The Health Ministry of the Gaza Strip, controlled by the Palestinian Hamas movement, announced today that 1.066 people have been killed since March 18, when the Israeli army broke the ceasefire in the area.
In the last 24 hours, 24 people have been killed, the statement said.
It added that 2.597 people have been injured in the bombings and ground offensive by Israeli forces since March 18.
Since the start of the war on October 7, 2023, 50.423 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, the Hamas Health Ministry added.
(BETA)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said today that the military is tearing apart the Gaza Strip and increasing pressure on the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to force it to release its remaining hostages.
"We are tearing the Gaza Strip apart and increasing the pressure step by step so that they (Hamas) release our hostages," Netanyahu said in a video released by his cabinet.
The Israeli prime minister added that the army is "occupying territory, striking terrorists and destroying infrastructure."
Netanyahu announced the creation of a new "area" under Israeli control that would separate the towns of Khan Yunis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip and restore it to the level of the former Jewish settlement of Morag, dismantled during Israel's unilateral withdrawal from the Gaza Strip in 2005.
Israeli authorities today announced the expansion of military operations to capture "large parts" of the Gaza Strip.
The goal of the military operation is "to crush and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure, and to seize large areas that will be included in Israel's security zones," Defense Minister Israel Katz said.
On the other hand, around 50 released hostages and relatives of Israeli prisoners still in the Gaza Strip published an open letter calling for a cessation of fighting and the resumption of negotiations.
"Military pressure endangers the hostages and there is nothing more urgent than the return of all hostages," said a letter from about 150 signatories, published before Netanyahu's video message.
(BETA)
The Gaza Strip Civil Defense said 19 people were killed today, including nine children, in an Israeli attack on a damaged UN building serving as a shelter for displaced Palestinians, while the Israeli military claims it targeted fighters from the Palestinian Hamas movement.
The attack hit "two rooms on the first floor of the destroyed UNRWA health center," the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip, UNRWA said.
The center serves as a shelter for 160 displaced families, the UN agency added, stating that it had transmitted the building's geographic coordinates to the Israeli military.
"Nineteen martyrs, including nine children, were killed in the bombing of the UNRWA clinic," Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal told AFP.
"Many displaced families remain where they are, simply because they have nowhere else to go," UNRWA said in a statement.
The Israeli military confirmed to France that it had targeted the UNRWA building and that the attack was aimed at "Hamas terrorists hiding in a command post" set up in the building.
"A number of measures were taken prior to the attack to mitigate the risk of harm to civilians," the Israeli military said.
Israel accuses Hamas of using the Gaza population as "human shields," accusations that the Islamist movement denies.
The Palestinian Authority's Foreign Ministry condemned today's attack as a "massacre" and reiterated its call on the international community to stop Israel's war.
Israel cut off the flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza on March 2. The hospitals that remain open are operating at reduced capacity due to shortages of medical supplies and fuel for electricity generators.
During the war that began with Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, the Israeli military repeatedly bombed UNRWA buildings housing displaced persons, claiming that Hamas was using these locations as hideouts.
The UN estimates that most of the 2,4 million residents of the Gaza Strip have been displaced by the war.
More than 1.000 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the resumption of Israeli bombardment on March 18 after a two-month ceasefire, according to data from the Hamas health ministry.
(BETA)
With more than 51.000 Palestinians killed, including 18.000 children and 12.365 women, the international community has taken no concrete steps to stop the continuation of these crimes and bring Israeli perpetrators to justice, the Palestinian Embassy in Montenegro announced.
"April is Genocide Prevention and Awareness Month, marking the dark anniversaries of the beginnings of several genocides in the past century. This month is not only a time to remember all victims of past crimes against humanity, but also an opportunity to redouble our efforts and commitment to the principle of Never Again for those around the world who are still at risk from these unimaginable crimes today," the embassy said in a statement to the media.
Yet, the world has failed to prevent or stop the ongoing genocide that Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people, they added.
On the contrary, as stated by the Palestinian embassy, in some so-called "Western democracies", Palestinians continue to be dehumanized, exposed to a shameful policy of hypocritical double standards, while movements of solidarity with Palestine are cruelly suppressed and repressed.
"This kind of relationship will have serious consequences around the world, and the only way to avoid them is through consistent application of international law and equal treatment of every state and every person before it," they said in a statement.
The Palestinian embassy said that Israel must be sanctioned, and the Israelis responsible for these ongoing crimes must be brought to justice.
Hamas condemned the visit of Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem on Wednesday, calling it "a provocation with a dangerous escalation."
In a statement carried by AFP, the Palestinian militant group called on Palestinians "and our youth in the West Bank to intensify the clashes... in defense of our land and our holy sites, and above all the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque."
This disputed site is holy to both Jews and Muslims.
The United Kingdom does not support the expansion of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip, British diplomacy announced today.
"The UK does not support the expansion of Israeli military operations. Continued fighting and bloodshed are in no one's interest. All parties, including Israel, must respect international humanitarian law," said senior British Foreign Office official Hamish Falconer.
Israeli authorities announced today the expansion of military operations to capture large areas of the Gaza Strip, where around 30 people were killed in bombings, including on a UN building.
Israel broke a two-month ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on March 18, in an attempt to force the Palestinian Hamas movement to release the remaining hostages.
(BETA)
Germany has evacuated 19 of its citizens and 14 of their relatives from the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry announced today.
"It took some time, but we are now very relieved that this has become possible thanks to the close cooperation between German and Israeli officials," German foreign ministry spokeswoman Katrin Deshauer told reporters, adding that the evacuation of German citizens was carried out on Tuesday.
Israeli authorities announced today the expansion of military operations to capture large areas of the Gaza Strip, where around 30 people were killed in bombings, including on a UN building.
Israel broke a two-month ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on March 18 in an attempt to force the Palestinian Hamas movement to release its remaining hostages.
Berlin called on the warring parties to continue negotiations.
"The current situation is dramatic and it is important that all interested parties return to the negotiating table in order to achieve a ceasefire," said Katrin Deshauer.
(BETA)
The Israeli army has launched an operation in the Gaza Strip to seize "large areas", while according to Palestinian hospitals, more than 30 people have been killed in Israeli attacks overnight and today, almost a third of whom are children.
The Israeli offensive "is expanding to clear the area of militants" and to capture "large areas that will be assigned to the security zones of the State of Israel," Defense Minister Israel Katz said in a written statement.
The Israeli government has long maintained a buffer zone in Gaza, along its security fence, which it has significantly expanded since the start of the 2023 war.
Israel says the buffer zone is needed for the security of the state, while Palestinians view it as a land grab that further shrinks the narrow Gaza Strip, home to about two million people.
Katz did not specify which areas of Gaza would be taken in the operation, which he said would involve a "large-scale evacuation" of the population from the fighting areas. His statement came after Israel ordered a complete evacuation of the southern town of Rafah and nearby areas.
He called on Gazans to “drive out Hamas and return all hostages.” The militant group still holds 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be still alive, after the others were released under a ceasefire agreement or other arrangements.
"This is the only way to end the war," Kac said.
The Israeli army has announced that it will seize additional territories in Gaza, with large-scale forced evacuations of the population.
According to the Israeli human rights organization Gisha, Israel has already taken control of about 62 square kilometers (24 square miles), or 17 percent of Gaza's total area, as part of a "buffer zone" along the edges of the Palestinian enclave, Al Jazeera reports.
The Israeli military issued forced evacuation orders to people in Gaza living around the southern city of Rafah and towards Khan Yunis, ordering them to move to al-Mawasi on the coast, which had previously been designated a "humanitarian zone."
This move will further burden the Gaza population, who already live in one of the most densely populated areas in the world.
Israeli Army Radio reported that the 36th Division, sent to the Southern Command area last month in preparation for military action in Gaza, is participating in the latest ground offensive.
The European Green Party is calling for the arrest of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his trial before the Hague Tribunal, as he arrives in Hungary, Al Jazeera reports.
"The European Union and national governments have a duty to respect international law and ensure accountability for war crimes and human rights violations," European Greens Co-President Ciaran Cuff said in a statement.
"By ignoring the International Criminal Court's arrest warrant against Prime Minister Netanyahu, Viktor Orban is demonstrating the same disregard for the rule of law on the international stage that he has consistently demonstrated in Hungary," Kaf added, referring to the Hungarian leader's assurances that Netanyahu would be protected from the arrest warrant.
"Orban is destroying EU treaties and obligations… That is why we, as European Greens, have consistently called for the abolition of national vetoes in matters related to foreign policy decisions. Ignoring the arrest warrant for Netanyahu means ignoring the reasons for which it was issued, which is unacceptable," added European Green Party co-chair Vula Cetsi.
Israeli Defense Minister Yisrael Katz said the army would expand the operation in the Gaza Strip and "seize large areas" of the Palestinian territory, including what he described as "security zones."
Katz said in a statement on Wednesday that the expanded operation aims to "destroy and clear the area of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure."
He said this would require a mass evacuation of Palestinians and called on the population to eliminate Hamas and return Israeli hostages.
This, he said, is the only way to end the war.
Israel's new moves come after local hospitals reported that at least 15 Palestinians were killed in the territory overnight.
According to media reports, Israeli ground forces launched an operation in the city of Rafah overnight.
Israel renewed its offensive on the Gaza Strip on March 18, accusing Hamas, designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, of rejecting a new American proposal to extend the ceasefire and release the remaining 59 hostages still held in Gaza.
Hamas, on the other hand, accused Israel of violating the original agreement reached in January.
The humanitarian situation in Gaza has deteriorated dramatically in recent weeks, and Israel has not allowed humanitarian aid to enter the Gaza Strip since March 2, the longest aid blockade since the start of the war.
The United Nations announced last month that it was scaling back its operations in the Gaza Strip, a day after Israeli forces killed eight Palestinian medics, six members of the Civil Defense and one UN worker in the southern part of the Strip.
Israel launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip after Hamas fighters invaded southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing 1.200 people, mostly civilians, and taking more than 250 hostages, according to Israeli figures.
The Hamas-run Health Ministry claims that more than 50.399 people have been killed in Gaza since then. (Radio Free Europe)
At least 15 people, including children, were killed in two Israeli attacks in the Gaza Strip, the Civil Defense in the Palestinian territory announced this morning.
The attacks targeted two houses housing displaced Palestinians.
A spokesman for the Civil Defense said that an attack on a house in Khan Yunis, in the southern Gaza Strip, killed 13 people, including children.
The second attack was on a house in Nuseirat, in the central Gaza Strip, where two people were killed.
(Beta)
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