Israeli forces have launched a series of attacks across southern Gaza, killing numerous Palestinians, including five children in the city of Rafah.
Efforts to broker a ceasefire have faced significant setbacks. A scheduled United Nations Security Council vote on a new resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities has been postponed until Monday, following the veto of an earlier text by Russia and China, which was drafted by the US.
United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has once again returned empty-handed from the Middle East, as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected appeals from Washington to halt a planned ground invasion of southern Rafah, where over 1.5 million Palestinians have sought refuge.
Since 7 October, Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 32,070 Palestinians and injured 74,298 more.
Despite international condemnations, Israel is continuing to attack starving Palestinians seeking aid. In latest such attacks, an Israeli airstrike targeted a group of civilians gathered at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City waiting for food aid, according to multiple media reports. A similar Israeli attack on the Abu Miri roundabout in the central Gaza Strip, east of Deir el-Balah, killed at least two people and injured several others.
Israeli forces are also continuing their siege of the al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza, where Israeli troops have reportedly killed several medical staff and civilians and detained several others. Gaza’s government media office has placed blame on the US administration and the international community for the siege.
Meanwhile, Israeli military operations in the West Bank have led to the arrest of 15 Palestinians overnight, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society. These arrests, spanning across multiple governorates including Hebron, Ramallah, Bethlehem, Tubas, Nablus, and Jerusalem, bring the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli forces since 7 October to 7,740, according to the advocacy group’s latest update.