Israel cuts off Gaza's southern city of Rafah and vows to -lsquo;vigorously- expand in the territory

Israel announced Saturday it has completed construction of a new security corridor that cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, as the military said it would soon expand &vigorously& in most of the small coastal territory.

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‘Hell on earth&: humanitarian supplies will run out in Gaza in two weeks, Red Cross boss says

The president of the Red Cross described the humanitarian situation in Gaza yesterday as &hell on earth& and warned that its field hospital will run out of supplies within two weeks.

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Israel says it will fire army reservists who signed letter against war in Gaza

Israel&s military said yesterday it will fire air force reservists who signed an open letter that condemns the war in Gaza for only serving political interests instead of bringing the hostages home.

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‘Eyes of Gaza& author Plestia Alaqad: ‘As a Palestinian, it&s a full-time job to try to show the world that you&re human&

If this were a normal interview, I&d probably start by easing you in with some colour and context. I&d introduce you to Plestia Alaqad, the 23-year-old Palestinian journalist and poet, by painting a picture of what she was doing when we spoke. I&d say something along the lines of: Alaqad is sitting in the living room of her cousin&s house in Dubai sipping tea.

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‘My life is worse. Before I lost my leg, I could play& - many children among 4,500 new amputees in Gaza

Farah Abu Qainas hoped to become a teacher but an Israeli air strike last year injured her so badly she lost her left leg, throwing all her future plans into doubt and adding the 21-year-old to a list of thousands of new amputees in devastated Gaza.

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Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was critical of the pilots' demands. Photo: AP/Denes Erdos

Nearly 1,000 Israeli retired and reservist fighter pilots called in an open letter yesterday for the government to prioritise freeing remaining hostages held in Gaza, even if that meant halting the war against Hamas.

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