Israel Gaza news: US demands ‘answers’ from Israel over mass graves at hospitals as Rafah offensive looms

A picture shows thick clouds of smoke billowing into the sky following an explosion amid Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon.

The image appears to show the aftermath of a strike on the village of Alma al-Shaab amid ongoing tensions on the border, exacerbated by the war in Gaza.

Palestinian hospital officials said Israeli airstrikes on the southern city of Rafah in the Gaza Strip killed at least five people.

More than half of the territory’s population of 2.3 million have sought refuge in Rafah, where Israel has conducted near-daily raids as it prepares for an offensive in the city.

In central Gaza, four people were killed in Israeli tank shelling.

A ship’s captain reported hearing a loud bang and seeing a splash and smoke coming from the sea on Thursday around 15 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Aden, Britain’s maritime agency said.

The UK  Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) added that the crew and vessel were safe and military authorities were supporting it.

Yemeni Houthi militants have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The Houthis said on Wednesday they had carried out three military operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Britain’s maritime agency and the security firm Ambrey have received reports of an incident on Thursday around 15 nautical miles southwest of the Yemeni port of Aden, advisory notes said.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) advised ships to proceed with caution and report any incident.

Yemeni Houthi militants have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November in what they say is a campaign of solidarity with Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The Houthis said on Wednesday that they had carried out three military operations in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

Israel’s military is poised to evacuate Palestinian civilians from Rafah and assault Hamas hold-outs in the southern Gaza Strip city despite international warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe.

A spokesperson for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government said Israel was “moving ahead” with a ground operation, but gave no timeline.

The defence official said Israel’s Defence Ministry had bought 40,000 tents, each with the capacity for 10 to 12 people, to house Palestinians relocated from Rafah in advance of an assault.

Columbia University president Minouche Shafik is no stranger to navigating complex international issues, having worked at some of the world’s most prominent global financial institutions.

At the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, for example, she tackled both the European debt crisis and the Arab Spring.

It remains to be seen, however, if her experience with world conflicts has sufficiently equipped her to navigate the thorny challenges she faces amid ongoing student protests over the Israel-Hamas war.

House speaker Mike Johnson visited Columbia University amid ongoing pro-Palestine protests to call for the university’s president to resign and to address Jewish students.

He called the protests “disgusting” and “unnecessary” ahead of his visit. The day before his visit, the UN issued a report that it had found “mass graves” in Gaza, where Palestinians — including women, the elderly, and the wounded — had been found dead. Some of the remains allegedly had their hands bound.

Nearly 282 million people in 59 countries suffered from acute hunger in 2023, with war-torn Gaza as the territory with the largest number of people facing famine, according to the Global Report on Food Crises released today.

The UN report said 24 million more people faced an acute lack of food than in 2022, due to the sharp deterioration in food security, especially in the Gaza Strip and Sudan. The number of nations with food crises that are monitored has also been expanded.