Live: Israeli forces detonate 20 homes in Jenin

On Wednesday, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz spoke for the first time with his new American counterpart, US Secretary of Defence Pete Hegseth, his office said. 

The minister congratulated Hegseth on becoming defence minister.

He also thanked Hegseth for releasing shipments of large bombs that the Biden administration held up. 

The Turkish foreign ministry said on Wednesday that three Turkish citizens were killed in an Israeli air strike while crossing the Lebanese border to Israel.

“It has been learned that three of our citizens, who were trying to cross from Lebanon to Israel illegally and were cut off from contact, lost their lives as a result of an airstrike carried out by Israel in that region. We wish God's mercy upon our deceased citizens and offer our condolences to their families," the statement said.

"We condemn this unlawful attack that caused the death of our citizens in the strongest possible terms. As we have emphasized on every occasion; Israel must immediately end its aggressive policies that disregard human life and increase tension in our region," the statement added. 

Lebanese official media said an Israeli strike hit south Lebanon on Wednesday, the second consecutive day to see such a raid despite a fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"An enemy drone" carried out a strike targeting a house that "had been destroyed in a previous raid" in south Lebanon's Yohmor al-Shaqeef, the National News Agency said

The Palestinian Authority has condemned a statement by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz that said the Israeli military will remain in the Jenin refugee camp, which it has been besieging for weeks.

Katz said that Jenin “will not return to what it was”.

The Palestinian foreign ministry called Katz's statements “inflammatory". 

Israeli soldiers destroyed swaths of olive groves in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. 

Israeli troops vandalised the groves in Battir town, west of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem, an activist told Wafa. 

The destruction comes amid Israel's escalation of violence against Palestinians in the occupied territory. 

Qatar and Turkey are expected to host Palestinians released from Israeli prisons as part of a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas.

The Palestinians will be those who Israel charged with murder. They have already been deported to Egypt, The Times of Israel reported. 

Egypt is hosting 70 Palestinians freed in the ceasefire. They are now residing in Cairo, according to the report. 

Turkey has agreed to take in around 15 of those Palestinians and Qatar is expected to take in the remainder, the report said. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday hosted a Hamas delegation. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is meeting with US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday.

According to Hebrew media reports, Witkoff reportedly visited the Netzarim Corridor inside the Gaza Strip with Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer. 

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan on Wednesday hosted a Hamas delegation led by senior Hamas official Muhammad Ismail Darwish in Ankara, Erdogan’s office says in a statement.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and intelligence chief Ibrahim Kalin also attended the meeting. 

US President Donald Trump plans to sign an executive order on Wednesday that would fulfill his pledge to deport foreign university students and  “resident aliens” who joined  pro-Palestinian protests. 

“To all the resident aliens who joined in the pro-jihadist protests, we put you on notice: come 2025, we will find you, and we will deport you,” a statement released by the White House said.

“I will also quickly cancel the student visas of all Hamas sympathisers on college campuses, which have been infested with radicalism like never before," he wrote. 

Five Thais are to be among the eight captives to be freed from Gaza on Thursday.

The three Israelis are Arbel Yehud, Agam Berger and Gadi Moses, the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday.

He did not name the Thai nationals.

Israel says Hamas handed it a list of captives to be released on Thursday, according to a statement from the Prime Minister's office.

The text did not specify the names of the Israeli hostages on Wednesday, but two women are apparently among them, since their names were already mentioned by Benjamin Netanyahu: civilian Arbel Yehud, 29, and soldier Agam Berger, 20.

The statement said further details would be given "after the families are updated".

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi has said his country "cannot" take part in the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Speaking at a press conference in Kenya, Sisi said he would not support any Israeli plans to displace the population of Gaza, as proposed by US President Donald Trump, branding it an "injustice that we cannot take part in".

"The constants of Egypt's historic position on the Palestinian cause can never be compromised," he said.

Israeli authorities defied an International Court of Justice (ICJ) order that demanded sufficient life-saving food and medical supplies reach Palestinians on the brink of famine in the Gaza Strip, a group of aid organisations have said.

Oxfam, ActionAid, Islamic Relief and 32 other major aid agencies said in a report released on Tuesday that Israeli forces repeatedly blocked and restricted vital humanitarian aid from entering the besieged enclave.

A staggering 89 percent of the NGOs said Israel's actions had worsened since the ICJ’s ruling, with 93 percent agreeing that the situation for those receiving aid had deteriorated.

In January 2024, the ICJ delivered an interim ruling calling on Israel to refrain from impeding the delivery of aid into Gaza and improve the humanitarian situation there.

It also ordered Israel to take all measures within its power to prevent acts of genocide in the enclave and punish incitement to genocide, among other orders.

Read more: Israel defied ICJ ruling and 'completely failed' to improve conditions in Gaza

The Gaza Health Ministry announced that hospitals received 63 bodies in the past 24 hours, with 59 recovered from the rubble and eight people wounded.

Since Israel’s offensive began on 7 October 2023, the death toll has soared to 47,417, with at least 111,571 wounded.

At least 10,000 people are believed to be under the rubble in Gaza.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz visited the Jenin refugee camp, declaring that the Israeli army would remain in place even after its current military operation concludes to "ensure terrorism does not return," the Israeli daily Haaretz reported.

During a security briefing, Katz assessed the situation on the ground and vowed that the "Iron Wall" offensive would extend to other so-called "terrorist camps".