Israel / Palestine

Israel's prime minister has said it is expanding its Gaza offensive and establishing a new military corridor to put pressure on Hamas, as deadly Israeli strikes were reported across the Palestinian territory.

The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher on Monday called for “justice and answers” after Israeli forces killed eight Palestinian medics, six civil defence first responders and a UN staff member in an attack in southern Gaza.

The Palestinian militant group Hamas says it supports resuming a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip through a proposal put forward by mediators which would see five more hostages released to Israel in exchange for a 50-day truce. … Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said it had also received the plan, and submitted a "counter-proposal to the mediators in full co-ordination with the United States".

The UN Secretary-General on Monday took the “difficult decision” to reduce the aid operation inside the Gaza Strip following the resumption of deadly Israeli airstrikes – but pledged that “the UN is not leaving” the enclave. … Around a third of the approximately 100 international staff working in Gaza will be temporarily relocated.

Israel says it has resumed its ground operations in Gaza, after launching a wave of air strikes that the Hamas-run health ministry says killed more than 430 people in two days. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had moved in up to the Netzarim Corridor, which divides the north and south of the Strip.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa, has accused Israel of weaponising humanitarian aid with its blockade of goods and electricity into Gaza. Speaking in Geneva, Philippe Lazzarini warned of a renewed hunger crisis if aid supplies did not resume.

Leading European nations have said they support an Arab-backed plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that would cost $53 billion (£41 billion) and avoid displacing Palestinians from the territory. The plan, drawn up by Egypt and endorsed by Arab leaders, has been rejected by Israel and by US President Donald Trump, who presented his own vision to turn the Gaza Strip into a "Middle East Riviera".

The proposal, endorsed by Arab leaders at a summit in Cairo, is their alternative to President Donald Trump's idea for the US to take over Gaza and permanently resettle its population. The Palestinian Authority and Hamas welcomed the Arab plan, which calls for Gaza to be governed temporarily by a committee of independent experts and for international peacekeepers to be deployed there. But both the White House and Israeli foreign ministry said it failed to address realities in Gaza and stood by Trump's vision.

France, Britain and Germany have called on Israel to allow unrestricted humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning against using it as leverage in ceasefire negotiations with Hamas and highlighting the dire humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian enclave.  

It was the final such exchange the two sides agreed to as part of a fragile truce that is due to end this weekend. Negotiations over a second phase, in which Hamas would release dozens of remaining hostages in exchange for more prisoners and a lasting ceasefire, have not yet begun.