Israel approves West Bank settlement expansion as Gaza strikes kill 13
A much-criticised new aid distribution group backed by the US and Israel has begun working in Gaza. ITV News' Senior International Correspondent John Irvine reports.
Israel has approved the establishment of 22 new Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, including the legalisation of previously unauthorised outposts.
The announcement came as Israeli airstrikes on Gaza killed at least 13 Palestinians overnight, according to local health officials.
The strikes hit areas already devastated by nearly three months of Israeli-imposed border closures, which have deepened Gaza's humanitarian crisis.
Israel's government continues to face global criticism over its settlement expansion in the West Bank, territory it has occupied since the 1967 war.
The international community largely considers the settlements illegal under international law.
Calls are growing within Isaeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to re-establish settlements in Gaza, which Israel evacuated in 2005, and to encourage the "voluntary emigration" of Palestinians from the enclave, raising concerns of forced displacement.
The latest escalation follows Hamas's 7 October 2023 assault on southern Israel, during which about 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages taken.
Israel's ongoing military response has killed more than 54,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
In a separate incident in the West Bank, an Israeli newborn has died after his mother, Tzeela Gez, was shot and killed by a Palestinian gunman while en route to hospital.
The baby was delivered by emergency caesarean before dying from its injuries. Prime Minister Netanyahu called the attack a "murder of a newborn baby along with his mother" and vowed continued military action.
The developments have fuelled further instability across the region, as violence persists in both Gaza and the West Bank amid faltering diplomatic efforts to de-escalate the crisis
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