The United Nations has warned that Gaza was facing deepening hunger 50 days into a total Israeli blockade on all aid entering the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.

"Gaza has become a land of desperation," Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, said on X.

"Hunger is spreading and deepening, deliberate and manmade."

Lebanon's Health Ministry has said a new Israeli strike killed one person, hours after a deadly raid elsewhere in the country, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"The strike launched by the Israeli enemy" in south Lebanon's Tyre district "killed one person", the ministry statement said.

The Israeli military claimed that it had killed Hussein Atawi, a "key figure in the Jama'a Islamiya with ties to Hamas."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared once again before the Tel Aviv District Court to defend himself against corruption charges.

It marked the 24th time for Netanyahu to appear before the court since Dec. 10, 2024, according to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

The court convenes twice a week to hear the Israeli premier’s responses to the charges brought against him.

According to a court statement, Netanyahu's hearing sessions on his corruption trial will end by May 7.

Palestinian patients in Gaza face death amid Israel’s ongoing blockade due severe shortages of essential medicines and medical supplies, the chief of a hospital in the Israel-besieged enclave has said.

Alaa Hilles, director of the Hospital Pharmacy Department in Gaza's Health Ministry, told Anadolu Agency that over 37 percent of vital medicines and 59 percent of medical disposables are unavailable.

"This shortage directly affects all medical services, including those for treating cancers and blood diseases," Hilles said, noting that 54 percent of the medicines needed to treat these illnesses are unavailable.

Hilles also noted that dialysis services are critically affected, with 24 percent of the required drugs missing.

Gaza has notified international bodies, including the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, about the crisis.

An Israeli drone strike killed Hussein Atoui, a military leader of Jamaa Islamiya’s Al-Fajr Forces, near Damour, 20 km south of Beirut, a Lebanese security official told AFP.

Atoui’s group has claimed attacks on Israel amid over a year of cross-border violence.

The Lebanese army recently arrested several suspects, linked to March rocket attacks.

Gaza's civil defence agency has said that a spate of Israeli air strikes since dawn killed at least 25 people across the besieged enclave.

Israel resumed an intense air and ground offensive on Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire that had largely halted the fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory.

"The total number of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes since dawn today has risen to 25," Mohammad Mughayyir, a senior official with the civil defence agency told AFP.

At least 19 Palestinians were killed in overnight Israeli air strikes on Gaza, according to hospital sources.

Ten fatalities were reported in Khan Younis, while four others were confirmed in Gaza City.

Separately, five other Palestinians were also killed in Jabalia.

The strikes mark another deadly episode in the ongoing Israeli military raids in the Palestinian enclave.

Protesters chained themselves to Columbia University’s gates in New York, demanding the release of Palestinian student activists Mohsen Mahdawi and Mahmoud Khalil.

Mahdawi, a former Columbia organiser and green card holder, was detained during a citizenship interview in Vermont.

Khalil, also a graduate and green card holder, was arrested by ICE on March 8 after Secretary of State Marco Rubio revoked his visa. 

Pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil, a Columbia University graduate student, missed the birth of his son after US authorities denied his temporary release request.

Khalil, arrested on March 8 by immigration officials, faces deportation despite being a permanent US resident through his wife, Noor Abdalla, an American citizen.

Abdalla criticised US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for refusing the request, claiming the decision caused unnecessary suffering.

Khalil was transferred to Louisiana, likely due to the Trump administration’s strict immigration policies.

The accusations come after Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar submitted a letter to the Supreme Court, in which he accused Netanyahu of instructing him to obey him over the Supreme Court.