Live: Trump threatens Gaza residents with death as his team holds direct talks with Hamas about captives

Lebanon’s Ministry of Health confirmed that an Israeli air strike killed a civilian in the town of Rashkananiyeh, located in the Tyre district of southern Lebanon.

The attack, which targeted a vehicle, is the latest in Israel’s escalating cross-border assaults.

Egypt’s ambitious $53bn plan to rebuild Gaza details extensive redevelopment efforts, according to a document seen by Reuters on Tuesday.

The 112-page proposal outlines new urban landscapes, featuring AI-generated images of housing complexes, gardens and community centres.

• The early recovery phase, spanning six months, focuses on clearing rubble and setting up temporary housing.

• In the first two years, 200,000 housing units will be constructed.

• The second phase, lasting two and a half years, includes another 200,000 housing units and the construction of an airport.

It envisions a commercial harbour, a technology hub, and beachfront hotels, aiming to restore an area devastated by relentless Israeli bombardment.

From the earliest days of the genocide in Gaza, Israeli society quickly aligned itself with the aggressive rhetoric of its politicians, fuelling the state’s crackdown on Palestinian citizens. 

Many Israelis took it upon themselves to incite violence, humiliate Palestinians, and even call for the arrest of Palestinian citizens who expressed outrage over the unfolding atrocities in Gaza.

Palestinians within the Green Line understood the new reality, and responded by adopting a politics of silence. 

They avoided political discourse with Israelis, restricted or deleted their social media presence, and severed ties with Israeli acquaintances amid widespread incitement.

As harrowing images emerged from Gaza, Palestinians inside Israel saw the extent of public support for Israeli war crimes, and realised that with the right political climate, nothing would stop the state from taking extreme measures against them - including a return to the military rule they endured from 1948 to 1967, or worse, mass expulsion.

Read more: Palestinians in Israel adopt politics of silence in the face of expanding state persecution

An Israeli air strike struck a vehicle in southern Lebanon, roughly 10km (6.2 miles) from the border, according to Lebanon’s state media and Israel’s Army Radio.

A photograph from the scene shows the vehicle flipped over, engulfed in flames and reduced to charred wreckage. The strike is yet another instance of Israel’s repeated violations of Lebanese sovereignty and breaking the ceasefire agreement it signed in November 2024.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar attempted to justify Israel’s decision to cut off aid to Gaza, claiming on Tuesday - without evidence - that humanitarian assistance fuels Hamas.

Israel halted aid deliveries on Sunday, worsening an already catastrophic crisis.

"Aid that goes to Hamas is not humanitarian," Sa’ar claimed, ignoring the dire need for food and medical supplies for 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza. Israel has been accused of seeking to starve Palestinians and weaponising aid.

"Unfortunately, Hamas takeover of goods turned it into an economic engine for them. It became the number one budget income for Hamas in Gaza. They use that money for terror, to restore terror capabilities and get more young terrorists to join their organisation," he claimed.

Sa’ar insisted the blockade was in line with the ceasefire agreement, portraying it as a legitimate move, despite it being considered an act of collective punishment under international law.

He accused Hamas of rejecting a ceasefire extension while ignoring Israel’s refusal to proceed with phase two negotiations, which Hamas has already agreed to begin.

Unrwa Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini has joined growing appeals for Israel to lift restrictions on humanitarian aid to Gaza, warning that cutting off assistance puts civilians at grave risk.

“Humanitarian aid must continue to flow at scale similar to what we’ve seen over the past six weeks when the ceasefire began,” he stated on X.

He emphasised that essential supplies and services "are non-negotiable" and should "never be used as weapons of war."

His remarks come amid increasing concerns over the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza due to the Israeli blockade on aid deliveries.

Israeli forces arrested Israa Ghneimat from Surif, Hebron, at dawn on Tuesday, just a month after her release in the latest prisoner exchange deal.

The Palestinian Prisoners' Club condemned the move, stating, "The re-arrest of the released prisoner Ghneimat is a new violation of the exchange deals... sending a message that anyone freed remains a target."

The organisation warned that this could endanger future agreements. It called on mediators, particularly Egypt and Qatar, to intervene and pressure Israel to honour the terms of the exchange and halt the re-arrest of released prisoners.

Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar has stated that the government is prepared to move to the second phase of the ceasefire, which includes a full military withdrawal from Gaza and the release of all captives still alive.

However, he emphasised that progress would depend on reaching an agreement regarding the captives. His remarks, reported by Reuters, appear to contradict Prime Minister Netanyahu’s recent stance.

Netanyahu had suggested extending the first phase of the ceasefire by six weeks instead of advancing to the next stage, highlighting divisions within Israel’s leadership over the ongoing truce.

A third student was expelled from Columbia University's Barnard College on Friday for pro-Palestinian activism that took place on campus last year - ten months after disciplinary proceedings started against them. 

The student from the women's college in Manhattan, New York, was expelled for “allegedly protesting the University’s investments in genocide and for allegedly participating in the occupation of Hind’s Hall”, according to a statement released by the Columbia University Apartheid Divest (Cuad) Defense Working Group. Barnard is part of Columbia.

This is the first Columbia student targeted for their alleged participation in the protests which erupted last spring. The expulsion comes a week after two other students were expelled for staging a protest during a class in January, making Barnard the first university to expel students over the Gaza war. 

The surprise third expulsion came the day after the office of public affairs notified Columbia University that a federal taskforce would be visiting it, as well as nine other universities, because it was “aware of allegations that the schools may have failed to protect Jewish students and faculty members from unlawful discrimination, in potential violation of federal law”.

Read more: Third student expelled from Columbia's Barnard College for pro-Palestinian activism

The Government Media Office in Gaza has warned that Israel’s closure of the Kerem Shalom crossing for a third consecutive day is worsening the humanitarian disaster in the Strip.

“The continued closure of the crossing deepens the famine crisis with scarcity of supplies and lack of alternatives,” the office said, adding that blocking aid, including food and medicine, violates international humanitarian law.

Officials also warned that hospitals face imminent shutdowns due to a fuel shortage, while preventing recovery efforts delays retrieving the bodies of “more than 10,000 martyrs under the rubble”.

A Palestinian has succumbed to his injuries after being shot by Israeli forces east of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, reported Al Jazeera Arabic.

At the end of October 2023, Local Call published the full text of a plan formulated by Gila Gamliel, then Israel’s minister of intelligence, for the “evacuation of the civilian population from Gaza to Sinai”. 

The plan received extensive coverage around the world and was viewed as proof that Israel's real goal in its war in Gaza - at that time still in the aerial bombing phase before the ground invasion - was not to “eliminate Hamas” but to expel the Palestinians from Gaza. 

Coverage in Israel, however, was limited - perhaps because the Ministry of Intelligence had no authority (it has since been closed), perhaps because Gamliel had no real political weight and perhaps because the Israeli media prefers not to deal with the war crimes that Israel is planning.

Sixteen months later, Gamliel's plan has effectively become the official plan of the Israeli government. 

Read more: Israelis no longer blush at calls for Palestinian extermination

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spokesman, Omer Dostri, said on Army Radio this morning that Israel is giving mediators and Hamas a few more days to reach an agreement before deciding whether to resume military operations in Gaza, the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

Dostri outlined potential measures to pressure Hamas, including cutting off electricity to the Strip. “We are not ruling out such a possibility,” he stated.

“We are giving the mediators a chance,” he said, adding that Israel has already applied pressure by halting humanitarian aid and blocking all goods, including fuel, from entering Gaza.

He warned that the longer Hamas resists negotiations, the greater the leverage Israel will exert.

He also emphasised that Israel's actions are being coordinated with the United States. “Right now, the goal is to bring back as many hostages alive as possible before shifting to our other mission in Gaza, which is to dismantle Hamas' military capabilities,” he said.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees reported that its health teams have assisted 15,000 people in need of mental health and psychosocial support since the ceasefire began in Gaza.

The UN children’s agency, Unicef, has cautioned that blocking aid deliveries to Gaza will have devastating consequences for families and children already struggling to survive.

“The aid restrictions announced yesterday will severely compromise lifesaving operations for civilians,” said Edouard Beigbeder, Unicef’s regional director for the Middle East. He stressed that maintaining the ceasefire is crucial, calling it “a critical lifeline for children,” and urged for unrestricted aid access to scale up humanitarian efforts.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters in New York that the ceasefire has allowed for food, water, shelter, and medical aid distribution, ensuring nearly all residents in Gaza receive food parcels.

He also noted that after the border closures, “flour and vegetable prices increased more than 100-fold,” adding that humanitarian partners are now assessing available stock levels.