Fifty-three dead, including five journalists, in Israel's 24-hour Gaza killing spree

Israeli forces have ramped up their three-week siege and attacks on northern Gaza, killing at least 53 people across Gaza on Sunday, including five journalists.

According to health authorities, Israel’s 24-day army operation in the north of the enclave has killed close to 1,000 people, with the UN chief Antonio Guterres saying there are "harrowing levels of death, injury and destruction" in the north.

Various reports added that many parts of the north are now uninhabitable due to relentless bombing over the past year, as well as recent repeated ground invasions.

Over 80 percent of its inhabitants have been forced out of the area, with reports stating only a few buildings are left standing in the Shujayya neighbourhood.

Israel's military claims to have destroyed underground tunnels and found weapons during operations in the Jabalia camp, adding that operations in southern Gaza’s Rafah are continuing.

Many Palestinians remain under the rubble in Beit Lahiya following incessant Israeli bombing causing mass destruction, with people being forced to dig through the rubble themselves as Israel has barred civil defence teams from operating in the north.

Israeli strikes also killed at least five Palestinian journalists on Sunday, named as Saed Radwan of Al-Aqsa TV, Hamza Abu Salmiya of Sanad News Agency, Haneen Baroud of Al-Quds Foundation, Abdulrahaman Al-Tanani of Sawt al-Shabab, and Nadia Al-Sayed who worked with several news outlets.

Gaza’s government media office issued a sharply worded statement following the killing of the journalists, calling for Israeli forces to be held accountable.

"The systematic crimes against journalists in the Gaza Strip require the international community and its institutions to take serious steps to stop them and hold accountable this fascist government that has made the Palestinian journalist a target for killing and revenge," the statement read.

Egypt’s Sisi proposes two-day truce

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah al-Sisi has proposed an initial two-day truce, where four Israeli captives would be exchanged for a number of Palestinians held in Israeli jails.

The president added that the truce would pave the way for a permanent ceasefire, with negotiations for a full ceasefire to resume within 10 days of the truce being implemented. 

Israel and Hamas are yet to comment on the proposal; however, it came as directors of the CIA and Israel’s Mossad intelligence services arrived in Qatar for talks.

Israel carries out raids in the West Bank

Meanwhile, Israel carried out several raids across the occupied West Bank, including in Nablus and Bethlehem.

At least four Palestinians were arrested in the two cities, the Palestinian Wafa news agency said.

Security sources told the news agency that an 18 and 26-year-old were detained following searches of their homes.

On Sunday, Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich called for thousands of new Israeli settlers to establish "new cities and settlements deep inside the West Bank" The Times of Israel reported.

The comments were made at a conference in Jerusalem sponsored by Israel365, a media outlet pushing pro-Israel Evangelical Christian views.

In his speech, Smotrich also appeared to justify creating illegal Israeli settlements in Gaza and called for forcibly expelling displaced Palestinians to other Arab countries.

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 42,924 Palestinians and wounded over 100,833 others since October 2023. The war on the enclave has levelled entire neighbourhoods and plunged the Strip into a deep humanitarian crisis.