Live: Gaza death toll nears 50,700

Gaza’s Civil Defence Agency says it has lost contact with six of its members who entered Rafah on a rescue mission.

They were responding to distress calls after Israeli forces moved into the al-Hashaashin area in western Rafah, reportedly leaving casualties behind.

Palestine Red Crescent teams also joined the operation on Sunday, but since then, there has been no word from the rescuers. The agency says it fears the worst.

Israel’s relentless bombing of Gaza has killed at least 730 Palestinians and wounded 1,367 since it shattered the ceasefire and resumed its war last Tuesday, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry.

The Israeli military unleashed a wave of airstrikes on 18 March before sending ground forces into both the north and south of the besieged enclave.

Entire families have been wiped out, and neighbourhoods reduced to rubble as the assault intensifies.

At least 61 Palestinians have been killed in the past day as Israel's bombardment of Gaza continues, the health ministry reports.

The total death toll has now surpassed 50,082 with more than 113,408 wounded.

Rescue teams recovered four more bodies from the rubble, while hospitals admitted 134 injured victims. Many remain trapped beneath the debris, unreachable by ambulance crews, the ministry says.

Germany has condemned Israel’s decision to recognise 13 Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling it a direct threat to the two-state solution.

“We strongly condemn this decision. It promotes an expansive settlement policy that actively undermines the division of the two-state solution,” a foreign office spokesperson said in Berlin.

Asked whether Germany would take diplomatic action, the spokesperson refused to comment.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, speaking at a press conference in West Jerusalem alongside EU counterpart Kaja Kallas, insisted that Israel has a right to European backing.

“It’s only natural for Israel to expect European support,” he said, according to The Times of Israel.

Saar framed Israel’s war as a global battle, lumping Iran, the Houthis, Hamas, and Hezbollah together as enemies of the West. “They attack us because we are nearby,” he claimed.

“But make no mistake, the war is against Western civilisation - against its values and its way of life.” 

Sa’ar also saod no decision has been made on whether Israel will impose military rule in Gaza.

“It has not yet been decided by our cabinet,” he told The Times of Israel during a press conference in Jerusalem.

An Israeli air strike has hit a school sheltering displaced Palestinians in the Nuseirat refugee camp, killing three people, including a child, reported Al Jazeera Arabic.

The attack targeted a tent where families had sought refuge in central Gaza, adding to the rising death toll as Israeli bombardment continues.

A Hamas official has told The Associated Press that the group “responded positively” to an Egyptian proposal aimed at reviving stalled ceasefire and hostage negotiations. The official did not provide further details.

An Egyptian official, speaking anonymously, said the plan would see Hamas release five hostages, including an American-Israeli citizen, in exchange for Israel agreeing to a weeks-long truce and allowing more humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Israel would also release hundreds of Palestinian prisoners as part of the deal.

Hamas has condemned Israel for the death of Palestinian prisoner Walid Khaled Ahmed, saying he was tortured and deliberately denied medical care in Megiddo prison.

“The torture and abuse our prisoners are subjected to is a full-fledged war crime,” Hamas said in a statement, holding Israel fully responsible for the teenager's death.

The group warned that “violations against prisoners will not go unanswered” and vowed that Palestinians and the resistance would stand by those detained.

Hamas called on human rights organisations to “assume their responsibilities” and force Israel to end its crimes against Palestinian prisoners.

Israel has a long record of subjecting Palestinian detainees to brutal interrogations, inhumane conditions, and medical neglect.

Rights groups have repeatedly condemned its treatment of prisoners.

A shooting near the Israeli city of Haifa has left one person dead and another wounded, according to first responders.

Israeli police said the attacker opened fire on civilians before officers at the scene “neutralised” him.

Footage shared on social media shows a man firing at a passing vehicle before being gunned down by Border Police officers.

Israel's ambassador to Austria, David Roet, has suggested executing Palestinian minors involved in armed conflict, a secretly recorded video has revealed.

During a closed-door meeting with the local Jewish community in Innsbruck on Thursday, Roet said that "there should be a death sentence" for teenagers for "holding a gun" or a "grenade". 

He provided no evidence of children carrying weapons in Gaza.

The video was recorded two days after Israel broke the Gaza ceasefire on 18 March, by which time more than 500 Palestinians were killed, of which almost 200 were children.

Roet dismissed concerns over civilian casualties in Gaza, stating: "If you believe that there are no uninvolved [people] in Gaza… you're believing that Israel is targeting babies intentionally, which is not correct."

Read more: Israeli envoy to Austria suggests executing Gaza children in secret recording

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 21 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip since Monday morning, reported Al Jazeera Arabic. 

Israeli settlers have stormed a Palestinian family’s home in Tel Rumeida, Hebron, establishing yet another illegal outpost in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli rights group Peace Now.

The takeover occurred while the family was away for iftar, the meal breaking their Ramadan fast. When they returned, Israeli soldiers blocked them from approaching their own home, while police refused to file their complaint.

The settlers claim to have bought the house, a claim the Palestinian family flatly denies.

“It is time to stop the absurdity that a handful of messianic settlers determine the foreign and security policy of an entire country,” Peace Now said, calling on the Israeli government to immediately remove the settlers.

Israeli forces have bombarded the Al-Maghraqa area, north of Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, killing at least two civilians, an Al Jazeera Arabic reported.