Close to 40,000 Palestinians killed by military offensive in Gaza, health ministry says – as it happened

At least 39,145 Palestinians killed and 90,257 wounded since 7 October, Palestinian health ministry says

In case you missed it, leaders from Hamas, Fatah and other Palestinian factions have agreed after three days of talks in Beijing to form a national unity government at an unspecified point in the future, in a move that has bolstered China’s status as a global mediator, particularly in the Middle East.

The “Beijing declaration”, signed by 14 Palestinian factions, also represents a significant step forward in negotiations between the groups, although it is light on detail about how to actually achieve Palestinian unification.

We blocked all entrances to the Foreign Office, completely shutting down access to the building until the police started violently dragging people across the pavement on Whitehall.

We disrupted the department in solidarity with the Palestinian people and with civil servants who are raising concerns about being forced to carry out unlawful acts, which no worker should ever be asked to do.

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Discovery of poliovirus in Gaza ‘incredibly alarming’, Unicef executive director says

Exclusive: Territory is ‘one of the most, if not the most dangerous place to be a child right now’, Catherine Russell says, and ‘we desperately need this conflict to end’

The “incredibly alarming” discovery of the poliovirus in Gaza only adds to the besieged territory’s status as one of “the most dangerous places to be a child right now”, the head of the UN children’s agency has warned.

The executive director of Unicef, Catherine Russell, said during a visit to Australia that Gaza was increasingly lawless.

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Capitol Hill on alert over protests as Netanyahu due to address Congress

Police mount major security operation to seal off US Capitol from protesters before Israeli prime minister to speak

Capitol Hill is on high alert for a day of protest from thousands of demonstrators representing a broad coalition of groups voicing opposition to Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, when he addresses a joint session of the US Congress.

With tensions over Israel’s 10-and-half-month war in Gaza running high, police mounted a major security operation to seal off the US Capitol from protesters long before Netanyahu is due to speak at 2pm ET.

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Doctors in Khan Younis overwhelmed as casualties of new Israeli invasion mount

Nasser hospital director pleas for medical supplies and says staff cannot save influx of patients as IDF continues assault

Doctors in the largest hospital in Gaza’s southern city of Khan Younis pleaded for supplies from a facility overwhelmed by wounded people, as Israeli airstrikes, artillery fire and fighting on the streets continued for a second day.

“There’s no space for more patients. There’s no space in the operating theatres. There is a lack of medical supplies, so we cannot save our patients,” Mohammed Zaqout, the director of Nasser hospital, told AFP.

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As Netanyahu arrives in Washington, Kamala Harris treads a careful path on Israel and Gaza

Harris insiders say she is more likely to engage in public criticism of the Israeli prime minister than Joe Biden and to focus attention on the civilian toll in Gaza

One of the key intrigues hanging over Benjamin Netanyahu’s contentious visit to Washington this week is what kind of reception he will receive from the White House, and how he will be received by Joe Biden and his vice-president – and the likely Democratic party nominee – Kamala Harris.

For much of Monday, no meetings between Netanyahu and either Biden or Harris had been confirmed, even though the Israeli PM had already departed for the US and was scheduled on Wednesday to address a joint session of Congress at the request of the House leader, Mike Johnson, a Republican.

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Netanyahu to arrive in Washington as fears grow of wider war in Middle East

Israeli PM will visit US amid political tumult and his meeting with Biden will be a test of US president’s influence

Benjamin Netanyahu is due to arrive in Washington on Monday at a moment of historic political tumult, as he is scheduled to meet the outgoing US president, Joe Biden, and address a divided Congress amid fears of a growing regional war in the Middle East.

The Israeli prime minister’s arrival will come just a day after Biden bowed out of the presidential race, and will be a major test of Biden’s ability to project US influence and restraint on Israel in the lame duck period of his presidency. Netanyahu will be forced to walk a tightrope as he balances between the Donald Trump-led Republican party and a reinvigorated Democratic campaign that may unite behind the vice-president, Kamala Harris.

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Scores killed in Israeli attacks, medics say, after IDF orders evacuation of Gaza humanitarian zone

Hundreds also wounded in assault on parts of Khan Younis, including area designated a humanitarian zone by IDF

The Israeli military has launched a fresh attack on the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, killing at least 70 people according to medics, after ordering Palestinians to leave several neighbourhoods including areas that had been designated by the military as part of a humanitarian zone.

Palestinian civil defence in the territory estimated that 400,000 people sheltering in the city were affected by the order, which included the eastern part of Al-Mawasi, a sandy strip of land without infrastructure where Palestinians have sought shelter in tent encampments in recent months.

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France Unbowed MP sparks outrage by saying Israeli Olympians not welcome

Thomas Portes accused of ‘putting a target on the backs of Israeli athletes’ with remarks at protest against Gaza war

An MP for the radical-left France Unbowed party has sparked outrage after saying Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Paris Olympics and calling for protests against their presence.

Citing Israel’s war in Gaza, Thomas Portes told a pro-Palestinian gathering in Paris on Saturday: “We are just a few days away from an international event to be held in Paris, the Olympic Games. And I’m here to say that no, the Israeli delegation is not welcome in Paris. Israeli athletes are not welcome at the Olympic Games in Paris. We have to use this deadline and all the levers we have to mobilise.”

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Middle East crisis: Yemen’s Houthis will not abide by any rules of engagement in continued attacks on Israel, group says – as it happened

Houthi military spokesperson says there will be ‘no red lines’ in response to Israel after airstrikes hit Hodeidah on Saturday, killing at least six people

In the months before the Israeli invasion, Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah was a lifeline, a place where thousands sought shelter or scrabbled to raise funds to cross into neighbouring Egypt.

Now satellite images and social media video uploaded by Israeli soldiers stationed around the city show roads widened for armoured vehicles surrounded by total destruction, including buildings razed to the ground in the once bustling city.

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Draft Israeli law to limit academic speech labelled ‘McCarthyite’

Law allowing committee to fire staff for ‘supporting terror’ backed by education minister and national student union

Israel’s education minister and the country’s national union of students are backing a draft law to limit academic speech in the country, which the heads of leading universities have attacked as “McCarthyite” and fundamentally undemocratic.

The legislation, currently being debated in the Knesset, would give a government-appointed committee the power to order the firing of academic staff that it decides have expressed “support for terror”. If the universities refuse, their funding would be cut.

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Slowly but surely, Israel tightens its grip on Gaza’s lifeline to Egypt

Latest satellite imagery reveals new roads that appear designed to support the long-term presence of Israeli troops

In the months before the Israeli invasion, Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah was a lifeline, a place where thousands sought shelter or scrabbled to raise funds to cross into neighbouring Egypt.

Now satellite images and social media video uploaded by Israeli soldiers stationed around the city show roads widened for armoured vehicles surrounded by total destruction, including buildings razed to the ground in the once bustling city.

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Israel strikes Yemen port after Houthi rebels attack Tel Aviv

Three reported killed and 87 wounded after oil depot and electrical installations hit

Powerful airstrikes rocked the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah a day after Israeli officials vowed revenge for a drone that struck Tel Aviv.

Airstrikes hit a refinery and electricity infrastructure, sparking a huge blaze. The Almasirah television channel, run by Yemen’s Houthi movement, reported late on Saturday that three people had been killed and 87 wounded in the strikes on the oil facilities.

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Israel-Gaza war: ceasefire ‘close to the goalline’, says US – as it happened

This live blog is now closed, you can read more of our Israel-Gaza war coverage here

Sven Koopmans, the EU’s special representative for the Middle East peace process, has said he still believes a two-state solution – a Palestinian state in the occupied West Bank and in Gaza alongside Israel - is achievable despite opposition to it from Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister.

In an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), he said Netanyahu’s government cannot indefinitely disregard European views on resolving the conflict, with Israel needing international support amid its war in Gaza.

I think that recently he was very explicit about rejecting the two-state solution.

Now, that means that he has a different point of view from much of the rest of the world.

It is important that we have that discussion. I am sure that in such a meeting, there will be very substantive discussions about what we expect from our partner Israel. And that relates to things that we do not see at present.

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Israel shaken as fatal Houthi drone hits Tel Aviv after interception failure

One dead and at least 10 injured, with human error blamed for allowing drone to escape multilayered air defences

An Iranian-made drone sent by Yemen’s Houthi rebels struck Tel Aviv in the early hours of Friday, killing one person and wounding at least 10.

The hit in Israel’s biggest city was startling, because the drone appeared to have crossed much of the country through the multilayered air defences that have intercepted almost all Houthi drones and rockets since the Gaza war began.

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Why ICJ ruling against Israel’s settlement policies will be hard to ignore

Judgment challenges allies such as UK and US, which for years soft peddled on occupation of Palestinian territories

Israel’s settlement policies break international law, court finds

Thorough, detailed and all encompassing, the international court of justice’s advisory ruling on the illegality of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory and settlement building represents a stark refutation of Israel’s claims, and will have a profound impact for years to come.

The ICJ declared Israel’s long-term occupation of Palestinian territory “unlawful” and said it amounted to de facto annexation. The court called for Israel to rapidly quit the occupied territories and ruled Palestinians were due reparations for the harm of 57 years of an occupation that systematically discriminates against them.

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Israel-Gaza war: Israel systematically discriminates against Palestinians, says ICJ in ruling on occupation – as it happened

This blog is now closed, you can read more on this story here

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has again called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza.

In a statement, Baerbock said: “This war in Gaza must come to an end at long last. There are no safe places in Gaza for civilians.”

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Gaza conflict could fuel IS and al-Qaida revival, security experts warn

Officials and analysts warn of evidence of increased Islamic State and al-Qaida militant activity across Middle East

Security services across the Middle East fear the conflict in Gaza will allow Islamic State (IS) and al-Qaida to rebuild across the region, leading to a wave of terrorist plots in coming months and years.

Officials and analysts say there is already evidence of increased Islamic militant extremism in many places, although multiple factors are combining to cause the surge.

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Highly infectious poliovirus found in Gaza sewage samples

Gaza ministry warns thousands of people displaced by the Israel-Gaza war are at risk of contracting the disease which can cause deformities and paralysis

The poliovirus has been found in sewage samples from Gaza putting thousands of people living in crowded displaced persons’ camps at risk of contracting the highly infectious disease that can cause deformities and paralysis.

The Gaza ministry said tests carried out with the UN children’s agency, Unicef, “showed the presence of poliovirus” in the territory that has endured a devastating Israeli military offensive since the 7 October Hamas attacks.

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Extremist Israeli minister makes provocative visit to al-Aqsa mosque

Itamar Ben-Gvir, who seeks to disrupt ceasefire talks, makes video at contested holy site in Jerusalem

Israel’s extremist national security minister has visited the holiest Muslim site in Jerusalem, recording a video saying he went to pray, in a provocative move as he seeks to disrupt ceasefire talks.

Itamar Ben-Gvir, an ultranationalist and champion of the settler movement, recorded footage at al-Aqsa mosque compound, also known as the Temple Mount, a site holy to Muslims and Jews.

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Palestinian-Australian charged with trespass after allegedly refusing to leave Anthony Albanese’s electorate office

Sarah Shaweesh says she entered the prime minister’s office as a constituent seeking information about her family’s declined visa application

A Palestinian-Australian constituent of Anthony Albanese seeking visa help has been arrested and charged with trespassing, after she allegedly refused to leave the prime minister’s electorate office in the Sydney seat of Grayndler.

Sarah Shaweesh livestreamed her arrest on social media, saying she was a local constituent who lived in Marrickville, and the police had “threatened to arrest me because I went into the office to ask about my family’s declined visa applications”.

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