Israel bans UNRWA

The Israeli parliament passed a law on Monday to ban the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) from working in Israel and occupied east Jerusalem, despite objections from the United States.

The ban on the UN agency -- which has provided essential aid and assistance across Palestinian territories and to Palestinian refugees elsewhere for more than seven decades -- would be a blow to humanitarian work in Gaza.

The ban, a combination of two different private members bills presented to the Knesset by lawmakers from both the government and opposition, would effectively prevent UNRWA from operating in Israel.

The legislation would also target the agency's operations in east Jerusalem, where it currently provides some essential services such as cleaning, education, and healthcare in certain neighbourhoods.

UNRWA and other humanitarian agencies have accused Israeli authorities of restricting aid flows into Gaza, where almost all of the territory's 2.4 million people have been displaced at least once in the war.

UNRWA itself has suffered heavy losses, with at least 223 of its staff killed and two-thirds of the agency's facilities in Gaza damaged or destroyed since the war began.

Gaza offensive

Israeli tanks thrust deeper on Monday into two north Gaza towns and a historic refugee camp, trapping around 100,000 civilians, the Palestinian emergency service said.

The Israeli military said soldiers captured around 100 suspected Hamas fighters in a raid into Kamal Adwan Hospital in the Jabalia camp. Hamas and medics have denied any fighter presence at the hospital.

The Gaza Strip's health ministry said at least 19 people were killed by Israeli airstrikes and bombardment on Monday, 13 of them in the north of the devastated coastal territory.

The Palestinian Civil Emergency Service said around 100,000 people were marooned in Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun without medical or food supplies.

The emergency service said its operations had come to a halt because of the three-week Israeli assault into the north. Talks led by the US, Egypt and Qatar to broker a ceasefire resumed on Sunday after multiple abortive attempts, with Egypt's president proposing an initial two-day truce to exchange four Israeli hostages of Hamas for some Palestinian prisoners, to be followed by talks within 10 days on a permanent ceasefire