Israeli attacks kill 100 people across Gaza
- At least 100 people killed, 286 wounded in Israeli attacks on homes in central Gaza in the past 24 hours, health ministry says.
- The Israeli war cabinet will meet to discuss captive-prisoner exchanges as Netanyahu vows to continue the war.
Israeli air strike kills Gaza university president, his family
Said Al Zebda, president of the University College of Applied Sciences in Gaza, was killed along with his wife and children, the health ministry says.
Palestinian ministry slams Israeli abuse of West Bank worker
The Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned an attack by Israeli soldiers on a petrol station employee as a reflection of the “moral degradation of the occupation army”.
In footage widely circulating on social media, a man is seen on the ground being stepped on and kicked by Israeli soldiers despite not showing any resistance.
The incident took place in the Fawwar refugee camp in southern Hebron.
UNRWA says 1.4 million Palestinians now living in its facilities
A spokeswoman for the UN agency providing aid and relief to Palestinian refugees says “the facilities in the north are becoming more crowded by the hour”.
“They are absolutely full and so people have started taking refuge in areas outside these facilities including in parks, in the open, many are sleeping in their cars.”
“Our facilities, yes they have been hit. We have recorded 180 hits on our facilities, some were directly hit… At least 300 people who were sheltering in these facilities got killed and around 1,000 were injured,” Juliette Touma said.
Number of Palestinians killed in 2023 largest since the Nakba
The Palestinian death toll this year is the largest Palestine has witnessed since the 1948 Nakba.
The Central Bureau of Statistics says at the end of 2023 the number of people killed in the occupied territories stands at 22,404, including 22,141 since October 7. At least 98 percent were in the Gaza Strip, including about 9,000 children and 6,450 women.
The number of people killed in the occupied West Bank since October 7 reached 319, including 111 children and four women.
More than 100 journalists were also killed, according to the Health Ministry, while the number of missing persons in Gaza is more than 7,000 people, 67 percent women and children.
Hezbollah warns Israel: ‘Response will be stronger’
A top Hezbollah leader says fighting at Israel’s northern border will continue until it halts the war on Gaza.
Naim Qassem said Israel is putting forward proposals and “trying to show it has options” to help return displaced Israeli residents and push Hezbollah from the border area.
“Israel is not in a position to impose its options,” Qassem said in a speech, warning Israel “first must stop the Gaza war in order for the war in Lebanon to stop”.
“The persistent bombing of civilians in Lebanon means the response will be stronger and proportionate to the Israeli aggression,” Qassem added.
Israel claims it is prepared to allow aid ships into Gaza from Cyprus
Israel is prepared to let ships deliver aid to the Gaza Strip “immediately” as part of a proposed sea corridor from Cyprus, the outgoing Israeli foreign minister says.
Eli Cohen made the comments to Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM when asked about the Mediterranean corridor.
Under the arrangement, cargo would undergo security inspection in the Cypriot port of Larnaca before being ferried to the Gaza coast rather than through neighbouring Egypt or Israel.
‘Literally unbelievable’: Tens of thousands arrive in Rafah
Gemma Connell, an official with the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) who has been working in Gaza, says tens of thousands of people fleeing to Rafah during Israeli attacks often arrive with no possessions or anywhere to sleep.
“I just am so fearful that the amount of deaths that we’ve been seeing is going to increase exponentially both because of this renewed offensive, but also because of these conditions which are literally unbelievable,” she told Reuters news agency.
The UN agency said earlier that over the past few days, an estimated 100,000 people arrived in Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost town on the border with Egypt, after intense new Israeli ground and aerial attacks around the central town of Deir el-Balah and the southern city of Khan Younis.
US helicopter gunships sink attacking boats in Red Sea
The United States military says it sank three boats that attacked a container ship in the Red Sea as it continues to counter threats from Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
Global shipping giant Maersk announced it is suspending operations in the Red Sea for 48 hours after the incident.
Helicopters from two US warships – the USS Eisenhower and USS Gravely – shot at the small boats while responding to an SOS call from the Singapore-flagged vessel Maersk Hangzhou, the US Central Command said.
The US gunships sank three of the vessels, killing several of their crew, it said. A fourth boat escaped.
At least 10 Houthi rebels killed in US strikes: Report
United States forces have attacked rebel boats in the Red Sea, killing at least 10 fighters.
The US military earlier said it destroyed several small boats operated by the Houthis after they opened fire with small arms and tried to board a Maersk container ship.
“Ten Houthis were killed and two were wounded in the US strike on Houthi boats that tried to stop a vessel in the sea off Hodeidah,” said one source at the rebel-controlled port of Hodeidah.
A second source told AFP news agency: “Four survivors have arrived in Hodeidah with two wounded who were taken to hospital.”
