Israeli settlers have attacked a military base in the occupied West Bank, setting fires, vandalizing vehicles and clashing with soldiers. The unrest on Sunday followed recent settler violence and arrests by Israeli security forces. Last week, settlers entered a Palestinian town, setting property ablaze and firing guns. Three Palestinians were killed after military intervention. Far-right Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir condemned Sunday's attacks on soldiers, calling them a "red line." Opposition leader Yair Lapid labeled the settlers "Jewish terrorists." Violence by extremist settlers has risen alongside growing tensions in the region, with Palestinians in the west Bank reporting increased checkpoints and delays.

The Gaza Health Ministry says that the Palestinian death toll from the 20-month Israel-Hamas war has climbed past 55,000. The ministry doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants but has said that women and children make up more than half the dead. The ministry gave the updated figures on Wednesday. It's a grim milestone in the war that began with Hamas' attack on Oct. 7, 2023, into southern Israel. The war shows no sign of ending. Israel says it only targets militants and blames civilian deaths on Hamas. Israel accuses the militants of hiding among civilians because they operate in populated areas.

Israel has recovered the bodies of two Israeli-American hostages taken in Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack that ignited the war in the Gaza Strip. Israeli strikes overnight and into Thursday meanwhile killed at least 13 people, including three local journalists who were in the courtyard of a hospital, according to health officials in the territory. The military said it targeted a militant in that strike. Israel said the remains of Judih Weinstein and Gad Haggai were recovered in a special operation by the army and the Shin Bet internal security agency. The military says they were killed in the Oct. 7 attack. Hamas-led militants are still holding 56 hostages, around a third of them believed to be alive.

An Israeli- and U.S.-backed group has temporarily paused food delivery at its three distribution sites in Gaza. That came after health officials said dozens of Palestinians were killed in a series of shootings near the sites this week. Separately, officials said Israeli strikes across the territory killed 26 people overnight and into Wednesday. The Gaza Humanitarian Foundation said it was in discussions with the Israeli military on better guiding foot traffic near its distribution sites and enhancing military procedures. Gaza health officials, the Red Cross and the U.N. rights office said 27 people were killed Tuesday. Witnesses blamed Israeli forces. Israel's military said it fired near people it described as suspects and that it is looking into reports of casualties.

Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip opened fire as people headed toward an aid distribution site a kilometer away at around sunrise, killing at least three people and wounding dozens, health officials and a witness said. The military said it fired warning shots Monday at "suspects" who approached its forces. The shooting occurred at the same location where witnesses say Israeli forces fired a day earlier on crowds of people heading toward the aid hub in southern Gaza run by the Israeli and U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. The army denied it was preventing people from reaching the site.