Palestinian PM offers resignation to pave way for post-conflict Gaza

The Palestinian Prime Minister says he and his government will resign to make way for a new administration in Gaza. 

Mohammad Shtayyeh told the cabinet that a new governing authority was needed "to take into account the new reality in the Gaza Strip." However, President Mahmoud Abbas, who leads the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority has yet to accept the resignation, meaning Shtayyeh will continue in a caretaker capacity until an alternative can be found. 

The Israeli government, led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, has consistently rejected calls for a Palestinian run state that would govern Gaza. Last week a parliamentary motion in the Knesset rejected "international diktats" regarding such a formation.

Netanyahu said total victory in Gaza will be "weeks away" once the assault on Rafah begins. Israel's leader told U.S. television that the controversial plans for the offensive would go ahead, regardless of the potential impact on civilians, "because total victory is our goal and total victory is within reach."

He added that Israeli intelligence believes four of the six remaining Hamas battalions are concentrated in Rafah. Almost 1.5 million people are sheltering in the southern city, many displaced by bombardment elsewhere in the Gaza Strip.

The head of the UN believes a Rafah assault could end all aid efforts in Gaza. Speaking at the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Secretary General Antonio Guterres said: "An all-out Israeli offensive on the city would not only be terrifying for more than a million Palestinian civilians sheltering there, it would put the final nail in the coffin of our aid programmes."

Israel's military says it has killed more than 30 Palestinian militants in Gaza City's Zeitoun district over the past 24 hours. The IDF says a further 10 "terrorists" were killed in the central Gaza Strip, and an unspecified number in the southern city of Khan Younis.

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Meanwhile, Türkiye has told the International Court of Justice that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territory is the "root cause" of regional conflict in the Middle East. 

Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Yildiz told the meeting of the World Court "the unfolding situation after October 7 proves once again that there can be no peace in the region" until the issue of occupation is addressed. The UN's top court has been hearing six days of arguments over the legality of Israel's decades-long control of Palestinian territories.

The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah said it has downed an Israeli drone amid ongoing border skirmishes. In a statement, the Iran backed group said the unmanned aerial vehicle was shot down over the Nabatieh area in southern Lebanon. Footage posted online shows the drone on fire and spiralling out of control before crashing.

Meanwhile, Israel says its missiles have hit Lebanon's Baalbek, in first strikes yet on the east of the country. Two simultaneous strikes hit close to the city of Baalbek early on Monday. Israel says it is targeting "Hezbollah terror targets deep inside Lebanon."

Israel's defense minister vowed on Sunday night to increase attacks on Hezbollah in Lebanon, even if another temporary ceasefire was reached in Gaza. Yoav Gallant said Israeli fire would continue "independently from the south until we achieve our goals."

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