Hello from The National in Abu Dhabi. Here is your morning newsletter with all the top stories from the Mena region.

GAZA/ISRAEL

Four people were killed in an Israeli air strike on a school sheltering refugees in Nuseirat camp last night. Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said more forces will enter Rafah. Arab states have called for UN peacekeepers in Palestinian territories. Read the latest developments here.

Israel’s attack on Rafah is part of an “endgame” in which Gaza is “utterly destroyed” as a place fit for human life, the UN’s highest court was told.

Arab leaders called for an international peacekeeping mission in the occupied Palestinian territories as the Arab League summit came to a close in Bahrain. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas called on the international community to “immediately begin implementing the two-state solution”, during a speech at the summit.

Food insecurity in northern Gaza has reached "catastrophic" levels and Israel’s closure of the Rafah border crossing in the south has further cut supplies at a critical moment, a US official said.

An Israeli human rights lawyer said the army and border police stood by as she was attacked by settlers who threw aid off a lorry bound for Gaza on Monday, destroying food packages destined for the famine-threatened enclave.

Families of Israeli hostages urged the UN Security Council yesterday to condemn the October 7 Hamas attacks and call for the immediate release of hostages held by Palestinian militant groups in Gaza.

TUNISIA

Hundreds of Tunisian lawyers and civil society activists rallied in the capital Tunis against the policies of President Kais Saied and his government, which they described as limiting freedom of expression.

IRAQ

The head of the UN mission in Iraq said that a recent increase in mass executions of people convicted under anti-terrorism laws was a cause for great concern.

EGYPT

Researchers have uncovered evidence that bolsters theories that ancient Egyptians used a lost arm of the Nile to transport the huge limestone and granite blocks used to build the Great Pyramids.

PLUS …

Ismaeel Naar argues that Gaza is a test of the Arab League.

Mustafa Alrawi asks: how do we prepare for the ethics of AI?

AND …

A Closer Look: Can drug-fuelled sports provide an insight into human longevity?

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