Israel's military withdrew from Gaza’s main hospital Al-Shifa after a two-week raid on Monday, claiming it killed 200 militants and detained hundreds more.
Palestinians who returned to the medical centre said they found buildings heavily burned and damaged with bodies. Israel blamed Hamas for the destruction.
The United Nations is planning a mission to the facility to help Palestinians receive medical attention and assess the state of the hospital after the assault. Roughly two dozen patients died after Israel’s siege began on March 18, according to World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Aid workers killed
An Israeli airstrike killed four international aid workers on Monday hours after they transported a shipload of food into Gaza.
The deceased aid workers volunteered for charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), with footage showing they were found with British, Australian and Polish passports and wearing protective gear. The nationality of the fourth aid worker is not immediately known.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the death of 44-year-old aid worker Zomi Frankcom from Melbourne was "unacceptable" and requested "full accountability" from Israel's defence ministry.
Palestinian Red Crescent paramedic Mahmoud Thabet said the workers were in a convoy crossing out of northern Gaza when an Israeli missile hit. Thabet said he was told by WCK staff the team had been in the north coordinating distribution of the newly arrived aid and were heading back to Rafah in the south.
Potential expansion into Rafah exposing rifts
American and Israeli officials are planning talks to discuss the potential expansion of Israel’s war against Hamas to the southernmost Gaza city of Rafah.
A US official confirmed higher-ups would meet by secure video conference on Monday - a week after planned in-person talks were nixed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. It came as potential retaliation after the US didn’t torpedo a United Nations bill calling for a ceasefire.
President Joe Biden urged Israel to refrain from a large-scale incursion into Rafah without a credible plan to relocate and safeguard civilians. Netanyahu insisted that Israel must be able to enter the city to detain Hamas’ remaining fighters.
The US opposes the Israeli ground assault on humanitarian grounds, as there are more than 1.3 million civilians sheltering in Rafah after fleeing other parts of Gaza.
Attacks on Iranian consulate in Syria, Al Jazeera network
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard said two of its generals and five officers were killed in a strike on the Iranian consulate in Syria. The strike appears to signify an escalation of Israel’s targeting of Iranian military officials and their allies in Syria. Israel declined to comment.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also vowed to immediately shut down Qatari-owned satellite broadcaster Al Jazeera. It comes after Israel's parliament passed a law clearing the way for the country to halt the channel from broadcasting from Israel.
It comes as tens of thousands of protesters took to the streets in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv over the weekend protesting Netanyahu's current government and calling for an early election and ceasefire.
Israel's war in Gaza has killed at least 32,845 Palestinians, the territory's Health Ministry said. The war began on October 7 when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking 250 hostages.
