At least 40 Palestinians killed over past 24 hours

Gaza’s Health Ministry reports that at least 40 people were killed and 71 injured in Israeli attack over the past 24 hours, Al Jazeera reports. 

The “decomposed” bodies of almost 90 unidentified Palestinians whose remains were taken by Israeli forces and kept in Israel for months have been returned to Gaza and buried in a mass grave, Gaza’s Civil Defence agency says.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk has called for urgent de-escalation in the Middle East over fears that the Gaza war could spread.

Russia’s Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu has met his Iranian counterpart in Tehran; he is also scheduled to hold talks with Iran’s new president Masoud Pezeshkian.

At least 39,623 people were killed and 91,469 wounded in Israel’s war on Gaza. An estimated 1,139 people were killed in Israel during the Hamas-led attacks on October 7 and more than 200 were taken captive.