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Country denied move but has warned that Israel’s offensive could push Palestinians into SinaiSee all of our Israel-Gaza war updatesThe Guardian’s visuals team have created this in-depth look at how Gaza’s ‘safe’ city Rafah came to be on the precipice of catastrophe. It contains analysis of satellite data, graphs on the proportion of buildings likely to have been damaged or destroyed in Gaza, and...

US secretary of state and foreign ministers from UK, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar and Jordan join Israel at security conferenceWestern leaders are hoping a round of meetings at a security conference in Munich will put overwhelming pressure on Israel not to press ahead with a ground offensive in Rafah.Almost all the key figures, save the Iranian foreign minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, will be present in...

Staff say one person killed and eight injured in attack as UN aid chief warns Rafah offensive could cause refugee exodus into EgyptIsraeli forces have raided the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip that is still functioning, amid warnings from the UN aid chief that a threatened ground offensive in Rafah, the area’s last remaining place of relative safety, could trigger an exodus of...

Médecins Sans Frontières says staff forced to evacuate, ‘leaving patients behind’ after special forces entered the hospitalIsraeli forces have stormed Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, according to Al Jazeera journalist Hani Mahmoud who is reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza.In a breaking news update to the publication, Mahmoud said Israeli forces had given those in Nasser hospital until 7am (Gaza time) to evacuate and...

Jury president Lupita Nyong’o and colleagues were involved in a heated press conference opening a film festival with a history of political engagementThe most political of the big international film festivals is bracing for an even more “spicy” edition than usual, Berlinale jury president Lupita Nyong’o said, as geopolitical tensions bubbled to the surface during the opening press conference.Berlin traditionally prides itself on its...

Talks aimed at agreeing Gaza truce with Hamas come as calls grow for Israel to call off planned assault on RafahThe latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 103 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 145 were injured in the past 24 hours.According to the statement, at least 28,576 Palestinians have been killed and 68,291 have been...

David Cameron issues stark warning and implies UK will not back a Rafah offensiveMiddle East crisis – live updatesIsrael is in breach of international law as the occupying power if it fails to provide food and water to the people of Gaza, the UK foreign secretary, Lord Cameron, told peers on Tuesday in his clearest warning yet over Israel’s conduct.He also said it was...

US national security spokesperson says talks in Cairo ‘constructive and moving in right direction’ Middle East crisis – live updatesIsrael and Hamas are making progress towards a deal that would bring about a ceasefire and free hostages held in the Gaza Strip, officials with knowledge of the talks have said.The US national security council spokesperson, John Kirby, speaking as negotiations were held in the...

Militants fired missiles at Greek-owned ship, says US military, in strike that raises questions over who Houthis are trying to targetIran-backed Houthi forces in Yemen have carried out their first attack in the Red Sea in six days, firing at an Iran-bound grain cargo ship, the US military has said, in a strike that raises questions about the group’s targeting.The lull in attacks on...

US president says ‘gaps remain’ in truce agreement and that planned Israeli operation in Rafah should not proceed without a ‘credible plan’Biden joins international calls for Israel to halt planned Rafah offensive28,473 Palestinians have been killed and 68,146 have been wounded in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.133 Palestinians were killed and 162...

Politicians say Palestinians sheltering in the southern city in Gaza have nowhere else to goSee all our Israel-Gaza coverageJoe Biden has added his voice to growing international calls for Israel to drop plans for an all-out military assault on the city of Rafah, in southern Gaza, after a ferocious hostage rescue operation that killed dozens of Palestinians.Speaking after talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah at...

Writers including Roxane Gay have called on the organisation to ‘wake up from its silent, tepid, self-congratulatory middle of the road and take a stand’An open letter from writers and literary professionals to PEN America calling on the organisation to take a stronger stance on the Israel-Gaza war has reached more than 500 signatories, including writers Roxane Gay, Maaza Mengiste and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.The...

Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har’s family say they did not know about rescue before being told to go to hospital to see themIsrael says two hostages freed in raid Gaza officials say killed 67 PalestiniansMiddle East crisis – live updatesEmerging from captivity in Gaza after 129 days, Fernando Simon Marman and Louis Har appeared thin and pale but with happiness and relief in...

Josep Borrell says he is happy two hostages are free but expresses concern over new military operations with no evacuation plan in southern GazaSee all of our Israel-Gaza war coverageHospital officials in Rafah say at least 50 people have been killed in the Israeli airstrikes that accompanied a hostage rescue operation, according to Associated Press. Dr Marwan al-Hams, director of the Abu Youssef al-Najjar...

Israel’s defence forces say hostages were freed during a special raid in Rafah as residents say two mosques and several houses were bombedIsrael-Gaza war: live updatesAt least 50 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on the southern city of Rafah, according to Gaza health officials, as the Israeli military said it had freed two hostages during a raid by special forces on the...

Failure to ensure special care for more than 1 million civilians in the area would ‘cause serious harm to Israel’s own interests’, foreign minister, Penny Wong, saysFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcastThe Australian government has warned that Israel’s plans for a military offensive on the southern Gaza town of...

Israeli PM brushes aside warnings that assault on Gaza’s southernmost town would be a ‘human catastrophe’ Benjamin Netanyahu appears determined to push ahead with a ground offensive against Gaza’s southernmost town of Rafah but has claimed Israel will provide safe passage to the 1.3 million displaced Palestinians sheltering there.Despite mounting warnings from aid agencies and the international community that an assault on Rafah would...

UN officials and Biden have said an offensive in city, where about 1.3 million Palestinians are sheltering, would lead to a ‘bloodbath’In a call Sunday with Benjamin Netanyahu, Joe Biden told the Israeli prime minister that Israel should not launch a military operation in Rafah “without a credible and executable plan for ensuring the safety of and support for the more than one million...

Mohammed Hamada says he is devastated by death of Palestinian girl and relatives, whose bodies have now been recoveredThe cousin of a six-year-old Palestinian girl who died in Gaza after her family’s car appeared to come under fire from Israeli tanks has told how he spoke to her as she waited to be rescued and said he was haunted by her last words.Hind Rajab’s...

Netanyahu promises ‘safe passage’ to displaced civilians amid increasing alarm over the fate of more than a million people crammed in areaYou can read more of our Israel-Gaza war coverage hereAl Jazeera reports on the detentions carried out by Israeli troops across the occupied West Bank in the morning.The outlet writes:The Palestinian Wafa news agency says the Israeli forces arrested three young men at...

Sha’ban al-Sayed, whose mentally ill civilian son entered Gaza in 2015, says he has found allyship among families of kidnapped IsraelisIn Israel it’s impossible to miss the faces of the 130 or so Israeli hostages held in the Gaza Strip by Hamas: they are plastered across walls, hung from balconies, and digital versions are now screensavers on passport reading machines at the airport. “Bring...

Girl who pleaded with Red Crescent to rescue her found dead along with several relatives and two paramedics who tried to save herMiddle East crisis: latest news updates“I’m so scared, please come,” were some of the last words six-year-old Hind Rajab said in a telephone call to rescuers after her family’s car came under fire in Gaza City.Trapped in the vehicle and surrounded by...

More than a million civilians sheltering in Gaza’s last place of relative safety brace for all-out assaultMiddle East crisis: latest news updatesAirstrikes on the Gaza Strip’s southernmost town of Rafah have killed at least 44 people as more than a million civilians sheltering in the area brace for the possibility of a full-scale Israeli ground offensive on the territory’s last place of relative safety.As...

Human rights groups also want to see executive order used to stop US groups from donating millions of dollars each year to settlersThere are growing calls for Joe Biden to use his new executive order sanctioning violent Israeli settlers to also target political leaders, including government ministers, responsible for driving attacks against Palestinians.Pro-Israel groups and others in the US say the order is potentially...