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       The Gaza Ministry of Health has said that 20 dead Palestinians and 155 injuries have reached al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City after an Israeli strike on the Kuwait Roundabout, east of Gaza City, where civilians were waiting for food aid.

       “The wounded lie on the floor in al-Shifa Medical Complex,” the ministry said in a statement. They included that medical teams were struggling to deal with the volume and type of injuries due to weakened capabilities.

       The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) has denied it was responsible for the attack, saying that it was assessing the incident.

       Palestinian Authority appoints new Prime Minister but faces scepticism

       Meanwhile, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, facing US pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority, has appointed his long-time economic adviser as the next prime minister.

       Mohammad Mustafa, a US-educated economist and political independent, will head a technocratic government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that could potentially administer Gaza ahead of eventual statehood.

       But those plans face major obstacles, including strong opposition from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

       It’s unclear whether the appointment of a new Cabinet led by a close Abbas ally would be sufficient to meet US demands for reform, as the 88-year-old president would remain in overall control.

       Washington welcomed his appointment but urged that Mostafa quickly form a Cabinet to implement change.

       US imposes sanctions

       The Biden administration on Thursday imposed sanctions on three extremist Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank who are accused of harassing and attacking Palestinians to pressure them to leave their land.

       Two farms that the settlers run were also targeted in the move that is likely to increase already heightened tensions between the U.S. and Israel over the Gaza war.

       The announcement from the State Department and Treasury comes at a time of increasing friction between President Joe Biden and Netanyahu, whose far-right government has reacted angrily to previous sanctions imposed against West Bank settlers.

       US officials, including Biden and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have repeatedly raised concerns about a surge in settler violence against Palestinians in the West Bank since Israel’s war on Hamas in the Gaza Strip began.

       Israel has said it is taking action against such attacks and argued that the sanctions are unnecessary.

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       Tributes continue to pour in for the leader of Bulgaria’s Orthodox Christian church, Patriarch Neophyte, who passed away on Wednesday.

       In a statement, the church said he had died as a result of “multiple organ failure” after a long illness.

       The 78-year-old had been hospitalised with lung disease since last November at the military medical academy in the capital Sofia.

       Neophyte was the first elected head of the church in the post-Soviet era and sought to restore its reputation tainted by links to the communist secret police.

       Orthodox Christians make up over 80 per cent of Bulgaria’s nearly 7 million people.

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       Ukraine fired at least eight missiles at Russia’s Belgorod border region, killing two people and wounding 12, local officials said on Thursday.

       Russia also said it repelled cross-border incursions by Ukrainian forces in the same area and neighbouring Kursk.

       Moscow claims its troops killed 195 Ukrainian soldiers, destroyed five tanks and four armoured infantry vehicles - just two days after saying it killed 234 Ukrainian troops in another border assault.

       It is not possible to independently verify these claims.

       Cross-border attacks in the area have occurred sporadically since the war began and have been the subject of claims and counterclaims, as well as disinformation and propaganda.

       The attacks come as Kyiv attempts to rattle the Kremlin ahead of Russia’s presidential elections.

       Vladimir Putin is all but guaranteed to win the vote, amid a ruthless crackdown on dissent in the country.

       FILE - Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at a news conference following a meeting of the State Council at the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia on Dec. 22, 2022 Sergey Guneyev/Sputnik

       Putin has sought to persuade Russians to keep him in power against a backdrop of what he says are foreign threats to Russia, with the Ukraine war stretching into its third year.

       In a video address, he said participation in the polls was a “manifestation of patriotic feeling” and that the polls were “a step into the future”.

       Analysts say the Kremlin fears low turnout during the three days of voting that finish Sunday. It needs citizens to participate to give legitimacy to Putin.

       The country’s exiled opposition is calling on Russians to protest against the election by gathering at polling stations at noon on Sunday in a signal that they do not support Putin.

       But Putin is almost certain to win another six-year term which will see him remain in office until 2030.

       Since coming to power almost 25 years ago, he has eliminated nearly all independent media and opposition voices in Russia, particularly since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

       While the war did not go well for Russia initially, the country’s economy has been surprisingly resilient despite wide-ranging Western sanctions.

       And as Western aid to Kyiv peters out, Moscow has significantly expanded its weapons production, which analysts warn does not bode well for Ukraine.

       NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday warned that delays in arms and ammunition deliveries to Ukraine are costing lives.

       “The Ukrainians are not running out of courage, they are running out of ammunition,” he told reporters in Brussels.

       Experts say Russia is gaining momentum in the war and that the coming months will be critical to the outcome of the conflict.