First Thing: Israeli ground forces battle Hamas in northern Gaza as Netanyahu rules out ceasefire

News Snapshot:

Good morning. Israeli ground forces have attacked Hamas positions and infrastructure in northern Gaza, after the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, categorically ruled out a ceasefire as a “surrender”. “The soldiers killed terrorists and directed air forces to real-time strikes on targets and terror infrastructure,” the army said, as tanks and other armoured vehicles advanced on Gaza City. Meanwhile, Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general for the UN relief and works agency (UNRWA), has accused Israel of “collective punishment” of the people of Gaza and said that the current aid system was “geared to fail”. “The system in place to allow aid...