Live: Palestinian death toll in Gaza nears 26,000

The director of the UN agency Unrwa said on Wednesday that nine Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack on the Khan Younis Training Centre. 

Thomas White added that two tank rounds hit a building where 800 Palestinians are sheltering, wounding 75 people. 

Earlier today Middle East Eye reported that Israeli forces attacked the centre and that there were mass casualties at the scene after the building had been set ablaze. 
 

The Palestinian Authority on Wednesday denounced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for prolonging the war in Gaza. 

In a statement, the ministry said that Netanyahu’s comments mean "the continuation of genocide and forced displacement of Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip”.

“Netanyahu derives his courage from the failure of the international institutions to bear their legal and moral responsibilities to end the occupation,” the statement added.
 

British Foreign Minister David Cameron visited Israel on Wednesday to meet with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to Haaretz. 

Cameron is expected to discuss with Israeli officials the issue of increasing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and allowing packages to go through Ashdod port. 
 

The Palestinian Ministry of Health said on Wednesday that al-Nasser Hospital complex in Khan Younis has now been “isolated” by Israeli forces.

The ministry added that the hospital, one of the few remaining semi-functioning ones in the Strip, is in critical need of medical supplies, food and fuel, as hundreds of patients are unable to receive treatment. 

The isolation of the hospital comes amid Israeli forces encircling Khan Younis for over two days, with snipers and tanks targeting civilians and buildings. 

Earlier today, dozens of patients were also transferred to the al-Amal Hospital to seek treatment amid the ongoing attacks on Khan Younis.
 

An Israeli government spokesperson said on Wednesday that there “will be no Gaza ceasefire”, according to Reuters.

Commenting on reported ceasefire agreements, the spokesperson, Ilana Stein, said in a briefing that Israel "will not give up on the destruction of Hamas, the return of all the hostages, and there will be no security threat from Gaza towards Israel”, according to Reuters.

“There will be no ceasefire. In the past, there were pauses for humanitarian purposes. That agreement was breached by Hamas.”

Several wounded Palestinians have been taken to the al-Amal Hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis on Wednesday, as Israel continues its siege and attacks on the area. 

In a video shared by the Palestinian Red Crescent, Palestinians are seen being brought in to be operated on while the vicinity of the hospital continues to be targeted. 

Israeli forces have attacked a shelter where forcibly displaced Palestinians are seeking refuge in Gaza’s Khan Younis, causing a fire and mass casualties. 

Thomas White, the director of the UN refugee agency in the Gaza Strip, said in a post on X on Wednesday that the complex was sheltering tens of thousands of Palestinians. 

He said there were “mass casualties” at the scene and that people have been trapped. 

Rights and environmental activists demanding a ceasefire in Gaza unfurled a giant picture of a Palestinian child crying for help above the entrance to Madrid's Reina Sofia museum on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

The museum is home to Pablo Picasso's painting Guernica, which depicts the horrors of war.

The banner was an illustration by US artist Shepard Fairey, based on an image taken by Palestinian photographer Belal Khaled.

"Can you hear us?" reads the caption, with "Ceasefire now" also written on it. 

The Palestinian Red Crescent announced on Wednesday that Israeli forces are surrounding Red Crescent teams inside their headquarters and inside the al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis.

They added that Israeli forces are “enforcing restrictions on movement” around the hospital and the building. 

At least six Palestinians have been killed and 11 others wounded in Israeli bombing which targeted various areas in Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reported on Wednesday. 

Reports state that Israeli shelling is also targeting central and western areas of Khan Younis. 

The latest death toll comes as Israeli forces have encircled Khan Younis since Tuesday, killing dozens of people in the process.
 

Yemen's Houthi authorities have ordered US and British staff of the United Nations and Sanaa-based humanitarian organisations to leave the country within a month, a document and a Houthi official said on Wednesday.

The decision comes after the US government put the Houthis on a list of terrorist groups last week, and as the US has tried to prevent Red Sea attacks which have been carried out in solidarity with Gaza.

"The ministry ... would like to stress that you must inform officials and workers with US and British citizenships to prepare to leave the country within 30 days," said a letter sent by the Houthi foreign ministry to the UN's acting humanitarian coordinator in Yemen, Peter Hawkins.

The letter also ordered foreign organisations to not hire American and British citizens for Yemen's operations.

Houthi top negotiator Mohammed Abdulsalam confirmed the letter's authenticity to Reuters.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said that it received a report on Wednesday of an incident 50 nautical miles south of Mokha, Yemen.

"[The] master reports an explosion approximately 100 metres from the vessel on its starboard side. Vessel and crew are safe, no injuries or damage reported," the advisory note said.
 

Thousands of participants, including ministers, rabbis, public figures and Israeli parliament members from the current coalition government are expected to attend a conference next week on "returning to Gaza".

According to Haaretz, the event, which will be held next Sunday, is titled “Conference for the Victory of Israel – Settlement Brings Security: Returning to the Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria".

During the conference, participants will be presented with details of settlements, maps, and the stages of preparation, along with calls for decision makers to acknowledge that victory can only be achieved through the settlement of Gaza. 

Israel’s tourism minister is calling on members of the public to attend the conference. 

Around 20 ministers and members of parliament from Netanyahu’s coalition are planning to attend. 

 

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Wednesday that Israel is obstructing the process of aid deliveries through the Rafah crossing between Egypt and Gaza.

"This is part of how they exert pressure on the issue of releasing the hostages," he added, according to Reuters. 
 

The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that seven out of 24 hospitals are “partially functioning” in northern Gaza and suffering a shortage of personnel and supplies.

The facilities are “without enough specialised medical staff to manage the volume and range of injuries, nor sufficient medicines and medical supplies, fuel, clean water, or food for patients or staff”, WHO said in a statement.

“Essential services such as basic laboratory and radiological facilities remain operational along with emergency care, a surgical unit with three operation theaters, post-operative care, and a dialysis unit,” it said, adding the hospital’s primary oxygen plant was destroyed.