Over 15,000 children killed as war hits day 250
- Gaza’s government says that 15,694 children have been killed and 17,000 are without parents after 250 days of Israel’s war on Gaza.
- At a press briefing in Qatar, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says some changes proposed by Hamas to ceasefire deal are not workable.
Hezbollah says fighters targeted an Israeli war plane
The Lebanese armed group in statement has claimed its forces attacked “a hostile Zionist warplane that violated Lebanese airspace”.
Hezbollah said its fighters fired a surface-to-air missile at it, “forcing it to retreat towards occupied Palestine and leave Lebanese airspace immediately”.
Earlier, our Al Jazeera Arabic colleague reported that Israeli forces launched raids on the towns of Markaba, Odaisseh, and Deir Siriane in southern Lebanon.
Merchant ship hit in Red Sea off Yemen’s coast: Monitors
The ship was attacked about 68 nautical miles (about 126km) southwest of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeidah, maritime security firm Ambrey said.
The company “assessed the vessel aligned with the [Houthis] target profile at the time of the incident”, it said in a statement, without giving further details.
Meanwhile, the United Kingdom’s Maritime Trade Operations, which is run by the UK’s Royal Navy, said a ship was “hit on the stern by a small craft” 66 nautical miles (about 122km) southwest of Hodeidah.
In a statement, UKMTO said the ship was taking on water and not under the crew’s command.
Yemen’s Houthi group has been attacking ships in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden since November in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians and against Israel’s continuing war on Gaza.
WHO says 1,600 children facing severe acute malnutrition
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says a significant proportion of people in Gaza are now facing “catastrophic hunger and famine-like conditions”.
“Despite reports of increased delivery of food, there is currently no evidence that those who need it most are receiving sufficient quantity and quality of food,” said Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Tedros said there were more than 8,000 children under five years old who had been diagnosed and treated for acute malnutrition, including 1,600 children with severe acute malnutrition.
“However, due to insecurity and lack of access, only two stabilisation centres for severely malnourished patients can operate,” he added.
“Our inability to provide health services safely, combined with the lack of clean water and sanitation, significantly increases the risk of malnourished children.”
Fires caused by Hezbollah rockets threaten Israeli ‘strategic sites’, media says
We’ve been reporting all day on a massive rocket barrage unleashed against Israel by Lebanon’s Hezbollah, one of the largest since the Gaza war began, after Israel killed one of the group’s top commanders late last night.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz quoted an official with Israel’s Fire and Rescue Service, who said that the brushfires that broke out as a result of Hezbollah’s rockets endangered “strategic sites and facilities”.
It added that firefighting teams are close to gaining control of the fires in the towns of Biriya, Kadita, Ein Zeitim, and Tziv’on.
In addition, Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reports that the fires burned an area of about 30,000 square metres (about 322,917 square feet).
Multiple civilians injured in Old City, occupied East Jerusalem
An Israeli soldier has opened fire on civilians in the Old City in occupied East Jerusalem, injuring four people, Israeli news outlet Kann has reported.
We will update you on this incident as more information becomes available.
Slovenia announces 2.5 million euros towards victims of war in Gaza
One million euros ($1.08m) will be allocated for the Palestinian people through the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs said in a statement.
Meanwhile, another million euros will be allocated to the UN’s World Food Programme, and the remaining 0.5 million euros ($0.54m) will be assigned “to health and psychosocial rehabilitation projects” for victims of the war in Gaza.
The ministry said it has so far given 4.3 million euros ($4.6m) in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians since the war began on October 7.
