Evening recap

Hello Middle East Eye readers.

As US, Egyptian, and Qatari officials continue working on securing a second pause in the fighting in Gaza, Israeli forces renewed an operation in Gaza City, weeks after it said it ended its campaign in the north of the besieged enclave.

An Israeli bombing in the west of Gaza City killed 20 people, several Palestinian news outlets reported.

In the south of Gaza, particularly in Khan Younis, Israeli forces intensified attacks including on hospitals, which have faced Israeli besiegement for more than a week now.

The cutting of aid to Unrwa was condemned by more than a dozen relief agencies, who said that the UN agency was providing critical, life-saving assistance to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Biden administration is deliberating its options following a drone strike in Jordan that killed three US soldiers. Biden has vowed a response, and US media reports say that response is likely to be more powerful than any of Washington's previous strikes on Iraq and Syria since 7 October.

However, the US is also wary of triggering a widescale war with Iran.

Here's what you need to know from today's developments:

Despite suspending aid based on the allegations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington had not investigated the claim that 12 Unrwa employees were a part of the 7 October attacks.
After three US troops were killed in a drone attack in Jordan, which the US suspects Iran was involved in, a spokesperson for the defence department said the Biden administration isn't seeking war with Tehran.
Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesperson for Gaza's Ministry of Health, said that Israeli forces are committing mass executions in Gaza.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said discussions have moved towards the possibility of permanent ceasefire in the near future.
Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, says it fired a salvo of rockets targeting Tel Aviv, demonstrating it still has the capacity to fire rockets toward Israel.
The White House said that comments made by some Israeli politicians on the Israeli resettlement of Gaza were reckless and incendiary. France has also condemned these comments.
Spain said it was monitoring the Unrwa investigation, but it wasn't going to suspend funding to the aid agency.

Evening recap

Despite suspending aid based on the allegations, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Washington had not investigated the claim that 12 Unrwa employees were a part of the 7 October attacks.

After three US troops were killed in a drone attack in Jordan, which the US suspects Iran was involved in, a spokesperson for the defence department said the Biden administration isn't seeking war with Tehran.

Ashraf al-Qudra, the spokesperson for Gaza's Ministry of Health, said that Israeli forces are committing mass executions in Gaza.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said discussions have moved towards the possibility of permanent ceasefire in the near future.

Hamas' armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, says it fired a salvo of rockets targeting Tel Aviv, demonstrating it still has the capacity to fire rockets toward Israel.

The White House said that comments made by some Israeli politicians on the Israeli resettlement of Gaza were reckless and incendiary. France has also condemned these comments.

Spain said it was monitoring the Unrwa investigation, but it wasn't going to suspend funding to the aid agency.