Medical sources in Gaza state that 62 people were killed during Israeli military attacks this morning. According to these sources, at least 19 people were shot and killed by IDF fire while awaiting aid distribution, with 13 fatalities occurring near the Israeli-controlled Netzarim corridor. Independent verification of these reports is currently impossible, as international journalists are barred from entering the Gaza Strip.
Earlier, Gaza’s Civil Defense stated that Israeli airstrikes killed at least 30 Palestinians, including women and children, in the central Nuseirat district. Civil Defense spokesman Mahmud Basal reported the strikes occurred overnight into the morning, targeting “several homes” in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Hamas’s Health Ministry claims over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the war began.
Political Developments:**
Israeli media report that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to propose a plan to annex areas of Gaza to his security cabinet. This move is seen as an attempt to maintain his governing coalition, particularly with far-right ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir. Under the reported plan, Israel would give Hamas a few days to agree to a ceasefire; if no agreement is reached, annexation would begin.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar told international journalists Israel would not yield to pressure to end the war in Gaza nor be forced to accept a Palestinian state. “Creating a Palestinian state today means creating a Hamas state. A jihadist state. That will not happen,” Sa’ar stated, accusing European governments of being influenced by their “large Muslim populations” and sacrificing Israel to appease them.
International Response:**
The Netherlands has declared Israeli far-right ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich *personae non gratae*, committing to register them as “undesirable foreigners” in the Schengen system. Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp cited their “repeated incitement to settler violence,” support for “illegal settlement expansion,” and calls for “ethnic cleansing in Gaza.” The Israeli ambassador to the Netherlands will be summoned and asked to urge Netanyahu’s government to change course.
Ben Gvir responded defiantly: “Even if they ban me from all of Europe, I will continue to act for our country and call for the defeat of Hamas and support for our fighters… In Europe, as always, the guilty party is the one being attacked. In a place where terrorism is tolerated and terrorists are welcomed, an Israeli Jewish minister is unwelcome, terrorists are free, and Jews are boycotted.”
Famine Warning:**
The UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has warned that Gaza is experiencing the “worst famine scenario,” with thousands of malnourished children and rising deaths from hunger among the young. The IPC, a global hunger monitoring group, stated air drops would be insufficient to avert “humanitarian catastrophe,” emphasizing that “immediate and unimpeded” humanitarian access is the only way to halt the rapid increase in “famine and death.”
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) stated the ongoing “disaster” in Gaza recalls famines in Ethiopia and Biafra and is unprecedented since the start of the 21st century. “It is clear that a disaster is unfolding before our eyes, before our television screens. It is different from anything we have seen in this century. And it reminds us of previous disasters that affected Ethiopia and Biafra in the last century,” said WFP Director of Emergencies Ross Smith. “It is clear we need urgent action now. This is not a warning, but a call to action,” he added, commenting on the IPC’s famine alert.