Overview

• Israel’s security cabinet authorized a final-phase operation to capture Gaza City’s remaining Hamas strongholds, disarm the group and install an alternative civilian administration.
• Weekly protests by tens of thousands of hostage relatives and other Israelis in Tel Aviv warned that expanding the offensive could endanger captives still held by Hamas.
• Gaza Ministry of Health data shows over 61,000 Palestinian deaths, prompting UN officials to caution that seizing the city will trigger more civilian casualties and mass displacement.
• Hamas declared it will treat any Israeli-installed authority as an occupying force and refused to disarm, accusing Israel of planning to sacrifice its captives.
• The UN Security Council convened an emergency session and governments in Russia and Brazil condemned Netanyahu’s plan, warning it will deepen Gaza’s catastrophic humanitarian conditions.