Israel demolishes buildings in south Gaza, as captive bodies found in heavily bombed areas

Israeli forces on Wednesday continued demolishing and shelling of buildings in south Gaza despite the ceasefire, while bodies of the remaining captives are being found in areas that were heavily targeted by the army during the war.

The artillery bombardment and demolitions have mainly focused on areas east of Khan Younis, while Israeli media said that the army struck sites near the Bureij refugee camp.

Widespread destruction of homes and farms is also continuing in eastern Gaza City, Al Jazeera said.

Amid the truce, Palestinians in the enclave remain in dire need of food aid, with many still unable to access vital humanitarian assistance.

Only two crossings into Gaza have been opened by Israel, with the World Food Programme spokesperson, Abeer Etefa, noting that this "severely limits the quantity of aid".

Human rights activists and campaigners have urged for more aid to come into the enclave as hunger persists and the winter months are looming, while people remain stuck in makeshift shelters.

This comes as Israel introduced new registration guidelines which would see key organisations blocked from delivering crucial aid.

According to Haaretz, Israel’s diaspora affairs ministry has stopped international NGOs including Save the Children and Oxfam from being able to coordinate aid transfers.

The process forces all NGOs working in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to re-apply for approval, which includes submitting extensive documentation to Israel, as well as information about employees, and details about all of their family members.

The ministry has the power to reject any applications, as well as organisations believed to "deny the existence of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state," and "promote delegitmisation of Israel" or support "efforts to prosecute Israeli citizens in a foreign or international courts".

The lack of aid comes as civilians in the Gaza Strip face multiple threats, with the Gaza municipality warning against a major health and environmental disaster as more than 260,000 tonnes of waste has piled up in the streets due to key infrastructure being decimated during the war.

Meanwhile, specialist teams in Gaza continue to search for the bodies of Israeli captives as part of the truce deal.

However, the recent bodies found and handed over were in areas that were heavily bombed by the Israeli military, raising questions about whether Israel itself was to blame for the captives' deaths.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced that the body of an Israeli captive returned on Tuesday had been identified. So far, Hamas has handed over 21 out of 28 bodies of captives since the ceasefire started.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 68,858 Palestinians since October 2023 and wounded at least 170,664 others in the same time frame. The war is widely acknowledged to be a genocide.