Death toll climbs as Israel ramps up attacks in Gaza
- At least 165 Palestinians have been killed and 250 injured in the last 24 hours, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.
- At least 14 people have been detained by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank in overnight raids, the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society said in a statement.
Israel is targeting UNRWA to expel it from Gaza: Ministry
The Palestinian Authority (PA) foreign ministry says that Israel is also targeting the UN agency that aids Palestinian refugees to widen the scope of displacement and change the demographic character of the besieged coastal enclave.
In a statement, the ministry also said that Israel is trying to expel Palestinians from or push them to leave the Gaza Strip. “This is taking place by destroying homes, killing people en masse, and ensuring that poverty and lack of medicine leads to diseases,” it said.
Netanyahu says Gaza-Egypt border should be under Israeli control
Speaking at a news conference, the Israeli leader says the Philadelphi Corridor – the border area between Gaza and Egypt – “must be in our hands”.
“It must be shut. It is clear that any other arrangement would not ensure the demilitarisation that we seek,” he said. The area is currently controlled by Egypt.
He added a rare threat to attack Iran directly over the near-daily exchanges of fire across the Israel-Lebanon border.
If Hezbollah expands its attacks in northern Israel “it will suffer blows that it has not dreamed of – and so too Iran”, Netanyahu said, without elaborating.
