Thousands of tonnes of “life and death” aid for Gaza should be delivered soon, the United Nations said yesterday, to relieve a “beyond catastrophic” situation after unrelenting Israeli bombing in response to an unprecedented Hamas attack. 

Bangladesh will observe a one-day state mourning tomorrow for the Palestinians killed in recent Israeli attacks.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant yesterday told troops gathered at the Gaza border that they will soon see the Palestinian enclave “from inside”, suggesting an expected ground invasion with the aim of annihilating Hamas could be nearing.

Israel is vowing to wipe out Hamas in a relentless onslaught on the Gaza Strip but has no obvious endgame in sight, with no clear plan for how to govern the ravaged Palestinian enclave even if it triumphs on the battlefield.

Palestinians combed through the debris of the devastated Gaza hospital to collect the dead yesterday, the day after a strike killed hundreds in the facility.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has cancelled a planned meeting with US President Joe Biden, following an Israeli strike on a Gaza hospital on Tuesday that killed hundreds, a senior Palestinian official said

The UN’s World Food Programme said the food situation in the besieged and blockaded Gaza Strip was worsening, with only four or five days of stocks left in the shops.

An Israeli air strike yesterday killed about 500 Palestinians at a Gaza hospital crammed with patients and displaced people.

Israeli Indiscriminate and relentless air strikes on Gaza continued yesterday defying ceasefire calls, as the death toll in the Palestinian enclave rose past 3,000, about one-third of them children. 

Iran has banned the teaching of all foreign languages, including English and Arabic, in kindergartens and primary schools, with immediate effect, state media reported yesterday.

The world’s biggest book fair in Frankfurt lamented a “disaster” yesterday after publishing groups from several predominantly Muslim countries withdrew in protest at organisers’ support for Israel.

Israeli Indiscriminate and relentless air strikes on Gaza continued yesterday defying ceasefire calls, as the death toll in the Palestinian enclave rose past 3,000, about one-third of them children

Israeli forces kept up their bombardment of Gaza yesterday after diplomatic efforts to arrange a ceasefire to allow foreign citizens to leave and aid to be brought into the besieged Palestinian enclave failed.

The Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Yao Wen has said his country believes that it is a top priority to make all efforts to stop the latest fighting in the Middle East as soon as possible, prevent it from spreading and avoid further deterioration of the situation.

In the southern Gaza Strip, scores of people line up at bathrooms, many of them not having showered for days after Israel cut off water, electricity and food following Hamas’s deadly assault.

Hopes for a brief ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow foreign passport holders to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave and aid to be brought in were dashed on Monday, with Israeli bombardments intensifying ahead of an expected ground invasion.

The Israeli army yesterday said it was awaiting a “political decision” on the timing of a major ground offensive on the Gaza Strip, as fears grew that the conflict between Israel and Hamas could spiral into a regional Middle East war.

Bangladesh has strongly condemned the disproportionate use of force in Gaza resulting in the growing civilian casualties, including women and children.

Iran yesterday warned that any Israeli ground offensive in the Gaza Strip could escalate conflicts elsewhere in the Middle East.

As Israel prepared for a ground assault on the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip, Palestinians who have lost family members in air strikes were bracing for more destruction.