Live: UK halts trade deal talks with Israel, summons ambassador over Gaza

Thirteen Palestinians have been killed and others injured since dawn on Wednesday in the ongoing Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, Wafa news agency is reporting.

Earlier this morning, Israeli occupation bombed the Abu Shab family home in the town of Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis, killing two, according to medical sources.

Eight Palestinians, including three girls, were killed in a strike on the al-Qudra family home in central Khan Yunis and three were killed in a strike on the Abdul Qader family home in the Tal al-Zaatar area, east of Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip.

US President Donald Trump will not be visiting Israel on his upcoming trip to the Middle East, he told reporters at the White House.

He will visit Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on his first overseas trip since returning to power.

While the White House had not said the president would be visiting Israel, Reuters reported on Tuesday that there had been “widespread rumours in diplomatic and national security circles that he would extend his trip to visit the US ally”.

The move will be seen as a snub in some circles. 

Columbia University says it will lay off nearly 180 staff members after it lost $400m in federal funding for research after it was accused of not doing enough to crack down on antisemitism on campus.

“We have had to make deliberate, considered decisions about the allocation of our financial resources,” acting president Claire Shipman said in a statement. “Those decisions also impact our greatest resource, our people. We understand this news will be hard.”

Shipman also warned of more impending cuts saying, “In the coming weeks and months, we will need to continue to take actions that preserve our financial flexibility and allow us to invest in areas that drive us forward.”

The Gaza solidarity movement at Columbia inspired college protests across the US, and students – as well as the university - have been heavily penalized by the Trump administration.

The Trump administration will merge the U.S. Office of Palestinian Affairs office with the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem, State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce said on Tuesday.

The merger between the unit and the embassy means that the direct line of communication between Palestine and Washington will effectively end and Palestinian affairs will be overseen by U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee.

The US used to have a consulate in occupied East Jerusalem and then in West Jerusalem – which handled US-Palestine relations and was separate from the US embassy in Tel Aviv. During Trump’s first term, he moved the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, sparking controversy and a backlash. He also closed the consulate dealing with Palestinian affairs and created a new unit, which was under the control of the US embassy.

Former president Joe Biden re-established the connection between Palestine and Washington in 2022.

The move will be seen as controversial at a time when relations between Israel and Palestine is at all-time low after 19 months of war.

However, Bruce said the decision is "not a reflection on any outreach, or commitment to outreach, to the people of the West Bank or to Gaza".

Israeli military forces physically assaulted Palestinians in Turmusayya town, north of Ramallah in the West Bank, according to Wafa news agency.

Armed soldiers stormed the town, assaulted civilians, and withheld press cards from journalists who tried to cover the raid. They conducted the raid after settlers had congregated in the area, according to local eyewitnesses.

The Israeli military consistently raids Palestinian homes virtually daily in the West Bank without search warrants.

More than three million Palestinians live in the West Bank.

The head of Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee said in a post on X that they would evaluate America’s halt of “aggression” against Yemen, following US President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would stop bombing Yemen “effective immediately".

Trump announced that the Houthis in Yemen had told the US on Monday night that “they don’t want to fight anymore, they just don’t want to fight”.

“We will honour that. We will stop the bombings,” Trump said.

Oman confirmed Trump’s statement that the Houthis agreed to stop attacking vessels in the Red Sea.

You can read more about it here.

Hamas has denounced Israel for “targeting defenceless civilians in places of refuge and shelter” after Israeli military killed at least 22 people and injured 52 people who were sheltering in a school from the Bureij refugee camp on Monday, reported Al Jazeera.

“The Bureij massacre is a heinous war crime that requires the prosecution of the occupation’s leaders in international courts as war criminals,” Hamas said in a statement.

Hamas has also criticised Israel’s plans to expand its onslaught in Gaza and said such actions would jeopardise the lives of those being held captive.

“The approval of the [Israeli] occupation cabinet of plans to expand its ground offensive in Gaza represents an explicit decision to sacrifice the Israeli hostages in the enclave,” Hamas said.

Hamas said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments about expanding the war on Gaza “reflect his insistence on committing more crimes against civilians under a cover provided by the US administration”.

Hamas made a repeated call to the international community, including the UN, “to take urgent and effective steps to stop the massacres” in the Gaza Strip.

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich has said that “Gaza will be entirely destroyed” by Israel, The Times of Israel reported on Tuesday.

Speaking at a conference at an Israeli settlement in the West Bank, Smotrich vowed the occupied Gaza Strip would be destroyed within a few months, and the Palestinian population would “leave in great numbers to third countries”, raising fears of ethnic cleansing in the occupied territory.

He said, “They will be totally despairing, understanding that there is no hope and nothing to look for in Gaza, and will be looking for relocation to begin a new life in other places.”

He also said that Israel would “apply sovereignty” in the West Bank during the government’s current term.

Smotrich’s comments followed the day after Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to intensify its campaign in Gaza and expand its control of the territory.

President Donald Trump announced at the White House on Tuesday that he will be making a “very big announcement” later this week before he heads to the Middle East.
"It is really, really positive. And that announcement will be made either Thursday or Friday or Monday before we leave," Trump added. "But it'll be one of the most important announcements that have been made in many years about a certain subject, very important subject. So you'll all be here."

Around 30 pro-Palestinian students were arrested on Monday night after occupying a building at the University of Washington in Seattle, AP reported on Tuesday.

Members of Students United for Palestinian Equality and Return at the University of Washington said on its Facebook page that it occupied the Boeing-funded engineering building because “The University of Washington is a direct partner in the genocide of the Palestinian people through its allegiance to its partnership with Boeing”. It says it staged the protest “over the aviation company's defense contracts and arms sales to Israel”.

The students were arrested on charges of trespassing, property destruction and disorderly conduct.

At least 17 were killed after the Israeli military attacked a Gaza school that had turned into a shelter, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday.

Several others were reported to be injured in the attack at the school that was sheltering displaced families from the Bureij refugee camp.

The Israeli military carried out two consecutive air strikes on the building.

Palestinians currently have access to 30 percent of Gaza after Israel has restricted access to the remaining parts, according to the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs, reported Al Jazeera on Monday.

Large areas have been declared as no-go zones, such as much of Rafah governorate, and there have been forced displacement issues in places like Gaza City. Entire regions - such as the area along the Israeli frontier - have been declared a restricted zone. 

Prior to the war, Gaza was known to be one of the most densely populated places in the world, with 2.3m people living in an area that is 25 miles by seven miles - roughly 4,000 people per square mile. With the current restrictions, people have become even more densely cramped together, making living conditions intolerable.

The People's Republic of China voiced opposition to Israel’s expansion plans to seize control of the Gaza Strip at a press conference on Tuesday.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian said: "China is closely watching the situation. We oppose Israel’s continued military operations in Gaza, and hope that parties will work to enable the continuous and effective implementation of the ceasefire agreement and return to the right track of political settlement.”

Suwar Ashour weighed just 2.4kg at birth five months ago. Since then, she has gained less than half a kilogram.

"She used to vomit heavily from both breast milk and formula," said her mother, Najwa Aram, as she leaned over the crib where the tiny infant lay. 

Aram told Middle East Eye she had stayed in the hospital with her baby for 10 days.

Aram herself is malnourished and has struggled to breastfeed.

"Suwar was born during the hardship of war," she said. 

Read more: ‘Death of a generation’: Gaza infants battle starvation under deepening Israeli siege

The Houthi group has vowed to respond to Israeli strikes targeting Sanaa airport and power stations.

In a statement, the group's political bureau said that the Israeli "aggression will not pass without a response, and Yemen will not be discouraged from its stance in support of Gaza".

Reporting by AFP