58,000 killed since Israeli attacks on Gaza began, Palestinians say

More than 58,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since Israeli attacks began in October 2023, health officials in the largely demolished region have said following the latest reports of strikes on a family home and water distribution site.

Figures from Gaza's Health Ministry, controlled by the Islamist group Hamas, do not distinguish between civilians and fighters and cannot be independently verified, however international organizations such as the UN consider them to be largely credible.

Around 50 people were killed in Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip on Sunday alone, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported, citing medical sources.

Ten people were killed in the bombing of a family home in Nuseirat, central Gaza, WAFA reported, without providing further details on the identities of the victims. When asked, the Israeli military said it would investigate the report.

The al-Awda Hospital in northern Gaza reported an Israeli airstrike on a water distribution site in Nuseirat in the morning, killing eight people, including six minors.

At least 16 people were injured in the attack, according to the hospital. WAFA, citing the hospital, reported at least 10 killed in the strike.

The Israeli military said upon request it had been targeting a member of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad organization in central Gaza, but that a technical error had led to its munition falling "dozens of meters from the target." It said it was aware of casualties as a result of the incident, which was being examined.

The military emphasized that its attacks target Hamas and other terrorist groups in Gaza, and said it is taking measures to protect civilians and regrets any suffering caused to uninvolved civilians.

However, Israel faces accusations of ethnic cleansing and a "disregard for human life" from UN officials, while the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

The Israeli military also said it had carried out more than 150 airstrikes on targets in Gaza on Saturday, including on members of terrorist organizations and weapons depots.

WAFA also reported casualties from Israeli attacks in northern and southern Gaza. It is not possible to independently verify the reports by either side as Israel does not allow foreign journalists into the war-torn, sealed-off coastal strip.

Decades of conflict flared up again in the wake of the Hamas-led attacks on Israel on October 7, 2023, in which around 1,200 people were killed and more than 250 abducted.

Israeli plan for Rafah city camp could cost billions

Israeli plans for a camp for Palestinians in the south of Gaza could cost several billion dollars, according to a report by the Israeli ynet news site, citing senior Israeli officials.

The construction of a "humanitarian city" in Rafah is estimated to cost between €2.6 billion ($3.5 billion) and €3.9 billion, with Israel initially bearing almost the entire cost.

Defence Minister Israel Katz said at the beginning of the week that Israel intends to build a "humanitarian city" for 600,000 Palestinians displaced by the war in the southern Gaza Strip on the ruins of Rafah.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians currently living in tents in the al-Mawasi area would be accommodated in the new camp, he said.

Israel says it wants to enable Palestinians to "voluntarily leave" the embattled strip, which has now largely been reduced to rubble. But critics have raised concerns that the site could serve as an internment camp that could potentially enable the forced deportation of Palestinians from the land in the longer term.

It is unclear whether such a camp will ever be built, with even those involved in the planning expressing doubts, ynet reported, citing sources from Israel's Cabinet. The Israeli army has also been strongly critical of the plan, according to reports.

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said in a post on X that Netanyahu is allowing his far-right coalition partners to "go crazy with extreme delusions" in order to maintain his fragile coalition government.

Netanyahu, who has been facing a corruption trial for many years, is reliant on hardliners in his coalition for his political survival. They are making ever greater demands in the Gaza war, putting additional pressure on the Israeli leader.

Radical forces in Israel, including some far-right ministers in Netanyahu's government, have openly discussed the forced deportation of the Gaza population and the establishment of Jewish settlements in the area.