Ceasefire impasses while Israeli forces batter central, south Gaza

Despite a renewed ceasefire push, Israel bombarded southern and central areas of Gaza again on Friday, killing at least 28 Palestinians, and tank forces advanced to the western edges of Rafah, Reuters reports.

U.S.-backed Qatari and Egyptian mediators have tried again this week to reconcile clashing demands preventing a halt to the hostilities, a release of Israeli hostages and Palestinians jailed in Israel, and an unrestricted flow of aid into Gaza to alleviate a humanitarian disaster. However, there were still no signs of a breakthrough, according to the Reuters report, citing sources close to the talks.

An Israeli airstrike on a Gaza City school building that was housing displaced families killed three Palestinians in northern Gaza, according to rescue workers.

Israel's military stated that the airstrike targeted Hamas gunmen who were operating from a container inside the school. This explanation mirrors the one provided for an airstrike on a UN school building in al-Nuseirat in central Gaza on Thursday, which medics said killed 40 people, including 14 children.

The annual "Children and Armed Conflict" report from UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is not due to be published until June 18, but according to AFP reports, Israel's UN ambassador, Gilad Erdan, spoke out after receiving private notification of the inclusion.

"I am utterly shocked and disgusted by this shameful decision," Erdan said in a statement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on his X social media account that the UN "put itself today on history's blacklist when it adopted the absurd claims of Hamas."

"The IDF is the most moral military in the world and no 'flat earth' decision by the UN secretary-general can change that," he wrote, referring to the Israel Defense Forces.

The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said that adding Israel to the "list of shame" would not restore the lives of children killed or left permanently disabled in Israeli military attacks.

"But it is an important step in the right direction towards ending the double standards and the culture of impunity Israel has enjoyed for far too long and that left our children vulnerable," he said on X.

Red Sea tensions

Yemen's Houthi group on Friday claimed responsibility for launching missile and drone attacks against two commercial vessels in the Red Sea.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a statement that the attacks targeted two ships belonging to companies that violated the Houthi decision to ban entry to Israeli ports. He identified the ships as Elbella and AAL GENOA.

In the statement aired by Houthi-run al-Masirah TV, Sarea said the attacks were "carried out with a number of drones, ballistic and naval missiles, and the hits were accurate." He also vowed to launch more such attacks until "Israel stops the war on Gaza."

Earlier in the day, al-Masirah TV reported that "the U.S.-British coalition launched multiple airstrikes against the capital Sanaa and the port city of Hodeidah."

The airstrikes targeted Houthi military positions in both cities, according to local residents.

Since November last year, the Houthi group has launched anti-ship ballistic missiles and drones targeting what they said were Israeli-linked ships transiting the Red Sea, to show solidarity with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

(With input from Agencies)