Attacks on densely populated areas continue as dozens killed across Gaza
The situation remains very tense as I can hear the drones hovering above me in the sky above central Gaza. This has been part of the ongoing intelligence activities by the Israeli military.
On the ground, there has been a very significant expansion of ground operations in border towns and villages, specifically in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya, Beit Hanoon and the eastern part of Gaza city, which are being subjected to intense military operations.
We’ve also had reports in the past hour of a surge of air attacks on residential houses in the Zeitoun neighbourhood, where a building has been flattened. The victims and casualties have been transported to al-Ahli Hospital for emergency treatment.
Across the territory, more than 40 Palestinians have been killed since dawn today. There’s no sign of these Israeli attacks on heavily populated areas abating.Israeli minister calls for seizing ‘historic opportunity’ to annex West Bank
Justice Minister Yariv Levin says the current times offer a “historic opportunity” to seize the occupied West Bank, Israeli media reports.
According to The Times of Israel, Levin said, “Beyond the current issues, [it] is a time of historic opportunity that we must not miss.
“The time for sovereignty has come, the time to apply sovereignty. My position on this matter is firm, it is clear.”
The occupied West Bank has been under Israeli military occupation since 1967, but was never formally annexed – a prospect that far-right ministers have long pushed for. Yet, after the October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and the ensuing war on Gaza, Israeli authorities have been redrawing the map of the Palestinian territory.
Since then, the Israeli army has intensified its daily raids and mass arrests, especially in the north, where Israeli bulldozers have razed entire residential areas, forcibly expelling at least 40,000 people.
In 2024, 24,700 dunams (6,100 acres or 2,470 hectares) were classified as “state land” by Israeli authorities, surpassing the 23,000 dunams annexed between 2000 and 2023. Additionally, 68 illegal settlement outposts were recognised by Israel and provided with infrastructure, deepening Israeli control.Israeli demolitions in West Bank will make 400 families homeless
Palestinians have gathered in the Tulkarem refugee camp in the occupied West Bank to attempt to recover their possessions from their homes before they are demolished by Israeli forces.
The head of the popular committee in the camp told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that about 400 families would be made homeless by the Israeli order to demolish more than 100 homes.
The official said a two-hour deadline given by Israeli authorities to retrieve belongings was insufficient for families to remove their possessions.
