Israeli strikes killed at least 40 people in Gaza on Sunday, including 19 women and children, as well as five people in Lebanon. The deadliest incident in Gaza was a strike on a residential block in southern Gaza City that killed at least 14 people, according to health officials at al-Shifa hospital. Another attack killed at least eight Palestinians in the Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza, as reported by al-Awda hospital.
In Lebanon, a drone strike killed five people, including three children and their father, in the southern city of Bint Jbeil. Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun denounced the strike, saying it violated the ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah. Despite the ceasefire signed last November, Israel has carried out near-daily strikes on Lebanon, totalling more than 4,500, according to the Lebanese army. The Lebanese government said Israel's continued violations undermine its own efforts to disarm Hezbollah.
Israel has intensified its military campaign in Gaza City, targeting high-rise towers and ordering the city's one million residents to leave. More than half a million Palestinians have been displaced from Gaza City since late August, according to Israeli military statistics. Many have fled on foot, unable to afford transport to the so-called humanitarian zone in southern Gaza. Aid experts warn that mass forced displacement will worsen the already dire conditions, including famine.
The UN said on Thursday that Israel continues to impose restrictions on aid into Gaza. 'Opportunities to support starving people are being systematically blocked. Every week, new restrictions are imposed,' said the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). Meanwhile, Australia, Canada and the UK formally recognised Palestinian statehood on Sunday, a move British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said was meant to 'revive the hope of peace'. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reacted with anger, accusing the countries of giving an 'absurd prize for terrorism'.
Western countries have called for a ceasefire in Gaza and a halt to the Gaza City campaign. The invasion is also unpopular in Israel, with tens of thousands protesting on Saturday night, demanding an end to the war and a deal to rescue remaining hostages. Israeli strikes have killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza over the past 23 months, destroying most of the territory. Israel launched the war in response to the 7 October attack by Hamas-led militants that killed about 1,200 people.
