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Israeli tanks enter Gaza's Deir al-Balah, raising alarm over hostages
Deir al-Balah is densely populated with Palestinians displaced over nearly 22 months of conflict. Following an evacuation order from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), hundreds of residents fled west and south as the military signalled plans to dismantle Hamas's infrastructure in the district.
Homes, mosques shelled
Local medical said tank shelling hit residential areas and mosques, killing at least three Palestinians and injuring several more.
UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric confirmed that two UN guesthouses were also struck, despite the Israeli military being informed of their coordinates. 'UN staff remain in Deir al-Balah, and two UN guesthouses have been struck, despite parties having been informed of the locations of UN premises, which are inviolable. These locations – as with all civilian sites – must be protected, regardless of evacuation orders,' he said.
WHO says staff, family members detained
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that its staff accommodation and main warehouse in Deir al-Balah were also hit. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said two WHO personnel and two of their relatives were detained by Israeli forces. Three were later released, while one remains in custody.
Hostage families demand clarity from Israeli leadership
Israeli military forces had refrained from entering this area due to concerns that Hamas may be holding hostages there. It is estimated that around 20 of the remaining 50 hostages are still alive. Families of the captives have called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Israel Katz, and the Chief of the Army to explain what measures are being taken to protect the hostages amid the new offensive.
Gaza warns of mass deaths due to hunger
Gaza's Health Ministry said at least 130 Palestinians had been killed and over 1,000 injured across the territory in the past 24 hours—one of the highest casualty tolls in weeks. The ministry, operated by Hamas, warned of possible 'mass deaths' due to starvation, which it says has already killed at least 19 people since Saturday.
Hospitals face severe shortages
Health officials warned that hospitals are running critically low on fuel, medical supplies, and food. Khalil Al-Deqran, a spokesperson for the ministry, said that medical workers are surviving on a single meal per day, with patients arriving in critical condition from exhaustion and malnutrition.
'Israel has the obligation to allow and facilitate by all the means at its disposal the humanitarian relief provided by the United Nations and by other humanitarian organizations,' Dujarric reiterated.
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The Hindu
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The consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic far outlasted the health emergency. Long after infection curves flattened and emergency declarations were lifted, countries across the globe continued to wrestle with a deep economic, social and health-related fallout. In India, over 23 crore people were pushed into poverty during the pandemic years, with rural and informal sector workers bearing the brunt, and the economic spillover continues to be seen in the form of increased government debt, rising inflation, a stagnating hospitality industry and other things, even after half a decade has passed since the onset of COVID. In the health sector, the disruption to routine immunisation services led to measles outbreaks in numerous Sub-Saharan countries, while a UNICEF report warned that about 23 million children missed out on essential vaccines in 2020 alone. Mental health outcomes also deteriorated sharply. 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Commendably, the agreement talks about the need to provide affordable health and other social support services to 'persons in vulnerable situations'. It also calls for the mitigation of the socioeconomic impacts of pandemics on such persons. However, it misses an opportunity to guide state parties on when and how this should be done at the domestic and trans-national levels, especially at the time of recovery. Integrating recovery into the pandemic agreement Article 3 of the agreement, titled 'Preparedness, health system resilience and recovery', gestures toward the importance of post-pandemic strategies. However, recovery is buried within broader health system resilience goals and mentioned only in passing. It refers vaguely to 'developing post-pandemic health system recovery strategies' without outlining how, when or by whom such strategies must be developed, implemented or monitored. This diluted treatment effectively renders recovery a discretionary task, rather than an obligation. There is no requirement for countries to assess the long-term impacts of pandemics on vulnerable populations, nor is there any architecture for coordinating recovery efforts, allocating responsibilities or ensuring accountability. In the light of this gap, recovery must be established as a clear, foundational pillar within the pandemic agreement – not a vague aspiration buried under resilience. It is important to acknowledge at the onset that international treaties cannot impose rigid mandates on sovereign states. However, by creating shared expectations and enabling frameworks, they can support states in fulfilling recovery goals without infringing on national autonomy. Rather than prescribe uniform recovery models, the agreement can promote adaptable, equity-based cooperation that complements domestic efforts while ensuring accountability and consistency across borders. The agreement should require states to develop standalone national recovery frameworks tailored to their contexts, with explicit mandates for implementation, periodic review and transparent reporting. Recovery should be understood broadly – not just as restoring health systems but as encompassing social, economic and mental health dimensions affected by pandemics. A comprehensive recovery approach must prioritise impact assessments focused on marginalised and vulnerable populations – including gender minorities, workers in the informal sector, migrants, senior citizens, homeless populations, persons with disabilities and ethnic minorities – who disproportionately suffer during crises. These assessments should directly inform targeted economic and social policies, such as livelihood restoration, social protection adjustments and reintegration support, to prevent widening inequalities in the post-crisis phase. Further, recovery goals must be multi-dimensional and should account for the wide-ranging impact of pandemics across different key areas. Accordingly, the agreement should embed principles for access to justice and redressal mechanisms for harms suffered during pandemics, the restoration of disrupted education systems, safeguards for the continuity of essential public and welfare services, mechanisms for the review of governmental decisions and actions during the state of exception, and the rebuilding of public trust through transparent and participatory governance. The absence of these dimensions risks a recovery that is piecemeal and opaque, weakening institutional integrity and leaving societies more vulnerable to future crises. International cooperation in recovery efforts In order to achieve the aim of equity, especially across the Global North-Global South divide, the international community must direct its attention to recovery efforts across national borders. The agreement must institutionalise mechanisms for international coordination and solidarity during the recovery phase, facilitating sharing of expertise, resources and data across countries to reduce regional vulnerabilities and promote equitable resilience. The bodies set up under the agreement do not account for this adequately, in terms of function or finances. The mechanisms set up under the agreement, such as PABS, deal with important functions like pathogen and data sharing, and pharmaceutical supply and distribution. There are no such systems established for recovery. The Coordinating Financial Mechanism previously established under the IHR has been envisaged as the mechanism to promote sustainable financing for the implementation of the pandemic agreement as well. Its mandate under the pandemic agreement is to 'support strengthening and expanding capacities for pandemic prevention, preparedness and response, and contribute to the prompt availability of surge financing response necessary as of day zero, particularly in developing country Parties.' This conspicuously and concerningly misses recovery as a crucial stage of assessing impacts and developing strategies for rebuilding, which is especially crucial for low and middle-income countries in the Global South, including India. The cultural impact of international documents Understandably, international agreements cannot impose specific obligations in the same way that domestic laws can. Given the legally binding nature of the pandemic agreement, it should also refrain from interfering with sovereign and context-specific decisions adopted at the national and sub-national levels. At the same time, beyond policy prescriptions, international treaties play a critical role in shaping legal cultures and empowering civil society to demand justice and reform. By embedding preparedness, resilience-building and recovery within the pandemic agreement, the global community will be able to create a shared vocabulary and normative framework that activists, policymakers and courts can invoke domestically to advance equity and resilience. India's past experience has illustrated this dynamic vividly. The Vishakha Guidelines on workplace sexual harassment, which transformed protections for women, were grounded in India's commitments under the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. Similarly, the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has influenced landmark judicial decisions and legislative reforms enhancing disability rights and access to welfare in India. What can be done to prioritise recovery? While laying out the rules or procedure and terms of reference, the Intergovernmental Working Group empowered under the agreement must lay down specific provisions on recovery, including indicative domestic guidance, mechanisms for international cooperation and sustainable financing or recovery that recognises marginalisation and prioritises equity. Embedding principles that prioritise domestic and international efforts will shift recovery from a discretionary afterthought to a binding commitment that demands accountability without prescribing inflexible solutions. It provides states with a flexible but clear mandate to build inclusive, adaptive recovery architectures that address the deep, lasting fallout of pandemics. Shreyashi Ray is a senior resident fellow with the health team at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. Anchal Bhatheja is a research fellow at the centre.
