As war rages between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has invoked the most powerful tool for the first time in five decades, which prompted new efforts among Security Council members to act. Meanwhile, Israel has widened its air and ground offensive in southern Gaza which has worsened the territory's dire humanitarian conditions, with the fighting preventing the distribution of food, water, and medicine outside a sliver of southern Gaza. The Health Ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said the death toll in the territory has surpassed 16,200, with more than 42,000 wounded. Around 1,200 people have died on the Israeli side, mainly civilians killed during Hamas’ 7 October attack.
Here are 10 updates on the Israel-Hamas war
- Residents of Khan Younis, the largest city in southern Gaza and the latest focus of the Israeli military’s ground offensive, say the army has showered the area with leaflets quoting a verse in the Quran.
Israel says ‘killed two Palestinians for every Hamas fighter’
- The Israeli military said it found a large stash of weapons, including long-range rockets and explosives, near a clinic and school in northern Gaza. The military released videos from inside Gaza of the weapons arranged neatly on the ground and said they included hundreds of missiles and dozens of explosives, grenades, and drones.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says his Security Cabinet has approved small deliveries of fuel into the Gaza Strip to prevent a humanitarian crisis.
US announces visa bans after warning Israel over West Bank violence
- The UN secretary-general, warning he expects public order in Gaza to break down completely and soon, struck a rare and powerful alarm bell in a letter Wednesday to the Security Council. Antonio Guterres said he was invoking Article 99 of the UN's charter, which states that "the Secretary-General may bring to the attention of the Security Council any matter which in his opinion may threaten the maintenance of international peace and security."
Hamas likely profited from Israel stock markets ahead of Oct terror attacks
- Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said UN chief Antonio Guterres' tenure was "a danger to world peace" after he invoked a rare procedure with the Security Council over the Gaza war. "Guterres' tenure is a danger to world peace. His request to activate Article 99 and the call for a ceasefire in Gaza constitutes support of the Hamas terrorist organization," Cohen wrote.
Israel mulls flooding Gaza tunnels with seawater amid war with Hamas