War on Gaza
Live Reporting
Death toll from Gaza City strike climbs to 29: Report
At least 29 people have been found killed in the Israeli attack on a home in Gaza City’s Daraj neighbourhood, with dozens more wounded, reports the Wafa news agency.
The previous reported toll stood at 25.
Footage of the aftermath of the attack posted by Al Jazeera Arabic shows rescuers carrying bodies from the rubble of a blown-out building.
Elsewhere in Gaza City, Israeli helicopters carried out strikes on several homes in the Zeitoun, Shujayea and Remal neighbourhoods, wounding many civilians, according to Wafa.
Palestinian killed in Tubas is son of Hamas leader who died in Israeli prison
It would be easier to say which areas Israeli forces did not raid overnight throughout the occupied West Bank.
The deadly raid took place in Tubas to the north, where Israeli forces killed two Palestinians. One of them was ambushed in his car. He has been identified as Muhammad Rasoul.
Israeli sources say he was not a target of the raid, but shot at Israeli forces raiding the area, leading them to ambush his car.
According to locals, Muhammad Rasoul is known as the leader of the Tubas Battalion, a fighting group of young men that has been militarily confronting Israeli forces. He is also the son of Omar Daraghmeh, a Palestinian who was the first declared dead by the Israeli prison services since the war began. The father was known as a leader of Hamas here in the occupied West Bank.
While the family will lay the son to rest today after his killing, they still do not have the body of the father, whom Israeli forces have not handed over for burial after the declaration of his death six months ago.
Death toll from Tubas raid rises to 2
Two people have now been confirmed killed by Israeli forces in Tubas in the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).
After Israeli forces shot dead a man in the city’s Far’a camp earlier this morning, they killed a second man travelling in his car in Tubas, the PRCS said.
Israeli fire also wounded at least three others in the city, one severely.
A PRCS ambulance, responding to reports of casualties in the camp, was also hit by Israeli fire, while a volunteer paramedic inside the vehicle was beaten and arrested.
The raid on the town has now ended.
Night-time raids take place across West Bank
Israeli forces have carried out another night of raids throughout the occupied West Bank. In addition to storming the Far’a camp near Tubas, as we reported, raids have also taken place in the following areas:
Town of Idhna, west of Hebron
Tulkarem city
Qalqilya city
Town of al-Fandaqumiya, south of Jenin
Town of Deir Istiya, northwest of Salfit
Town of Sebastia, northwest of Nablus
More on the killing of Palestinian in Israeli raid near Tubas
As we reported earlier, Israeli forces have killed one young man and injured two others during a raid in the Far’a refugee camp, south of Tubas in the occupied West Bank.
The slain man has been identified as Mohammed Essam Shahmawi. He died after being shot in the head by Israeli forces, as confrontations erupted, according to Wafa.
During the raid, the Israeli military set up snipers at the entrance of the camp and flew reconnaissance drones over the skies, the Palestinian news agency reported.
US fears most of Hamas’s remaining captives already dead: Report
US intelligence officials fear most of Hamas’s remaining captives in Gaza are already dead, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Hamas kidnapped some 220 people, including foreigners, when it launched its attack on Israel on October 7. After a brief ceasefire that saw some freed in exchange for Palestinians held in Israeli jails, dozens are thought to remain.
Israel estimates about 34 captives have died, but the Journal reported on Thursday that some US officials believe that number should be more than twice as high, which could complicate efforts to reach a new ceasefire deal.
The intelligence sources, who were not identified, said some of the captives died from the injuries they sustained in Hamas’s attack, while others succumbed to illness. Some may also have been killed in Israel’s ongoing assault on the territory, the report said.
Vote on UN Palestinian membership still ‘possibility’, but US likely to veto
It appears that once again Palestine’s bid to become a full member of the United Nations has died in the Security Council committee despite having a majority of Security Council members apparently approving the bid.
In 2011, Palestine also applied to be a full UN member, but that also died in committee. At that time, however, the General Assembly was able to elevate Palestine to the status of UN observer. That gives Palestine a lot of rights here at the UN but not, critically, the right to vote in the General Assembly, which is very important. So, Palestine essentially has been disenfranchised from this organisation that it participates in for many, many years now.
The issue could still potentially go to the Security Council in a resolution for a vote. That is still a possibility and that could come as early as next week. But the bottom line is that even if it does go that far, the US is prepared to veto it.
Malaysia charges Israeli man with firearms offences
A Kuala Lumpur court has charged an Israeli man with firearms offences.
Shalom Avitan, who is accused of trafficking six handguns and possessing four boxes of ammunition without a licence, pleaded not guilty.
Avitan was arrested at a hotel on March 27, two weeks after entering Malaysia on a French passport.
Police said they suspected he might have links to Mossad and tightened security around Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim and the king.
Israeli media have reported that Avitan is a member of an organised crime group and was planning a hit on a rival gang leader. He was escorted into court surrounded by armed balaclava-clad police in body armour.
A Malaysian couple who allegedly sold Avitan the weapons were charged earlier this week. More than a dozen other people, including two Turkish citizens, have also been arrested in connection with the investigation.
Malaysia does not have diplomatic relations with Israel and has been an outspoken critic of the war in Gaza.
Apple says it will fix ‘bug’ over Jerusalem flag emoji prompt
The tech giant Apple has promised to fix a “software bug” over a flag prompt for some iPhone users when they typed out Jerusalem.
The British television presenter Rachel Riley tagged Apple over the social media platform X after the Palestinian flag was suggested when she typed in Jerusalem.
She said that before she had updated her operating system, it was the Israeli flag that was suggested.
Apple blamed a software bug, telling the AFP news agency that the predictive emoji suggestion in the iPhone keyboard was not intentional and would be fixed in the next system update.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews jostle with police at conscription protests
This is the latest in a series of demonstrations that the ultra-Orthodox Jews have been involved in, some of which have ended in violence against police.
What they’re angry about is moves by the government which might see them being stripped of their exemption from military service.
It is a situation that dates back to the beginning of the Israeli state in the late 1940s, when the government of the time told the ultra-Orthodox community as it was then that they didn’t have to do military service. There were only 400 males that it applied to because the community was so small, but since then, it has expanded hugely and it now makes up about 13 percent of the entire Israeli population, but it still has this exemption.
At a moment when many Israelis feel they are fighting an existential war against Hamas, they think this is grossly unfair; that this community does not have to share the burden of fighting in the army, and they also say the ultra-Orthodox are largely supported by the state so that they can do their religious scholarship.
So the supreme court has basically told Benjamin Netanyahu’s government that they have to remedy this situation, it is discriminatory and they need to come up with a law to sort it out.
But it is a big problem for him because two parties in his governing coalition are ultra-Orthodox parties, and if he antagonises them too much then they might pull out of the government and that might lead to its collapse.
White House says Gaza famine ‘imminent’; appears to soften USAID chief’s earlier comments
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre has been pressed on the US assessment of famine in Gaza.
Earlier, USAID chief Samantha Power said it was “credible” to assess that famine had already begun.
Jean-Pierre did not address Power’s comments directly but said repeatedly that famine conditions in parts of Gaza were “imminent”, seeming to water down Power’s assessment.
“That is why we’re doing everything we can to uptick, obviously, the humanitarian aid” arriving into Gaza, Jean-Pierre said, noting that the number of trucks carrying aid into Gaza has increased dramatically in recent days.
“We know how dire the situation is in Gaza, so we are certainly deeply concerned about these reports,” Jean-Pierre said. “We have been working around the clock, around the clock, to get more of that aid into Gaza.”
She added that the US would “continue to push Israel to increase the flow” of aid into Gaza.
Blinken asks China, Saudi Arabia, others to rein in Iran on Israel
WASHINGTON (Agencies) - US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has asked China's foreign minister and other counterparts to use their influence to dissuade Iran from striking Israel, the State Department said Thursday (Apr 11).
Blinken spoke by telephone over the past day to his Chinese, Turkish, Saudi and European counterparts "to make clear that escalation is not in anyone's interest and that countries should urge Iran not to escalate", State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters.
Biden promises Israel 'ironclad' support against Iran reprisals
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US President Joe Biden on Wednesday (Apr 10) promised "ironclad" support for Israel as Iran threatens reprisals over a strike that levelled an Iranian consulate building in Damascus, Syria and killed two generals.
Biden's promise comes despite his public criticism of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the toll on civilians in Israel's campaign against Hamas, especially after a strike killed seven aid workers.
Head of police killed in Israeli attack on Jabalia camp: Health Ministry
Palestinian health officials have said an Israeli air strike killed Rudwan Rudwan, the head of the police force in Jabalia camp in the northern Gaza Strip.
Hamas said Rudwan was also in charge of supervising the protection of aid truck convoys in northern Gaza areas.
There was no immediate Israeli comment on the incident.
Israel on alert after Iranian threat as Gaza war grinds on
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES (AFP) - Israel was on alert Thursday (Apr 11) after its arch-foe Iran threatened reprisals over a strike in Syria this month that killed two Iranian generals and as the war against Hamas ground on in Gaza.
Days after Israel strengthened its air defences and paused leave for combat units, the United States also warned of the risk of an attack by Iran or its allied groups at a time when Middle East tensions have soared.
