Israeli army using fewer troops; Hamas calls for support from Muslim states

On Tuesday morning, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said at least 23,210 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since war with Israel erupted on October 7.

The ministry said in a statement that it had recorded 126 deaths in the past 24 hours, including 57 deaths in one central Gaza hospital alone, while a total of 59,167 people had been wounded in the Gaza Strip during more than three months of fighting.

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The Israeli army has claimed to have largely achieved military control over northern Gaza, and said that the war is now entering a new phase.  Army spokesman Daniel Hagari, speaking to The New York Times, said the next phase would involve fewer soldiers and air strikes and that a troop reduction had already begun this month.

Hagari alluded to the transition in his nightly briefing on Monday, saying that "while there are still terrorists and weapons in the north, they are no longer functioning within an organised military framework."

But he also acknowledged there were tough "battles being fought both in the centre and the south" of Gaza, where intense urban combat and house-to-house fighting have raged for weeks.

Hamas urges military support from Muslim states

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh has called on Muslim states to provide Palestinian militants with weapons, as the group's war with Israel rages in the Gaza Strip.

"We see countries of the world pouring weapons into the occupation (Israel)... The time has come (for Muslim states) to support the resistance with weapons, because this is... not the battle of the Palestinian people alone,"" Haniyeh said in a speech in Doha, according to a transcript shared by the group with journalists.

Italy FM calls for end to war

G7 countries should try to limit Palestinian civilian casualties in Gaza and pressure Israel to end its military operations, Italy's foreign minister Antonio Tajani said on Monday, saying he discussed the issue with British and French counterparts.

"G7 countries are working with the Israeli government to find a rapid way out of the military phase," the Italian Foreign Ministry quoted Tajani as saying in a statement, as Italy begins its one-year presidency of the Group of Seven.

Saudi ambassador urges compromise

Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, Saudi Arabia's ambassador to the UK, says the war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas won't end unless a compromise is reached between the two parties and believes his own country's role in ending the conflict will be limited unless a ceasefire is agreed.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Al Saud said there is no "perfect immediate solution" to how Gaza will be governed after Israel concludes its operation in the region. He added that if the Palestinian Authority moves into Gaza, international support would likely be needed to maintain peace.

Concern over deaths of media workers

The United Nations said it was "very concerned by the high death toll of media workers" in Gaza, a day after a strike killed two journalists of the Al Jazeera network, including the son of Gaza bureau chief Wael al-Dahdouh.

Violence has also surged in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli police confirmed three people were killed Monday during a raid on Tulkarem to arrest a "wanted terrorist." 

Israeli army raids and settler attacks in the West Bank have killed at least 333 people since October 7, according to the Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry.

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