Live: Israeli soldiers kill unarmed Palestinians as they surrender in Jenin

The majority of Americans support recognising a Palestinian state, according to a new poll released by Reuters and Ipsos. 

The poll found 80 percent of Democrats and 41 percent of Republicans support the move. 

The six-day poll closed on Monday. It found that 59 percent of respondents backed US recognition of a Palestinian state and just 33 percent opposed the move. The rest were unsure or did not answer. 

Qatar condemned on Wednesday the Israeli Knesset's votes approving two laws that call for the annexation of the occupied West Bank.

"The State of Qatar considers this a blatant violation of the historical rights of the Palestinian people and a
challenge to international law and relevant resolutions," the statement said.

"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs calls on the international community, especially the Security Council, to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities and to take urgent action to compel the Israeli occupation authorities to halt their expansionist plans and settlement policies in the occupied Palestinian territories," the statement added. 

Norway is planning a resolution for the United Nations General Assembly to vote on demanding that Israel lift restrictions on aid to Palestinians in Gaza, according to the country's foreign minister.

Norway led the call for a UN resolution asking the International Criminal Court to issue an advisory opinion on Israel’s obligation to allow aid into Gaza.

International law requires Israel to facilitate the entry of UN aid into Gaza, the ICJ ruled on Wednesday. Israel is also obliged to allow aid into Gaza under a ceasefire agreement brokered by the US, Turkey, Egypt and Qatar. 

“Norway intends to follow up on this (ICJ) decision with a new resolution at the UN General Assembly,” Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide said. 

Hamas on Wedneday criticised an Israeli bill to annex the occupied West Bank that advanced through the Knesset despite opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We affirm that the occupation’s frantic attempts to annex West Bank lands are invalid and illegitimate and will not change the fact that the West Bank is Palestinian territory,” Hamas said in a statement on Telegram.

US President Donald Trump has said he will not allow Israel to annex the territory. The move is also opposed by the UAE, one of Israel's closest Arab partners. 

US President Donald Trump's advisor and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, has floated a plan that would see only Israeli-occupied parts of Gaza reconstructed, while leaving those where Hamas is the main authority without reconstruction funds. 

“There are considerations happening now in the area that the IDF controls, as long as that can be secured, to start the construction as a new Gaza in order to give the Palestinians living in Gaza a place to go, a place to get jobs, a place to live,” Kushner said on Tuesday. 

According to Kushner, no funds for reconstruction would go to areas that remain under Hamas’s control. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that Kushner is the driving force behind the plan, which he shared with Trump. The US president agreed to it, the WSJ reported. 

The report added that the plan could change. 

The head of the United Nations Agency for Palestinians (Unrwa) welcomed a ruling by the International Court of Justice on Wednesday that said Israel must facilitate the UN agency's distribution of aid in Gaza. 

"I welcome the unambiguous ruling by the International Court of Justice today stating that - Israel is under an obligation to agree to & facilitate relief schemes provided by the United Nations & its entities, in particular Unrwa," the agency's chief, Philippe Lazzarini, said on X. 

"⁠Israel’s claim that Unrwa is infiltrated by Hamas was not substantiated, nor were allegations that Unrwa is not a neutral organisation," he said. 

“With huge amounts of food & other life saving supplies on standby in Egypt & Jordan, Unrwa has the resources and expertise to immediately scale up the humanitarian response in Gaza & help alleviate the suffering of the civilian population," he added. 

The death toll from Israel's onslaught on the Gaza Strip has risen to 68,234, and 170,373 wounded, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported on Wednesday, citing medical sources. 

In the last 24 hours, at least five additional Palestinians were killed by Israel's war on Gaza, which has been recognised as a genocide by the United Nations and genocide scholars.

One Palestinian was killed in a direct Israeli attack on Wednesday, and four bodies of dead Palestinians were recovered and brought to Gaza hospitals, Wafa said. 

The Foreign Press Association (FPA), which represents international media in Israel and the Palestinian territories, called on Israel to allow foreign reporters access to Gaza.

The FPA filed a petition with Israel’s top court to press Israel to open the besieged enclave to international media. 

“For over two years, Israel has blocked foreign reporters from going into the territory, greatly hindering the media’s ability to cover this devastating conflict,” the FPA said in a statement on Wednesday.

“We are pleased to finally have our day in court and hope the justices will swiftly approve our request to enter Gaza,” Tania Kraemer, chairperson of the FPA, added. 

The International Court of Justice ruled Wednesday that Israel was obliged under international law to facilitate the delivery of aid to Gaza, emphasising that the country must provide for the basic needs of Palestinians.

ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa said Israel was "under an obligation to accept and facilitate aid programs provided by the United Nations and its entities."

The International Court of Justice said on Wednesday that Israel must not use starvation as a means of waging war in Gaza.

"The court recalls Israel's obligation not to use starvation of the civilian population as a method of warfare," said ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa.

Reporting by AFP

Israel has not stood up claims that significant parts of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (Unrwa) staff are Hamas members, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the court in the Hague, ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa said there was no evidence that the organisation had breached impartiality rules.

"The court considers that information before it is not sufficient to establish that Unrwa breached impartiality principles" or that it had "collaborated with Hamas as a whole," he said.

The Israeli parliament has approved a preliminary reading of a bill aimed at annexing the occupied West Bank.

The bill, which will require three votes in the Knesset before becoming law, passed with 25 MKs in support and 24 against.

Avigdor Lieberman of the Yisrael Beiteinu party also proposed a bill to extend Israeli sovereignty over the Ma'ale Adumim settlement near Jerusalem, which also passed.

The votes come just as US Vice President JD Vance was visiting the country.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio will arrive in Israel on Thursday, an Israeli government spokeswoman said, announcing the third visit by a senior Washington official this week.

Speaking while Vice President JD Vance and special envoy Steve Witkoff were already in the country promoting the plan to end the war in Gaza, Shosh Bedrosian told reporters that Rubio would meet Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday.

"This is the secretary of state's third trip to Israel since mid-September which further shows the hand-in-hand relationship that Israel and the United States have as we mark this historic time," she said.

Reporting by AFP

The remains of 30 Palestinians have been returned to Gaza by Israel through the Red Cross, bringing to 195 the number of bodies returned since 10 October.

The Palestinian health ministry announced the return on Wednesday, as part of a ceasefire agreement which stipulates that Israel must hand over the bodies of 15 Palestinians for every dead Israeli returned.

An investigation by Haaretz has revealed that Israel’s President Isaac Herzog engaged in conversations with families of captives, encouraging them to consider publicly supporting a potential pardon for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. These discussions took place weeks before the fragile ceasefire in Gaza was implemented.

Sources cited by the Israeli media outlet stated that while some families declined the president’s request, others believed that such support could help facilitate a hostage exchange deal. However, Herzog reportedly did not present the pardon as a precondition for any agreement.

Herzog’s office confirmed that the topic was discussed but emphasised that “the initiative came from the families themselves”, according to Haaretz.

Netanyahu, who has been on trial since 2020 facing three separate criminal cases, has denied all the corruption charges against him and pleaded not guilty.