Morning recap

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 684th day: 

• Israeli forces have killed at least 81 Palestinians in Gaza on Wednesday, launching what its military terms the initial phase of a planned assault on Gaza City. 

• Three more Palestinians have died from starvation on Wednesday, raising the official death toll from malnutrition and dehydration to 269. This figure includes 112 children.

• Israeli troops shot and killed a prominent former Palestinian national basketball player, Mohammed Shaalan, at an aid distribution point in southern Gaza. The incident forms part of a wider pattern of violence targeting aid seekers, with at least 30 killed in such circumstances on Wednesday.

• Israel has approved a contentious construction plan for the E1 area of the occupied West Bank, a move critics say aims to bisect the territory and undermine a future Palestinian state. British Foreign Minister David Lammy condemned the decision, saying, if implemented, it would "mark a flagrant breach of international law and critically undermine the two-state solution."

• The United States is imposing sanctions on International Criminal Court officials, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio announced. The sanctions target prosecutors involved in seeking arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes in Gaza.

• A new Reuters/Ipsos poll indicates that 58 percent of Americans believe every country should recognise Palestine. The findings reveal significant public suppport on the issue of Palestinian statehood.