Here is a summary of today’s events
We’re closing this blog shortly, here is an overview of the day’s main developments:
Gaza civil defence has said 20 people, including at least six children, have been killed in Israeli airstrikes overnight. Agency spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP the first hit a tent housing displaced people in Khan Younis in the south shortly after midnight local time (9pm GMT Tuesday) and the second struck a camp in the north soon afterwards.
Humanitarian workers, medical officials and doctors in Gaza say they have been overwhelmed by almost daily “mass casualty incidents” as they struggle to deal with those wounded by Israeli fire on Palestinians seeking aid.
An Israeli report released Tuesday accuses Hamas of using sexual violence as a weapon of war during its 7 October 2023 attacks. The findings are based on survivor and witness testimonies, first responder accounts, and forensic evidence.
The UN special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories said the governments of Italy, France, and Greece “must explain why they provided airspace and safe passage to ICC-wanted Benjamin Netanyahu, whom they are obligated to arrest.”
The Liberia-flagged, Greek-operated bulk carrier Eternity C has sunk after a Houthi attack off Yemen. Rescuers have pulled seven crew members alive from the Red Sea, and are still looking for 14 more missing.
Russia said on Wednesday its embassy in Tehran had reopened to the public, noting that the security situation in Iran has stabilised after the two-week conflict with Israel.
The Israeli military said it launched targeted operations in southern Lebanon to dismantle infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah.
Israel’s foreign minister says a Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal is achievable. Gideon Saar told a press conference in Bratislava that if a temporary truce was sealed, Israel would negotiate on a permanent end to the hostilities.
The British consulate in Jerusalem has condemned “unchecked settler violence” against Palestinians in the West Bank. It called for Israel to “respect its obligations under international law, including the prohibition of forcible transfer.”
A survey of Doctors Without Borders (known by its French initials MSF) staff and their families found that mortality increased tenfold for children under five compared to pre-7 October 2023 Gazan ministry of health estimates.
The survey found 48% of the people who died from blast injuries among their colleagues’ households were children; 40% were under 10 years old.
Amande Bazerolle, deputy manager of MSF’s emergency department, said: “This disregard for children’s lives clearly indicates that this war run by Israel in Gaza is against all Palestinians. The children of Gaza are being decimated. Israel’s allies must put all their efforts to end the genocide taking place before our very eyes.”
We conducted a retrospective mortality survey among our colleagues and their families in Gaza. The results show an appalling death rate when compared to before Israel’s all-out war – including that mortality increased tenfold for children under 5.https://t.co/YXioM1U7iH
— MSF International (@MSF) July 9, 2025
