Live Updates: Israel airdrops supplies to its forces in southern Gaza

12:08 GMT –– The Israeli army has said it airdropped logistical military supplies to its forces in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza amid fighting with Palestinian resistance fighters.

“During the past few days, a logistical supply operation was carried out, which included dropping about seven tons of logistical supplies for hundreds of soldiers currently fighting in Khan Younis,” the army said in a statement.

“This was the first airdrop operation since the Second Lebanon War" in 2006, the statement said.

12:17 GMT –– France, Belgium ‘concerned’ over high number of casualties in Israeli attacks on Gaza

France and Belgium have expressed concern over a high number of casualties in the besieged Palestinian enclave of Gaza due to Israeli attacks.

"We are concerned over the ways how military operations are conducted by Israel in Gaza, with a very high number of casualties, and we are also very concerned over the humanitarian situation that becomes very critical," French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said at the doorstep of the EU Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels.

She stressed the need for a "long-term, durable truce that would lead to a ceasefire."

Colonna also expressed concern over the Israeli settler attacks on Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

12:13 GMT –– Neither Iran nor Israel believe in a two-state solution: Iranian FM

The only thing Iran and Israel share is that both do not believe in a two-state solution, Iran's foreign minister Hossein Amirabdollahian has said via translation at an international forum in Doha.

During the forum, Amirabdollahian reiterated Iran's proposal that a referendum be held to determine the fate of Palestine, with only descendants of those who lived there prior to 1948 being permitted to vote.

Most countries publicly support the creation of a separate Palestinian state alongside Israel. Critics of Israeli policy say its actions are intended to make this impossible.

12:11 GMT –– Russia demands release of hostages in talks with Hamas and other Palestinian groups

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov demanded the release of hostages held in Gaza in telephone calls with Hamas and other Palestinian factions, the Russian foreign ministry has said.

The statement followed a series of meetings and calls between President Vladimir Putin and Middle East leaders including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

11:54 GMT –– 2 Hezbollah members killed in clashes with Israeli forces on Lebanon border

Lebanese group Hezbollah has said that two of its members had been killed in clashes with Israeli forces near the border between Lebanon and Israel.

The group, however, did not provide any details about the circumstances leading to the death of its two members.

Separately, Hezbollah fired six missiles towards Israeli outposts in the occupied Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon, Lebanon’s National News Agency reported.

According to the broadcaster, the Israeli army shelled the outskirts of the towns of Habbaniyah and al Faradis in response to the missile attack.

11:29 GMT –– EU Diplomats push for new sanctions against Hamas

The French, German and Italian foreign ministers are pushing for speedy adoption of new EU sanctions against Hamas for its “atrocious and indiscriminate terror attacks” against Israel on Oct. 7.

“The swift adoption of this sanctions regime will allow us to send a strong political message about the European Union’s commitment against Hamas and our solidarity with Israel," the three ministers wrote in a letter to Josep Borrell, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs.

The letter does not detail possible sanctions but said it should enable the targeting of Hamas members, affiliated groups and supporters. The ministers said they broadly support a framework that Borrell outlined last week.

07:09 GMT –– Strike to protest Israel's war on Gaza paralyses West Bank

A comprehensive strike in the occupied West Bank in protest of Israel's ongoing war on Gaza has paralysed all aspects of life in the occupied territory.

Transportation was disrupted in all provinces of the West Bank, while institutions, banks, schools, ministries and shops shut their doors, and the local stock market was suspended as well, according to an Anadolu correspondent.

The strike coincides with a global call for a strike in solidarity with Gaza.

06:59 GMT — Israel continues to forcibly displace hundreds of Palestinians in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, which is under intense air and ground attacks by Israeli forces.

Following threats from the Israeli army to target civilian settlements, many Palestinians from the eastern areas of Khan Younis were forcibly displaced to a "humanitarian zone" in the Al Mawasi area close to the city.

Areas in the east such as Cura al Lut, Ash-Sheikh Nasir, Al Ketibeh and Jalal Street along with the western region of 5th Street in Khan Younis have been subjected to intense Israeli bombardment in recent days.

06:29 GMT — Israeli attacks in Gaza claim 11 lives

The Israeli army attacked the southern city of Rafah and the Nuseirat refugee camp in the blockaded Gaza, killing 11 civilians and wounding dozens of others.

Israeli warplanes bombed a house in the Tel al Sultan neighborhood of Rafah. Six Palestinians were killed, most of them children, and many others were wounded, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

In an attack on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp, five Palestinians lost their lives, including three children. There were also many wounded in an attack on the Al Bassa neighbourhood of Deir al Balah.

06:23 GMT — Gaza's southern city under intense Israeli bombing

Israeli tanks were trying to push further west in and around Khan Younis and bombed the city, as they met resistance amid intense combat in a war that has now entered its third month and with no end in sight.

Khan Younis, the main city in the southern Gaza has a population of around 626,000 including people displaced by Israeli bombing in the north, comes as Israel refocused its war effort to the south.

06:16 GMT — International Union of Muslim Scholars calls for global strike in solidarity with Gaza

The International Union of Muslim Scholars has called for a global strike on Monday to demand an immediate ceasefire as Israel continues its attacks in Gaza.

The statement called on people worldwide, especially in the Islamic world, to take part and urged institutions, parties, movements and influential figures globally to continue the strike until its objectives are achieved, aiming to stop the "unjust" war and save innocent lives.

It noted the success of boycotts and humanitarian efforts but highlighted the UN Security Council's failure to stop Israel's war on Gaza. It suggested a review of the Security Council's veto system, proposing that decisions be based on a simple majority vote.

06:10 GMT — Fighters killed 40 Israeli soldiers in last 48 hours: Hamas

The armed wing of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, the Qassam Brigades, announced that they killed 40 Israeli soldiers and destroyed 44 military vehicles in the past 48 hours.

"During the last 48 hours, the Qassam fighters managed to completely or partially destroy 44 military vehicles on all fronts of the fighting in Gaza," they said on their Telegram account. "Our fighters confirmed that 40 soldiers were killed and dozens of other Zionist soldiers were wounded," they added.

The statement reported the use of booby traps to destroy buildings, targeting an Israeli field command center, and using mortar shells and short-range rockets against areas where soldiers gathered. Israel has not yet issued a statement regarding the announcement.

06:00 GMT — Israel's collective punishment of Palestinians 'unacceptable': Russia

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that it is "unacceptable" for Israel to use the October 7 attack by Hamas as a pretext for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.

Addressing the 21st Doha Forum in Qatar, he called for an international observation mission for Gaza.

He suggested that Hamas's attack on Israel was not unfounded, highlighting that it followed years of blockade and unfulfilled promises for the establishment of a Palestinian state.