Live: Palestinian death toll in Gaza nears 26,000

A poll released by PolitBarometer, a polling company in Germany, found that 61 percent of Germans believe that Israel's military actions in Gaza are unjustified.

Only a quarter of respondents said that the actions were justified.

Yoav Gallant said on Monday that the intense military operation in southern Gaza was close to ending, but that without continued pressure, Israel would not be able to secure the release of any hostages held by Hamas.

The comments come after the al-Qassam Brigades released a video on its Telegram channel which showed the dead bodies of two hostages, with a third hostage saying they were killed in Israeli air strikes.

Several Palestinian news outlets are reporting an Israeli air strike that took place between Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza, with the death toll currently standing at 11 Palestinians.

Hamas’s military wing, al-Qassam Brigades, released a new video on Monday in which an Israeli captive said that two other hostages were killed by Israeli air strikes.

The testimony of the captive, Noa Argamani, was coupled with footage of the two dead Israeli hostages, Yossi Sharabi and Itai Svirsky.

The Houthi movement in Yemen has announced that it will be expanding its targets to include US ships after the US and UK launched a series of air strikes on Yemeni land positions last week.

Nasruldeen Amer, a Houthi spokesperson, told Al Jazeera on Monday that Washington was "on the verge of losing its maritime security".

On Monday, US-based operator Eagle Bulk Shipping said one of its vessels was hit by an "unidentified projectile" while sailing 100 miles off the Gulf of Aden.

Leanne Mohamad, a British-Palestinian political activist, has been voted in to take on Wes Streeting, a Labour MP for the town of Ilford in East London, in the upcoming parliamentary elections this year.

Mohamad won a live hustings vote in the constituency on Sunday.

The Labour Party has seen a significant drop in support from Muslim communities since the war in Gaza began, a decrease largely attributed to the party's pro-war stance and support of Israel's military campaign in the besieged enclave.

"[Wes Streeting] did not vote on the Boycott Bill today. Happy to waive through a bill which opposes BDS - an effective tool to pressure Israel to end its illegal occupation," said the Redbridge Community Action Group, a grassroots organisation supporting Mohamad's candidacy.

"He didn’t vote for a ceasefire either. It’s high time for an independent MP!"

Streeting also serves as the shadow secretary for health and social care.

A group of Egyptian journalists gathered at the headquarters of the journalists syndicate in Cairo to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and for Israel's killing of Palestinians to stop.

The journalists also called for all aid entering Gaza to be unconditional and unhindered.

The shipping vessel Gibraltar Eagle was hit by an "unidentified projectile" while sailing 100 miles off the Gulf of Aden, the vessel's US operator, Eagle Bulk Shipping, said on Monday.

"As a result of the impact, the vessel suffered limited damage to a cargo hold but is stable and is heading out of the area," The company said in a statement.

The company said that all people on board were not injured, and that the vessel is carrying a cargo of steel products on its ship.

The cybersecurity watchdog Netblocks announced on Monday that Gaza has now been offline for 72 hours. 

The interruption to the enclave’s telecommunication services marks the longest blackout since the start of the war on 7 October.

“This is likely to significantly limit visibility into events on the ground,” they added. 

Israeli forces have shot dead two Palestinians in the occupied West Bank town of Dura, southwest of Hebron, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health. 

The two have been identified as Ahed Mohammed, 24, who was shot in the head, and Mohammed Abu Sabaa, 22, who was shot in the chest. 

The ministry also reported that nine other Palestinians were wounded by Israeli fire, leaving some of them in serious condition. 

Video footage shared online shows an Israeli soldier kicking a man lying down on the ground in the area before walking off. 

Israel’s cabinet passed an amended 2024 state budget on Monday, adding 55bn shekels ($15bn) of spending due to the war on Gaza. 

The decision was announced by the Israeli finance minister and came after initial ministerial opposition to budget cuts across the board. 

“This is the war budget, which also takes care of the needs of our reservists, their families, the self-employed and government ministries and the needs of the public,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before the vote.
 

Yemen’s Houthi group’s chief negotiator, Mohammed Abdulsalam, said on Monday that attacks on Red Sea ships will continue despite US and UK air strikes on Yemen.

“Attacks to stop Israeli ships or those heading to the ports of the occupied Palestine will continue,” Abdulsalam told Reuters news agency.

Soon after his announcement, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations reported a suspected attack off the coast of Yemen.
 

A Palestinian karate champion died on 14 January almost a month after she was critically wounded in an Israeli missile strike. 

Nagham Abu Samrah, a widely celebrated sports player, had her leg amputated after an Israeli missile hit her home in the Nuseirat refugee camp on 17 December. 

The attack on her home killed her sister, and left her in a serious condition. The 24-year-old was left in a coma before she died in the al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Gaza’s Deir al-Balah on Sunday.

Abu Samrah was set to be evacuated to Egypt for specialist treatment, but did not make it in time due to Israeli forces not granting her permission to cross the border. 

According to Sky News, her father, Marwan Abu Samrah, said she was his only “glimmer of hope,” following the loss of his other daughter and his mother who died of cancer a week before the war on Gaza started. 

Read more: Palestinian karate champion killed after succumbing to wounds in Israeli strike

At least 19 people were injured on Monday in a ramming and stabbing incident in the central Israeli city of Ra'anana.

Among the injured at least one person is in a critical condition and two people in serious condition, according to the Israeli daily Haaretz. 

Not much is known about the identity of the attacker.

A witness to the suspected attack, which unfolded at several locations within the city, told Haaretz that she "saw someone stab three people near the mall. [The attacker] stole a car and ran over other people."

This is a developing story.

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir lashed out at Turkey after an incident with Israeli footballer Sagiv Jehezkel over the weekend. 

Turkey is to deport the Israeli football player after he flashed a message written on his wristband marking 100 days since the 7 October assault by Hamas during a football match on Sunday. 

“Turkey acts toward Israeli players, and toward anything with a scent of Israeliness, with Nazism,” the far-right ultranationalist politician said in a post on X.

“Erdogan is a full-on Nazi,” he wrote about the Turkish president, adding "I urge Israelis not to fly to Turkey, not to buy any Turkish product and not to support them.

“The state of Israel and Israeli citizens must not act with forgiveness toward Turkey. We won’t let ourselves be trampled on.”

The prosecutor launched an investigation into the incident, arguing that the Israeli national might have been trying to incite the public. Jehezkel told police in his official testimony that he wasn’t trying to incite anyone.