Israel-Palestine live: Unicef says over 13,000 children killed in Gaza

Fadi al-Zant, a six-year-old Palestinian boy, has rapidly lost weight due to a severe shortage of medicine and food in Israeli-besieged northern Gaza.

Zant has been at the Kamal Adwan hospital in the town of Beit Lahia, where he is being treated for malnutrition. His condition is complicated because he cannot receive essential treatment for cystic fibrosis, a genetic disease he has had since birth.

This disease requires a specific diet, including vegetables, fruits, eggs, nuts, and other mashed foods beneficial for his body, his mother, Shaimaa, told Anadolu news agency. 

Doctors are also unable to provide him with medicines because of the ongoing blockade of imports into the besieged territory.

Read more: Mother fears 'imminent' loss of last child to starvation

The particular vulnerabilities of disabled people living in Gaza has been highlighted by the case of Ezz al-Din al-Banna, 40, a disabled man who died in Israeli custody last month.

Banna, who was paralysed from the waist down, was arrested by the Israeli army in late November from a building where he was seeking shelter in Gaza City.

Despite being disabled, Banna was brutally beaten and dragged across the floor by the Israeli soldiers who arrested him.

According to relatives, the wounds sustained in the attack would eventually cause complications that would lead to his death in February.

READ MORE: How Israeli army brutality killed a disabled Palestinian man

Hamas's Qassam Brigades said their fighters were able to trap two Israeli infantry units in what they called a "tight ambush" in Hamad City, north of Khan Younis.

The group says its fighters then clashed with the soldiers from zero distance and spotted Israeli helicopters evacuating the army's dead and wounded from the site of the operation.

The Israeli army announced the death of Itay Chen, a 19-year-old sergeant who was killed and taken by Hamas during their attack on Israel on 7 October.

According to the Times of Israel, Chen "served in the 7th Armored Brigade’s 75th Battalion" and his body was taken from the Gaza border during fights between the Israeli army and armed Palestinian factions. 

After military intelligence findings, his death was declared by the Military Rabbinate.

Qatar's foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari said that his country remains hopeful despite the absence of a hostage and ceasefire deal in the near future.

“We are not seeing both sides converging on language that can resolve the current disagreement over the implementation of a deal,” he said in a press conference.

He added that while parties are trying to reach an agreement during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, he is unable to offer a timeline as the situation remains “very complicated on the ground”.

He also said Qatar is trying to establish a permanent ceasefire in Gaza, rather than Israel's request for a temporary one.

The Gaza health ministry, commenting on today's Israeli attack on people seeking aid in northern Gaza, said that the aid reaching the north was very little and insufficient, as hunger only gets more severe in the area.

"Do not leave them prey to hunger, bombing, and disease," the ministry's statement said. "The doctors will die, the nurses there will die, and the world will witness the largest number of victims of hunger in the coming days. If you do not act today to save us, we will all die."

Al Jazeera reports that the death toll from this morning's Israeli attack on aid seekers in Gaza City has risen to 11.

25 people were also injured in the attack, paramedics from al-Shifa Hospital told the channel.

Israel hit the town of Sareen, near Baalbek in Lebanon's east, the second strike in this area in the past 24 hours.

US officials told Axios that several discussions took place inside the Biden administration regarding a potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, with the conclusion being that the administration cannot allow the operation to happen.

The US reportedly does not believe Israel can implement an evacuation plan for Palestinians that would prevent mass civilian casualties.

Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have not spoken since 15 February, with Axios saying the US president expressed his concerns regarding Rafah to Netanyahu in their last conversation.

Israeli forces raided the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday morning, Palestine's Wafa News Agency reported.

The soldiers surrounded a home in the camp and clashed with Palestinian fighters, injuring two men with live ammunition and arresting one of them, along with two other Palestinians.

The besieged home was bombed with an Energa missile, while ambulances were prevented from reaching the scene.

Hezbollah claimed responsibility for the rocket attacks on the occupied Golan Heights on Tuesday morning.

The group says the attacks were both in support of the Palestinians in Gaza and in retaliation for Israeli attacks on Lebanese people and territory, particularly last night's Israeli strike near Baalbek, which killed at least one Lebanese civilian.

The Israeli army said its fighter jets struck three rocket launchers in south Lebanon used to fire a barrage of rockets into Israel and the occupied Golan Heights this morning.

The World Central Kitchen (WCK) said a ship carrying its aid has set sail from Larnaca, Cyprus heading for Gaza.

The Open Arms, a ship belonging to a Spanish relief organisation of the same name, will be carrying some 200 tonnes of food comprising of "rice, flour, legumes, canned veggies and proteins" sent from the WCK, the UAE and Cyprus.

The Times of Israel reports that the ship will dock along the Gaza coast south of Gaza City "at a pier built by WCK".

Two separate barrages of rockets were fired into Israel and the occupied Golan Heights from Lebanon this morning, according to the Israeli army.

The first attack comprised around 70 rockets, while the second one had roughly 30.

The rocket fire follows last night's Israeli strike near Baalbek, the second deep strike into the eastern Lebanese area, killing at least one Lebanese civilian.

Palestine's Wafa News Agency says hundreds of Jewish Israelis entered the Al Aqsa mosque complex with police protection in East Jerusalem.

This comes as West Bank Palestinians will reportedly face increased restrictions to their access to the mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.