A hospital in southern Gaza says 54 people have been killed in overnight airstrikes on the city of Khan Younis.

The United Nations said on Thursday it will not take part in a U.S.-backed humanitarian operation in Gaza because it is not impartial, neutral or independent, while Israel pledged to facilitate the effort without being involved in aid deliveries.

For Mr Alexander, his family and the many Israelis who have been campaigning for the hostages in Gaza, his release brought relief and joy. For Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, it was a moment of diplomatic embarrassment.

At the charity kitchen in Beit Lahiya, the hungry crowd of men, women and children jostled for position, holding out empty pots and plastic containers high in the air for a few ladles of watery vegetable soup.

Although he fought hard to survive more than 500 days of captivity in Gaza, Israeli Omer Wenkert says he is not free. As long as hostages are being held in the Palestinian enclave, his torment will not end.

Fighting has surged again, border crossings are still closed and food is dangerously scarce, leaving Palestinian children facing catastrophic hunger.

Palestinians across the Middle East are commemorating the anniversary of the “Nakba” -- Arabic for “the Catastrophe” -- when some 700,000 Palestinians were expelled by Israeli forces or fled their homes in what is now Israel during the 1948 war that surrounded its creation.