Live: Gaza death toll nears 50,700

The South African government is facing mounting criticism from anti-war campaigners over its failure to prosecute nationals who have fought for the Israeli army in Gaza.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign in South Africa (PSC), a secular initiative which seeks to promote the Palestinian cause, told Middle East Eye that it was seeking legal advice against the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA), a government body responsible for prosecuting individuals under South African law and to a limited extent on an extra-territorial basis, over a lack of arrests since Israel declared its war on Gaza more than 17 months ago.

"After more than a decade of communications with the South African National Police Service, the Hawks [Directorate of Priority Crime Investigation (DCIP)] and the NPA, including mass protests at their Cape Town office and marches to parliament, we have no alternative but to seek legal recourse," Martin Jansen, the chairperson of the PSC in Cape Town, told MEE.

"We are now preparing for a legal challenge against the NPA which should get off the ground in the next few weeks."

Since the 7 October 2023 attacks on southern Israel, several South Africans are known to have taken part in the devastating war on Gaza, with some openly boasting about their presence in the enclave on social media, whilst others have shared images of themselves committing apparent war crimes.

Read more: South Africa: Anger grows over failure to prosecute nationals fighting for Israel

The UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights has reported that since Eid al-Fitr marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at least 100 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in Gaza, with 32 of them being children.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Strip is facing a dire shortage of food and essential supplies, intensifying the humanitarian crisis.

Gaza’s health ministry reports that hospitals in the besieged enclave have received at least 42 bodies and treated 183 people injured in the past 24 hours. The toll continues to rise as Israel’s attacks on Gaza intensify.

Since breaking the ceasefire on March 18, Israel has killed at least 1,042 Palestinians and left more than 2,542 wounded, the ministry said in a Telegram update.

The ongoing assault has pushed the total death count to 50,399, with more than 114,000 wounded across Gaza.

Lebanon’s health ministry says the number of casualties from Israel’s air strike on Beirut’s southern suburb, Dahiyeh, has climbed to four dead and seven injured.

The attack, which targeted an area known to be a Hezbollah stronghold, comes amid escalating tensions along the Israel-Lebanon border.

While Israel claims it was striking a Hezbollah operative, this could not be independently verified.

A former Israeli soldier who served in Gaza for nine months has admitted that the army routinely forces Palestinians to act as human shields, a practice referred to as the "mosquito protocol."

Writing anonymously for the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the soldier described how the use of so-called "shawishes"—Palestinians forced to clear homes before soldiers enter—became widespread within infantry units.

He said that every platoon now has at least one, with entire brigades effectively running a "sub-army of slaves."

The shocking admission underscores what rights groups have long alleged—Israel systematically violates international law in its military operations in Gaza.

Palestinian media report that an Israeli artillery strike has killed a farmer in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Government Media Office in Gaza says the number of journalists killed in the war has climbed to 209, following the death of Palestinian journalist Mohammed al-Bardawil.

Al-Bardawil was killed along with his wife and three children when an Israeli airstrike hit their home west of Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.

Journalists in Gaza have been relentlessly targeted since the war began, with entire families wiped out in what media rights groups call an unprecedented assault on press freedom.

Gaza’s bakeries have come to a grinding halt as flour and diesel supplies dry up, Abdel Nasser al-Ajrami, head of the Bakery Owners Association, has said, Al Jazeera reported.

The UN’s World Food Programme (WFP), which supports 18 bakeries in the besieged enclave, has reportedly informed the association that its flour reserves are now empty.

“The bakeries will no longer operate until the occupation opens the crossings and allows the necessary supplies to enter,” al-Ajrami said, warning of an escalating famine. “We call on the world to pressure the occupation to open the crossings."

A Knesset member from Israel's ruling Likud party has said he wants to "cleanse" the Gaza Strip of Palestinians before they launch another attack.

Amit Halevi told Radio 103FM on Sunday that "occupation is the nature of war".

“We want to occupy the territory to cleanse it of the enemy - otherwise, it will kill your children and kidnap your grandchildren again,” he said.

“For many months we have only been dealing with tactics and not with defeating Hamas.”

Speaking about the negotiations for a hostage-ceasefire deal, Halevi said that there was no possibility of ending Israel's attacks on Gaza.

Read more: Israeli MP says he wants to 'cleanse' Gaza of Palestinians

Israel’s military has issued yet another forced displacement order, this time targeting residents of Beit Hanoun, Beit Lahiya, and the neighbourhoods of Sheikh Zayed, al-Manshiya, and Tal al-Zaatar.

Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesperson, delivered what he called a “final warning,” telling Palestinians to flee to shelters in Gaza City before the military launches a new assault.

A majority of Americans aren’t on board with Donald Trump’s approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. A new poll from the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found that 54 percent disapprove of how he’s handling the situation, with that number soaring to 84 percent among Democrats.

The survey also revealed that only 40 percent of Americans see Israel as a close ally, while 28 percent describe the relationship as merely "friendly but not close".

Lebanon’s Prime Minister has condemned Israel’s strike on Beirut’s Dahiyeh, calling it a clear violation of UN Security Council Resolution 1701, which upholds Lebanon’s sovereignty.

He stressed that the attack breaches the ceasefire arrangements, further escalating tensions in the region.

At least three people have been killed and seven others wounded after an Israeli air strike targeted Beirut’s southern suburb of Dahiyeh, Lebanon’s health ministry confirmed.

The early morning attack comes amid heightened tensions, further straining the already fragile four-month ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

The Israeli military claimed it had targeted a Hezbollah fighter. This could not be independently verified.

Israeli forces have been accused of executing handcuffed Palestinian medics before burying them in a mass grave underneath their crushed ambulances in southern Gaza's Rafah.

Fifteen humanitarian workers went missing last week after responding to a distress call from civilians being attacked by Israeli forces.

The workers include eight paramedics from the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), six members of the Palestinian Civil Defence search-and-rescue teams, and one UN staff member.

They were found over the weekend in a mass grave with at least around 20 multiple gunshots in each one of them, according to Mahmoud Basal, spokesperson for the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza. 

At least one of them had their legs bound, another was decapitated and a third topless, he added. 

Read more: Gaza medics killed by Israel found handcuffed and shot in mass grave

Who Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus has condemned the killing of eight Palestine Red Crescent Society ambulance workers by Israel, calling the attack “deplorable” and demanding an end to strikes on medical personnel.

In a post on X, Tedros said the organisation is also deeply concerned about Assad Al-Nassasra, a medic who remains missing.

“Under international humanitarian law, health workers must be protected at all times,” he wrote, urging an immediate halt to the targeting of medical and humanitarian staff. “Resume the ceasefire.”