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Israel’s determination to completely dismantle Hamas means that takeover of the south is an absolute military necessity.

The southern campaign has already started, with air raids in and around the city of Khan Younis fully underway.

The problem is that, to all intents and purposes, most of the surviving Gazan population is now crowded into the south already.

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Many had moved south from towns or cities like Gaza City, and have been told by Israeli defence forces they need to move again, further south, to the Rafah Crossing area that borders Egypt, or to the barren coastal strip of al Mawasi.

A family evacuating from Gaza
Image:
A family evacuating from Gaza

Under the Israeli plan to ensure people move as safely as possible, they have divided Gaza into numbered blocks, and people living there, in theory, will be told when to move before bombings begin.

How long they will have to comply is unknown.

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Leaflets have been dropped with a QR code linked to an interactive map with the numbered districts marked on it.

By any metric, to assume people now displaced, living rough, scared and disorientated, and unlikely to have internet when they don’t have food or water, could navigate the map would seem a bit of a stretch.

Sky News teams in Gaza met Muhamed Rayis holding the leaflet with the QR code on it. He says he followed the instructions, moved to a safe area, and then got bombed.

“Look at this is the leaflet. How can you bomb civilians in their homes? You’re telling people that Wadi Alsalga is safe, how come then you bomb there, at least warn us before you bomb us, they have bombed 3 or 4 houses, they’ve displaced people, why?”

Gaza resident Mohamed Rayis seen with a leaflet
Image:
Gaza resident Mohamed Rayis seen with a leaflet marked with a QR code linking to an interactive map

‘We do not know where to go’

“We do not know where to go, because they have told us the central area is safe, and we came here and now they started to bomb us here too, so we do not know where to go. This is their leaflet!” he shouted.

What we have seen from our daily feed of pictures from our teams inside Gaza illustrates just how difficult and dangerous living in the south has become – and how difficult it will be for the IDF to complete its operation without killing further large numbers of civilians.

In a smoky haze in Khan Younis, our teams filmed as people tried to move during a break in the aerial bombardment.

They pick their way through what is now a battlefield from the north to the south of the Strip.

Residents walking through war-torn Gaza
Image:
Residents walking through war-torn Gaza

Donkey-drawn carts navigate their way around rubble and battle-scarred roads, while a steady stream of people move on foot. But there is little sanctuary to be found in Gaza.

Another set of pictures, scenes that have become all too familiar, show people heading into the rubble searching for the living and the dead.

It’s a constant, just like the airstrikes.

At the Nasser Medical Complex, a survivor dazed and covered in dust makes his way inside.

This man and a little boy alongside are told to sit on the floor in one ward, before being treated for their wounds.

An injured man and child at a hospital in Gaza
Image:
An injured man and child at Nasser Medical Complex

They’re among the luckiest of the injured as their injuries aren’t severe, but their faces are a picture of pure trauma and shock, and that doesn’t just go away.

The more seriously injured are rushed through the crowds, bundled into cars, and taken to the emergency room.

The hospitals that are still functioning in Gaza can barely cope, while the numbers of dead rise every day.

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‘Death toll may reach 75,000’

Situation is ‘catastrophically bad’

The Hamas-controlled health ministry says 70% of fatalities are women and children.

Doctor Nuradin Khatib is a junior doctor at the Nasser Hospital and he says it is a disaster.

Doctor Nuradin Khatib tells Sky News the situation is 'catastrophically bad'
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Doctor Nuradin Khatib tells Sky News the situation is ‘catastrophically bad’

Patients inside Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza
Image:
Patients inside Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza

“The pressure on the hospital with the number of patients and injuries has doubled,” he said.

“The situation is catastrophically bad, there are no beds for the patients, we have to treat the patients on the hospital floor as there are no beds to put them on, people are short of everything.”

“In all honesty the situation is extremely bad, the huge number of the injured as well the other patients who have long-term illnesses in all departments, it is beyond our power,” he added.

Read more:
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UK surveillance flights over Israel and Gaza to help find hostages

Israel ‘knew about Hamas attack plans a year before it happened’

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Israeli airstrikes resume in southern Gaza

Aid supplies were initially stopped after the ceasefire ended but appear to have resumed as some aid has entered Gaza -though it’s a trickle, and nowhere near enough.

The IDF’s operations continue in the north and are developing in the south, and their campaign to oust Hamas continues.

The biggest concern though for the international community is what happens to all the civilians who are not sure where to go to find safety.

Many people in and around Khan Younis in the south have come from the north, and are having to move yet again.

In reality though, there’s not much further south they can go.

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Bodies of two more Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas – but uncertainty over missing remains

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Bodies of two more Israeli hostages handed over by Hamas - but uncertainty over missing remains

The bodies of two more Israeli hostages have been handed over to the Red Cross by Hamas – but uncertainty still hangs over the fate of the missing remains of others.

Under the ceasefire agreement, all remaining 48 hostages, dead and alive, were supposed to be returned by this Monday.

So far, only the 20 living hostages have been returned, as well as seven dead hostages, according to Israel’s count, with two further bodies still being verified.

Just hours after today’s handover, the Israeli military said a tenth body previously turned over was not that of a hostage – and the confusion added to tensions over the fragile truce that has paused the two-year war.

What has Hamas said?

Hamas has previously said recovering the remaining bodies could take time, as not all burial sites are known.

Its armed wing put out a statement on Wednesday, saying it has returned all the bodies it could reasonably recover, but would require special equipment to hand over the remaining ones.

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Meanwhile, the Gaza Health Ministry said it received 45 more bodies of Palestinians from Israel, another step in the implementation of the ceasefire agreement.

Red Cross vehicles escort a truck transporting the bodies of Palestinian hostages. Pic: Reuters.
Image:
Red Cross vehicles escort a truck transporting the bodies of Palestinian hostages. Pic: Reuters.

That brings to 90 the total number of bodies returned to Gaza for burial. The forensics team examining the remains claimed they showed signs of mistreatment.

Trump issues warning

The return of all the hostages is a key pillar of the deal agreed to by Israel and Hamas, heralded by US President Donald Trump as having brought “peace in the Middle East”.

Israel – which has freed around 2,000 Palestinian prisoners and detainees as part of the peace deal – had already threatened to keep the Rafah crossing between Gaza and Egypt closed on Wednesday, and limit aid entering Gaza, due to Hamas not returning all of the dead.

And in an interview with CNN on Wednesday, Mr Trump warned that Israel could resume the war if he feels Hamas is not upholding its end of the agreement.

“Israel will return to those streets as soon as I say the word,” he said.

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Trump: ‘If Hamas doesn’t disarm, we will disarm them’

From our experts:
Will Trump stay the course over Gaza?
Analysis: There is a catch to Trump’s Gaza peace deal

Since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel in 2023 – in which around 1,200 people were killed and 251 taken hostage – the two sides have been at war.

Nearly 68,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s subsequent offensive, according to the Health Ministry, which is part of the Hamas-run government in Gaza.

The ministry maintains detailed casualty records that are seen as generally reliable by UN agencies and independent experts – though the ministry does not say how many of those killed are combatants.

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Middle East correspondent Adam Parsons explains why tensions may begin to bubble

Similar incident in previous ceasefire

This is not the first time Hamas has returned a wrong body to Israel.

During a previous ceasefire, the group said it handed over the bodies of Shiri Bibas and her two sons, but testing in February 2025 showed that one of the bodies returned was identified as a Palestinian woman. Ms Bibas’ body was returned a day later.

Meanwhile, Hamas spokesperson Hazem Kassem accused Israel of violating the deal with shootings on Tuesday in eastern Gaza City and the southern city of Rafah.

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Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, said the military is operating along the deployment lines troops withdrew to under the deal, and he warned that anyone approaching the lines will be targeted, as happened on Tuesday with several militants.

Aid trickling in

The World Food Programme said its trucks began arriving in Gaza after the entrance of humanitarian aid was paused for two days due to the exchange on Monday and a Jewish holiday on Tuesday.

The timing of the scaled-up deliveries – which are also part of the ceasefire deal – had been called into question after Israel said on Tuesday that it would cut the number of trucks allowed into Gaza, saying Hamas was too slow to return the hostages’ bodies.

Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel enter Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: AP
Image:
Trucks carrying humanitarian aid and fuel enter Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip. Pic: AP

Abeer Etefa, spokesperson for the World Food Programme, lauded the trucks’ passage but said the situation remained unpredictable.

“We’re hopeful that access will improve in the coming days,” she said.

The Egyptian Red Crescent said 400 trucks carrying food, fuel and medical supplies were bound for Gaza on Wednesday.

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‘Your support can save lives’: Renewed appeal for donations as aid starts to enter Gaza

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'Your support can save lives': Renewed appeal for donations as aid starts to enter Gaza

Fifteen UK charities have launched a fresh appeal for donations to Gaza to address “catastrophic levels of need” in the devastated region.

The charities make up the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC), which has been raising millions for Gaza – where tens of thousands have been killed over the past two years of war – and the wider Middle East.

After the initial stage of a much-sought ceasefire deal aimed at ending the conflict in Gaza was agreed on by Israel and Hamas, aid has begun to trickle into the devastated region again.

According to the DEC, its charities and local partners have been scaling up their work in the Gaza Strip since the agreement took effect last week.

Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Palestinians walk past the rubble of destroyed buildings in Gaza City. Pic: Reuters

It said lorries carrying food and other aid began to enter Gaza on Sunday, with the British Red Cross and Plan International UK among those confirming supplies had made it in.

After raising more than £50m since the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal was launched last October, the DEC is renewing calls for donations, saying £10 could provide blankets for two people, while £50 could provide emergency food for five families for one week.

Read more:
Trump warned plan for Gaza ‘doesn’t make sense’

Israel says no match for body handed over by Hamas

As goods are returning to Gaza’s markets, the DEC said, they are increasing cash assistance to help people buy essentials as they become more affordable.

They’re also distributing clean water, medicine, food, and nutrition support.

On its website, the DEC pointed to how famine was declared in Gaza City in August as it appealed for funds saying: “Your support can save lives.”

You can donate to the Middle East Humanitarian Appeal at dec.org.uk.

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Trump refuses to say if CIA has authority to assassinate Venezuela’s president

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Trump refuses to say if CIA has authority to assassinate Venezuela's president

Donald Trump has refused to say if the CIA has the authority to assassinate Venezuela’s president, after approving covert operations in the country to tackle alleged drug trafficking.

The classified decision, first revealed by The New York Times, marks a significant escalation in efforts to pressure President Nicolas Maduro‘s regime.

Mr Trump said large amounts of drugs were entering the US from Venezuela, much of it trafficked by sea.

“We are looking at land now, because we’ve got the sea very well under control,” he said.

When asked why the coastguard wasn’t asked to intercept suspected drug trafficking boats, which has been a longstanding US practice, Mr Trump said the approach had been ineffective.

“I think Venezuela is feeling heat,” he said.

He declined to answer whether the CIA has the authority to execute Mr Maduro.

The US has offered a $50m (£37m) reward for information leading to his arrest, accusing him of connections to drug trafficking and criminal organisations – claims he denies.

President Nicolas Maduro. Pic: Reuters
Image:
President Nicolas Maduro. Pic: Reuters

Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening. Pic: Reuters
Image:
Donald Trump at the White House on Wednesday evening. Pic: Reuters

US targets ‘drug boats’

Mr Trump also alleged Venezuela had sent a significant number of prisoners, including individuals from mental health facilities, into the US, though he did not specify the border through which they reportedly entered.

On Tuesday, he announced America had targeted a small boat suspected of drug trafficking in waters off the Venezuelan coast, resulting in the deaths of six people.

According to the president’s post on social media, all those killed were aboard the vessel.

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Footage of the strike was released by Donald Trump on social media. Pic: Truth Social
Image:
Footage of the strike was released by Donald Trump on social media. Pic: Truth Social

The incident marked the fifth such fatal strike in the Caribbean, as the Trump administration continues to classify suspected drug traffickers as unlawful combatants to be confronted with military force.

War secretary Pete Hegseth authorised the strike, according to Mr Trump, who released a video of the operation.

The black-and-white footage showed a small boat seemingly stationary on the water. It is struck by a projectile from above and explodes, then drifts while burning for several seconds.

Mr Trump said the “lethal kinetic strike” was in international waters and targeted a boat travelling along a well-known smuggling route.

There has also been a significant increase in US military presence in the southern Caribbean, with at least eight warships, a submarine, and F-35 jets stationed in Puerto Rico.

‘Bomb the boats’: Bold move or dangerous overreach?

It’s a dramatic – and risky – escalation of US strategy for countering narcotics.

Having carried out strikes on Venezuelan “drug boats” at sea, Trump says he’s “looking a” targeting cartels on land.

He claims the attacks, which have claimed 27 lives, have saved up to 50,000 Americans.

By framing bombings as a blow against “narcoterrorists”, he’s attempting to justify them as self-defence – but the administration has veered into murky territory.

Under international law, such strikes require proof of imminent threat – something the White House has yet to substantiate.

Strategically, Trump’ss militarised approach could backfire, forcing traffickers to adapt, and inflaming tensions with Venezuela and allies wary of US intervention.

Without transparent evidence or congressional oversight, some will view the move less like counterterrorism and more like vigilantism on the seas.

The president’s “bomb the boats” rhetoric signals a shift back to shock and awe tactics in foreign policy, under the banner of fighting drugs.

Supporters will hail it as a bold, decisive move, but to critics it’s reckless posturing that undermines international law.

The strikes send a message of strength, but the legal, moral and geopolitical costs are still being calculated.

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