Interim Summary
Here’s where things currently stand:
Israel starts airdrops with humanitarian aid in Gaza, a military spokesperson has told Reuters. The Israeli forces said humanitarian corridors would also be established for UN convoys, though it did not say when or where. The military also said it was prepared to implement “humanitarian pauses” in densely populated areas.
Despite its decision to resume aid drops, Israeli forces said its combat operations across Gaza “have not ceased”. In a statement on Saturday, the IDF said: “We will continue to operate in Gaza to return all hostages and to defeat Hamas, both above and below ground.”
Prior to Israel’s decision to resume aid drops, the United Arab Emirates issued a statement on Saturday, saying it will restart aid drops across Gaza. In a post on X, UAE’s foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan, said: “The humanitarian situation in Gaza has reached a critical and unprecedented level. The United Arab Emirates remains at the forefront of efforts to deliver life-saving assistance to the Palestinian people.”
The Lebanese health ministry said three people were killed in Israeli strikes on the south on Saturday despite a ceasefire, as the Israeli military said one of them targeted a Hezbollah militant. “The Israeli enemy drone strike that targeted a vehicle” in Tyre district “killed one person”, a ministry statement said.
A Syrian diplomatic source said Saturday that a US-mediated meeting with Israeli officials in Paris this week sought to “contain the escalation” after recent sectarian violence in southern Syria prompted Israeli intervention. Israel launched strikes this month on Damascus and the Druze-majority Sweida province, saying it was acting both in support of the religious minority and to enforce its demands for a demilitarised southern Syria.
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Here are some images coming through the newswires from Gaza where Israeli forces have killed at least 60,000 Palestinians since October 2023 while forcibly displacing over 2 million survivors across the narrow strip:
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