The latest developments from the Israel Hamas war.
Veteran journalist losses fifth family member to Israeli strike
ADVERTISEMENTAn apparent Israeli airstrike killed two Palestinian journalists in southern Gaza on Sunday, including the son of veteran Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Dahdouh.
He has already lost his wife, two other children and a grandson — and was nearly killed himself — earlier in the war.
Dahdouh has continued to report on the fighting between Israel and Hamas even as it has taken a devastating toll on his own family.
The veteran journalist has become a symbol for many of the perils faced by Palestinian journalists, dozens of whom have been killed while covering the conflict.
Hamza Dahdouh, who was also working for Al Jazeera, and Mustafa Tharaya, a freelance journalist, were killed when a strike hit their car while they were driving to an assignment, according to Al Jazeera. A third journalist, Hazem Rajab, was seriously wounded, it said.
Wael Dahdouh, 53, has been the face of Al Jazeera's 24-hour coverage of the war and previous rounds of fighting for millions of Arabic-speaking viewers across the region, nearly always appearing on air in the blue helmet and flak jacket worn to identify journalists in the Palestinian territories.
Speaking to Al Jazeera after his son's burial, Dahdouh vowed to continue reporting on the war.
Al Jazeera strongly condemned the killings and other “brutal attacks against journalists and their families” by Israeli forces. It urged the International Criminal Court, governments and human rights groups to hold Israel accountable.
Drive-by shooting in West Bank
An Israeli man was fatally shot at a busy intersection in the West Bank on Sunday, hours after a violent confrontation elsewhere in the Israeli-occupied territory left seven Palestinians and a member of Israel's paramilitary border police dead.
In Sunday's drive-by shooting in the central West Bank, assailants fired through the victim's front windshield, rescue services said.
Israeli security forces were searching the area for the shooter. Israeli media reported they found an abandoned car likely used to carry out the attack, and the suspect fled on foot.
Hours earlier, a deadly confrontation erupted when Israeli security forces were on patrol in Jenin, a town and separate refugee camp, in the northern West Bank.
A roadside bomb exploded near a paramilitary border police vehicle, killing a policewoman and wounding three others, said officers.
An Israeli military helicopter targeted Palestinians in the area who the military claimed were throwing explosives at Israeli vehicles.
Seven Palestinians were killed in the airstrike, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
The events followed a dramatic surge in deadly military raids and an increase in restrictions on Palestinian residents across the West Bank.
Violence against Palestinians by Israeli settlers in the territory has also reached record highs, according to the United Nations.
Israel winds down offensive in north
Israel's military signalled it has wrapped up major combat in northern Gaza on Sunday, saying it has completed dismantling Hamas' military infrastructure there.
ADVERTISEMENTThese comments by the Israeli Defense Force (IDF) come as the war entered its fourth month on Sunday.
The military did not address troop deployments in northern Gaza going forward.
IDF spokesman Rear Admire Daniel Hagari said late on Saturday that forces would “continue to deepen the achievement” in north Gaza and strengthen defences along the Israel-Gaza border fence.
Israel's army would now focus on the central and southern parts of the territory, he detailed.
In recent weeks, Israel has already scaled back its military assault in northern Gaza, while pressing its offensive in the territory’s south.
ADVERTISEMENTMost of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into an ever smaller area in the south that is gripped by humanitarian disaster, while being pounded by Israeli airstrikes.
Netanyahu determined to press on with conflict
The war between Israel and Hamas “must not be stopped” until Israel "eliminates" Hamas, returns its hostages and ensures Gaza is "no longer a threat", the Israeli Prime Minister said on Saturday.
Benjamin Netanyahu also referred to the situation on Israel's northern border, where Israeli forces are increasingly fighting Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon.
“We are fighting to restore security both in the south and in the north," he said. "Until then and for that purpose, we must put everything aside and continue with joint forces until complete victory is achieved.”
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians are being squeezed into smaller areas in the south, while still being pounded by Israeli airstrikes.
ADVERTISEMENTThe death toll from fighting has risen to 22,722 with 58,166 wounded, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
That's an average of 247 people per day, with the conflict now in its 92nd day.
The ministry said two-thirds of those killed were women or children, adding that 122 Palestinians had been killed over the past 24 hours.
Israel and Hezbollah fighting ramps up
Meanwhile, Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah traded fire Saturday in one of the heaviest days of cross-border fighting in recent weeks.
Dozens of bodies of those killed due to Israeli bombing arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the Palestinian city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, where mourners gathered for funeral prayers before taking the dead for burial.
ADVERTISEMENTThe search for victims continued at the Al-Maghazi refugee camp, following Israeli airstrikes.
Palestinian Civil Defence said ambulances were unable to reach the targeted areas due to the intensity of the bombing, and widespread devastation.