News about Jan Egeland

One armoured vehicle from the Israeli 401st brigade was seen trundling up to an 'I love Gaza' sign that took pride of place at the crossing, before surging forward and reducing the structure to rubble, crushing it underneath its tracks in symbolic footage posted to social media. Other clips showed several tanks and other vehicles arriving on the scene early today to seize the crossing point - a move described by the Palestinian crossing authority as a 'death sentence for Gazans' as it cuts off the last land route for vital aid. The 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing this morning and took 'operational control' of the location seen as crucial for both aid going into Gaza and refugees fleeing into Egypt, officials said, adding this morning that they had 'eliminated approximately 20 terrorists'. This came after Israel roundly rejected a new ceasefire deal hashed out by Egyptian and Qatari negotiators that Hamas said it had accepted.

The Israeli 401st Brigade entered the Rafah crossing and took 'operational control' of the crucial crossing for both aid and those able to flee into Egypt, officials said, adding this morning that they had 'eliminated approximately 20 terrorists'. Footage circulating on social media showed an IDF tank trundling over the border, with another clip later appearing to show Israeli flags flying at the crossing point. This came just hours after Israel roundly rejected a new ceasefire deal hashed out by Egyptian and Qatari negotiators that Hamas said it had accepted. Palestinian hopes for an end to the war were shattered late last night when Israel launched intense air strikes on Rafah, with Gaza's crossing authority claiming that Israel's decision to press on with its assault in spite of ongoing negotiations would see the deaths of countless more Gazans.

A Palestinian security official and an Egyptian official said Israeli tanks (inset shows an Israeli tank near the Gaza border yesterday) entered the southern Gaza town of Rafah, reaching as close as 200 meters from its crossing with neighbouring Egypt. The Egyptian official said the operation appeared to be limited in scope. He and Hamas' Al-Aqsa TV said Israeli officials informed the Egyptians that the troops would withdraw after completing the operation. The Israeli military declined to comment. Before Israel launched its airstrikes last night, Palestinians in Rafah were celebrating (right) Hamas' announcement that the terror group had accepted a ceasefire deal - but an Israeli official later dismissed the agreement as 'a ruse'.

Hamas told Egyptian and Qatari mediators that it had accepted their Gaza ceasefire proposal, Qatari broadcaster Al Jazeera reported on Monday, citing a leading Hamas official.

Early this morning, the IDF intensified its bombardment in and around Khan Younis, bringing ambulances, private cars, and even trucks racing into the local Nasser hospital ladening with wounded civilians in a bloody new phase of the conflict. It came as eyewitnesses reported that Israeli tanks were closing down in after satellite photos from Sunday showed around 150 Israeli tanks and armoured personnel carriers less than four miles from Gaza's second-largest city's heart. "Nowhere is safe in Gaza, and there is nothing left to go," Lynn Hastings, the United Nations humanitarian coordinator for the Palestinian territories, said Monday. The conditions that are needed to provide assistance to the people of Gaza do not exist.' If possible, an even more horrific scenario is likely to unfold.' More than 15,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 2,000 have been displaced by over three-fourths of Gaza's 2.3 million inhabitants, according to the deadly war. Gaza's Health Ministry said the death toll in the territory since Oct. 7 has surpassed 15,890, with more than 41,000 people wounded.

Families in Gaza fled yesterday, after aid organizations warned that it would be reduced to a "hellhole." Women carried children in their arms as they escaped on foot, fear and emptiness etched on their faces and their possessions as they fled on foot, with confusion and despair piled high on trucks and donkey carts. Families were refused official advice from Hamas to remain in their homes and instead embarked on a spectacular flight into the unknown.

Hundreds of protesters have descended on London's Israel Embassy, shouting "free Palestine" and lighting flairs, with a heavy police response evident.

The new Mada 9 prototype sports car, which is shown here, is the culmination of five years of design and development led by thirty engineers at company ENTOP and Kabul's Afghanistan Technical Vocational Institute (ATVI). The vehicle's capabilities on the road remain to be seen - in nearly every video circulated on social media, and ENTOP has not released any performance data whatsoever. It's unlikely to compare to Bugatti and McLaren's engines, although Mada 9's team claims that the engine is a replica of a smaller Toyota Corolla hatchback, though ATVI Ghulam Shahamat's chief told Afghanistan's TOLO News that engineers will upgrade it to an electric powertrain at a later date.