Live: Gaza death toll nears 50,700

At least five people were killed and several others wounded when an Israeli air strike targeted Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Sunday night.

The attack destroyed a large section of the hospital, forcing the evacuation of an entire department, according to Gaza’s health ministry.

The Israeli military admitted to carrying out the bombing, justifying it by claiming it was aimed at “terrorists.”

Among those killed was Ismail Barhoum, a senior Hamas political figure, who was receiving treatment at the hospital for wounds sustained in an earlier Israeli strike.

Hamas denounced the attack as a “cowardly Zionist assassination” and accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian leaders, civilians, and Gaza’s already devastated healthcare system.

Read more: Israel bombs Gaza’s Nasser Hospital again, killing patients

At least four people have been killed and two others wounded in US air strikes on the Yemeni cities of Sana’a and Saada.

One of the strikes reportedly hit a military supply site west of the capital, Sana’a. Washington has ramped up its bombing campaign against Yemen’s Houthis in recent weeks, claiming it is targeting the group’s military infrastructure.

The Houthis have dismissed US claims that its air strikes are hitting military targets in Yemen, calling them a “complete lie and slander.”

“The pictures, scenes, evidence, types of victims, and testimonies of survivors from the targeted sites confirm that it is targeting residential neighbourhoods and innocent civilians,” the government said in a statement.

It added that the attacks provide “conclusive evidence that the US is deliberately taking the lives of defenceless civilians and destroying the capabilities of our people.”

The Houthis, who say their attacks on Red Sea shipping are in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, have vowed retaliation.

A 17-year-old Palestinian boy from the West Bank town of Silwad has died inside Israel’s notorious Megiddo Prison, the Palestinian Prisoners and Detainees’ Affairs Commission has confirmed.

Israeli officials informed the commission of Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmed’s death but gave no explanation for how or why he died. The teenager had been imprisoned since 30 September 2024.

Megiddo Prison has long been known for its brutal treatment of Palestinian detainees.

According to Haaretz, prisoners there have been subjected to electric shocks, dog attacks, and severe beatings. Some were stripped naked, bound hand and foot for days, and denied food and blankets, with several hospitalised due to the abuse.

A 2024 report by the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs further detailed the horrors inside Megiddo, documenting systematic torture, medical neglect, sexual violence, and routine beatings.

His death raises the number of Palestinian detainees who have died in Israeli custody since October 2023 to 63—a grim statistic that continues to grow as rights groups warn of worsening conditions inside Israeli prisons.

Israel is gearing up for a large-scale ground assault on Gaza, reports, The Wall Street Journal citing sources familiar with the plans.

The newspaper says Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his newly reshuffled national security team believe that seizing and occupying parts of Gaza is the only way to crush Hamas once and for all.

Netanyahu’s team reportedly argues that Hamas must be defeated militarily before any political discussion on Gaza’s future can even begin.

The sources also claim that Israel is emboldened by Hezbollah’s military defeat in Lebanon last year and the Trump administration’s apparent willingness to back a renewed assault on Hamas.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 535th day:

• Israeli forces continue their assault on Gaza, killing at least 16 people since the early hours of the morning.

• At least five people were killed and several others wounded when an Israeli air strike targeted Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on Sunday night.

• In the occupied West Bank, Palestinian officials report that a 17-year-old boy from the town of Silwad has died inside Israel’s Megiddo Prison.

• The US continues its bombing campaign in Yemen, hitting the Sahar and Saqin districts in Saada province, following an earlier attack on the capital, Sanaa, that killed a civilian and wounded three children.

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

• The death toll in Gaza reached a grim milestone on Sunday after the health ministry confirmed that Israeli forces had killed more than 50,000 Palestinians since October 2023.

• Israeli air strikes have killed at least 46 people across Gaza since dawn.

• Israeli warplanes have bombed the emergency unit of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, killing at least five Palestinians and wounding many others, reported Al Jazeera Arabic.

• Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have forced the majority of US-flagged vessels to steer clear of the vital waterway, taking the long, costly detour around Africa instead.

• The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned that blocking humanitarian aid, including food, would lead to "an acute hunger crisis".

• Israel's security cabinet has approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. 

• Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich celebrated the move and said the settlements would be recognised as independent from their surrounding communities. 

• A series of US air strikes in Yemen over the past week has taken out key Houthi leaders, including the group’s top missile expert, White House National Security Advisor Mike Waltz has claimed.

• The Israeli defence ministry's rehabilitation department said it has received 16,000 soldiers since Israel began its bombardment of the Gaza Strip. 

Houthi attacks in the Red Sea have forced the majority of US-flagged vessels to steer clear of the vital waterway, taking the long, costly detour around Africa instead.

“Seventy-five percent of our US flag shipping now has to go around the southern coast of Africa rather than going through the Suez Canal,” US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz told CBS’s Face the Nation.

And it’s not just commercial ships under fire. Waltz painted a grim picture of what awaits US warships in the region. “The last time one of our destroyers went through the straits there, it was attacked 23 times,” he said.

The US has responded with a barrage of air strikes on Yemen, the first since President Donald Trump took office. Waltz claims these strikes have “taken out key Houthi leadership,” including the head of their missile programme.

The Houthis, however, remain defiant. They say today’s US strikes killed one person, but since last week, American attacks have claimed more than 50 lives.

Their message remains unchanged: they are targeting ships in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians as Israel’s war on Gaza rages on. 

Hamas has accused Israel of “assassinating” Ismail Barhoum, a senior Hamas official in a strike on Nasser Hospital, where he was receiving treatment.

The group condemned the attack, calling it another crime in Israel’s “long record of terrorism” and a blatant violation of international law. “This systematic killing targets our people and leadership without restraint,” its statement read.

At least five people were killed and eight wounded when Israeli forces bombed the hospital in Khan Younis.

Israeli Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir is reportedly pushing for a broader assault on Gaza, reported The Times of Israel.

“Hamas is stalling for time, it’s a strategy, not a tactic,” Channel 12 quotes Zamir as telling Israeli officials. While the ongoing offensive is exerting pressure, he reportedly insists it is not enough to force Hamas to release hostages.

“There is no choice,” Zamir is cited as saying. “The pressure must be increased.”

Houthi-affiliated media say a US air strike has hit a residential building in the Ma'in district of Sanaa, leaving four dead and two wounded.

Washington has yet to comment, but the strike marks another escalation in its campaign against the Houthis, who have vowed to retaliate. The attack targeted a densely populated area, raising concerns about civilian casualties.

Dr.Basem Naim, a senior Hamas leader and former Palestinian health minister, has condemned Israel’s treatment of detained Gaza physician Dr Hossam Abu Safiya, calling it a “brutal and systematic violation” of human rights.

"Reports indicate Dr Abu Safiya has been subjected to severe physical and psychological torture, prolonged solitary confinement, and relentless interrogations—some lasting up to 13 days," Naim said, adding that such treatment violates the Geneva Conventions, which protect medical personnel in conflict zones.

The detained paediatrician reportedly suffered a serious eye injury from an assault by Israeli forces and was deliberately kept unaware of his son’s death. Naim denounced this as "psychological warfare" and a form of collective punishment.

Hamas is calling on the international community to intervene, demanding the immediate release of Dr Abu Safiya and other Palestinian detainees, as well as accountability for what it calls "crimes against humanity" targeting medical personnel.

Israeli warplanes have bombed the emergency unit of Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, killing at least five Palestinians and wounding many others, reported Al Jazeera Arabic.

The attack on one of Gaza’s largest hospitals comes as medical facilities struggle to cope with the relentless bombardment by Israel.

Israeli forces have struck the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis, deepening the crisis in southern Gaza, reported Al Jazeera Arabic.

The attack left several people wounded, though the full extent of the casualties remains unclear.

Jordan is proposing a plan to exile 3,000 members of Hamas and its military wing from the Gaza Strip in an effort to end the ongoing Israeli war, Middle East Eye has learned.

According to American and Palestinian sources briefed on the Jordanian proposal, those to be exiled would include both military and civilian leaders and members of Hamas.

The plan also calls for the disarmament of Hamas and other resistance factions in Gaza, according to a scheduled timeline.

This would end Hamas's rule in the war-battered strip and allow the Palestinian Authority (PA) to assume control.

MEE contacted the Jordanian foreign ministry but did not receive a response by the time of publication.

Read more: Exclusive: Jordan proposes exiling 3,000 Hamas members from Gaza to end Israel's war