GAZA STRIP, Palestinian Territories: Hundreds of people stranded in Gaza’s biggest hospital were enduring “inhuman” conditions on Monday while heavy fighting raged around them, a doctor said as Israel declared Hamas had “lost control” over the Palestinian territory.
“Terrorists are fleeing southward. Civilians are looting Hamas bases. They don’t have faith in the government anymore,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Israeli television without providing evidence.

ISMAILIA, Egypt: A Turkish vessel carrying materials for field hospitals arrived Monday in Egypt’s port of El-Arish near the Rafah border crossing with the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, a port official said.

It is the first such aid vessel to arrive in Egypt since war broke out on Oct. 7 when Hamas militants in Gaza launched an attack on Israel.

Israel has responded with a furious bombing campaign and ground invasion that officials in the Hamas government say has killed over 11,000 people, also mostly civilians and including thousands of children.

WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden spoke on Sunday with Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani about developments in Gaza and “urgent ongoing efforts” to secure the release of hostages being held by the Hamas militant group, the White House said.
Biden “unequivocally” condemned the holding of hostages by Hamas, including many young children, one of whom is a 3-year old American citizen whose parents were killed by the group on October 7th, the White House said in a statement.

WASHINGTON: The United States carried out strikes against two Iran-linked sites in Syria on Sunday in response to attacks on American personnel, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said.
It is the third time in less than three weeks that the US military has targeted locations in Syria it said were tied to Iran, which supports various armed groups that Washington blames for a spike in attacks on its forces in the Middle East.

BEIRUT: Lebanon has seized more than half a ton of drugs destined for Kuwait, authorities said Sunday, as Beirut seeks to combat narcotics trafficking, particularly to Gulf countries.
Authorities “seized around 800 kilogrammes (1,760 pounds) of drugs” bound for Kuwait via the Netherlands, the office of Interior Minister Bassam Mawlawi said in a statement carried by Lebanon’s official National News Agency (NNA).
The drugs were “professionally” concealed in wooden figures inside a bulletproof box, the statement said, without specifying the type of narcotics seized.