Overview

• Negotiators say the first phase of a ceasefire and hostage-release plan is underway, with indirect talks continuing in Egypt as Gaza’s Health Ministry reports new casualties from ongoing strikes.
• WHO officials on the ground report only 14 of 36 hospitals are partially functioning, with dire shortages of power, clean water, medicines and equipment, plus acute maternal and newborn malnutrition.
• UNICEF says its teams were refused access four times to retrieve a newborn incubator in northern Gaza, underscoring continuing restrictions on humanitarian operations.
• UN satellite analysis estimates about 78% of Gaza’s structures are damaged or destroyed, aid groups report mass displacement affecting roughly 90–95% of residents, and UN-backed experts have declared famine in parts of the territory.
• Gaza’s Health Ministry reports more than 67,000 people killed since October 2023, while peer‑reviewed research in the BMJ identifies a distinctive ‘Gaza polytrauma syndrome’ reflecting widespread high‑energy blast injuries.