Tens of thousands have been killed. Yet domestic politics are as much a factor as any looming humanitarian disaster for Western and Middle Eastern governments involved in peace talks.

The UN humanitarian office said attacking Rafah would deal a huge blow to the aid operations of entire Gaza.

The Israeli PM’s insistence on invading Rafah is proving a major obstacle to a proposal to halt the fighting for 40 days in return for the release of hostages.

With summer now approaching, Palestinians and relief organisations are increasingly concerned about people living in makeshift shelters that intensify heat rather than protect people from it.

After months of stop-and-start negotiations, the ceasefire efforts appear to have reached a critical stage, with Egyptian and American mediators reporting signs of compromise in recent days.

Israel and Hamas appear to be seriously negotiating an end to the war in Gaza and the return of Israeli hostages. Here’s what’s known so far about the current proposal.

The United Nations said it would take at least until 2040 to restore the homes devastated in Israel’s bombing and ground offensive if the conflict ended today.

Or’s wife, Yonat, was killed in the October 7 Hamas attack, while two of their three children were abducted and then freed as part of the November ceasefire deal.

Ukrainian singer Jerry Heil and rapper alyona alyona spoke about promoting their war-torn country’s music, culture and freedom as they set off to represent Ukraine at the Eurovision Song Contest.

Adnan Al-Bursh, head of orthopaedics at al-Shifa Hospital, was detained while temporarily working in north Gaza and kept in custody for over 4 months before his death.

The US president says the protests have not made him reconsider his position on the war, but he does not support calls to send in the National Guard.

The predawn police crackdown at UCLA marked the latest flashpoint for mounting tensions on US college campuses, where protests over Israel’s conduct of the war in Gaza.

The visit by John Bass to Islamabad comes a week after Iran and Pakistan held talks on restarting their long-delayed gas pipeline.

Tensions are boiling over at college campuses across the United States as police move in to break up protest encampments, clear out occupied buildings, and make arrests.

The United States and Saudi Arabia are said to be nearing a pact that would offer the kingdom security guarantees and lay out a possible pathway to diplomatic ties with Israel if it brings the war in Gaza to an end.

President Gustavo Petro described Israel’s siege of Gaza as ‘genocide’. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz accused Petro of being ‘antisemitic and full of hate’.

Students urged to prioritise safety and avoid the risk of suspension from their schools amid harassment of those who wear hijab or keffiyeh.

Meet Chanan Safir Colman, a Danish-Israeli basketball player – and partner to singer Jessie J – who calls his mum his biggest inspiration

Dozens of helmeted police flooded Columbia University’s campus in the heart of New York City to evict a building occupied by pro-Palestinian student protesters and detain demonstrators.

Judges at the International Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled against issuing emergency orders to stop German arms exports to Israel, adding that they remained deeply concerned about conditions in Gaza.

Protesters barricaded the entrances of Hamilton Hall and unfurled a Palestinian flag out of a window in the latest escalation of demonstrations against the Israel-Gaza war

Rival Palestinian parties met in Beijing for an ‘in-depth and candid dialogue on promoting internal reconciliation’, according to ministry spokesman.

The Israeli PM pledged on Tuesday to launch an incursion into the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are sheltering from the 7-month-long war.

The US and its allies are concerned that the International Criminal Court may issue arrest warrants for Israeli officials just as the country is getting closer to a ceasefire agreement with Hamas, potentially jeopardising a deal.

The American chicken franchise, fast-food rival McDonald’s and US coffee chain Starbucks have all become targets of a nationwide boycott movement triggered by Israel’s war on Gaza.

The crackdown at Columbia, at the centre of Gaza-related protests roiling university campuses across the US, came as police at the University of Texas at Austin arrested dozens of students.

US and Israeli officials have said they hope to have the floating pier in place, the causeway attached to the shore and operations under way by early May.

UK foreign minister David Cameron said Hamas has been offered a 40-day ceasefire and the release of “potentially thousands” of Palestinian prisoners in return for freeing Israeli hostages.