Israel kills over 100 in Gaza, five in West Bank amid settler calls to 'raze' Palestinian towns

The Cannes film community mourned Palestinian journalist Fatima Hassouna on Thursday evening, cramming into theatres to watch the documentary about her life in Gaza.

She used to say this would pass, recalled director Sepideh Farsi ahead of a showing of "Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk" in the French Riviera resort town.

"And it will pass. She is not here but yet she is present, they didn't manage to defeat her," Farsi said, her voice breaking.

Hassouna, 25, had been determined to come to the Cannes Film Festival to see the documentary despite the difficulties posed by Israel's blockade, Farsi told Reuters ahead of the screenings.

She was "glowing with joy" the day she learned the film had been selected, Farsi added.

The next day, Hassouna was killed in an Israeli airstrike on her home.

Her death prompted the usually apolitical festival to issue a statement mourning her as one of "the far too many victims of the violence" in the region.

"Although a film is a small thing in the face of such a tragedy," its screening as part of the ACID independent film programme would be a way to honour the journalist, said the festival last month.

The World Health Organization said that the last hospital in Gaza providing cancer and cardiac care had stopped functioning after an Israeli attack.

The UN health agency chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said on X that an attack on Tuesday left the European Hospital in Khan Yunis "severely damaged and inaccessible".

It is "no longer functional", he said, adding that a WHO team had evacuated emergency medical staff who had worked through the attacks.

"A strike hit nearby just before the mission," Tedros said, adding that the staff had been taken to the Nasser Medical Complex.

Israel has launched new strikes on Gaza's southern cities, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Several people have been wounded in an Israeli air raid on a house in the town of al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis. Injuries were also reported following an Israeli bombing of a building in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis.

Yemen’s Houthi movement has claimed responsibility for launching a missile that Israel said it intercepted earlier.

In a statement, the group said it had fired a hypersonic ballistic missile at Ben Gurion Airport, claiming it achieved its objective by forcing Israelis into shelters and disrupting airport operations for nearly an hour.

The Houthis vowed to intensify and expand their military actions, saying their aim was to end Israel’s war on Gaza and lift the blockade that has cut off food, medicine, and humanitarian aid to the besieged territory.

The group has repeatedly called for an end to Israel’s aggression and the ongoing siege of Gaza.

The Israeli military said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen on Thursday, shortly after air raid sirens sounded in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted," a military statement said.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio voiced openness to any new ideas to bring aid into Gaza after a US- and Israeli-backed plan was sharply criticised, expressing concern over the humanitarian situation in the territory.

"We're troubled by the humanitarian situation there," Rubio told reporters after warnings of famine in war-ravaged Gaza.

"I hear criticisms of that plan. We're open to an alternative if someone has a better one," Rubio said on a visit to Turkey.

"We are for all the aid we can get without Hamas being able to steal it from people."

A new US-backed foundation on Wednesday announced a plan to begin distributing supplies later this month in Gaza, where Israel has cut off food and other humanitarian aid for more than two months.

The president of the United Arab Emirates on Thursday said his country planned to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States over 10 years, lauding a "strong partnership" that flourished under US President Donald Trump.

Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed announced the "UAE's plan to invest $1.4 trillion in the United States... over the next 10 years," in fields including technology, artificial intelligence and energy, speaking from the presidential palace in Abu Dhabi alongside Trump.

Syria's new rulers have said they want peace with Israel and have promised to work for a pluralistic society, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Thursday after talks with them.

"They've expressed an interest in being at peace with all of their neighbours, including Israel," Rubio said after the talks in the southern Turkish city of Antalya.

The UAE is keen on continuing to work with the United States to achieve peace and stability in the region, President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan told US President Donald Trump on Thursday during a meeting in Abu Dhabi.

Trump visited the UAE's capital city on Thursday, the last stop of a tour of Gulf states.

An Israeli TV channel has reported that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a new proposal presented by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff during his visit to Doha, despite the proposal receiving positive signals from Hamas and being accepted by mediators.

According to Israel's Channel 12, the US envoy had outlined a comprehensive plan aimed at securing the return of all Israeli captives and removing Hamas from power in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas warned on Thursday that failure to implement its understandings with the United States, regarding the entry of aid into Gaza and a ceasefire, would negatively impact efforts to advance negotiations for a prisoner exchange.

In a statement, the movement said: "Out of Hamas’s commitment to easing the suffering of our people by halting the aggression and opening the crossings for humanitarian aid, we took the positive step of releasing captive soldier Idan Alexander ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the region."

It added: "Based on the understandings reached with the US side, and with the knowledge of mediators, we expect the immediate entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, a call for a permanent ceasefire, and comprehensive negotiations on all issues to achieve security and stability in the region. This is our goal."

The statement concluded: "Failure to implement these steps - especially the delivery of humanitarian aid - will cast a negative shadow over any efforts to move forward with prisoner exchange negotiations."

The United Nations said on Thursday it will not take part in a US-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent, while Israel pledged to facilitate the effort without being involved in aid deliveries.

"This particular distribution plan does not accord with our basic principles, including those of impartiality, neutrality, independence, and we will not be participating in this," deputy UN spokesperson Farhan Haq told reporters on Thursday.

(Reuters)

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said on Thursday that the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, under an Israeli blockade since March 2, was the "minimum requirement" for negotiations.

"The minimum requirement for a conducive and constructive negotiation environment is compelling (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's government to open the crossings and allow the entry of humanitarian aid," Naim said in a statement. "The US administration, under President Trump, has the capacity to enforce this humanitarian obligation."

Israel will not fund a new US-led humanitarian operation in the Gaza Strip, but it will facilitate and enable it, Israel's UN Ambassador Danny Danon told reporters on Thursday.

(Reuters)

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim said Thursday Gaza was not for sale, after President Donald Trump said he wanted the United States to "take" the war-ravaged territory and turn it into a "freedom zone".

"Gaza is an integral part of Palestinian land -- it is not real estate for sale on the open market. We remain firmly committed to our land and our national cause, and we are prepared to make every sacrifice to preserve our homeland and secure our people's future," Naim said in a statement.

Switzerland is "alarmed" by Israel's blockade on the Gaza Strip and the risk of famine, calling for the state to lift its restrictions.

"The #Schweiz is alarmed by the humanitarian tragedy in #Gaza and the reported risks of famine. #Israel must lift the blockade immediately," the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs wrote on X.

Palestinian rescuers reported over 100 people killed Thursday in Israeli strikes on blockaded Gaza, where a US-backed organisation said it intends to begin distributing aid by the end of the month.

Gaza's civil defence agency said the death toll from Israeli bombardment since dawn on Thursday had risen to 103.

Three Palestinian prisoners have been announced dead while in Israeli custody, as concerns are renewed over the treatment of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli detention. 

The three men, Ayman Abdel Hadi Qdeih, 56, Bilal Talal Salameh, 24, and Mohammad Ismail Al-Astal, 46, were confirmed dead by the Israeli army in response to Palestinian human rights organisations, without providing further detail.

Israeli troops killed five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank village of Tammun Thursday, in a raid the military described as targeting buildings suspected of being used to plan terror attacks.

"The occupation forces killed five young men after besieging a house in the centre of the village," Tammun mayor Samir Qteishat told AFP.

"The (Israeli) army took four bodies, and we found a fifth martyr, the charred body, after the (Israeli) forces left," he added.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, claimed it targeted "two buildings suspected of being used for planning terror attacks from Tubas and Tamun".

It said "soldiers identified armed terrorists who barricaded themselves in a building. Following an exchange of fire, five terrorists were eliminated, and an additional terrorist was apprehended".

Human Rights Watch said Thursday that Israel's full blockade of the Gaza Strip, in place since 2 March, has become "a tool of extermination".

"Israel's blockade has transcended military tactics to become a tool of extermination," HRW interim executive director Federico Borello said in a statement in which he also criticised "plans to squeeze Gaza's 2 million people into an even tinier area while making the rest of the land uninhabitable".

Hamas on Thursday accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of undermining mediation efforts for a captive release and ceasefire deal by carrying out military operations in Gaza.

"War criminal Netanyahu undermines mediation efforts through deliberate military escalation, showing indifference to his captives, endangering their lives," Hamas said in a statement referring to hostages held in the Palestinian territory.

Palestinian rescuers reported 94 people killed Thursday in Israeli strikes on blockaded Gaza.

In the occupied West Bank, raids were ongoing and roads were blocked after Israel's military chief vowed to find the perpetrators of an attack that killed a pregnant Israeli woman.

"Ninety-four martyrs have been killed in Israeli air strikes on the Gaza Strip since dawn today," civil defence agency spokesman Mahmud Basal told AFP.

The agency had given an earlier toll of 50 dead.

Four Palestinian men were killed after an Israeli strike targeted a house in the town of Tamoun, south of Tubas in the occupied West Bank - Wafa reports.

Security sources told the agency the forces infiltrated the town, surrounding the house before sending military reinforcements. They then fired live ammunition and missiles that trapped the young men.

Israeli forces also withheld their bodies.

An Israeli strike targeting a residential area in Tal al-Zaatar, east of Jabalia camp, killed at least one woman and injured others - Wafa reports.

The agency says the two strikes were near the Al-Awda Hospital, which is considered to be the last medical stronghold in northern Gaza, causing damage to the hospital.

Gaza rescuers said Israeli strikes and shelling on Thursday killed 82 people in the war-battered Palestinian territory, updating a previous toll.

"The number of martyrs from Israeli airstrikes on Gaza has risen to 82 after the occupation targeted several homes in northern Gaza," civil defence spokesman Mohammad al-Mughayir told AFP, after the agency earlier reported 50 dead.

Israel's military will use "all the tools" at its disposal to find the perpetrators of a West Bank attack that left a pregnant Israeli woman dead, army chief Lieutenant General Eyal Zamir said Thursday.

"We will use all the tools at our disposal and reach the murderers in order to hold them accountable," Zamir said as he visited the scene of the attack on the woman's vehicle in the north of the occupied West Bank.

President Donald Trump said on Thursday he wanted the United States to "take" Gaza and turn it into a "freedom zone", as Israel's war on Gaza rages on.

"I have concepts for Gaza that I think are very good, make it a freedom zone, let the United States get involved and make it just a freedom zone," the US leader said in Qatar, adding: "I'd be proud to have the United States have it, take it, make it a freedom zone."

US President Donald Trump will be visiting the UAE on Thursday at the last stop of his tour of the Middle East for economic opportunities and regional security.

The president visited Qatar the day before on his second stop of his tour of the Middle East and flew to Saudi Arabia on Tuesday, where he met Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Syria's leader, Ahmed Al-Sharaa.

A pregnant Israeli woman was killed in the occupied West Bank, while her baby was delivered via an emergency caesarean section, the hospital said Thursday.

The woman, along with a male passenger, was driving near the Israeli settlement of Bruchin in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday when their vehicle was shot at, according to Israeli authorities.

Bruchin is an Israeli settlement in the centre of the Palestinian territory, and considered illegal under international law.

The Beilinson hospital outside of Tel Aviv said medical teams in the trauma ward battled throughout the night to save the woman and her foetus.

"After struggling to save the life of the woman who was critically injured in the shooting attack in Samaria and arrived during resuscitation, the medical teams were forced to pronounce her dead," Beilinson Hospital said in a statement, using the biblical name to refer to the West Bank.

An Israeli strike on Khan Younis killed a journalist at The New Arab's sister site, Alaraby TV, on Thursday.

The network announced on social media, saying Hasan Samour had been killed along with 11 members of his family in his home of Bani Suhaila, east of the city.