Live: Gaza death toll nears 50,700

A Palestinian has died from injuries sustained in an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza’s Shujaiya neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, Al Jazeera's Arabic reports.

Hamas has confirmed the killing of its spokesman Abdul Latif al-Qanou in an Israeli air strike on northern Gaza, vowing the attack will only strengthen its resistance.

The Islamic Resistance Movement declared in a statement:

"We mourn the movement's spokesman, the martyred mujahid brother, Dr Abdul Latif Rajab al-Qanou. The occupation's targeting of the movement's leaders and spokespeople will not break our will, but will only increase our determination to continue on the path of liberation."

Al-Qanou died when an Israeli missile struck his tent in Jabalia refugee camp at dawn on Thursday - the latest high-profile Hamas figure eliminated in what appears to be Israel's targeted assassination campaign.

The killing comes as:

• Israeli forces push deeper into northern Gaza
• Hamas maintains stiff resistance despite heavy losses
• Civilian casualties continue mounting

Israeli forces have stormed multiple towns across the occupied West Bank, arresting at least 12 Palestinians in what appears to be another sweeping crackdown.

According to Wafa news agency, troops vandalised a shop, conducted roadside interrogations, and raided homes in a series of violent overnight operations.

The arrests targeted:

• Six in Qaffin, northeast of Tulkarm

• Two in Silwad, near Ramallah

• Two in Jalazone refugee camp

• One in Ramallah city

• One in Ein Siniya village

Meanwhile, Israeli force pushed deeper into Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, where they’ve maintained a near-constant military presence for months. Soldiers ransacked homes and imposed fresh restrictions on movement, Wafa reported - part of an escalating campaign of raids that have turned these areas into virtual open-air prisons.

The latest wave of arrests comes as violence surges across the West Bank, with near-daily military incursions, armed settler attacks, and a growing death toll. Critics accuse Israel of using mass detention as collective punishment.

Israeli forces have confirmed striking southern Lebanon today in what they describe as a targeted operation against Hezbollah. The artillery barrage hit Yohmor al-Shaqif in Nabatieh governorate in Lebanon.

The Israeli military insists it was pursuing "several Hezbollah terrorists" allegedly moving weapons through the border region. Israeli claims could not be independently verified. 

It was a cold and wet day in New York City. The slow and persistent rain soaked to the bone.

At the entrance of Columbia University on 116th Street and Amsterdam Avenue in Manhattan, around 50-60 faculty members stood calmly in a coop of steel barricades on the sidewalk.

Monday afternoon's faculty-led picket was arranged to protest against the university's decision last week to implement US President Donald Trump's demands to overhaul and tighten rules for protests and disciplinary processes, as well as to assume control over an academic department as penance for failing to address what the administration has described as "antisemitism" on the institution's campus. 

Earlier this week, the Trump administration said Columbia's response to its demands was a “positive first step" in securing back the federal funding it had cancelled earlier this month. In a separate development on Tuesday, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and Faculty Members' Union in Manhattan, filed a suit against Trump for what they described as "an unlawful and unprecedented effort to overpower a university’s academic autonomy and control the thought, association, scholarship, and expression of its faculty and students".

Read more: Columbia faculty sidestep Palestine as they protest against Trump's assault on academic freedom

US lawmakers are rallying behind Rumeysa Ozturk, a Tufts University doctoral student detained after co-authoring an article supporting Palestinians. The case has sparked accusations of political repression.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley branded Ozturk a “political prisoner”, saying she was “kidnapped in plain sight” and transferred to a Louisiana detention facility.

“Rumeysa was kidnapped in plain sight & sent to Louisiana to be locked in the same detention center Mahmoud Khalil was sent to,” Pressley posted on X. “She’s a peaceful protestor, grad student, & my constituent who has a right to free speech & due process.”

Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez demanded Ozturk’s release, slamming the arrest as retaliation for dissent.

“One by one, the Trump admin is going after people for speech they don’t like,” Velazquez wrote. “Rumeysa Ozturk, a Fulbright Scholar, was ambushed on the street for criticising US foreign policy. This isn’t immigration enforcement. It’s political repression.”

The detention fuels growing backlash against crackdowns on pro-Palestinian voices in the US, with critics calling it an assault on academic freedom and free speech.

Israeli forces have killed 830 Palestinians and wounded 1,787 in Gaza since restarting their offensive on 18 March, according to the Geneva-based Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor.

The grim figures average 103 deaths and 223 injuries per day—a relentless escalation in violence that shows no sign of slowing.

In a scathing statement, the group accused Israel of deliberately targeting civilians, including those sheltering in tents and the rubble of their homes.

“Without any military justification, the Israeli occupation army has committed the crime of targeting homes – or what is left of them – every day, including targeting tents where civilians have sought safety following almost 18 months of genocide. This is a clear component of a systematic Israeli policy that aims to kill Palestinians, ruin their lives, and impose a horrific reality that makes it impossible to survive,” the statement said.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 538th day:

• Gaza under fire: Israeli air strikes have slaughtered at least nine Palestinians since dawn, with Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua among the dead. He was blown up inside his tent in northern Jabalia al-Balad.

• US strikes Yemen again: American forces have ramped up attacks, killing at least two near Sanaa, according to Yemeni media.

• Israel hits Syria: Syria’s Sana news agency reports fresh Israeli strikes near Latakia’s port.

• Protests erupt in the US: Hundreds have flooded the streets, furious over the detention of Tufts University student Rumeysa Ozturk.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers, 

Israel escalated its attacks on the Gaza Strip on Wednesday killing at least 11 people in Central Gaza, according to Al Jazeera Arabic, and launching artillery strikes on Beit Lahia and Rafah.

Meanwhile, the UN said that Israel's forcible displacement orders now encompass 15 percent of the Gaza Strip, roughly the same size as Manhattan in New York City. 

Here is what else you need to know:

• Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national on a student visa, who was detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is currently being held in detention in Louisiana, according to her lawyer, Middle East Eye can reveal

• Israeli settlers launched attacks on Palestinians northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Al Jazeera Arabic reported

• Hamas on Wednesday said Israel's decision to resume its war on Gaza was a "premeditated" decision by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to sabotage the January ceasefire and win support from far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben Gvir

• Israel's military said on Wednesday that it bombed  430 targets in Gaza since it decided to resume its war on the enclave on 18 March

Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American member of Congress, slammed the arrest of Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national and US visa holder who penned an article critical of Israel. 

“The Trump administration is abducting people off the streets,” Tlaib wrote on Instagram.

“They are starting with people who stand up for Palestinians and human rights … but they won’t stop there," she said. 

Friends of Ozturk believe she may have been targeted because of a doxxing campaign for co-authoring a March 2024 opinions article in the university newspaper, Tufts Daily, renewing calls for the university to adopt the Tufts Community Senate Resolutions, to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide, apologize for University President Sunil Kumar’s statements, disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel”.

Rumeysa Ozturk, a Turkish national on a student visa, is currently being held in detention in Louisiana, according to her lawyer, Middle East Eye can reveal.

Masked Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents approached and physically restrained the Tufts University doctoral student while on the street in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Tuesday before taking her into custody for “pro-Palestine” views. She is being held at the South Louisiana Processing Center.

Chilling video footage of the incident shows a man approaching Ozturk, while she was on the phone with her mother, and grabbing her wrists. Five other agents surrounded her, removed her backpack, and placed her in handcuffs before escorting her away.

Friends of Ozturk believe she may have been targeted because of a doxxing campaign for co-authoring a March 2024 opinions article in the university newspaper, Tufts Daily, renewing calls for the university to adopt the Tufts Community Senate Resolutions, to “acknowledge the Palestinian genocide, apologize for University President Sunil Kumar’s statements, disclose its investments and divest from companies with direct or indirect ties to Israel”.

Israel's military said on Wednesday that it bombed  430 targets in Gaza since it decided to resume its war on the enclave on 18 March. 

Israel also said it hit 18 targets in Syria and 40 targets in Lebanon during this time, underscoring how it has expanded its operations.  

Israel said that it intercepted 14 missiles and rockets this past week, with six launched from Yemen; three launched from Lebanon, and five from Gaza.

Air raid sirens sounded at Hatzerim Air Base in southern Israel on Wednesday evening local time, according to Israeli media. 

The reports said that a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip was intercepted over Beersheba in the Negev desert. 

At least one Palestinian was killed and several others injured in an Israeli drone strike south of Khan Younis on Wednesday, Al Jazeera Arabic Reported. 

Israel has pummelled the Gaza Strip, including striking central Gaza earlier today. An attack on tents sheltering displaced people killed at least 11 people, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. 

Israeli settlers launched attacks on Palestinians northeast of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

The attacks come as Israel launched raids across the occupied West Bank.