.com/dGxrVGxqdf

— ישראל כ”ץ Israel Katz (@Israel_katz) August 16, 2024

"This week a conflict broke out between Erdogan @RTErdogan," Katz wrote. "For the sons of Ismail Haniyeh, who came to him to claim the 3 billion dollars that are in bank accounts in Turkey in their father's name, and Erdogan refused to give them the money. How did Haniyeh, born in the Shatti refugee camp, amass such a huge fortune? How many Palestinians in Gaza could live a prosperous life if the money came to them? And the main thing: what does Erdogan have to do with money? "Follow the money" is a well-known phrase. In this case the address is clear."

President Joe Biden commented on the Doha negotiations from the Oval Office on Friday afternoon, telling reporters talks are closer to coming to an agreement than they were three days ago. 

"I don't want to jinx anything," Biden said, according to pool reports. "We're not there yet but we're close." 

Hamas insisted on Friday that Israel follow the United Nation's request to implement a 7-day truce to allow Palestinian civilians an opportunity to be vaccinated against the Polio virus.

Hamas also demanded further humanitarian aid be delivered to the Gaza Strip.

The terror group running the enclave has been recorded stealing aid from Palestinians on multiple occasions, and aid has increasingly entered the Gaza Strip throughout the war.

Hamas senior official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters on Friday that the US administration is trying to create a "false positive atmosphere" and has no real intention of stopping the war in Gaza and is only trying to buy time.

Following hostile aircraft intrusion sirens that blared in the northern Golan Heights on Friday, two suspicious aerial targets were identified and intercepted after crossing into Israeli territory from Lebanon, the IDF stated.

One of the targets was intercepted by the air defense systems, and another aerial target fell in the area of Kela. There were no reported casualties.

A fire broke out in the area of ​​Kela after fragments of an interceptor fell. Fire brigades are now on the scene.