More than 376,000 Palestinians have returned to decimated northern Gaza since Monday, the UN’s humanitarian agency OCHA said.

    Entire areas of north Gaza are “unrecognisable” to returning residents after months of Israeli bombing, according to Al Jazeera’s team on the ground.

    UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said an Israeli ban on the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees, due to start on Thursday, will affect millions of Palestinians and place Gaza’s ceasefire in “jeopardy”.

    Israeli attacks in southern Lebanon that injured at least 24 people are “a blatant breach of the ceasefire arrangement”, Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said.

    Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 47,354 Palestinians and wounded 111,563 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.

    Qatar, Turkey to take in Palestinians convicted of serious crimes: Report

    Qatar and Turkey will host Palestinians convicted by Israeli authorities of the most serious crimes, who were released as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas, the Times of Israel reports, citing two anonymous officials.

    Israel has reportedly demanded that Palestinians it convicted for crimes such as murder not return to Gaza or the occupied West Bank, after they were released in exchange for Israeli captives last week.

    Egypt has been temporarily hosting around 70 Palestinian former detainees convicted by Israeli authorities of murder, released as part of the deal.

    Turkey has agreed to take in some 15 of those detainees, while Qatar is expected to take in the remainder, according to an unnamed regional official and an Arab diplomat.

    Israel’s UNRWA ban will ‘sabotage Gaza’s recovery and political transition’: Lazzarini

    As the headquarters of the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) faces imminent forced closure by Israel in occupied East Jerusalem, the agency’s chief Philippe Lazzarini addressed the UN’s Security Council (UNSC) to make his case for the crucial continuation of UNRWA’s work and the council’s support to ensure that.

    Here are key extracts from Lazzarini’s address to the UNSC:

•     Across the Gaza Strip, Palestinians are turning to UNRWA – the agency they have known all their lives – for support.
•     In Gaza, undermining UNRWA’s operations will compromise the international humanitarian response.
•     It will sabotage Gaza’s recovery and political transition.
•     Curtailing our operations now – outside a political process, and when trust in the international community is so low – will undermine the ceasefire.
•      UNRWA constitutes half the emergency response [in Gaza], with all other entities delivering the other half.
•     Since October 2023, we have delivered two-thirds of all food assistance, provided shelter to over a million displaced persons, and vaccinated a quarter of a million children against polio.
•     In occupied East Jerusalem, the government of Israel has ordered UNRWA to vacate its premises and cease operations by Thursday.
•     The political attacks on the agency are motivated by the desire to strip Palestinians of their refugee status.
•     The objective is to deny Palestine refugees the right to self-determination and erase their history and identity.
•     I am seeking your decisive intervention in support of peace and stability in the occupied Palestinian territory and the broader region.