Israel-Palestine live: Netanyahu rejects Hamas ceasefire proposal, vows ‘total victory’

Israel “most likely” used a 1,000-pound bomb when its forces hit a compound housing British doctors working for UK and US organisations in southern Gaza earlier this month, a UN investigation has found.

The early morning strike on 18 January probably involved an MK83 bomb guided by a GBU32, a type of kit that turns “free fall” bombs into precision-guided missiles, according to the investigation.

The new revelations will increase scrutiny of US and UK arms sales to Israel as it is possible weapons or components made in both countries were used in the attack, arms control experts and lawyers said.

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FBI Director Christopher Wray told a House hearing that the bureau will not investigate or surveil peaceful pro-Palestine protests taking place in the US.

"We are not going to be investigating non-violent First Amendment activity," Wray said in response to a question from Congressman Ro Khanna.

"Our mission is to protect the American people and uphold the Constitution. We intend to both, we embrace both parts of that mission," Wray said.

The comments come after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on the FBI to investigate protesters calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, accusing them of having ties to Russia.

A spokesperson for Yemen's Houthi movement said their naval forces carried out an operation targeting a US merchant vessel.

They targeted the "American merchant ship KOI that was heading to the ports of occupied Palestine with several appropriate naval missiles," Yahya Sarea said in a statement.

Chicago on Wednesday became the largest US city so far to adopt a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza.

After a vote at City Hall was split 23-23 on the resolution, Mayor Brandon Johnson broke the tie in support of the measure, which calls for an end to the war, the release of all hostages, and for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza unimpeded.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the attack that killed three US soldiers in Jordan is linked to the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, an umbrella group of Iran-backed paramilitaries.

Kirby’s comments come after the US said the attack had the “footprints of Kataib Hezbollah”, one of the groups within the Islamic Resistance. Kataib Hezbollah then announced it was suspending actions against US forces.

Washington said it was going to have a tiered response to the attack.

Thomas White, director of Unrwa affairs in Gaza, said that the staff for the UN aid agency for Palestinians has been forced to flee Khan Younis because of the intense fighting over the past week.

"We've lost a health clinic, major shelters - facilities that were supporting the people of Khan Younis," White said on X, formerly known as Twitter.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society is reporting heavy fire at al-Amal Hospital and is saying that Israeli forces are currently raiding the hospital square.

After alleging that several Unrwa staff members were involved in the 7 October attack, causing countries including the US to suspend funding to the group, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now calling for the aid agency's mission to be eliminated.

The call comes in contradiction with Israel's close ally, the US, which has said that the agency's mission to provide aid to Palestinians is vital.

"It's time for the international community and the UN itself to understand that Unrwa's mission must be terminated," Netanyahu said to visiting UN delegates, according to a statement from his office.

"It seeks to preserve the issue of Palestinian refugees. We must replace Unrwa with other UN agencies and other aid agencies, if we want to solve the Gaza problem as we plan to do."

Delegates at an Israeli conference on Sunday calling for the re-settlement of Israelis in Gaza were handed a board game that seemingly allowed players to map out where they would establish homes in the enclave after it was conquered.

The game, titled, "Come Build Your House in Gaza!" shows a layout of Gaza separated into different neighbourhoods with Hebrew names and explanations of the meaning behind each of them.

Players of the game are invited to place wooden house-shaped blocks, with their names written on stickers, on the neighbourhoods they want to settle in.

Among them is the "Heroes of Gaza Neighbourhood", which it says will be established on top of the Shujaiya neighbourhood. An estimated 300 people were killed in a single Israeli strike on a residential block in Shujaiya in December of last year.

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Israeli board game calls on players to 'Come Build Your House in Gaza!'

The campaign team for US President Joe Biden is currently struggling to deal with how Biden's support for Israel has hurt his relations with the Arab-American population of Michigan, a battleground state in the upcoming presidential election.

Two campaign advisors told Politico that they are "scrambling to find other paths to victory" in Michigan, after a meeting between Biden's team and Arab-American community leaders was cancelled due to Biden's support for Israel's war on Gaza.

Michigan has a population of 200,000 registered Muslim voters and 300,000 registered voters with Arab or Middle Eastern ancestry. The margin of victory in the state is about 150,000 voters.

Israel's military announced that Yitzhar Hofman, a 36-year-old platoon commander in the Sheldag unit, was killed during a battle in northern Gaza.

The Sheldag Unit is a special forces unit under the Israeli air force and is considered to be one of the most elite forces in Israel's military.

A new report from the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) said that the restoration of both social and economic conditions of Gaza to pre-October 2023 levels "will take decades" and also cost tens of billions of dollars.

Since the war began, the report found that Gaza's gross domestic product dropped by 24 percent. And if it were to return to pre-war levels, based on Gaza's economic growth rates from 2007-2022, it would take "until 2092 just to restore the GDP levels of 2022".

The report noted that Gaza's dire economic situation originates from well beyond the current conflict, and stems from the 17-year blockade on the enclave, as well as the 56 years of Israeli occupation of Palestine.

The only ways to realistically restore economic opportunities for Gaza's population, the report notes, is to restore its international airport and also to build a seaport for the enclave.

Axios is reporting that Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked the State Department to conduct an assessment of the policy options around recognising a Palestinian state after the war in Gaza.

The report appears to signal a plan to link the pathway for Palestinian statehood to normalisation with Saudi Arabia as a part of the Biden administration's post-war strategy, according to Axios.

The options on the table for the US include bilaterally recognising a Palestinian state, encouraging other countries to recognise Palestine, and also not using Washington's veto power at the UN Security Council to block Palestine from becoming a full member state.

But it also comes as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and many top Israeli ministers have been vehemently opposed to the creation of a Palestinian state.

Martin Griffiths, the UN's emergency relief coordinator, spoke to a session of the Security Council on Wednesday, where he warned that humanitarian aid is continuing to be blocked from entering Gaza without clear reasons from Israel.

"We need rapid and unimpeded access. Humanitarian supplies must be able to enter Gaza via multiple points, from Egypt and Israel. This would help clear bottlenecks and speed up delivery of supplies," Griffiths said, as reported by The Guardian.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said a 75-year-old woman and a 45-day-old girl both died as a result of a lack of oxygen at al-Amal Hospital, which is currently facing a siege by Israeli forces.

PRCS teams were able to deliver 25 oxygen cylinders to the hospital on Wednesday, as the facility continues to face a shortage of medical supplies.