Several countries, including France, Britian and Canada, have announced plans to recognize statehood for Palestinians since Israel launched a bombardment of Gaza nearly two years ago in response to the Hamas attacks.

The attack was the latest to see journalists targeted in the 22-month war in Gaza, with around 200 media workers killed over the course of the conflict, according to media watchdogs.

The Israeli military admitted in a statement to targeting Anas al-Sharif, the reporter it labelled as a "terrorist" affiliated with Hamas.

A plan for a major military offensive proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to occupy Gaza further is a violation of international laws and a set of United Nations charters, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv on Saturday to call for an end to the war in Gaza, a day after the Israeli government vowed to expand the conflict and capture Gaza City.

The territory is home to about three million Palestinians. Excluding Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem, it is also home to around half a million Israelis living in settlements considered illegal under international law. 

Merz said it was "increasingly difficult to understand" how the latest Israeli military plan would help achieve the aims of disarming Hamas and freeing the remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza.

Nearly two years into the war in Gaza, Netanyahu faces mounting pressure at home and abroad for a truce to pull the territory's more than two million people back from the brink of famine and free the hostages held by Palestinian militants.

Following its July 2 delivery to the Indonesian Navy from Milan-based shipyard Fincantieri, multipurpose combat ship KRI Brawijaya conducted a mid-ocean rendezvous and passing exercise with Sigma-class corvette KRI Sultan Iskandar Muda on Aug. 2 on the Mediterranean Sea.

"The IDF will prepare to take control of Gaza City while providing humanitarian aid to the civilian population outside the combat zones," Netanyahu's office said in a statement, referring to the Israeli Defence Forces.

The presidential palace said injured Gazans will be treated on Galang Island in Riau Islands, based on an order from President Prabowo Subianto, while Foreign Minister Sugiono said that authorities are still looking for other alternatives and the plan is far from being finalized.

Indonesia has sent humanitarian aid to Gaza after Israel started an offensive in October 2023 that Gaza health officials say has killed more than 60,000 Palestinians, whether fighters or non-combatants.

A widening of the war "would risk catastrophic consequences for millions of Palestinians and could further endanger the lives of the remaining hostages in Gaza," Miroslav Jenca, UN assistant secretary-general for Europe, Central Asia and the Americas, told a Security Council meeting.

Indonesia is hoping to deliver its humanitarian aid to Gaza, including 10,000 tonnes of rice, via land routes instead of high-risk airdrops, as access to the besieged exclave remains severely limited amid Israel’s renewed military operations.

Hostage families and peace activists want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government to secure a ceasefire with Hamas and free the remaining captives abducted during the October 2023 Hamas attacks.

Indonesia’s top diplomat reaffirmed the country’s commitment to not displacing Palestinians from war-torn Gaza, amid reports that Jakarta had already agreed to do otherwise, along with several other countries.

Under a delicate decades-old "status quo" arrangement with Muslim authorities, the Al-Aqsa compound is administered by a Jordanian religious foundation and Jews can visit but may not pray there.

The United Nations has said that 6,000 trucks are awaiting permission from Israel to enter the occupied Palestinian territory.

More countries have announced plans to recognize a Palestinian state, winning applause from Indonesia, which called on other countries to follow suit in an effort to create a lasting peace in Gaza.

Canada plans to recognize the State of Palestine at a meeting of the United Nations in September, Prime Minister Mark Carney announced on Wednesday, ratcheting up pressure on Israel as starvation spreads in Gaza.

The potentially landmark move, part of Starmer's plan for a "lasting peace", came after the British leader recalled his cabinet from recess for urgent talks on the worsening situation in the besieged territory.

Seventeen countries plus the European Union and Arab League threw their weight behind a seven-page text agreed at a United Nations conference on reviving the two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians. 

The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Initiative (IPC) said that air drops over Gaza will not be enough to avert the "humanitarian catastrophe."

There is no alternative to a two-state solution between Israelis and the Palestinians, France told a UN conference co-chaired with Saudi Arabia Monday that was boycotted by Israel and branded a stunt by Washington.

UN agencies have been warning of life-threatening hunger in Gaza as aid supplies dried up, and international pressure has been building for a ceasefire to allow a massive relief operation.

The Palestinian territory is gripped by dire humanitarian conditions created by 21 months of war and made worse by Israel's total blockade of aid from March to May.

Indonesia has welcomed France’s recognition of a Palestinian state, while reaffirming its support for a two-state solution to end the longstanding conflict between Israel and Palestine.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump appeared on Friday to abandon Gaza ceasefire negotiations with Hamas, both saying it had become clear that the Palestinian militants did not want a deal.

Both Israel and Hamas are facing pressure at home and abroad to reach a deal following almost two years of war, with the humanitarian situation inside Gaza deteriorating and Israelis worried about the conditions in which hostages are being held.

At least 142 countries now recognize or plan to recognize Palestinian statehood, according to an AFP tally -- though Israel and the United States strongly oppose the move.