Israel-Gaza news: Five dead after IDF strikes in Rafah as US demand ‘answers’ over hospital ‘mass graves’

Belgian prime minister Alexander De Croo said Israel was “doubly responsible” for killing a Belgian humanitarian worker and his family in the Gaza Strip.

Abdallah Nabhan and members of his family died overnight following an Israeli airstrike in the city of Rafah in southern Gaza, prompting the foreign minister to summoned Israel’s ambassador.

Nabhan, whose father, brother, niece and son were also killed, was on the list of people eligible to leave Gaza, according to Belgian development agency Enabel.

Mr De Croo described the deaths as “tragic news” during a plenary session in the lower chamber of the parliament, 7sur7 reported.“They have been refusing it for four months,” he said.

“Everyday, innocent people and children are being killed. Dear Israeli government: This must stop. Now.”

Belgium was eager to recognise the state of Palestine, Mr De Croo reportedly said, adding: “This must be part of a peace process, a process of political reforms necessary on both sides.

At least 108 people were arrested and four police officers were injured yesterday when Boston police moved to clear a pro-Palestinian encampment at Emerson College.

Student protests over the Israel-Hamas war have popped up on an increasing number of college campuses following last week’s arrest of more than 100 demonstrators at Columbia University.

The students are calling for universities to separate themselves from any companies that are advancing Israel’s military efforts in Gaza — and in some cases from Israel itself.

The protests have erupted throughout the US at a dozen universities, including Yale, Harvard, along with New York University, University of Texas at Austin and University of Southern California and more.

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 Wednesday.

The U.N. 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.

A top European Union military officer said that a frigate that’s part of an EU miliary mission in the Red Sea to protect merchant shipping destroyed a drone launched from an area in Yemen controlled by Houthi rebels on Thursday morning.

Austrian Gen. Robert Brieger, who is chair of the EU’s military committee, said that it would be crucial for the bloc to “conserve resources” over the long haul because the threat posed by Houthi attacks “will not disappear” due to its connection to the Israel-Hamas war.

The organisation said it was reviewing claims more than 300 bodies were discovered at two different burial sites outside the Nasser and al-Shifa hospitals, some of whom were women and elderly people.

The UK has announced new sanctions against Iran’s drone and missile industry, Archie Mitchell reports.

Two people linked to the country’s network of drone production, Seyed Mohsen Vahabzadeh Moghadam and Abbas Abdi Asjerd, will be subject to a UK travel ban and asset freeze.

Four companies – Bonyan Danesh Shargh, Pishro Sanat Aseman Sharif Company, Alvand Motorbuilding Industries Company and Moj Gostar Aseman Parvaz Company – will also face a UK asset freeze.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: “The Iranian regime’s dangerous attack on Israel risked thousands of civilian casualties and wider escalation in the region.

“Today the UK and our partners have sent a clear message – we will hold those responsible for Iran’s destabilising behaviour to account.

“Alongside our partners, we will continue to tighten the net on Iran’s ability to develop and export these deadly weapons.”

A spokesperson for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the military was moving ahead with its plans for a ground operation in Rafah as the Israeli military said that it had mobilised two more reservist brigades for missions in Gaza.