Summary of the day …
Germany has said it will restore cooperation and funding to Unrwa operations in the Gaza Strip after an independent review said Israel had not provided evidence to back up claims that hundreds of employees of the UN agency for Palestinians were members of terrorist organisations.
Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant has claimed that since 7 October 2023, Israeli military strikes have killed half of Hezbollah’s commanders in southern Lebanon. Israel’s military issued a statement earlier to say this morning it struck at what it called “Hezbollah terror targets” in southern Lebanon.
David Satterfield, the US special envoy for humanitarian issues, has said the risk of famine in northern Gaza remains “very high” despite an increase in the amount of aid being admitted to the territory. “Israel has taken significant steps in these last two and a half weeks,” he told the media. “There is still considerable work to be done. But progress has been made.”
The health ministry in Gaza has claimed the total number of Palestinians killed during Israel’s military assault on the territory has risen to 34,262. Some Palestinian civilians were fleeing their homes in northern Gaza just weeks after returning because of an Israeli bombardment which they said was as intense as at the start of the war. Israel’s military has said in the last 24 hours it struck at 50 targets in the Gaza Strip.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli security forces overnight detained at least 15 Palestinians in multiple raids across the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israeli forces have detained over 7,000 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since last October.
A joint statement has been issued by Iran and Pakistan, condemning “the ongoing Israeli regime’s aggression and atrocities against the Palestinian people” and calling on the UN security council to act over the strike on Iran’s diplomatic mission in Syria widely presumed to have been carried out by Israel.
UN rights chief Volker Türk said he was “horrified” by the destruction of the Nasser and al-Shifa medical facilities in Gaza and the reports of mass graves discovered there.
The US Senate voted resoundingly on Tuesday to approve $95bn in aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan. The legislation includes $26.3bn for Israel and humanitarian relief for civilians in conflict zones, including Gaza.
We are just about to close this live blog for the day. You can find all of our coverage on the Israel-Gaza war here. I will be back with you tomorrow. My colleagues in the US are covering the latest protest developments there.
Reuters is reporting that a senior defence official has told it Israel’s military has conducted all necessary preparations to take Rafah, which it deems the last Hamas bastion in the Gaza Strip, and can launch an operation the moment it gets government approval.
During the six months of its military assault on the Gaza Strip, Israel’s military has repeatedly ordered civilians to flee to Rafah in the south of the strip, where many people are now being forced to live in makeshift tent camps with scarce access to food and poor sanitary conditions.
