Updates: Israel accused of new war crimes as it kills more Gaza civilians

Read about the UN calling for Israel to open more Gaza crossings for desperately needed humanitarian aid here.

Learn more about how Israel plans to continue the war without its army here.

Find out how the Israeli army continues its violence in the occupied West Bank here.

And you can always find our comprehensive coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.

We’re wrapping up our live coverage. Here are the day’s key developments:

• Bodies of 14 slain Palestinians were brought to Gaza hospitals since dawn: three killed in Israeli attacks today, eight recovered from earlier strikes, and three who succumbed to previous injuries.
• Israel handed over the bodies of 45 more Palestinians through the Red Cross, with a forensics official saying some showed signs of “torture and execution”.
• Hamas’s Qassam Brigades said it has fulfilled its commitments under President Trump’s Gaza plan by handing over all living Israeli captives and the bodies of those it could “access”.
• Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded Hamas return the bodies of the remaining captives, and Israel told the Trump administration the next phase of the ceasefire deal can’t proceed until then.
• Trump acknowledged the return of captives’ bodies will be difficult, noting Hamas is “looking for” the remains – “They’re digging, they’re actually digging”.
• The Palestinian Authority says it’s ready to run the crucial Rafah crossing on Gaza’s border with Egypt as Israel continues to apply restrictions on aid entering the famine-hit Strip.

Gaza City authorities say Israel’s offensive to seize the urban centre destroyed more than 80 percent of its infrastructure since October 2023, calling for the immediate establishment of a land, sea and air bridge to deliver heavy equipment and humanitarian aid.

The municipality launched a campaign to remove vast mountains of rubble and to reopen main streets, spokesman Husni Mehanna told the Anadolu news agency. “The initiative requires urgent funding of $140m,” he said.

Mehanna said the municipality is working with Qatar’s Gaza Reconstruction Committee to facilitate the return of displaced residents, despite having only one bulldozer after most of its equipment was destroyed.

Entire Gaza City neighbourhoods are without access to water after Israeli strikes destroyed 56 water wells and damaged dozens more.

More than 250,000 tonnes of solid waste are piled up across residential areas, he added, warning of an impending environmental and health disaster if it isn’t urgently removed.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has joined a call for authorities in the US state of North Carolina to investigate whether a local company was involved in alleged war crimes at aid distribution sites in Gaza operated by the notorious Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF).

More than 2,600 Palestinians were killed while seeking food at GHF sites after Israeli forces and contractors opened fire on crowds of desperate aid seekers, according to a tally by the Health Ministry in Gaza.

CAIR and other US-based rights advocates are urging North Carolina officials to open a formal investigation into UG Solutions over claims the firm, “acting in concert with Israeli military forces and other security contractors, allegedly openly and indiscriminately fired on humanitarian aid seekers” at GHF sites.

“Companies incorporated in North Carolina must not be complicit in war crimes or human rights abuses abroad,” said Al Rieder, manager of CAIR’s North Carolina chapter.

“The evidence that a North Carolina-based company allegedly participated in attacks on starving civilians in Gaza is horrifying. We are urging the state’s top officials to uphold the law and ensure that North Carolina is not used as a base for operations that contribute to the suffering of innocent people.”

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa says his government is ready with plans to rebuild the war-torn Gaza Strip.

“Despite the difficulty of the mission and the complexity of the situation, the government is prepared for Gaza’s reconstruction and continues discussions with all relevant parties to achieve this goal,” Mustafa said from the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

“We will rise from Gaza’s catastrophe towards an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital … We want an independent state free of war, occupation and settlements – and, God willing, free of unemployment.”

Phase two of President Trump’s ceasefire plan calls for the establishment of a new governing mechanism in Gaza, without Hamas’s participation, the formation of a multinational force and the disarmament of Hamas.

Journalist Mohamed al-Astal speaks in front of the ruins of his home, destroyed by Israel’s relentless two-year bombing campaign.

Israel has damaged or destroyed more than 92 percent of Gaza’s housing. At least 90 percent of Palestinians in Gaza have been displaced.

“This pile used to be my home, ” said al-Astal. “[The occupation] not only destroyed our lives, our memories were smashed as well … and nothing is left for our children’s futures.”

Footage verified by Al Jazeera shows protesters gathering outside the Israeli consulate in Barcelona as part of a general strike called by major labour and student unions across Spain to denounce the genocide in Gaza.

Demonstrators set rubbish containers on fire, creating barricades between themselves and police forces, who later charged at the crowds to disperse them. Videos circulating online also show some protesters launching fireworks towards the consulate.

The strike, which includes more than 200 demonstrations nationwide, was organised to denounce what unions have called a “genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

Protesters have demanded that Spain sever all relations with Israel, drawing comparisons with international campaigns that helped end apartheid in South Africa.

Planning is under way for an international stabilisation force to go into Gaza, the Reuters news agency reports.

“Right now what we’re looking to accomplish is just a basic stabilization of the situation. The international stabilization force is starting to be constructed,” it quoted an unnamed “senior US adviser” as saying.

Among the countries the US is speaking to about contributing to the force are Indonesia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Qatar and Azerbaijan, another unidentified official said.

“What we’ve said very clearly is that aid is going in, but no rebuilding money will go into areas that Hamas controls,” the adviser said. “We’re looking at starting to rebuild in areas that right now are Hamas-free, terror-free zones.”

Recep Tayyip Erdogan has reaffirmed his country’s commitment to the declaration signed by world leaders in Sharm el-Sheikh earlier this week.

“We will fully support the declaration through the end, and I believe the United States, Egypt and Qatar will all take a similar position,” the Turkish president said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

Erdogan also stressed the importance of international moves to help the Palestinians. “Every effort to ease the burden of the oppressed people of Gaza is valuable to us. It is not anyone’s place or right to belittle this by simply saying ‘they signed a ceasefire’,” he said.

Turkiye will also closely monitor implementation of the ceasefire agreement, Erdogan added.

Jared Kushner, billionaire real estate scion, is shaping Gaza’s future.

Why is the US president’s son-in-law at the heart of the Gaza ceasefire deal – and the future of the Middle East?

Senior UN officials say aid access through border crossings remains the main obstacle to allowing 190,000 metric tonnes of aid into Gaza.

“The key obstacles that we need to resolve [are] making sure that we have sufficient crossings. We have sufficient supplies. We need to just make sure that the access is facilitated,” said Samer Abdeljaber, the World Food Programme’s regional director for the Middle East, North Africa and Eastern Europe.

“We need to make sure there is law and order in Gaza to make sure that our teams can move freely, and the trucks flow inside the compound.”

UN relief chief Tom Fletcher said teams have been working in Egypt’s Sharm el-Sheikh “to get the political agreements in place … and ensure we’ve got that really strong international solidarity for what we do”.

“We’ve waited so long for this moment,” Fletcher said. “We have 190,000 metric tonnes on the borders, and we’re trying to get those borders open. But we’re also right now dealing with obstacles that we face.”

Amnesty International has reiterated its call for the release of Dr Hussam Abu Safia, who has been held in Israeli detention without charge or trial for nearly 10 months after he was arrested at a northern Gaza hospital.

Abu Safia led Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza through an 85-day siege by Israeli troops during their offensive in the surrounding districts of Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoon.

“Tomorrow, Dr Hussam Abu Safiya faces a hearing to rubberstamp the extension of his arbitrary detention – without charges or trial – for another six months,” Amnesty said.

“Dr Hussam should have never been detained in the first place, let alone subjected to this ordeal of torture and abuse. Israel must immediately and unconditionally release Dr Hussam and all arbitrarily detained Palestinians.”

Citing the Palestine Red Crescent Society, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic report that at least six Palestinians have been wounded during the incursion in Nablus, in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Nablus and other cities in the north of the West Bank have been hit hard in the wave of Israeli military and settler violence that has unfolded in the shadow of Israel’s war on Gaza. More than 1,000 people have been killed in attacks.

Since October 2023, tens of thousands of Palestinians have been forced out of their homes. The Old City of Nablus has been the focus of several major Israeli raids.

Thousands of Palestinian prisoners — most of them detained without charge — have been released from Israeli jails as part of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Reunions saw a mix of joy and sadness after people heard about the conditions their loved ones endured: electroshock devices, physical and sexual abuse, starvation and outbreaks of disease.

But several high-profile prisoners, including Marwan Barghouti, remain in Israeli jails while hundreds more were forced into exile by Israel. And the majority return to rubble in Gaza and risk being arrested again in the occupied West Bank.

So, is it possible for former Palestinian prisoners to truly embrace freedom with life under occupation and the scars of Israeli detention? See more in our video below:

Israel has told the Trump administration the next phase of the ceasefire with Hamas cannot be entered into until all of the captives’ remains are returned, a news report says.

“Israeli officials acknowledge that a small number of the bodies will be hard to locate, but claim between 15 and 20 could be quickly returned,” US news outlet Axios reported.

The truce deal said 28 bodies are to be returned, but so far only nine have been brought back to Israel.

Hamas and the Red Cross have said it’s a difficult task to locate and remove the bodies of those kidnapped to Gaza because of the vast destruction inflicted by Israel’s military over the past two years.

“Both Israeli and US officials close to the process are concerned that elements within the Netanyahu government – particularly ultranationalist ministers Betzalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir – will use the issue of hostage remains to undermine the deal [which they oppose] and push for the resumption of the war,” the news report said.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has instructed the Israeli military to draw up a “comprehensive plan” to completely defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip should the truce collapse.

The directive came during a meeting with senior military leaders, including Israeli military Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir.

According to The Times of Israel, citing Katz’s office, he instructed “the preparation of a plan for the complete defeat of Hamas in Gaza if it refuses to implement President Trump’s plan, and it becomes necessary to resume fighting”.

“If Hamas refuses to implement the agreement, Israel, in coordination with the US, will return to fighting and act to achieve the complete defeat of Hamas, change the reality in Gaza, and attain all the objectives of the war,” Katz’s office added.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has paid tribute to its colleagues killed in Israeli attacks while carrying out their humanitarian duties in Gaza.

It said 29 PRCS staff were killed “while on duty” in Gaza over the course of the war, and two more in the occupied West Bank.

“With hearts full of gratitude and solidarity, the PRCS family stands with our colleagues in Gaza whose courage, humanity, and unwavering commitment have kept the spirit of our humanitarian mission alive through the hardest of times,” said PRCS President Dr Younis al-Khatib.

“Our hearts ache for who we have lost and for all our staff and the Palestinian people. The last two years have been very difficult, primarily for Gazans and Palestinians as well. Liberation is on the way.”

The US president has been asked whether he sees a reason for the US military to get involved in the Strip. “No, I don’t see that – no. I think we’re going to handle it very well,” Trump replied during his news conference in Washington, DC.

Without going into specifics, Trump added many countries have signed onto his Gaza ceasefire plan, including “very strong military powers”.

As we’ve been reporting, the Trump administration has announced plans to send 200 troops to Israel to monitor the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, but officials have said none of these soldiers will enter Gaza.

Trump’s 20-point plan for the enclave includes a proposal to deploy an international stabilisation force in the territory. The composition of such a peacekeeping force and its exact mission remain an open question, however.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said earlier that France and the UK plan to introduce a UN Security Council resolution seeking a UN mandate for a force “that will be able to operate in Gaza very soon”.