Israel-Palestine live: Biden urges Egypt, Qatar to press Hamas for hostage deal

In a joint statement, 14 NGOs have come together to state that Israel is not in compliance with US President Joe Biden's national security memorandum that barred recipients of US weapons from obstructing humanitarian aid in conflict zones.

The statement was backed by 13 other organisations supporting their findings. 

"Our organizations and partners have experienced these blockages of aid and attacks first hand, and they are costing Palestinian lives," the groups said, adding that "sufficient public information is available to the U.S. government that documents these constraints on humanitarian access and violations of international humanitarian law."

"Given the tempo of the conflict in Gaza, rapid deterioration in the humanitarian crisis, and impending famine, we urgently request that the U.S. government speed up its assessment timeline and demand full and unimpeded humanitarian access into and across Gaza, adherence to international humanitarian law, and an immediate and sustained cease-fire," they add.

Among those to sign the statement include Doctors Without Borders, International Rescue Committee, Oxfam America and Save the Children US while groups like Amnesty International USA and Refugees International lent their support.

A Hamas official said the counteroffer presented by Israel in the ongoing indirect ceasefire talks is at odds with the group's demands. 

"The occupation insists on not withdrawing from Gaza, not committing to a permanent ceasefire and on preventing the return of displaced people [to northern Gaza]," said Mohammad Nazzal in an interview with Al Araby TV.

Israel will no longer approve Unrwa food convoys to northern Gaza, the agency's chief said on Sunday. 

In a post on social media platform X, Philippe Lazzarini said Israeli authorities informed the UN of the decision, which he called "outrageous". 

"As of today, Unrwa, the main lifeline for Palestine Refugees, is denied from providing lifesaving assistance to northern Gaza," Lazzarini said.

"This is outrageous and makes it intentional to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man made famine.

"These restrictions must be lifted."

An Israeli general said that a US official accused the army of systematically sexually abusing Palestinian women during a private meeting. 

In an interview with 103FM radio station, General Amir Avivi said he was shocked when the allegation was made by the head of the Israeli-Palestinian portfolio at the US State Department, according to the Jerusalem Post. 

"We sat there, talked about the situation and suddenly she accused Israel of systematically sexually abusing Palestinian women," Avivi said. 

The US official allegedly said in the meeting that the UN had presented evidence to the Israeli government, to which Avivi responded: "Does it make sense that this phenomenon would exist and the media would never have reported on it?" 

US Vice President Kamala Harris said she is "ruling out nothing" when asked whether there would be consequences from the United States if Israel pressed on with its planned ground assault on Rafah. 

"We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every way that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake," Harris told ABC News. 

"Let me tell you something: I have studied the maps. There's nowhere for those folks to go," she added, speaking about 1.5 million Palestinians taking shelter in Rafah.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said patients and displaced people in al-Amal Hospital, which has been besieged by Israeli forces since Sunday morning, had been forced to evacuate. 

In an update on social media platform X, PRCS added that a few people remain in the hospital, including staff members, nine patients and their 10 companions and a displaced family with children who have disabilities.

"Occupation vehicles surround all entrances to the hospital completely, and movement of anyone from the current hospital staff is prohibited from leaving," PRCS said.

The Palestinian government media office in Gaza has released figures showing the extent of Israel's devastating "genocidal" war on Gaza, now in its 170th day. 

Here are the key numbers:

• (2,848) Massacres committed by the Israeli army (a massacre refers to an attack that leads to the killing of at least three people)

• (39,226) People killed and missing

• (32,226) Deaths recorded by hospitals 

• (14,280) Children killed

• (27) Children died due to starvation and malnutrition

• (9,340) Women killed

• (364) Health professionals killed

• (48) Emergency responders killed

• (136) Journalists killed

• (7,000) Missing, 70 percent of whom are children and women

• (74,518) Wounded

• (17,000) Children lost one or both parents 

• (11,000) Wounded and need urgent travel to receive life-saving treatment

• (10,000) Cancer patients facing the risk of death

• (269) Health professionals detained

• (12) Journalists detained

• (2,000,000) Internally displaced

• (700,000) Diagnosed with infectious diseases as a result of displacement

• (168) Government offices destroyed

• (100) Schools and universities completely destroyed

• (305) Schools and universities partially damaged

• (224) Mosques completely destroyed 

• (290) Mosques partially damaged

• (3) Churches targeted and damaged 

• (70,000) Housing units completely destroyed 

• (290,000) Housing units partially damaged and made uninhabitable

• (70,000) Tonnes of explosives dropped by the Israeli army

• (32) Hospitals put out of service 

• (53) Health centres put out of service 

• (158) Health institutions targeted 

• (126) Ambulances destroyed

• (200) Archaeological and heritage sites destroyed

An Israeli strike on a car near the Syrian border killed a man on Sunday, a security source said, after overnight fire wounded four people in Lebanon's east, according to an AFP correspondent.

"Israeli fighter jets targeted a vehicle in the eastern Bekaa area of Suwairi, killing its Syrian driver," a security source told AFP, requesting anonymity for security concerns.

Earlier on Sunday, Lebanon's state-run National News Agency had said a strike on a vehicle in Suwairi injured the driver, before reporting that he had been killed.

The NNA said he had been delivering food in a car that belonged to a supermarket owner. 

Reporting by AFP

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said the only effective way to deliver heavy goods to meet Gaza's humanitarian needs is by road.

Speaking in Egypt after meeting with the Egyptian president and the foreign minister, Guterres warned that the situation in Gaza will impact the region.

"The daily assault on the human dignity of Palestinians is creating a crisis of credibility for the international community," said Guterres. 

"Sending in large quantities of aid requires Israel to remove the remaining obstacles and choke points to relief.

"It requires more crossings and access points," he said. "The only efficient and effective way to move heavy goods is by road. It requires an exponential increase in commercial goods."

The Palestinian Prisoners Club and Palestinian Prisoners Commission said Israel has increased its arrest of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank whose identity cards show they were born in Gaza or carrying Gaza identity cards. 

"The Commission for Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Club stated that the occupation forces have escalated the pace of arrest operations among citizens carrying Gaza identity at military checkpoints, specifically among women," both groups said in a statement.

"We recently followed at least five cases within one week, from several areas, including a cancer-stricken woman who was arrested while heading for treatment in Al-Quds [Jerusalem], and was later released.

"The Commission and the Club clarified that, in light of the genocide being carried out in Gaza, and the comprehensive aggression and the horrific crimes unprecedented in their intensity, the occupation has targeted citizens born in Gaza, or those whose identities still indicate they reside in Gaza, who have been living with their families for years in the West Bank."

Middle East Eye's Maha Hussaini reports that Israeli warplanes continue to strike the Rafah area, where thousands are seeking shelter.

"Renewed Israeli air strikes on a residential home on the west of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip leaves at least four Palestinians killed, including a nine-year-old and a 12-year-old," said Hussaini.

Earlier on Sunday, AFP reported that Israeli and American intelligence officials left Doha on Saturday after attending talks to discuss a potential ceasefire and hostage exchange.

The head of Mossad, David Barnea, and his American counterpart, Bill Burns, left Doha on Saturday after attending talks on a temporary truce in Gaza and a hostage exchange. 

The source, who requested anonymity, told AFP that both intelligence chiefs had left Doha to brief their teams on the progress of the talks, and that it focused on the "details and a ratio for the exchange of hostages and prisoners".

The Palestinian Red Crescent said Israeli forces had told Palestinians in the al-Amal hospital to leave the facility "naked" after it encircled it. 

The charity said that Israeli forces had made these demands on Saturday via a drone speaker as it launched smoke bombs to encourage staff to leave the facility. 

It added that one of the injured Palestinians left in al-Amal hospital was also shot dead by Israeli forces. 

Medics at the Amal Hospital in Khan Younis are "in extreme danger" amid an Israeli assault in the area, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said on Sunday. 

"Israeli Occupation vehicles are besieging both Al-Amal Hospital and Al-Naser Hospital amidst very intense shelling and heavy gunfire," PRCS said on social media platform X. 

"Occupation vehicles are currently surrounding Al-Amal Hospital and conducting extensive excavation work around the hospital."

It's just after 11:00 am (9:00 GMT) in Palestine and Israel. Here are the latest developments on day 170 of Israel's war on Gaza: 

• Israeli tanks have encircled two hospitals in Khan Younis after heavily bombing the area around them overnight.

• The assault comes as a raid on al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City continues for a seventh day. 

• In Rafah, air strikes early on Sunday killed at least six people of the same family.

• Meanwhile, Hamas officials have accused Israel of unwillingness to agree to a permanent ceasefire amid ongoing talks in Qatar.