An Israeli incursion in Rafah would put the lives of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians at risk and be a huge blow to the aid operations of the entire enclave, the UN humanitarian office said yesterday, as the World Health Organization announced contingency plans for an incursion.

Schools and many offices were closed across the United Arab Emirates yesterday as heavy rains returned to the desert country just two weeks after record downpours that experts linked to climate change.

Doubts grew yesterday over the fate of a Gaza truce plan that, as the week began, had raised hopes of an end to nearly seven months of Israeli offensive in the Palestinian enclave.

At least 141 Palestinian journalists and media professionals have been killed and 70 others injured in Israel’s ongoing offensive in the Gaza Strip, the government media office said yesterday.

Rebuilding homes in the Gaza Strip could drag into the next century if the pace follows the trend of previous conflicts, according to a UN report released yesterday.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday vowed that the military would launch a ground offensive on Gaza’s far-southern Rafah city “with or without” a truce deal being negotiated with Hamas.

Six people were killed when a gunman stormed a mosque in western Afghanistan, a government spokesman said Tuesday

US top diplomat Antony Blinken yesterday said he was “hopeful” Hamas would accept the latest proposal for a long-sought Gaza truce and hostage release deal as negotiators from the Palestinian group were due in Egypt.

The United States is nearly ready with a security package to offer Saudi Arabia if it normalises relations with Israel, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said yesterday, as he seeks incentives for Israel to support a Palestinian state.

A Malta-flagged container ship was reportedly targeted with three missiles while on route from Djibouti to the Saudi city of Jeddah, British maritime security firm Ambrey said yesterday.

As garbage piles up and the heat rises in Gaza, flies and mosquitoes proliferate in crowded Rafah city and life becomes even more grim for displaced people living in tents.

Hundreds of students have been arrested across universities in the United States, with scuffles reported between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators at the University of California, Los Angeles, as rallies for a ceasefire in Gaza and divestment from companies linked to Israel spread across US campuses.

Diplomatic efforts increased yesterday to reach a long sought-after truce and hostage-release deal in Gaza, as Israel carried out further air strikes and shelling on the Palestinian territory.

Dubai yesterday announced that work had begun on a new terminal at Al Maktoum International Airport, which the Gulf emirate’s ruler said will become “the world’s largest” at a cost of almost $35 billion.

Saudi Arabia yesterday said the international community has failed Gaza and reiterated its call for a Palestinian state at a global economic summit.

Palestinians in Rafah told AFP they were living in “constant terror” as Israel vows to push ahead with its planned assault on the south Gaza city flooded with displaced civilians.

Hamas said it was studying the latest Israeli counterproposal regarding a potential ceasefire in Gaza yesterday, a day after media reports said a delegation from mediator Egypt arrived in Israel in a bid to jump-start stalled negotiations.

An Egyptian delegation met Israeli officials yesterday, looking for a way to restart talks to end the offensive in Gaza and return the remaining Israeli hostages, an official briefed on the meetings said.

Israel stepped up airstrikes on Rafah after saying it would evacuate civilians from the southern Gazan city and launch an all-out assault despite allies’ warnings this could cause mass casualties.

US-led coalition forces shot down four drones and an anti-ship missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, American authorities said yesterday, as the Iran-backed group announced strikes against US and Israeli ships.