A deadly, mass famine in Gaza would likely accelerate violence and ensure a long-term conflict, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has told a Senate hearing.

Israel and Hamas both yesterday dampened hopes of a speedy breakthrough in Cairo talks towards a Gaza truce and hostage release deal after Egyptian state-linked media had reported “significant progress”.

An Israeli strike on southern Lebanon early yesterday killed a field commander in the heavily-armed Lebanese group Hezbollah, as the United Nations warned that shelling was spreading and urged a halt to the violence.

“It smells like death,” said Maha Thaer, a mother of four, as she returned to the devastated southern Gaza city of Khan Yunis on Sunday, after Israeli troops withdrew.

The first day of Eid will then be celebrated on Wednesday, April 10

Israel pulled its ground forces out of the southern Gaza Strip yesterday, media reports said, in a partial withdrawal six months into the devastating offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

Houthi forces in Yemen said yesterday they had launched rockets and drones targeting a British ship and two Israeli vessels that were heading to Israeli ports, and also at a number of US frigates in the Red Sea.

The World Health Organization said that Gaza’s largest hospital had been reduced to ashes by Israel’s latest siege, leaving an “empty shell” with many bodies.

American, Israeli and Hamas negotiators are expected in Cairo over the weekend in a renewed push for a ceasefire and hostage release deal in a war that reaches the half-year mark today.

Seven children were killed in southern Syria’s Daraa province yesterday when an “explosive device” detonated, state media reported.

Iran yesterday again threatened retaliation for the deaths of seven Revolutionary Guards in a strike on Damascus, with the army chief saying his country’s enemies will “regret” the killings.

Thousands of people chanted against Israel and the United States at yesterday’s funeral for seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members killed in a strike in Syria, which Iran blamed on Israel.

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said yesterday that “scattered measures” for Gaza aid are not enough after Israel told the UN it will allow a “meaningful increase” in aid.

A growing number of children caught up in armed conflicts around the globe are being denied access to critical humanitarian aid, a United Nations official warned Wednesday, as relief operations come under attack or are blocked by governments.

President Joe Biden yesterday told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that continued US support would depend on Israeli actions to protect Gaza civilians, for the first time suggesting conditions on aid as he urged an “immediate ceasefire.”

A surprise Houthi attack killed 11 fighters loyal to the Yemeni government in the country’s south early yesterday, a spokesperson for the southern forces said, in a rare flareup.

The World Bank says the Israel-Hamas war has caused damage of around $18.5 billion to Gaza’s critical infrastructure, according to a new report published Tuesday.

An Israel airstrike killed seven aid workers who were unloading food brought by sea to the Gaza Strip.

Dominic Allen, the head of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) covering Gaza, said he was “terrified” of what could happen if the Israeli offensive goes on any longer.

Iran yesterday warned its arch foe Israel that it will retaliate for an airstrike that killed seven Revolutionary Guards, two of them generals, and destroyed its consular annex building in the Syrian capital.