Israeli forces continue to hammer Gaza, bombing a residential building near the besieged Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Beit Lahiya and killing at least eight displaced Palestinians.

      Hamas says a ceasefire deal is possible if Israel stops setting new conditions, while the Israeli defence minister says an agreement is closer than ever.

      Israeli forces deployed remote-controlled vehicles carrying explosives around Kamal Adwan Hospital and detonated them, destroying nearby buildings, sending shrapnel into the medical facility and wounding patients.

      The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) says Israeli authorities are still “overwhelmingly” denying aid missions to North Gaza, including three aid convoys carrying food and water that were turned back on Tuesday.

      Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 45,059 Palestinians and wounded 107,041 since October 7, 2023. At least 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks that day, and more than 200 were taken captive.

      Winter rains bring ‘new set of life-threatening challenges’ in Gaza

      Anera, a US-based charity group, says weather forecasts are predicting rain in Gaza this week.

      And for displaced Palestinians living in makeshift shelters, tents and damaged buildings, the rain brings new dangers, it said.

      They include:

•       Flooded shelters and camps
•       Lack of protection from the elements as tarps, plastic sheeting and insulation materials are largely unavailable in Gaza
•       Increased health risks as waterlogged conditions heighten the risk of waterborne diseases and respiratory infections
•       Unstable ground and safety hazards.

      Red Crescent says its crews retrieved body from al-Mawasi after Israeli attack

      The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said its crews have responded to an Israeli attack in the al-Mawasi area in the south of the Gaza Strip that killed one person and injured several others.

      The medics transported the casualties to the Red Cross hospital, the PRCS said in a post on Telegram.

      Earlier, the Wafa news agency reported that an Israeli attack on a tent in the al-Mawasi area had killed a displaced Palestinian woman and injured several children. It is not yet clear if the attack reported by the PRCS is the same as that by Wafa.

      In a separate update, the PRCS said its crews transported several people injured in an Israeli attack on a home in the west of Gaza City.

      Grieving the Gaza granddad who wept for the ‘soul of his soul’

      Maysa Nabhan weeps silently in the living room, flipping through her phone for images of her father Khaled Nabhan with her children.

      “He was everything to us. He held this family together. When my children died, he was the one who comforted me every day,” she says, her voice breaking as she scrubs tears off her face with her hand.

      Nabhan, 54, became known around the world for his emotional goodbye to his granddaughter, Reem, more than a year ago, when he kissed the three-year-old’s eyes and whispered that she was the “soul of his soul”.

      It was a moment of peaceful surrender to God’s will that captured hearts everywhere.

      And now, he has been killed in an Israeli strike, too.