‘Systematic demolition of homes’ across Gaza

Jordan’s Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has said restrictions imposed by Israel on Muslim worshippers’ access to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim fasting month was pushing the situation towards an “explosion”.

In remarks on state media, Safadi said his country rejected Israel’s announced move to limit access to the holy site during Ramadan, citing security needs with war raging in Gaza.

Jordan echoes the Palestinian view that such restrictions were an attack on freedom of worship, he said.

• Israeli army says drones landed in open areas in occupied Golan Heights

  The Israeli military has said two suspected drones, which crossed into the occupied Golan Heights from Lebanon, landed in open areas.

  No casualties or damage were reported.

  The army statement comes after reports of aerial warning sirens in the occupied Golan Heights and northern Israel.

  Hezbollah confirmed launching an attack, saying it targeted “the defence headquarters in Kaila Barracks” in the region controlled by Israel.

  The group earlier said it had targeted a military outpost in northern Israel.

  WATCH: Patients in dire need for blood transfusion in Gaza

  As Gaza continues to be hit by intense Israeli bombardments, for those with chronic kidney disease, life-saving treatment is under threat.

  With most hospitals in the besieged enclave out of service, dialysis treatments have become difficult to find and administer due to shortages of medicine, staff and supplies.

  Al Jazeera spoke to Palestinians in the enclave who managed to reach the few hospitals providing treatment amid the bombardment.

  Dozens arrested in Israeli raids on occupied West Bank

  The Israeli army has arrested at least 25 Palestinians, including former prisoners and children, in multiple raids overnight across several cities in the occupied West Bank.

  According to the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society and the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, this brings the total number of Palestinians arrested since October 7 to 7,530.

  The raids were concentrated in the governorates of Ramallah and el-Bireh, Qalqilya, Salfit and Bethlehem.

  Renowned Palestine footballer Barakat killed in Khan Younis

  Deir al-Balah, central Gaza Strip – Mohammed Barakat, Gaza’s first centurion of goals and one of its top scorers, has been killed in Khan Younis.

  The Ahly Gaza forward and national team footballer was killed after Israel bombed his house this morning.

  Barakat scored 114 goals in his career. He is the historic captain and legend of Khan Younis Youth Club and has played for a variety of clubs in the occupied West Bank and Jordan, including Al-Wehdat.

  “What a huge loss on and off the pitch for Palestinian football. I have played against him. He was quick and clever. A top, top goal-scorer. Off the pitch, he was kind and friendly. A beloved friend of all,” Khadamat al-Maghazi defender, Khalid Abu-Habel, told Al Jazeera.

  “I am too angry. He is a football icon. Sports in Gaza have lost a lot during the war. How many should we lose more? The sports community in Gaza is simply collapsing.”

  Why did Hollywood stars wear red pin badges at the Oscars?

  Celebrities, including musicians Billie Eilish and Finneas O’Connell, Poor Things star Mark Ruffalo, and comedian Ramy Youssef, wore red pins at the 96th Academy Awards to call for a ceasefire in Gaza.

  But what is the symbolism behind the pin?

  • Gaza receives Ramadan with ‘grief, starvation and blood’: Imam in Rafah

    Nader Abu Sharekh, an Islamic preacher, has told Al Jazeera from Rafah that “the whole world has forsaken” Gaza.

    “We address Muslims in every corner of the world. How can you accept seeing Gaza people suffer in this holy month,” he said.

    Abu Sharekh said Gaza’s residents are “forsaken, left with nothing, not even potable water”, adding that “people in the north of Gaza are forced to eat animal fodder”.

    “Israel is slaughtering our people, innocent women and children … There is not a single house that is not mourning the loss of loved ones. And above all, we are starving to death,” he said.

    “The Gaza people are receiving Ramadan, the holy month, with grief, sadness, starvation and blood,” he concluded.

    Security of Al-Aqsa Mosque moved from Ben-Gvir to Netanyahu

    Mahjoob Zweiri, a professor at Qatar University, says after pressure from the US and European countries, there was a debate within the Israeli government which made the far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, no longer in charge of Al-Aqsa Mosque and gave Netanyahu full responsibility.

    “This happened last night after two to three weeks of discussion behind closed doors between the Americans, the Europeans and the Israelis about this particular issue because Americans have no interest in seeing the West Bank as basically another Gaza,” Zweiri told Al Jazeera.

    “If the Israelis do not listen to the Americans, [the] West Bank is likely to become another Gaza in a matter of months.”

    He added that the security assessment that Netanyahu backed, shared by the Israeli security service Shin Bet and intelligence service Mossad, found that the more Palestinians are allowed into Al-Aqsa Mosque, the less “confrontational situation”, which was convincing in part due to the pressure from the US.

    If you’re just joining us

    It is 1pm (11:00 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel. Here is a recap of the main developments in the last few hours:

    • Two children have starved to death at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, bringing the total number of those who died from malnutrition and dehydration to 27.
    • The Israeli army is flattening entire residential neighbourhoods in Khan Younis, destroying infrastructure in the city’s eastern area.
    • An Israeli raid has targeted the outskirts of the town of al-Jebbayn in southern Lebanon, while Hezbollah has targeted the northern Israeli military outpost in Jal al-Alam.
    • Iran has slammed the US decision to airdrop aid over Gaza as “ridiculous” and a way for it to divert public opinions away from its unwavering support of Israel.
    • At least 31,112 people in Gaza have been killed and 72,760 wounded by Israeli attacks on the enclave since October 7.

    • Hamas official says no updates on planned talks

    The Israeli prime minister, in an interview with a German newspaper, has said that “without a release [of captives], there’s not going to be a pause in fighting”.

    Throughout last week, Hamas officials were telling me they were not going to be able to release the names of hostages until there was a pause in fighting because they simply didn’t have the information.

    On Saturday, Egyptian officials began briefing international media outlets that there would be a fresh round of talks in Cairo on Sunday.

    On Sunday, I reached out to a Hamas official in Doha, and he told me they had no plans to attend any talks, nor had they been invited to any.

    Over the last hour, another Hamas official in Istanbul told me there were no updates when I asked him about planned talks.

    Khan Younis city, Gaza City see surge in Israeli attacks

    In the past few hours, there has been a surge in attacks in the eastern part of Khan Younis city and Gaza City.

    A residential home was attacked, with people from one family reported killed and multiple other injuries transferred to al-Najjar Hospital in central Rafah.

    In Khan Younis, there is not only an intense bombing campaign, but there is an ongoing systematic, controlled demolition of residential homes, to the point that entire areas in the eastern part of Khan Younis have been completely cleared from all physical structures of residential homes or infrastructure.

    • More from displaced Gaza residents on Ramadan’s start

      Awni al-Kayyal, a 50-year-old displaced Palestinian in Gaza, says the beginning of Ramadan “has been sad and covered in darkness, with the taste and stench of blood everywhere”.

      “We do not have any food for our iftar table,” he told AFP, referring to the fast-breaking evening meal, saying that Israel does not want Gaza residents “to have any joy during Ramadan”.

      Two more children in northern Gaza die from starvation

      Local sources say that two more children have died due to severe malnutrition and dehydration at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, in northern Gaza.

      This brings the total number of mostly children who have starved to death to 27.

      Northern Gaza in particular is on the brink of famine as Israel continues to block vital humanitarian and food assistance. At least one in six children in the north are malnourished, according to the World Health Organization.

      Hezbollah claims attack on military site in northern Israel’s Jal al-Alam

      We are receiving updates on the cross-border tensions between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

      The Lebanese group said it targeted a military outpost in Jal al-Alam, close to the west of the border, “with appropriate weapons and directly hit it”.

      It said it conducted the attack at 10:25am local time (08:25 GMT).

      Hezbollah’s statement came shortly after aerial warning sirens sounded in northern Israel.

      The Lebanese media said earlier that Israel’s warplanes bombed a location on the outskirts of al-Jebbayn town in southern Lebanon.

      Resignations at Guernica magazine after ‘genocide apologia’ article

      Several members of political and literary magazine Guernica’s all-volunteer staff have resigned over the decision to publish an essay deemed as a “hand-wringing apologia for Zionism and the ongoing genocide in Palestine”, as former co-publisher Madhuri Sastry put it.

      The essay, written by Israeli translator Joanna Chen, was titled “From the Edges of a Broken World”. It was retracted by the magazine, which stated: “Guernica regrets having published this piece, and has retracted it. A more fulsome explanation will follow.”

      April Zhu, who was senior editor, said the article treated something “deeply abnormal” – such as “occupation, apartheid, genocide” – as a “sad, even if complex, reality”, in effect normalising it. Other resignations include Ishita Marwah, formerly a fiction editor, who described Guernica as “a pillar of eugenicist white colonialism masquerading as goodness”.

      Israeli raid targets southern Lebanon’s al-Jebbayn town

      Lebanese media is reporting an Israeli raid on the outskirts of the town of al-Jebbayn in southern Lebanon.

      We’ll bring you more updates shortly.

      Iran calls US aid drops into Gaza ‘ridiculous’ attempt to cover ‘warmongering face’

      As we’ve previously reported, the US has been airdropping aid into Gaza in an attempt to quell the fears of famine gripping the besieged enclave.

      But Iran’s Foreign Ministry spokesman, Nasser Kanaani, called the US actions “ridiculous” and a way for it to divert public opinions away from its unwavering support of Israel.

      Kanaani said the US could have prevented the ongoing war but instead chose to stick with “the Zionist regime” by sending weapons and vetoing ceasefire resolutions at the UN Security Council.

      “The US just wants to cover its warmongering face before the public opinion,” he added.

      Fighters killed, tunnel shafts destroyed in Khan Younis: Israeli army

      The Israeli army has reported new clashes in the Hamad neighbourhood in the southern city of Khan Younis in Gaza.

      It said on X its troops surrounded the area, killed fighters and located underground tunnel shafts.

      “One of the shafts … led to a combat route, where food and weapons were found,” it added in a statement.

      The military said another shaft led to weapons and a concrete factory that was used to produce components for building tunnels.

      Both were destroyed by air strikes, according to the statement.

      Troops also reportedly raided several locations and carried out arrests in the neighbourhood, seizing sniper weapons, barrels of explosives, grenades, tactical helmets and intelligence materials.

      “So far, dozens of terrorists have been arrested and hundreds of suspects have been transferred for further investigation,” the army said.

      Ramadan in Gaza: ‘Every family is sad, has a martyr’

      As we’ve been reporting, Palestinians began fasting for Ramadan with no end in sight to Israeli attacks and worsening hunger.

      During the Muslim holy month, families would ordinarily break the daily fast with feasts but amid the war, even where food is available, there is little beyond canned goods and the prices are too high for many.

      “You don’t see anyone with joy in their eyes,” Sabah al-Hendi told AP in the southernmost city of Rafah.

      “Every family is sad. Every family has a martyr.”

      Warning sirens sound in northern Israel

      Warning sirens have been heard in several settlements in northern Israel over a possible aircraft infiltration, according to Israeli media.

      The Israeli army and Lebanese group Hezbollah have been engaged in regular cross-border exchange of fire since the start of the war.

      • Far-right Dutch leader Wilders meets Israel’s Herzog

        Netherlands’s far-right election winner Geert Wilders says he met Israeli President Herzog and pledged his full support to Israel in its fight against “terror”.

        Wilders, who is aiming to lead a new government after his nationalist PVV party won elections in November, has long been a staunch supporter of Israel.

        “I told him I am proud that he visits the Netherlands and that Israel has, and always will have, my full support in its fight against terror,” Wilders said in a post on X.

        The Israeli president was in the Netherlands to attend the opening of a Holocaust museum in Amsterdam on Sunday amid protests.

        Palestinian official slams Netanyahu’s plans to build more detention centres

        Qaddoura Fares, head of the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, has condemned Netanyahu’s decision to provide more detention holding centres.

        “Netanyahu’s mind is crowded with hateful, aggressive plans, and the decision he made to equip and prepare new detention places categorically confirms his decision to continue the war against the Palestinian people for as long as possible,” Fares said in a statement.

        On Sunday, Netanyahu met several of his ministers, including far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, and instructed them to carry out his decision.

        “This means that the series of arrests will continue in an upward curve against our defenceless people,” Fares said.

        Gaza death toll rises

        At least 31,112 people in Gaza have been killed and 72,760 wounded by Israeli attacks on the enclave since October 7, according to the Health Ministry.

        In the past 24 hours, 67 Palestinians have been killed and 106 wounded in Israeli attacks.

        The ministry added that the death toll from malnutrition and dehydration rose to 25.