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Displaced Palestinians gather to collect donated food before breakfast Tuesday, the second day of the holy month of Ramadan, in Rafah, Gaza. (Loay Ayyoub for The Washington Post)

Aid en route to Gaza; Israel kills Hamas militant in Lebanon

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Humanitarian groups and several governments are stepping up efforts by air, land and sea to ease the suffering in aid-starved Gaza. Aid organizations say the spiraling humanitarian disaster is particularly bad in the north, where some 300,000 people live on the brink of famine. In southern Lebanon, an Israeli strike Wednesday killed a Hamas militant on the outskirts of Tyre.

Key updates
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Pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza blocked security gates and car traffic Wednesday at San Francisco International Airport, according to reports in local media. The airport’s account on the social media platform X said that passengers would be rerouted away from the protest.
Senate Republicans were addressed by Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog at their retreat on Thursday. Israli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to address the group via video but could not make it at the last minute, according to a person familiar with the invite who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
A ship carrying 200 tons of food departed Cyprus for Gaza, a U.S. military aircraft dropped 5,280 pounds of food into northern Gaza, and Israel allowed a World Food Program convoy to deliver food for 25,000 people in Gaza City. Here’s everything we know about the maritime aid mission so far.
The Pentagon dispatched four Army vessels to the Eastern Mediterranean to set up a temporary pier on Gaza’s coast that can receive aid supplies, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a spokesman, told reporters Tuesday. The pier will be operational in 60 days, he said.
The New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal announced a lawsuit against Columbia University over what they said was the unlawful suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace chapters. The school suspended the groups last year, accusing them of holding protests that contained “threatening rhetoric.”
At least 31,272 people have been killed and 73,024 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 249 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters calling for a cease-fire in Gaza blocked security gates and car traffic Wednesday at San Francisco International Airport, according to reports in local media. The airport’s account on the social media platform X said that passengers would be rerouted away from the protest.
Senate Republicans were addressed by Israeli Ambassador Michael Herzog at their retreat on Thursday. Israli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was invited to address the group via video but could not make it at the last minute, according to a person familiar with the invite who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly.
A ship carrying 200 tons of food departed Cyprus for Gaza, a U.S. military aircraft dropped 5,280 pounds of food into northern Gaza, and Israel allowed a World Food Program convoy to deliver food for 25,000 people in Gaza City. Here’s everything we know about the maritime aid mission so far.
The Pentagon dispatched four Army vessels to the Eastern Mediterranean to set up a temporary pier on Gaza’s coast that can receive aid supplies, Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, a spokesman, told reporters Tuesday. The pier will be operational in 60 days, he said.
The New York Civil Liberties Union and Palestine Legal announced a lawsuit against Columbia University over what they said was the unlawful suspension of Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace chapters. The school suspended the groups last year, accusing them of holding protests that contained “threatening rhetoric.”
At least 31,272 people have been killed and 73,024 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 249 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

Israel-Gaza war: Amid dimming hopes that an Israel-Hamas cease-fire and hostage-release deal will be reached before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, President Biden has ordered the U.S. military to construct a temporary port and pier on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to open a new route for providing humanitarian aid.

Middle East conflict: Tensions in the region continue to rise. As Israeli troops aim to take control of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, officials in Cairo warn that the move would undermine the 1979 peace treaty. Meanwhile, there’s a diplomatic scramble to avert full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon.

U.S. involvement: U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed dozens of Iranian-linked militants, according to Iraqi officials. The strikes were the first round of retaliatory action by the Biden administration for an attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members.