Israel-Palestine live: Israel bombs Unrwa building in Gaza

An Israeli ground invasion of Rafah - the most densely populated area in Gaza - appears imminent, days after a devastating night of air strikes on the southern city. 

The population of Rafah - which spans just 150 sq km - has increased fivefold since war broke out on 7 October. It is now home to 1.5 million displaced Palestinians. 

In an interview with ABC News on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his intent for an imminent ground incursion on the area. 

He added that it would be done while providing “safe passage for the civilian population”, details of which he said Israel was "working out". 

But aid workers insist that no such safe zones exist in the besieged, bombarded enclave. 

"Amidst insufficient aid supplies crossing Rafah, Israeli bombardment of areas close to aid operations put the entire aid system at risk of suspension and collapse," Ahmed Bayram, the Norwegian Refugee Council’s regional media and communications advis0r, told Middle East Eye. 

"Israeli operations have drawn nearer to heavily populated shelters. We are fearing the worst if Israel's plan goes ahead."

Read more: Rafah ground invasion raises fears of aid collapse and ethnic cleansing

Three people have been found guilty of "terror" offences for displaying images of paragliders during a pro-Palestine march in London. 

Heba Alhayek, 29, Pauline Ankunda, 26, and Noimutu Olayinka Taiwo, 27, were accused of displaying the image a week after Hamas launched its surprise attack on southern Israel on 7 October. Some of the Palestinian fighters used paragliders to enter Israel. 

Hamas was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK government in 2021.

Lawyers representing two of the defendants said that the images were displayed were cartoon parachutes, which they said was "a well known nationalist symbol of peace". 

Giving his verdict, judge Tan Ikram said: “I do not find a reasonable person would interpret the image merely as a symbol of freedom. I want to be clear, there’s no evidence that any of these defendants are supporters of Hamas, or were seeking to show support for them.”

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is currently delivering a speech paying tribute to the Lebanese group's fighters and prisoners. 

"It is our responsibility to preserve the achievements made by the sacrifices of the prisoners and the wounded," he said, according to local media. 

"Hezbollah border offensive originated from the religious and moral duty and responsibility of supporting Gaza against the Zionist aggression," he added, referring to war with Israel. "Lebanon’s interest is secured by debilitating the Zionist power."

 Fighting between Hezbollah and Israel has been escalating incrementally since 7 October.

Euro-Med rights monitor reported on Monday that the Israeli army brought in groups of Israeli civilians into detention centres to watch the torture of Palestinians. 

The report is based on testimonies from recently released Palestinian prisoners and detainees. 

The prisoners and detainees were held for varying periods of time inside two detention centres: one located in the Zikim area on the northern border of the Gaza Strip, and another affiliated with the Naqab prison in southern Israel.

The testimonies received by the rights monitor stated that Israeli forces falsely claimed that they were fighters affiliated with Palestinian armed factions and that they had taken part in the 7 October attack on Israeli towns on Gaza Strip borders.

The freed prisoners said that the Israeli civilians were laughing and were permitted to record the torture, which included  beating them with metal batons, electric sticks, and pouring hot water on their heads. The detainees were also verbally abused.
 

The Israeli military announced on Tuesday that its forces have arrested a Hamas member, identified as Omar al-Fayed.

The military said that they coordinated with the Sin Bet and opened fire on an unidentified gunman. 
 

Israeli forces are targeting schools in the vicinity of the Nasser Hospital in Gaza, the Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Tuesday. 

According to the ministry, some of them have been set on fire as a result of the attacks, with the fire spreading to a warehouse where medical equipment is stored.
 

France has called for 42 people in Rafah to be evacuated on Tuesday.

The people were mainly residents or colleagues from the Institute Francais, with their family members, Haaretz reported. 

"We remain fully mobilised to enable the departure of other people whose situation France is monitoring in Gaza, so that they may be evacuated to our country," the French foreign ministry said. 

"We repeat that Israel must take practical measures to protect the lives of civilians in Gaza, and reiterate our call for an end to the fighting," they added.
 

Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Tuesday that Israel’s bombing of Gaza, is now considered “disproportionate.” 

The comments were made on RAI Radio 1, where he said “at this point Israel’s reaction against the Palestinian civilian population is disproportionate… there are too many victims who have nothing to do with Hamas.”
 

Palestinians in Gaza City are scarmbling to find belongings and find shelter in the aftermath of Israeli bombings. 

Photos show widespread destruction of residential areas, including the al-Rimal neighbourhood, al Thalathini street and al-Shuhadaa street.

South Africa has made an urgent request  to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to consider whether Israel's decision to extend its military operations in Rafah requires that the court use its power to prevent further breach of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, South Africa's presidency said on Tuesday.

Israeli forces killed four Palestinians in an air strike which targeted a car in Gaza City on Tuesday, Haaretz reported citing officials in Gaza. 

The identity of the dead are not yet known.
 

The French foreign ministry will impose sanctions on Israeli settlers who use violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank it said in a statement on Tuesday

"France will impose sanctions on extremist Israeli settlers who are guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank ... 28 individuals will be banned from entering French territory," added the foreign ministry, Reuters reported.

The UN humanitarian office has not received any information from Israel to evacuate Gaza's Rafah area where more than 1.4 million Palestinians are sheltering, a spokesperson told Reuters on Tuesday.

"We have not received any official communication from Israeli officials," Jens Laerke, a spokesperson for the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said in response to Reuters questions about Rafah plans.

"Regardless, the UN does not participate in forced, non-voluntary evacuations. There is no plan at this time to facilitate the evacuation of civilians," he said.

Al Jazeera’s reporter Ismail Abu Omar was taken to the European Hospital in Khan Younis after he was severely wounded in Rafah.

The photojournalist Ahmad Matar has also been wounded and is in a serious condition, according to Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeera Arabic correspondent Omar has had his right leg amputated. Doctors are attempting to save his left leg.

Dr Muhammad al-Astal, emergency physician at the European Hospital in Khan Younis, told Al Jazeera Omar’s life is at serious risk after suffering severe injuries.

Pieces of shrapnel remain in his head and chest, Al Jazeera reported.

The journalist has been undergoing surgery for severe bleeding from a possible cut in the femoral artery.

American actress Marcia Cross, best known for her role as Bree Van de Kamp in the US series Desperate Housewives, has said that she is “struggling to comprehend” living alongside people that remain silent and blind to atrocities taking place in Gaza. 

The 61-year-old called for a ceasefire on Instagram in a series of posts, demanding an end to Israel’s war on Gaza, which has so far killed over 28,000 Palestinians since 7 October. 

In a post published on Monday, she wrote: “I am struggling to comprehend how to live among people with eyes that don’t water, hearts that don’t flinch and voices that remain silent.”

In the caption, she added: “There are no words for the horror that has and is being unleashed. And the silence has me believing I am deaf.”

The actor called for an end to Israel’s bombardment of Rafah, where around 1.3 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced from other cities around Gaza. 

Read more: Desperate Housewives actor Marcia Cross condemns silence on Israel's war on Gaza