Updates: Hamas-Israel ceasefire holds

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke over the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, adding they discussed protests in Iran along with Gaza and Syria.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke over the phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, Axios reporter Barak Ravid said on X, adding they discussed protests in Iran along with Gaza and Syria.

Bangladesh said it has told the United States that it wants to join the international stabilisation force that would be deployed in Gaza.

Bangladesh said its national security adviser, Khalilur Rahman, met US diplomats Allison Hooker and Paul Kapur in Washington.

Rahman "expressed Bangladesh's interest in principle to be part of the international stabilisation force that would be deployed in Gaza," a Bangladeshi government statement added. It did not mention the extent or nature of its proposed involvement. The State Department had no immediate comment.

A UN Security Council resolution, adopted in mid-November, authorized a so-called Board of Peace and countries working with it to establish a temporary International Stabilization Force in Gaza where a ceasefire began in October.

Israeli aircraft carried out a raid on the eastern areas of Al-Bureij camp in central Gaza, the Quds News Network reported.

Renowned Palestinian poet and professor Refaat Alareer, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in December 2023, has finally been laid to rest with a proper grave nearly ten months after his death. 

Alareer, celebrated for his literary contributions and outspoken voice on Palestinian identity, had remained without a permanent burial site due to the challenges of accessing cemeteries and securing construction materials in the war-torn enclave.

Former Gaza Municipality official Asem Alnabih explained that reaching Ibn Marwan cemetery and gathering basic supplies near the “yellow line” took months, underscoring the severe restrictions and logistical hurdles faced by grieving families.

Israeli attacks across several areas of the Gaza Strip killed at least three Palestinians and wounded several others, the Wafa News Agency reported, citing medical sources.

An Israeli drone struck the Bani Suheila roundabout of Khan Younis, where one Palestinian was killed and another injured, while two others were killed by Israeli military gunfire east of the Zeitoun neighborhood.

Multiple casualties were reported in an Israeli airstrike on the entrance to the Maghazi refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip.