Overview

• Israeli troops are pushing toward Gaza City’s center, the army warned of “unprecedented” force, closed the Salah al-Din corridor, and reported striking more than 1,200 targets with a third division expected to join.
• The military estimates roughly 450,000 residents have fled Gaza City since the operation began and says it is facilitating evacuations despite alleged Hamas attempts to block them.
• Hamas claims it has dispersed Israeli captives across multiple neighborhoods and warns none will return, saying it prepared thousands of ambushes; Israel counts 48 hostages remaining, about 20 believed alive.
• Four Israeli soldiers were killed by a roadside bomb in Rafah and two more at the Allenby/King Hussein crossing, which Israel has now closed; Jordan opened an investigation, and Israel’s army chief advised pausing aid convoys via Jordan.
• The United States cast the lone veto against a UN Security Council draft urging unfettered humanitarian access to Gaza, with its representative arguing the measure would have supported Hamas.