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100 Unique and Creative Travel Words with Beautiful Meanings

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Everyone (who knows me) knows how I love words. I hoard words . Everyone also knows how I love to travel. I eat, drink, and sleep travel 🙂 Here, in this post, I’ve blended two of my passions – words and travel. The post rounds up the creative travel words that describe wanderlust perfectly. You’ll never be at a loss for words while narrating your travel experiences once you equip yourself with these unique words about travel.

Unusual Travel Words with Beautiful Meanings

Wanderlust (n.).

Origin: German Pronunciation: vawn-duh-luhst Meaning: a strong desire to travel

Resfeber (n.)

Origin: Swedish Pronunciation: race-fay-ber Meaning: the restless race of the traveler’s heart before the journey begins, when anxiety and anticipation are tangled together; the nervous feeling before undertaking a journey

Related Read: 27 Cool Swedish Words You Must Know

Strikhedonia (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: strik-he-don-e-a Meaning: the joy of being able to say “to hell with it”

Eleutheromania (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: eleuthero-ma-nia Meaning: an intense and irresistible desire for freedom

Origin: Hawaiian Pronunciation: ak-i-hi Meaning: listening to directions and then walking off and promptly forgetting them

Exulansis (n.)

Origin: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Pronunciation: exu-lan-sis Meaning: the tendency to give up trying to talk about an experience because people are unable to relate to it — whether through envy or pity or simple foreignness—which allows it to drift away from the rest of your life story, until the memory itself feels out of place, almost mythical, wandering restlessly in the fog, no longer even looking for a place to land.

Hodophile (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: hodo-phile Meaning: a lover of roads; one who loves to travel

Saudade (n.)

Origin: Portuguese Pronunciation: sau-da-de Meaning: a nostalgic longing for something or someone that was loved and then lost, with the knowledge that it or they might never return; “the love that remains”

Fernweh (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: feirn-veyh Meaning: an ache for distant places; a longing for far-off places; an urge to travel even stronger than wanderlust; being homesick for a place you’ve never been

Selcouth (adj.)

Origin: Old English Pronunciation: sel-kooth Meaning: unfamiliar, rare, strange, and yet marvelous

Serendipity (n.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: seh-ruhn-di-puh-tee Meaning: finding something good without looking for it

Pilgrimage (n.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: pil-gruh-mij Meaning: a journey, especially a long one, made to some sacred place as an act of religious devotion

Gökotta (n.)

Origin: Swedish Pronunciation: yo-kot-ah Meaning: literally translates to the early cuckoo morning or dawn picnic to hear the first birdsong; the act of rising early in the morning to hear the birds sing at sunrise and appreciate nature

Schwellenangst (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: shwel-en-ahngst Meaning: fear of embarking on something new; fear of crossing a threshold

Voyage (n.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: voy-ij Meaning: a long journey involving travel by sea or in space

Origin: Japanese Pronunciation: yoo-gehn Meaning: a profound awareness of the universe that triggers emotional responses too deep, powerful, and mysterious for words

Origin: Danish Pronunciation: hue-gah Meaning: the Danish practice of creating warmth, connection, and well-being; a complete absence of anything annoying or emotionally overwhelming; taking pleasure from the presence of gentle, soothing things; celebrating the everyday

You Might Like: Cool Danish Words We Need in English Now

Vagary (n.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: va-ga-re Meaning: an unpredictable instance, a wandering journey; a whimsical, wild, and unusual idea, desire, or action

Origin: Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Pronunciation: mo-rii Meaning: the desire to capture a fleeting experience

“With every click of the shutter, you’re trying to press pause on your life. If only so you can feel a little more comfortable moving on living in a world stuck on the play.”

Musafir (n.)

Origin: Arabic Pronunciation: mu-sa-fir Meaning: traveler

Musafir remains one of my most favorite words associated with travel.

Odyssey (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: aw-duh-see Meaning: a long and eventful or adventurous journey or experience

Sonder (n.)

Origin: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Pronunciation: sohn-dehrr Meaning: the realization that each random passerby is living a life as vivid and complex as your own—populated with their own ambitions, friends, routines, worries and inherited craziness—an epic story that continues invisibly around you like an anthill sprawling deep underground, with elaborate passageways to thousands of other lives that you’ll never know existed, in which you might appear only once, as an extra sipping coffee in the background, as a blur of traffic passing on the highway, as a lighted window at dusk.

Gadabout (n.)

Origin: Middle English Pronunciation: gad-uh-bout Meaning: a habitual pleasure-seeker; a person who moves about restlessly and aimlessly, especially from one social activity to another; a person who travels often or to many different places, especially for pleasure

Acatalepsy (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: ey-kat-l-ep-see Meaning: incomprehensibleness; the impossibility of comprehending the universe; the belief that human knowledge can never have true certainty

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: noh-mad Meaning: a person who does not stay long in the same place; a wanderer

Cockaigne (n.)

Origin: Middle English Pronunciation: ko-keyn Meaning: an imaginary or fabled land of luxury and idleness

Origin: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Pronunciation: o-ni-sm Meaning: the awareness of how little of the world you’ll experience

“The frustration of being stuck in just one body, that inhabits only one place at a time, which is like standing in front of the departures screen at an airport, flickering over with strange place names like other people’s passwords, each representing one more thing you’ll never get to see before you die—and all because, as the arrow on the map helpfully points out, you are here.”

Nemophilist (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: ni-mo-fi-list Meaning: a haunter of the woods; one who loves the forest for its beauty and solitude

Trouvaille (n.)

Origin: French Pronunciation: troo-vee Meaning: a lucky find; a chance encounter with something wonderful and valuable

Safarnama (n.)

Origin: Persian Pronunciation: su-fur-nama Meaning: travelogue; an account of the travels

Smultronställe (n.)

Origin: Swedish Pronunciation: smool-tron-stall-uh Meaning: literally translates to place of wild strawberries; a special place discovered, treasured, returned to for solace and relaxation; a personal idyll free from stress or sadness

Livsnjutare (n.)

Origin: Swedish Pronunciation: livs-noo-tuhreh Meaning: literally translates to enjoyer of life; someone who loves life deeply and lives it to the extreme

Wayfarer (n.)

Origin: Old English Pronunciation: wey-fair-er Meaning: someone who travels, especially on foot

Kopfkino (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: kof-kino Meaning: literally translates to head cinema; the act of playing out an entire scenario in your mind

Hireath (n.)

Origin: Welsh Pronunciation: her-rith Meaning: a homesickness for a home to which you cannot return, a home which maybe never was; the nostalgia, the yearning, the grief for the lost places of your past

Peripatetic (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: per-uh-puh-tet-ik Meaning: a person who travels from place to place

Luftmensch (n.)

Origin: Yiddish Pronunciation: looft-mensh Meaning: literally translates to an air person; an impractical dreamer with improbable plans and no business sense; one with their head in the clouds

Solivagant (adj.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: soh-lih-va-ghent Meaning: wandering alone

Waldeinsamkeit (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: vahyd-ahyn-zahm-kahyt Meaning: literally translates to woodland solitude; the feeling of being alone in the woods

Ecophobia (n.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: eco-phobia Meaning: a fear or dislike of one’s home

Origin: Japanese Pronunciation: u-key-yo Meaning: literally translates to the floating world; living in the moment, detached from the bothers of life

Meraki (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: may-rah-kee Meaning: to do something with soul, creativity, and love; when you leave a piece of yourself in your work

Wabi-sabi (n.)

Origin: Japanese Pronunciation: wabe-sabe Meaning: finding beauty in imperfections; an acceptance of things as they are

Vorfreude (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: vor-froy-dah Meaning: the joyful, intense anticipation that comes from imagining future pleasures

Cosmopolitan (n.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: koz-muh-pahl-i-ten Meaning: belonging to all the world; not limited to just one part of the world; someone who has traveled a lot and feels at home in any part of the world

Peregrinate (v.)

Origin: Middle English Pronunciation: per-i-gruh-neyt Meaning: to travel or wander from place to place

Sojourn (n.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: soh-jurn Meaning: a temporary stay

Shinrin-yoku (n.)

Origin: Japanese Pronunciation: shin-rin-yo-ku Meaning: literally translates to forest bathing; a leisurely trip to the forest for recreation, relaxation, meditation, and therapy

Origin: Thai Pronunciation: ti-eow Meaning: to wander or roam around in a carefree way

Origin: Serbian Pronunciation: mir-ak Meaning: enjoyment of the simple things in life; the feeling of bliss and sense of oneness with the universe that comes from the simplest of pleasures; the pursuit of small, daily pleasures that all add up to a great sense of happiness and fulfillment

Dépaysement (n.)

Origin: French Pronunciation: de-pe-iz-ma Meaning: the feeling that comes from not being in one’s home country; disorientation due to experience of unfamiliar surroundings; being out of your element like a fish out of water

Itinerant (n.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: ai-ti-nr-uhnt Meaning: one who travels from place to place

Numinous (adj.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: noo-muh-nuhs Meaning: having a strong religious or spiritual or supernatural quality; indicating or suggesting the presence of divinity; describing an experience that makes you fearful yet fascinated, wed yet attracted – the powerful, personal feeling of being overwhelmed and inspired

Heimweh (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: haim-ve Meaning: homesickness; nostalgia; a longing for home

Sprachgefühl (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: shprahkh-guh-fyl Meaning: the character and spirit of a language; an intuitive sense of the rule and rhythm of language

Mångata (n.)

Origin: Swedish Pronunciation: mo-an-gaa-tah Meaning: the glimmering, roadlike reflection of the moonlight on water

Dromomania (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: dro-mo-ma-nia Meaning: an uncontrollable impulse or desire to wander or travel

Sehnsucht (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: zen-zukt Meaning: the inconsolable longing in the human heart for we know not what; a yearning for a far, familiar, non-earthly land one can identify as one’s home

Dérive (v.)

Origin: French Pronunciation: de-rive Meaning: literally translates to drift; a spontaneous and unplanned journey where the traveler leaves their life behind for a time to let the spirit of the landscape and architecture attract and move them

Absquatulate (v.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: ab-skwoch-uh-leyt Meaning: to leave abruptly without saying goodbye

Thalassophile (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: thal-as-o-fahyl Meaning: a lover of the sea; someone who loves the sea or ocean

Yoko meshi (n.)

Origin: Japanese Pronunciation: yoh-koh-mesh-ee Meaning: literally translates to a meal eaten sideways; refers to the peculiar stress of speaking a foreign language

Forelsket (v.)

Origin: Norwegian Pronunciation: phor-rel-sket Meaning: the euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love

Read More: 14 Beautiful Norwegian Words We Need in English Now

Rückkehrunruhe (n.)

Origin: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Pronunciation: rukee-ren-ruhee Meaning: the feeling of returning home after an immersive trip only to find it fading rapidly from your awareness—to the extent you have to keep reminding yourself that it happened at all, even though it felt so vivid just days ago—which makes you wish you could smoothly cross-dissolve back into everyday life, or just hold the shutter open indefinitely and let one scene become superimposed on the next, so all your days would run together and you’d never have to call cut.

Eudaimonia (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: u-de-mon-e-a Meaning: literally translates to human flourishing; a contented state of being happy, healthy, and prosperous

Sturmfrei (adj.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: stirm-fra Meaning: literally translates to storm-free; the freedom of not being watched by a parent or superior; being alone in a place and having the ability to do what you want

Origin: Mandarin Chinese Pronunciation: yu-yi Meaning: the desire to see with fresh eyes, and feel things just as powerfully as you did when you were younger-before expectations, before memory, before words

Photophile (n.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: pho-to-phile Meaning: Derived from the biological term “photophilic” for an organism that thrives in full light, it means a person who loves photography and light

Traipse (v.)

Origin: Unknown Pronunciation: trayps Meaning: to walk or go aimlessly or idly or without finding or reaching one’s goal

 Neophile (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: neo-phile Meaning: one who loves or has a strong affinity for anything new or novel

Ballagàrraidh (n.)

Origin: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Pronunciation: bal-la-ga-rye Meaning: the awareness that you are not at home in the wilderness

Vacilando (v.)

Origin: Spanish Pronunciation: vah-see-lan-doh Meaning: to wander or travel with the knowledge that the journey is more important than the destination

Quaquaversal (adj.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: kwey-kwuh-vur-sul Meaning: moving or happening in every direction instantaneously

Coddiwomple (v.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: kod-ee-wom-pul Meaning: to travel in a purposeful manner towards a vague destination

Vemödalen (n.)

Origin: The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Pronunciation: ve-mo-da-len Meaning: the fear that everything has already been done

“The frustration of photographing something amazing when thousands of identical photos already exist—the same sunset, the same waterfall, the same curve of a hip, the same closeup of an eye—which can turn a unique subject into something hollow and pulpy and cheap, like a mass-produced piece of furniture you happen to have assembled yourself.”

Commuovere (v.)

Origin: Italian Pronunciation: com-muo-ve-re Meaning: a story that touches or stirs you and moves you to tears

Natsukashii (adj.)

Origin: Japanese Pronunciation: nat-soo-kash-ee Meaning: of some small thing that brings you suddenly, joyously back to fond memories, not with a wistful longing for what’s past, but with an appreciation of the good times

Querencia (n.)

Origin: Spanish Pronunciation: keh-rehn-syah Meaning: a place from which one’s strength is drawn, where one feels at home; the place where you are your most authentic self

Novaturient (adj.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: no-vah-ter-y-ent Meaning: desiring or seeking powerful change in one’s life, behavior, or situation

Komorebi (n.)

Origin: Japanese Pronunciation: koh-moh-ray-bee Meaning: sunlight that filters through the leaves of trees

Flâneur (n.)

Origin: French Pronunciation: flah-nœr Meaning: one who strolls around aimlessly but enjoyably, observing life and his surroundings

Hanyauku (v.)

Origin: Kwangali Pronunciation: ha-ahn-yoh-kuu Meaning: to walk on tiptoes across the warm sand

Dès Vu (n.)

Origin: Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows Pronunciation: des-vu Meaning: the awareness that this will become a memory

Gallivant (v.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: gal-uh-vant Meaning: go around from one place to another in the pursuit of pleasure or entertainment

Nefelibata (n.)

Origin: Portuguese Pronunciation: ne-fe-le-ba-ta Meaning: literally translates to cloud-walker; one who lives in the clouds of their own imagination or dreams, or one who does not obey the conventions of society, literature, or art; an unconventional or unorthodox person

Petrichor (n.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: pet-ri-kawr Meaning: a distinctive scent, usually described as earthy, pleasant, or sweet, produced by rainfall on very dry ground; the smell of earth after rain

Circumnavigate (v.)

Origin: Latin Pronunciation: suh-kuhm-na-vuh-gayt Meaning: to sail or travel all the way around the world

Hitoritabi (n.)

Origin: Japanese Pronunciation: hitori-tabi Meaning: traveling alone; a solitary journey

Torschlusspanik (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: tursh-luss-pan-ik Meaning: literally translates to gate-closing panic; a sense of anxiety or fear caused by the feeling that life’s opportunities are passing by and diminishing as one ages

Globetrotter (n.)

Origin: English Pronunciation: globe-trawt-uh Meaning: a person who travels widely

Menggonceng (v.)

Origin: Indonesian Pronunciation: menggon-ceng Meaning: to travel by getting a free ride, usually on the back of a friend’s bicycle

Vagabond (n.)

Origin : Old French Pronunciation: va-guh-baand Meaning: a person who wanders from place to place without a home or job

Gemütlichkeit (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: guh-myt-likh-kahyt Meaning: a feeling of cozy warmth, friendliness, and good cheer with a sense of belonging

Erlebnisse (n.)

Origin: German Pronunciation: ayr-leeb-nis-eh Meaning: an experience that one feels most deeply, and, in a sense, ‘lives through’ – not just mere life experience, but something memorable which happens to someone

Livslogga (v.)

Origin: Swedish Pronunciation: Meaning: literally translates to life log; continually capturing and documenting one’s life through pictures

Poudrerie (n.)

Origin: French Pronunciation: pu-dre-ri Meaning: fallen snow blown by the wind from the ground, appearing like fine powdery particles across the streets and highways

Yeoubi (n.)

Origin: Korean Pronunciation: yu-bi Meaning: literally translates to fox rain; a sunshower – the event of having a light rain while the sun is still shining

Morriña (n.)

Origin: Galician Pronunciation: mo-rina Meaning: a very deep, nostalgic, and melancholic homesickness experienced as one intensely longs to return home; “a ‘saudade’ so strong it can even kill”

 Víðsýni (adj.)

Origin: Icelandic Pronunciation: vith-see-nee Meaning: a panoramic view

Xenophilia (n.)

Origin: Greek Pronunciation: zen-uh-fil-ee-uh Meaning: love for, attraction to, or appreciation of foreign people, manners, customs, or cultures

Do you have other words that describe travel? Send them over! We’d be happy to add them to our list of words for travel lovers.

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Caitlin Clark WNBA salary, contract terms: How much will she earn as No. 1 pick?

It's official: Former Iowa women's basketball star Caitlin Clark is off to the WNBA, as the NCAA's all-time scoring leader was selected No. 1 overall by the Indiana Fever in Monday's WNBA draft .

Clark , the game's brightest star, already was reportedly among the top earners in all of college sports with various NIL deals. She will still make lots of money on her sponsorships as she joins the WNBA. Her sponsorships include State Farm, Gatorade, Nike, Xfinity, H&R Block, and Panini America among others. Clark also already has a regional sponsor in the Indianapolis area. She  signed a deal with Gainbridge , an insurance and annuity company.

Clark's season ended with a national championship loss for the second consecutive season, when the Hawkeyes fell to undefeated South Carolina on April 7. Just eight days later, Clark is a professional. The first four selected players of the WNBA draft earn the same contract, so Clark, Cameron Brink, Kamilla Cardoso and Rickea Jackson — who rounded out the top four picks — will each make the same amount of money next season.

MORE: WNBA commissioner sidesteps question on All-Star Game in Arizona - an anti-abortion state

MORE: How Angel Reese will fit in with the Chicago Sky. It all starts with rebounding

Here's Clark's contract, according to the value of the pick set by the WNBA:

Caitlin Clark contract details

Caitlin Clark will receive a four-year contract worth a total of $338,056, according to the WNBA's CBA .

The first four picks of the WNBA draft are each slotted at the same value, meaning Clark, Brink, Cardoso and Jackson will each receive the same amount of money. Here's the year-by-year breakdown of Clark's contract (it has not been announced if she has signed):

• 2024: $76,535
• 2025: $78,066
• 2026: $85,873
• 2027 (fourth-year option): $97,582

Contributing: Chloe Peterson, Indianapolis Star

Middle East latest: No concern expressed from Israel about UNRWA employees since 2011, review finds

An independent report commissioned after Israel alleged 12 UNRWA employees took part in the Hamas attacks has found Israel had not expressed concerns about anyone on the agency staff lists it gets annually for more than a decade.

Monday 22 April 2024 22:59, UK

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• No concerns expressed from Israel about UNRWA employees since 2011, report finds
• Rockets 'fired from Iraq towards US military base in Syria'
• Israeli intelligence head resigns over 7 October failings
• Dominic Waghorn: Reckoning in Israel after massive intelligence and military failure
• The big picture : What you need to know about the conflict in the Middle East right now
• Live reporting by Andy Hayes

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Thank you for reading - we will be back with more updates in the morning.

The prime minister of Pakistan has praised Iran's "strong stand on the issue of Palestine".

Shehbaz Sharif has welcomed Ebrahim Raisi, the president of Iran, to his country for a three-day visit.

"Pakistan is also with the Palestinians," Mr Sharif said.

In televised remarks, Mr Raisi said the deaths caused by the Israeli military in Gaza were being committed with the support of the United States and other Western countries.

Regarding international organisations - including the United Nations - he said: "They say they support human rights, but they proved that they are inefficient."

Iran recently launched an unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel - after an alleged Israeli strike in Syria that killed two Iranian generals.

Pakistan is among countries that have no diplomatic relations with Israel because of the issue of Palestinian statehood.

By Alistair Bunkall , Middle East correspondent

It's taken 199 days for the first senior Israeli to resign over the Hamas attacks on 7 October.

Major General Aharon Haliva, Israel's military intelligence chief, said that under his command, the division "did not live up to the task we were entrusted with".

The argument that has kept military heads in post - one made by generals, intelligence chiefs and even Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - is that judgement should be suspended while the war against Hamas is being fought. 

There is cold logic in that, but almost seven months in, and with no conclusion in sight, judgement day is nearing and more Israelis are demanding accountability for the failure of their leaders.

General Haliva isn't the only IDF commander to express regret - he is the first to fall on his sword, though.

Others have hinted they will, when the time is right. 

If they conclude that standing down is the honourable thing to do, then pressure will grow on Mr Netanyahu. 

He remains the one leader yet to acknowledge blame. 

It is unsustainable - although the prime minister's position is reasonably stable for now.

Tonight, Israelis are sitting down to a Jewish festival - Passover - with 132 people still being held hostage in Gaza and the defeat of Hamas looking increasingly unlikely. 

Major General Haliva's resignation will not bring Mr Netanyahu down, but it might be the first brick to come out of the wall. 

EU foreign ministers have agreed in principle to increase sanctions against Iran, the bloc's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said.

It follows Iran's unprecedented missile and drone attack against Israel on 13 April. 

There are already multiple European Union sanctions programmes against Iran.

These are for proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, human rights abuses, and supplying drones to Russia.

Several EU countries, however, have been calling for more sanctions regarding drones to cover missiles and transfers to proxy forces such as Hamas and Hezbollah.

"We have reached a political agreement in order to enlarge and expand the existing drone (sanctions) regime in order to cover missiles and their potential ... transfer to Russia," Mr Borrell told reporters following a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg. 

Israel said that 99% of the objects launched towards it were shot down. 

More resignations are possible after the head of Israeli military intelligence stood down earlier today, our  international affairs editor Dominic Waghorn  has said.

Major General Aharon Haliva admitted he failed to foresee and prevent the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October.

Asked whether there could be more resignations, Waghorn said: "I think so, potentially."

It is worth remembering that a "number of IDF commanders and intelligence chiefs have admitted responsibility and declared mea culpas in the wake of 7 October", he added.

Mr Haliva had written "quite a long resignation letter saying the burden of what he has to bear after 7 October is something that will live with him all his life".

Waghorn added that there is a "reckoning" as Israel tries to work out what happened on 7 October, which was a "massive intelligence and military failure".

"There will be a commission of inquiry and investigation," Waghorn said.  

"It's the beginning of what will be a long and I think very painful process for Israel as it comes to terms with the failures that led to the worst loss of Jewish life since World War Two."

Israel did not express concerns about anyone on the UNRWA staff lists it received annually since 2011, an independent review has found.

The report was commissioned after Israel alleged that a dozen employees of the United Nations agency helping Palestinian refugees took part in the Hamas attacks in Israel on 7 October.

A number of countries, including the UK, froze donations to UNRWA as a result.

Some of those nations - and the EU - have since restored funding, but the UK has not.

The 48-page report said UNRWA has "robust" procedures to uphold the UN's principle of neutrality.

However, it said there were serious gaps in implementation, including staff publicly expressing political views, textbooks with "problematic content", and staff unions disrupting operations.

The report, led by French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, said that between 2017 and 2022, allegations of neutrality being breached at UNRWA ranged annually from 7 to 55. 

Between January 2022 and February 2024, UN investigators received 151 allegations - most of them related to social media posts "made public by external sources", the report added.

It said UNRWA shares lists of staff with host countries for its 32,000 staff, including about 13,000 in Gaza. 

It added that Israeli officials never expressed concerns and informed panel members they did not consider the list to be a "screening or vetting process", but rather a procedure to register diplomats. 

The Israeli foreign ministry told the panel that until March 2024, staff lists did not include Palestinian identification numbers, the report said. 

Apparently based on those numbers, "Israel made public claims that a significant number of UNRWA employees are members of terrorist organizations", the panel said. 

It added: "However, Israel has yet to provide supporting evidence of this."

Multiple countries supported Israel as it defended itself against Iran's unprecedented attack on 13 April. 

Our  Middle East correspondent Alistair Bunkall explains the "surprising, informal collaboration" that has emerged in the region in this video...

US forces in Iraq and Syria have been targeted in two separate rocket and drone attacks in less than 24 hours, Reuters news agency reports, citing security sources and US officials.

At least one armed drone was launched at the Ain al Asad air base hosting US troops in the western Iraqi province of Anbar, a US official said.

That attack followed five rockets fired from Iraq yesterday towards US forces at a base in Rumalyn, northeastern Syria, according to US and Iraqi officials.

Referring to the rocket attack, Iraqi armed faction Kata'ib Hezbollah earlier denied it had resumed attacks on US forces after a three-month pause.

No casualties have been reported from the drone attacks.

On Saturday, a huge explosion at a military base in Iraq killed a member of an Iraqi security force that includes Iran-backed groups.

The force’s commander said it was an attack, while the army said it is investigating and there were no warplanes in the sky at the time.

The US denied involvement.

Mental illness could manifest among Palestinians in Gaza years from now, a UN expert has warned.

Tlaleng Mofokeng, UN special rapporteur on the right to health, warned it is "really important" to start considering the conflict's impact on the long-term wellbeing of Palestinians in Gaza.

"Of course, we see the physical injury, and because it's physical, one can appreciate the severity of it," she said.

"But acute mental distress that will then turn into anxiety and other kinds of mental illnesses later on in life is really, really important to start thinking intentionally about."

Ms Mofokeng said she is concerned about the risk of water and airborne diseases, and the lack of medical supplies, reproductive and mental health services in the territory.

"The health system in Gaza has been completely obliterated, and the right to health has been decimated at every level," she added.

Israeli troops have launched a surprise raid in the eastern part of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, Reuters is reporting.

Israel pulled its troops out of southern Gaza earlier this month, but their apparent return has caused residents to flee once more, the news agency added.

"They were too frightened," 42-year-old Ahmed Rezik said from a school where he is sheltering in the western part of Khan Younis.

"This morning many families who had left here in the past two weeks to go back home to Abassan came back," he told Reuters via a messaging app. 

"They said tanks pushed in the eastern area of the town under heavy fire, and they had to run for their lives."  

Meanwhile, Palestinian authorities said more bodies had been recovered from mass graves on the site of the city's main hospital, abandoned by Israeli troops (11.33 post).

Further south, there are reports of fresh air strikes in Rafah, where more than half the enclave's 2.3 million people have sought shelter.

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