Israeli forces on Thursday battled Hamas in Gaza where air strikes and urban combat rocked the southern city of Khan Yunis, near where many hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have sought refuge.
UN World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for "urgent steps to alleviate the grave peril" facing besieged Gaza's people, including "terrible injuries, acute hunger and... severe risk of disease".
Israeli forces pressed on with intensified attacks in the Gaza Strip's biggest southern city and a central refugee camp, after the territory's Hamas-run health ministry reported more than 21,000 people had been killed in 11 weeks of war.
The continued air strikes and the expansion of operations in the south came as the WHO warned on Wednesday that Gaza's population was in "grave peril", with France's president calling for a long-term ceasefire.
The Israeli embassy in South Korea has removed a video showing an imaginary scenario in which Koreans are attacked by masked assailants in Seoul, a reference to Hamas, Seoul's foreign ministry said Thursday.
The ministry said in a statement sent to AFP that the video was deemed "inappropriate" and that it had asked the Israeli embassy to take it down.
Iman al-Masry is simply exhausted after giving birth to quadruplets in a hospital in southern Gaza, miles away from her home in the north of the war-torn Palestinian territory.
Days into the Israel-Hamas war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel, the young woman fled the family home in Beit Hanun on foot with her three other children seeking safety.
They walked five kilometres (three miles) to the Jabalia refugee camp, looking for a means of transport that would take them to Deir al-Balah further south.
Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps warned Israel on Wednesday that it or its allied groups would take "direct" action to avenge the killing of senior commander Razi Moussavi.
The general was killed Monday in an Israeli missile strike near the Syrian capital, according to state media, at a time of heightened regional tensions around the Israel-Hamas war raging in Gaza.
The Israeli army, which has launched hundreds of strikes on Iran-linked targets in war-torn Syria in recent years, said only that it does not comment on foreign media reports.
"A house on the beach is not a dream!" The advertising slogan by an Israeli settlement developer is music to the ears of former Gaza settlers yearning to return to the Palestinian territory after the war.
Nearly two decades after Israeli settlers pulled out of Gaza, the real estate developer Harey Zahav sparked controversy when it posted the slogan on social media in mid-December as Israel wages a military offensive against the territory's Hamas rulers.
An Israeli strike in south Lebanon killed a Hezbollah fighter, the group said Wednesday, as state media reported two of his relatives were also killed and the Iran-backed movement launched rockets in retaliation.
The border between Lebanon and Israel has seen escalating exchanges of fire, mainly between the Israeli army and Hamas ally Hezbollah, since the Israel-Hamas war began on October 7, raising fears of a broader conflagration.
Drinkers are getting into something of a fizz over Turkish sparkling wine.
"We are selling out very quickly. We cannot meet the growing demand especially as the New Year (celebrations) near," said Candas Misir of the Vinkara winery an hour from Ankara.
When it comes to celebrating a big occasion, few might think of reaching for a bottle of Turkish bubbly in a market dominated by French champagne, Spanish cava and Italian prosecco.
The Hamas-run Gaza Strip's health ministry said Wednesday war with Israel has killed more than 21,000, as Israel kept pounding the besieged territory with air strikes and shelling.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said Gazans were in "grave peril" after more than 11 weeks of fighting -- triggered by Hamas's deadly October 7 attacks on Israel -- which left most hospitals in the Palestinian territory out of action and led to "acute hunger".
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan met Tuesday to discuss shifting "to a different phase" of the Israel-Hamas war with Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, a White House official said.
The meeting provided an opportunity to talk about steps to improve the humanitarian situation in war-torn Gaza and minimize harm to civilians, according to the official, who did not wish to be named.
