- Palestinians are returning to the eastern parts of Khan Younis after the unannounced withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area, finding it largely destroyed and describing it as “an uninhabitable wasteland”.
- A WHO spokesperson tells Al Jazeera a ceasefire is needed to ensure vaccines reach children as Gaza’s Health Ministry says “immediate intervention” is needed to prevent a polio epidemic from spreading.
- Far-right Israeli demonstrators stormed two military bases protesting against the arrests of nine Israeli soldiers accused of abusing a Palestinian prisoner.
- At least 39,400 people have been killed and 90,996 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 taken captive.
- Solid waste management system in Gaza has collapsed, UNDP saysThe United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has concluded that the solid waste management system in Gaza has collapsed.In its latest report, it said there is no access to major landfills and waste is accumulating “at more than 140 temporary dumping sites which causes serious health and environmental risks, including a spike in diarrheal illness and in acute respiratory infections”.Since October 7, it noted there have been the following recorded cases, noting that the statistics are “likely far higher”:
- Nearly one million cases of acute respiratory infections575,000 cases of acute watery diarrheaMore than 100,000 cases of jaundice
- Gaza death toll risesAt least 39,400 Palestinians have been killed and 90,996 others injured in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.At least 37 Palestinians were killed in the past day alone with 73 injured, the statement added.
- ‘Hezbollah is definitely not Hamas’Adel Abdel Ghafar, director at the Middle East Council on Global Affairs, says Israel will have to launch some form of attack in response to the deadly strike in the occupied Golan Heights, but it remains to be seen how severe it will be.“Israel really cannot afford to be bogged down on two fronts with such a serious opponent as Hezbollah. Lebanon is not Gaza and Hezbollah is definitely not Hamas,” Abdel Ghafar told Al Jazeera.“We’re talking about a force that is well equipped, battle-hardened from years of fighting in Syria’s civil war, and it’s supplied by Iran with advanced technology. So any potential war would be different.”
- Hezbollah fighters attend the funeral of a commander killed by an Israeli air strike [File: Mohammed Zaatari/AP]
- Hezbollah ready to respond to Israel strikesIsraeli officials have threatened to attack after blaming Hezbollah for a rocket attack on Saturday that killed 12 people in the occupied Golan Heights – a claim denied by the group.Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr has the latest from Beirut, Lebanon.
- Israel claims killing Hezbollah fighter, hitting 10 targets in LebanonAt least one Hezbollah fighter has been killed in Israeli attacks on seven different areas in southern Lebanon, according to Israel’s army.It said the Israeli aircraft, fighter jets and artillery have hit about 10 Hezbollah targets there since yesterday evening.The fighter was killed in Beit Lif, a village in Lebanon’s Nabatieh governorate, the military’s announcement said on X, adding that a warehouse and a rocket launcher were among the other destroyed targets.Earlier, we reported that Hezbollah announced the killing of its 29-year-old fighter from Beit Lif, Hassan Hussein Malik.
- Detained Palestinian describes family ordeal under Israeli arrestSpeaking to Al Jazeera from Ramallah in the West Bank, former detainee Fadia Barghouti says about half of those she was incarcerated with had been detained by Israeli authorities for posts on social media. Many of those were held under “administrative detention” with no clear charges.Barghouti said her husband has been held for 23 months under an ambiguous security law and her son since October. Then the Shin Bet intelligence agency ordered her detention.“I was told I was arrested because of participating in a demonstration asking for the freedom of my husband and son or better conditions for them. And then I lived in such conditions,” she said.“Palestinian prisoners are in total isolation from the outside world. Real action against the Israelis by the international community is needed to stop what they’re doing.”
- Israeli army says Khan Younis invasion completeIn its latest bulletin, the military added in the past week it killed more than 150 fighters and dismantled tunnels and weapon-storage facilities.The army retrieved the bodies of five Israeli captives who were taken on October 7, it added.Israeli troops’ ground invasion of the southern city last week displaced at least 190,000 Palestinians, UN figures show. Dozens of civilians were killed in relentless attacks.Earlier, the civil defence agency said it recovered the bodies of 11 people in Khan Younis, Gaza’s second-largest city. At least 200 more remain missing. Israel’s ground assault took place months after the army claimed to have uprooted armed groups in the area.
Israel’s war on Gaza live: Israel turns east Khan Younis into ‘wasteland
