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

A Doctor Without Borders (MSF) spokesperson has described the situation in Gaza as "catastrophic on all levels," due to the 60-day complete Israeli blockade on the besieged enclave. 

Claire Nicolet, the organisation's head of emergencies, said that the ban on aid entruy into Gaza, imposed since early March, is having deadly consequences.

She warned that the besieged enclave could become a "mass grave," stressing that Israel is weaponising the blockade on essentials as a form of collective punishment.

An Israeli drone struck a gathering of security forces on the outskirts of Sahnaya, a town south west of Damascus, the Syrian interior ministry told Al Jazeera. 

The attack killed one security member and injured several others.

Reporting by Sondos Asem at The Hague, Netherlands

Reacting to the US and Hungary's statements at the ICJ, which we reported on earlier, the Palestinian ambassador to the Netherlands and international organisations, Ammar Hijazi, said: "Both are inconsistent with international law and its demands."

"The US intervention is very narrow in scope, as it highlights the rights of an occupying power but ignores the many layers of obligations that the occupying power, Israel, continues to violate," he told Middle East Eye.

"It's a narrow interpretation of the law and the duties of a UN member state. Moreover, when it comes to the US supporting international aid into Gaza, there is a clear contradiction. We hope they will pressure their ally to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"Everybody knows that Israel is using humanitarian aid as a weapon of war and is starving the population in Gaza as a result."

"The Hungarian intervention is basically Israeli talking points that are not worth commenting on," he added.

A US official told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday that Washington has “serious concerns” about the neutrality of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.

Josh Simmons, representing the US State Department’s legal team, said, “there are serious concerns about Unrwa’s impartiality, including information that Hamas has used Unrwa facilities and that Unrwa staff participated in the 7 October terrorist attack against Israel,” according to AFP.

The ICJ is holding a week-long session to consider Israel’s legal responsibilities toward UN bodies providing aid in Gaza.

Israel suspended all cooperation with Unrwa earlier this year, claiming that the agency had links to Hamas - accusations Unrwa strongly denies and for which Israel has provided no evidence. 

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) says six of its schools in occupied East Jerusalem will shut by 8 November, stripping 800 Palestinian children of their right to education.

Roland Friedrich, Unrwa’s West Bank director, said the move “threatens children’s futures” and breaches Israel’s legal obligations.

Schools in Shuafat camp, Silwan, Wadi al-Joz, and Sur Baher - which have been operating for decades - face closure, which will force students to travel farther or drop out of education.

Friedrich highlighted fears amongst female students, noting that: “Dreams of becoming doctors or scientists could vanish overnight.”

The closures follow Israel’s October 2024 laws banning Unrwa activities, revoking its privileges, and barring official contact. These measures were enacted in January 2025.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry called the situation a “blatant violation” of UN immunity, accusing Israel of forcing its curriculum on Palestinian students.

Media linked to Yemen’s Houthi group say US warplanes on Wednesday targeted the Al-Sail District in Al-Jawf Governorate.

Washington launched its air campaign in Yemen on 15 March, aiming to halt Houthi attacks on commercial and military vessels linked to Israel and its allies.

The Houthis began targeting ships in the Red Sea in November 2023 in support of Palestinians in Gaza.

A US official addressing the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday defended Israel’s restrictions on United Nations agencies in Gaza as potentially lawful.

On the third day of hearings by the World Court in The Hague examining Israel’s legal humanitarian obligations in occupied Palestine, the US rejected the opinion held by the majority of states that Israel has breached international law in its conduct related to UN and international organisations during its war on Gaza since October 2023. 

The current ICJ proceedings have been prompted by Israel banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) in October.

The ban sparked global outrage and calls for Israel to be ejected from the United Nations due to accusations that it violated the founding charter, particularly the privileges and immunities enjoyed by UN agencies. 

Read more: US tells ICJ it's lawful for Israel to curtail work of UN agencies 

Three Palestinian prisoners’ rights groups - Addameer, the Prisoners’ Club, and the Commission of Prisoners’ Affairs - have demanded immediate intervention from the World Health Organisation (WHO) over the deteriorating health conditions of Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails.

This organisations singled out:

• Disease outbreaks: Scabies, amoebic infections, severe skin diseases, chronic diarrhoea, and persistent vomiting were prominent amongst detainees, citing systematic medical neglect

• Deaths in custody: At least 65 Palestinian prisoners have died, including a child who succumbed to illness and starvation. Outbreaks are concentrated in Negev, Megiddo, Gilboa, and Ofer prisons

• Children at risk: Young detainees in Ofer prison have untreated skin conditions, with no access to basic hygiene or medical care.

• Systematic abuse: The groups accuse Israel of "cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment" by withholding healthcare, calling for urgent international action.

Together the organisations urged the WHO to put pressure on Israel to:

• Follow international health standards and the Geneva Conventions

• Provide essential medicines, emergency care, and hospital transfers

• Allow independent medical oversight in prisons

• Hold Israel accountable for violations.

After 12 years in the papacy, Pope Francis has left behind a legacy that some Catholics view as controversial, but one that stayed closer to the true spirit of the Gospels: to stand with the last and the marginalised, always and everywhere.

The first, and likely the last, Jesuit to be appointed Pope, Francis fully embodied the revolutionary attitude that his order has long represented within Catholicism.

After all, the Catholic Church's most transformative event in modern history, the Second Vatican Council of the 1960s, saw the Jesuits play a crucial role as intellectual and theological enablers.

Jorge Mario Bergoglio, an Argentinian and the first Pope from the Global South, never hesitated to criticise turbo-capitalism and unregulated markets - two defining features of western liberal democracies - for the state of the world.

From this perspective, his two most important reflections were contained in his encyclical letters: Laudato Si (Praise be to you, my Lord), on the care of our common home, released in May 2015, and Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers), on fraternity and social friendship, released in October 2020. 

Read more: Pope Francis stood with the marginalised against a world built on domination

The death toll from Israeli air strikes on Gaza has now reached 52,400, with 35 killed and 109 injured in the past 24 hours alone, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.

Since Israel's war on Gaza on the 7 October, 2023, the number of wounded has risen to 118,014. Since 18 March, 2,308 people have been killed, and 5,973 have been wounded.

The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza since dawn has risen to 23, according to medical sources who spoke to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Israeli warplanes targeted multiple areas across the Strip, with the death toll continuing to grow as strikes persist.

A Palestinian has been killed and several others wounded in an Israeli air strike on the Qizan Abu Rashwan area, south of Khan Younis, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The attack targeted the southern Gaza Strip, where Israeli bombardment has intensified in recent days.

At least 21 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air raids on the Gaza Strip since early Wednesday, according to medical sources speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic.

The strikes hit multiple areas across the enclave as Israel’s bombardment shows no sign of easing.

The Hague hearings enter their third day. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) continues hearings on Israel’s humanitarian duties in Palestinian territories, with the US and Hungary set to speak today.

• Contrast in tone expected: Unlike previous sessions, today’s arguments may shift as the two nations likely to support Israel take the stand. Both voted against a 2023 UN resolution requesting the ICJ’s opinion on Israel’s obligations in Gaza.

• Palestine’s lengthy opening: On Monday, Palestinian representatives had extended time to present their case. Nine countries spoke on Tuesday, each allotted 30 minutes.

• South Africa leads criticism: Opening day two, South Africa reinforced its strong pro-Palestine stance, having previously accused Israel of genocide at the ICJ in 2023.

• No binding ruling, but influence expected: The court’s advisory opinion, though non-enforceable, could guide future international legal interpretations.

The World Food Programme has issued a stark warning over the deepening humanitarian crisis in Gaza, telling Al Jazeera Arabic its supplies are almost gone.

“The situation is very difficult in the Gaza Strip and our stocks are running out,” a WFP spokeswoman said.

Around 700,000 people had been receiving meals each day, but the agency says trucks filled with aid remain stuck at the border, unable to enter due to the continued Israeli closure of crossings.

“We may see deaths from malnutrition as the crossings remain closed,” she added.

During the brief truce earlier this year, the WFP managed to deliver between 30,000 and 40,000 tonnes of aid. That flow has since halted, leaving Gaza’s population at increasing risk of starvation.