IDF says its aircrafts struck 250 targets in Gaza Strip yesterday
The Israel Defense Forces said today its aircrafts attacked some 250 targets in the Gaza Strip yesterday, including Hamas infrastructure, militants and missile launchers.
IDF also destroyed a rocket launcher placed near a residential area, it said in a post on X.
Israeli ground forces also recovered a weapons cache in Gaza, including an anti-tank missile, the IDF said.
NBC News has not verified the claims.
Deadliest month for journalists with most killed being Palestinian, CPJ says
At least 50 journalists, 45 of them Palestinian have been killed since the war began on Oct 7, the Committee to Protect Journalists says. The first four weeks of the conflict were the deadliest month for journalists since the organization began tracking fatalities in 1992, it says.
“Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats,” Sherif Mansour, CPJ’s Middle East and North Africa program coordinator, said in a statement on its website.
“Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit,” Mansour added.
Nearly the entire Gaza population is in need of urgent food assistance: WFP
An estimated 2.2 million people in Gaza are in urgent need of food assistance, the United Nations’ World Food Programme (WFP) said in a post on X.
“Existing food systems are collapsing, and to reach those in need, WFP and our partners need increased access and resources like fuel, gas, and connectivity,” said the agency, which provides food and financial resources to hundreds of thousands of people in Gaza and the West Bank.
“To make a real impact, we need hostilities to halt,” it added.
More wounded are fleeing northern Gaza, U.N. agency says
A growing number of wounded Palestinians are fleeing northern Gaza amid continued heavy violence there, the United Nations says.
Some 25,000 people left northern Gaza yesterday, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs says.
“One woman interviewed reported that she had come from Tal Az Za’tar in Jabalia, where her home had been bombed and she sustained shrapnel injuries in her abdomen,” it said in a report.
“She had been walking while pressing a towel against her wounds,” it said. The woman had attempted to receive treatment at the Indonesian Hospital “but was not admitted due to collapse of the services there.” The besieged hospital has seen bombings and assaults nearby as Israeli forces say they are only responding to fire in the vicinity.
Hamas leader says group ‘close to’ truce agreement with Israel
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says the group is “close to reaching a truce agreement” with Israel.
Israeli officials have not responded to the announcement, which came in a statement on Hamas’ website.
Asked yesterday whether a deal was near to secure the release of hostages, President Joe Biden replied, “I believe so.”