Israel’s warplanes, artillery strike densely-populated civilian areas in Gaza’s north, centre and south over previous 24 hours, killing dozens, with Israeli ground troops “systematically demolishing residential homes” in southern city of Rafah: Al Jazeera’s correspondent in Gaza.

    “The bodies of thousands of the missing children remain buried under the rubble,” UNICEF deputy chief tells the UN Security Council in a briefing on Gaza.

    Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant says “significant progress” was made on US support for Israel’s “force build-up” and weapons supply during trip to Washington, DC.

    “It’s unbearable,” says Khaled Shakshir, a volunteer hospital technician at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Gaza’s Deir el-Balah as equipment, including anaesthesia machines, break down.

    At least 37,718 people have been killed and 86,377 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the Hamas-led attacks stands at 1,139, with dozens of people still held captive in Gaza.

    Thousands of missing children under the rubble in Gaza: UNICEF

    UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Ted Chaiban has told the UN Security Council that “the bodies of thousands of missing children remain buried under the rubble” in Gaza.

    Chaiban was speaking at a special Security Council meeting on the UN Chief’s recent report on violations against children in armed conflict.

    “In 2023, 4,312 Palestinian and 70 Israeli children were verified as killed or maimed, representing 37 per cent of all verified cases of killing and maiming included in the report,” Chaiban added.

    But the number of children who remain buried under the rubble, and a lack of access for humanitarian actors means that the UN was unable to include thousands more reported cases from Gaza in the report, he added.

    Caterpillar equipment ‘extensively used’ to bulldoze Palestinian homes: UN expert

    Balakrishnan Rajagopal, the UN special rapporteur on the right to adequate housing, has welcomed the Norway Pension fund’s move to divest from Caterpillar over concerns its equipment is being used to violate human rights in Palestine.

    Caterpillar equipment is “extensively used” in the demolitions of Palestinian homes, Rajagopal said in a post on X.

    Last week, UN experts, including Rajagopal, urged financial institutions to review investments in companies, including Caterpillar, supplying military equipment and weapons to Israel or risk “complicity in potential atrocity crimes”.