A look at the top developments from Israel’s war on Gaza:

  1. About 8 lakh Palestinians have fled to southern Gaza as Israeli troops fought Hamas militants and attacked underground compounds on Tuesday in the northern part of the region, reported the Associated Press. Gaza’s interior ministry spokesperson Iyad al-Bazum has told Al Jazeera that Israeli forces are trying to separate the northern Gaza Strip from its south. Hundreds of thousands are sheltering in United Nations-run schools-turned-shelters or hospitals. The Palestinian toll since the Israeli offensive began has crossed 8,000. More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel.
  2. The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees has said that nearly 6.72 lakh Palestinians are taking shelter in its facilities – four times their capacity. Agency head Philippe Lazzarini has accused Israel of giving “collective punishment” to the Palestinians and forcing their displacement from northern Gaza. 
  3. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected calls for a ceasefire and vowed to crush Hamas’ ability to threaten Tel Aviv, reported AP. This came after Israeli ground forces pushed deeper into Gaza and rescued a soldier captured during Hamas’ October 7 attack. It was after this attack that Israel had declared a siege of Gaza and has been continuously bombarding the region. 
  4. An investigation by rights group Amnesty International has found that the Israeli Army “indiscriminately” used white phosphorous in an attack on Dhayra in south Lebanon on October 16. White phosphorous is a banned incendiary chemical that on human contact, can lead to severe burns or even death. Amnesty International has demanded that the October 16 attack be treated as a war crime. 
  5. Canada has called for a “temporary pause in hostilities” in order to help people in Gaza despite abstaining on a UN resolution for a “humanitarian truce” last week, reported Al Jazeera. “The humanitarian situation facing the Palestinian people, facing Palestinian women and children, is dire,” Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly, adding that 400 Canadians are trapped in Gaza.