Israeli strikes kill at least 25 people in Gaza - medics

Israeli airstrikes killed at least 25 Palestinians in Gaza, medics said, including at least eight in an apartment in the Nuseirat refugee camp and at least ten in the town of Jabalia.

Mediators have yet to secure a ceasefire between Israel and the Islamist group Hamas after more than a year of conflict.

Sources close to the discussions told journalists that Qatar and Egypt had been able to resolve some differences between the warring parties but sticking points remained.

Israel began its assault on Gaza after Hamas-led fighters attacked Israeli communities on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel said about 100 hostages are still being held,but it is unclear how many are alive.

Authorities in Gaza say Israel's campaign has killed more than 45,000 Palestinians and displaced most of the 2.3 million population. Much of the coastal enclave is in ruins.

Israeli media reports indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza

Meanwhile a leading Israeli newspaper, citing unnamed soldiers serving in Gaza, has described indiscriminate killings of Palestinian civilians in the territory's Netzarim Corridor, prompting a firm rejection from the Israeli military.

Haaretz, a left-leaning Israeli daily that has faced severe criticism from the country's right-wing government, quoted soldiers, career officers and reservists who said commanders were given unprecedented authority to operate in Gaza.

They alleged commanders had ordered or allowed the killing of unarmed women, children and men in the Netzarim Corridor, a 7km-wide strip of land that cuts across Gaza from Israel to the Mediterranean, and which has been turned into a military zone.

The report quoted an officer who recalled an incident in which a commander had announced that 200 militants were killed, when actually "only 10 were confirmed as known Hamas operatives".

Soldiers meanwhile told Haaretz they received questionable orders to open fire on "anyone who enters" Netzarim.

"Anyone crossing the line is a terrorist - no exceptions, no civilians. Everyone's a terrorist," a soldier quoted a battalion commander as saying.

The soldiers also described how division commanders received "expanded powers" allowing them to bomb buildings or launch air strikes that previously required approval from the army's top echelons.

The allegations contained in the Haaretz report could not be independently verified.

In a statement, the Israeli military rejected the accusations.

"All activities and operations conducted by (Israeli army) forces in the Gaza Strip, including in the Netzarim Corridor, are carried out in accordance with structured combat procedures, plans and operational orders approved by the highest ranks in the (army)," it said.

MSF says clear signs of ethnic cleansing in Gaza

A report published by Medecins San Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) said there were clear signs of ethnic cleansing in Israel's offensive as Palestinians were forcibly displaced and bombed.

"The signs of ethnic cleansing and the ongoing devastation —including mass killings, severe physical and mental health injuries, forced displacement, and impossible conditions of life for Palestinians under siege and bombardment — are undeniable," the aid group's head Christopher Lockyear said in the report.

"Palestinians have been killed in their homes and in hospital beds... People cannot find even the most basic necessities like food, clean water, medicines, and soap amid a punishing siege and blockade," MSF said.

Yesterday, Human Rights Watch said Israel had killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza by denying them clean water which it says legally amounts to acts of genocide and extermination.

Israel's foreign ministry accused the rights group of lying, saying Israel had facilitated the continuous flow of water and humanitarian aid into Gaza since the start of the war despite constant attacks by Hamas.

Israeli settlers accused of setting fire to West Bank mosque

Israeli settlers set fire to a mosque in the occupied West Bank, Palestinian residents said, while video showed "Revenge", "Death to Arabs" and other slogans had been spray-painted in Hebrew on the building's facade.

Black burn marks were visible at the entrance to the Muslim holy site in the northern West Bank village of Marda.

The fire was put out before it could spread much further.

Israeli police said they were collecting testimonies and evidence at the scene.

Nasfat al-Khufash, head of the Marda village council, said: "On Friday, Marda awoke to a systematic terror attack by a group of settlers who set fire to Bir al-Walideen mosque."

"These attacks by settler groups are continuous and systematic," he said.

The Israeli police and Shin Bet security services said in a joint statement: "We see this incident as extremely serious and will act resolutely to bring the perpetrators to justice for rigorous trial."

The Palestinian Authority foreign ministry assailed the attack as the latest in a series of violations and crimes by Israeli settlers and appealed to the United Nations Security Council for help protecting Palestinians.

The UN says more than 700,000 Israelis live among 3 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, lands Israel captured in 1967.

Most countries deem Israeli settlements built on the captured land to be illegal.