The United Nations reports that at least 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip urgently require “emergency assistance,” Al Jazeera reported.
Palestinians returning to their homes describe scenes of widespread destruction, with many finding only rubble and facing relentless challenges in securing basic necessities such as food and clean water.
Hamas official blasts Israeli minister’s ‘keep riding camels’ dig at Saudi Arabia
A senior Hamas figure has condemned Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich for saying that Saudi Arabia could “keep riding camels” if normalisation with Israel required the creation of a Palestinian state, Al Jazeera reported.
In a statement on Telegram, Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political bureau, called the remarks “brazen and reprehensible,” saying the statement was not a slip but reflected a long-standing “racist lens” used to regard Arabs and Muslims.
Smotrich made the comments at a Jerusalem conference organised by the Zomet Institute and the newspaper Makor Rishon, adding that if normalisation hinged on Palestinian statehood, “no thank you.” He later apologised for the remarks.
UN has ‘stopped working’: Brazil’s Lula
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva took a swipe Saturday at the United Nations and other multilateral institutions, saying they “stopped working” and failed to protect Gaza´s war victims.
Lula was speaking after meeting Malaysia’s Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim, ahead of a major regional summit where the Brazilian leader would likely meet US President Donald Trump.
“Who can accept the genocide that has been going on in the Gaza Strip for so long?” Lula told reporters after the bilateral meeting to deepen ties between the two nations.
“The multilateral institutions that were created to try to prevent these things from happening have stopped working. Today, the UN Security Council and the UN no longer function,” Lula said.
Lula also appeared to take a swipe at Trump, saying, “for a leader, walking with their head held high is more important than a Nobel Prize.”
Israeli forces kill Palestinian teenager in West Bank
Israeli forces killed a Palestinian teenager in the latest violence against civilians in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera reported, citing the Wafa news agency.
Mohammed Ahmed Abu Haneen, 18, sustained bullet wounds during the Israeli military raid in the Askar camp in Nablus. The occupied forces also made several arrests in Hebron and Tal.
According to the Israeli army, it has arrested 44 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank during different raids over the past week.
Unicef’s regional director calls for Gaza ceasefire to be sustained for aid flow
US rules out roles for Hamas, UNRWA in Gaza as aid blockade continues
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Friday that the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) “is not going to play any role” in delivering aid to Gaza, also rejecting any future political role for Hamas in governing the territory.
Speaking during a visit to Israel, Rubio claimed UNRWA had become “a subsidiary of Hamas”, repeating an Israeli allegation dismissed by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Al Jazeera reported.
UNRWA responded that its presence “remains vital” to meeting urgent humanitarian needs in Gaza, where more than 68,000 Palestinians have been killed during Israel’s two-year offensive. In a post on X, the agency noted the ICJ had affirmed that “no organisation can replace UNRWA’s role in supporting the people of Gaza.”
UN deputy spokesperson Farhan Haq also rejected Rubio’s remarks, saying UNRWA “is not linked to Hamas” and remains “the backbone” of humanitarian operations in the enclave. Israel has banned the agency, accusing some staff of involvement in the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack — a claim it has yet to substantiate.
Sick of tents, many displaced Gazans still cut off from home
His house in Gaza was destroyed by the war, but Hani Abu Omar still dreams of returning now that a ceasefire has taken hold.
However, like thousands of others, the 42-year-old Palestinian remains stuck in a tent with his family because it is too dangerous to go home.
Abu Omar’s house lies beyond the “Yellow Line” — the boundary behind which Israeli troops have pulled back under the October 10 truce.
The line stretches from north to south, across several towns and housing blocks. Yet residents told AFP they were unclear about its exact location, which the army has begun to mark out with yellow concrete blocks.
“Some young men from our family risked their lives; they went to inspect the destruction in our area and told us that my house was destroyed,” Abu Omar told AFP from the encampment in Al-Zawayda where he lives.
Still, he said, “I wish I could go back to Beit Lahia”, as “living here in the tents is unbearable”.
“The conditions aren´t suitable… and we’re suffering from skin diseases and lack of water.”
Israeli forces’ withdrawal beyond the Yellow Line has left them in control of around half of Gaza, including the territory’s borders, but not its main cities.
Several incidents have been reported since the ceasefire began, in which the military said its troops had fired at individuals who approached or crossed the line.
At Abu Omar’s white plastic tent — one of scores at the encampment in central Gaza — a few blankets were stretched out in front of the entrance to provide some semblance of privacy.
Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians displaced by fighting and bombing have returned to northern Gaza since October 10, often struggling to find their homes amid the ruins left by the war triggered by Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023
