Israeli forces have killed at least 50 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip in the past day, medics said, as authorities warned that the Al Aqsa, Nasser and European hospitals in the enclave face imminent closure over dire fuel shortages.

    US Secretary of State Antony Blinken expresses optimism about the prospects of a ceasefire and captives release deal in Gaza, saying “we’re very close” to reaching an agreement.

    Israel’s military says it has recovered the body of captive Yousef al-Ziyadna from an underground tunnel in the city of Rafah in Gaza.

    Israel’s genocide in Gaza has killed at least 45,936 Palestinians and wounded 109,274 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.

    White House insists Israel is not committing genocide in Gaza

    Reporters asked White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby why the US has determined a genocide is unfolding in Sudan, while refusing to do the same with Gaza.

    Kirby said that although the death toll in Gaza is “unacceptably high” and there have been “too many civilian casualties”, the Biden administration does not believe Israel is committing genocide in the Palestinian territory.

    “The [Israeli military] isn’t waking up every day and putting their boots on the floor, saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to go kill some innocent people because they happen to be Palestinian,’” Kirby said during the press briefing on Wednesday.

    “We have been nothing but direct with our Israeli counterparts about our concerns on [the death toll] and about trying to get them … to be more discriminate about the civilian toll in Gaza,” he added.

    Israeli forces arrest 2 brothers in West Bank raid

    As we reported earlier, the Israeli military is conducting an intense military operation in the occupied West Bank town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya, and have instructed families to evacuate their homes.

    Our Al Jazeera Arabic colleagues now report that brothers Othman and Muhammad Badran have been arrested in that raid.

    The reason for their arrest is not immediately clear. We will bring you more information when we have it.