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October 7, 2023: Israel begins bombarding Gaza in retaliation to Hamas attacks
Israel resumes massive attacks on March 18, killing over 400 in a day — two months after ceasefire ending 15 months of relentless attacks began
Future governance of Gaza remains unclear as Trump suggests US takeover but Arab countries propose alternative plan, which UK, others back
Hamas and Israel exchange 25 hostages, bodies and 1,700 detainees in seven swaps
Over 50,000 Palestinians, 400 Israeli soldiers dead; nearly all of Gaza displaced
Multi-billion dollar challenges ahead to reconstruct decimated enclave
The death toll from the Israeli air raids in Gaza since dawn has risen from nine to 13, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Among those killed in the attacks was journalist Helmi al-Faqawi. He was in a tent sheltering journalists near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis when the Israeli forces struck.
They have pledged more attacks after Hamas’s armed wing Qassam Brigades launched at least 10 rockets into Israel.
Israel has dramatically expanded its footprint in the Gaza Strip since relaunching its war against Hamas last month. It now controls more than 50 per cent of the territory and is squeezing Palestinians into shrinking wedges of land, The Associated Press reports.
It cited a report by Breaking The Silence, an anti-occupation veterans group, as saying that Israeli troops forced Palestinians from communities near the border and destroyed the land to create a buffer zone more than a kilometre deep.
Its troops also seized a swath of land across Gaza known as the Netzarim Corridor that isolated the north, including Gaza City, from the rest of the narrow strip.
When Israel resumed its war on Gaza last month, it doubled the size of the buffer zone, pushing it as far as 3km into Gaza in some places, according to a map issued by the military, the AP added.
The buffer zone and the Netzarim Corridor make up at least 50pc of the strip, Yaakov Garb, a professor of environmental studies at Ben Gurion University, was quoted as saying.
Earlier, it was reported that Ahmed Mansour sustained severe injuries and burns from the Israeli attack on the journalists’ tent near Nasser Hospital.
The Palestinian, who is also a father, is fighting for his life with “catastrophic burns” and that doctors are “desperately trying to save him”, Al Jazeera quotes The Quds News Network as reporting.
The outlet reported that another of the journalists who was wounded is also in critical condition.
It said Ihab al-Bardini was struck in the head by shrapnel, which exited through his eye.
The Israeli military has confirmed killing a 14-year-old Palestinian-American boy and wounding two others near the town of Turmus Aya in the occupied West Bank, according to Al Jazeera.
It said its forces shot “terrorists” hurling rocks in the area.
“During a counterterrorism activity in the area of Turmus Aya, [Israeli] soldiers identified three terrorists who hurled rocks towards the highway, thus endangering civilians driving,” read a military statement quoted by Al Jazeera.
“The soldiers opened fire towards the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also issued a statement on the attack, the report says. It said the “execution” of the child was a “direct result of Israel’s continued impunity”.
Israeli forces have arrested a former prisoner and a girl from the Jalazone refugee camp near the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, Al Jazeera Arabic reports.
Another former prisoner was also taken from his home in the city of Hebron.
Two young men were detained in a separate raid in the city of Qalandiya, north of occupied East Jerusalem, the report added.
Israeli forces have bombed a residential building, west of the city of Deir el-Balah, killing at least one person and wounding several others, Al Jazeera Arabic reports.
The attack comes after the Israeli military issued forced evacuation orders for Palestinians living in five neighbourhoods of Deir el-Balah after Hamas launched at least 10 rockets towards Israel.
The Palestinian Journalists Forum has condemned Israel for the deadly attack on a tent sheltering journalists near Nasser Medical Complex in Gaza’s Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reports.
In a statement, the Palestinian Journalists Forum described the bombing as a “heinous crime and a deliberate targeting of journalists that violated all international laws and conventions”.
There has been a deadly Israeli attack on a tent housing journalists near Nasser Hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis, Al Jazeera reports.
The Qud News Network identified one journalist killed in the attack as Helmi al-Faqawi, according to Al Jazeera.
Another journalist, Ahmed Mansour, sustained severe injuries and burns from the attack, Al Jazeera cites The Palestinian outlet as saying. It published a picture of Mansour inside a tent on fire.
One more person has been killed in the Israeli attack on a tent for journalists near the Nasser Hospital, according to the Palestinian media.
An Al Jazeera photographer, Mahmoud Awad, was also wounded in the attack. At least seven other journalists — Ahmad Mansour, Hassan Eslaih, Ahmad Al-Agha, Mohammad Fayek, Abdallah Al-Attar, Ihab Al-Bardini and Mahmoud Awad — were also injured.
Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar has said there are “major challenges” ahead in the Middle East but also expressed the hope for a “better future of cooperation” after he met with his United Arab Emirates counterpart.
Israel did not give immediate details on the talks. But Saar said on the social media platform X that it was his second meeting with Sheikh Abdullah.
“We discussed the full range of regional issues, as well as furthering bilateral relations between our countries. There are major challenges ahead of us in the Middle East, but there are partners for a better future of cooperation and stability,” Saar said.
The United Arab Emirates’ foreign minister has pressed the need for a ceasefire in the Gaza conflict during a rare visit by Israeli counterpart Gideon Saar, AFP quotes an official statement as saying.
Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the UAE deputy prime minister and foreign minister, and Saar discussed “the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip” and efforts to reach a ceasefire, said a UAE foreign ministry statement.
“Sheikh Abdullah stressed the priority of working towards a ceasefire and the release of hostages,” the statement added of the meeting in Abu Dhabi.
“He also reiterated the urgent need to advance a serious political horizon for the resumption of negotiations to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution,” the statement said.
Talks today between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump are expected to be dominated by Washington’s shock tariffs on Israel and escalating tensions with Iran, as well as the Gaza issue, AFP reports.
Netanyahu will also discuss Israel’s war on Gaza, the Israeli hostages still held in the Palestinian territory, and the growing “threat from Iran”, his office said.
He becomes the first foreign leader to meet with Trump in the US capital since the president unveiled sweeping levies on multiple countries in his “Liberation Day” announcement on Wednesday.
Analysts said Netanyahu will seek to secure an exemption from the tariffs for Israel.
A Palestinian teenager with US citizenship was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, Palestinian officials have said, with the Israeli military saying it shot a “terrorist” who endangered civilians by hurling rocks, Reuters reports.
The mayor of Turmus Ayya, Adeeb Lafi, told Reuters earlier in the day that Omar Mohammad Rabea, aged 14, was shot along with two other teenagers by an Israeli settler at the entrance to Turmus Ayya and that the Israeli army pronounced him dead after detaining him.
However, the Palestinian foreign ministry condemned the incident as an “extra-judicial killing” by Israeli forces during a raid in the town, saying it was the result of Israel’s “continued impunity”.
“During a counterterrorism activity in the area of Turmus Aya, IDF soldiers identified three terrorists who hurled rocks toward the highway, thus endangering civilians driving,” the Israeli army claimed in a statement.
“The soldiers opened fire toward the terrorists who were endangering civilians, eliminating one terrorist and hitting two additional terrorists.”
The Israeli military has provided new details that changed its initial account of the killing of 15 emergency workers near the southern Gaza city of Rafah last month, but said investigators were still examining the evidence, Reuters reports.
The military initially said soldiers had opened fire on vehicles that approached their position “suspiciously” in the dark without lights or markings. But video footage showed emergency workers in their uniforms and clearly marked ambulances and fire trucks, with their lights on, being fired on by soldiers.
An Israeli military official said last night that the investigators were examining the video and conclusions were expected to be presented to army commanders yesterday.
He said the initial report received from the field did not describe lights, but said investigators were looking at “operational information” and were trying to understand if this was due to an error by the person making the initial report.
“What we understand currently is the person who gives the initial account is mistaken. We’re trying to understand why.”
Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy has said that it was “unacceptable” that Israel had detained two UK lawmakers and denied them entry, AFP reports.
Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, from the governing Labour Party, flew from London to Israel but were blocked from entering the country and deported, British media reported.
“It is unacceptable, counterproductive, and deeply concerning that two British MPs on a parliamentary delegation to Israel have been detained and refused entry by the Israeli authorities,” Lammy said in a statement.
“I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support.
“The UK government’s focus remains [on] securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza.”
Al Jazeera reports that the death toll from Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn has now risen to 43.
This updated number includes one person killed in an attack on az-Zawayda and three in an earlier Israeli attack on Jabalia.
At least 25 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn as Israeli raids continue, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Among those killed were 19 people in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and two in the Zaytoon neighbourhood of Gaza City.
Four others were killed, and a number of people were injured, including children and women, after an Israeli airstrike targeted a house in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he had discussed collaboration in making arms with his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orban.
As Netanyahu left Budapest after meeting with the nationalist prime minister, he said: “We also discussed cooperating in the production of munitions; we need them in order to continue and achieve total victory in the war on seven fronts.”
The Israeli premier stated: “Hungary is a very great friend of Israel. It defends us in the European Union and the UN, and no less in the corrupt International Criminal Court.”
The United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) has said the situation in Gaza amid Israel’s aid blockade is “becoming desperate”.
“It’s been over a month since the State of Israel banned the entry of aid and commercial supplies into Gaza,” the UNRWA said in a post on X.
The UN agency added: “UNRWA continues to provide assistance with whatever supplies remain. Stocks are getting low and the situation is becoming desperate.
“The siege must end and humanitarian aid must be allowed back in,” it demanded.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has left Budapest to head to the United States to talk tariffs and Iran with US President Donald Trump after wrapping up a multi-day visit to Hungary, AFP reports.
Nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban hosted his long-standing Israeli ally in Hungary this week, despite an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza.
Both Orban and Netanyahu slammed the ICC at a joint press conference, with the Israeli premier expressing hope that Hungary “would not be the last state” to exit the “corrupt organisation”.
“I have just concluded a very important visit to Hungary,” Netanyahu said in a statement, adding that cooperation in the production of munitions, among other issues, was discussed.
Two British members of parliament who were denied entry to Israel say they are “astounded” by the decision, Al Jazeera reports.
“We’re astounded at the unprecedented step taken by the Israeli authorities to refuse British MPs entry on our trip to visit the occupied West Bank,” Labour politicians Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said in a joint statement on X.
“It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness first-hand the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
They added: “We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with international humanitarian law.
“Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted.”
The United Kingdom is trying to walk a “tricky line” between maintaining ties with Israel and criticising the country for preventing the entry of British parliamentarians, Al Jazeera’s Sonia Gallego says.
Foreign Secretary David Lammy said it was “unacceptable, counterproductive and deeply concerning” that Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang were detained and refused entry to Israel, which accused the members of parliament of supporting boycotts against it.
“It is quite a troublesome situation for the [British] foreign minister and indeed for the British government. What they want to see is a return to ceasefire negotiations and see more attention applied to freeing hostages,” Gallego said, reporting from London.
“[The situation over the lawmakers] just muddies the whole diplomatic process. And because the UK has also vocalised its deep concern over Israel’s expansion of its military operations in Gaza, this could be seen as another tit-for-tat diplomatic war between Israel and the UK.”
Israeli attacks on Gaza have killed at least 26 Palestinians in the past 24 hours, taking the death toll since October 2023 to 50,695, Al Jazeera reports quoting the enclave’s health ministry.
A ministry statement said that at least 113 other people were transferred to hospitals with injuries, taking the number of wounded people in the conflict to 115,338.
“Many victims are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
Medical sources have given Al Jazeera a higher death toll for today, saying at least 46 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza in the previous 24 hours.
The Israeli army has said its troops have begun operating in southern Gaza to establish a new military corridor, Al Jazeera reports.
The so-called Morag Corridor, named after a former illegal settlement that was evacuated in 2005, would split the city of Rafah from the rest of the Strip.
Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said Israeli troops between Rafah and Khan Younis are in the process of isolating Rafah from the rest of Gaza.
“These troops are shooting at anyone who is getting close to the area. The only area open to Palestinians now is the al-Rashid corridor on the coastal road,” she said.
“This means more Palestinians are being squeezed into Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah as Israel tries to take over more land – and Rafah is very important because it’s the main road for the Karem Abu Salem crossing [between Gaza and Israel] – it’s the main window for Palestinians through Rafah.”
Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson in Gaza Mahmoud Basal has said: “The repercussions on us as a Palestinian population are very dire, namely on the relief workers, paramedics and Civil Defence teams,” Al Jazeera reports.
“Does the international community wish to see health workers stop fulfilling their humanitarian mission? If those culprits go unpunished and this crime and the Israelis continue to act with impunity, they will continue to perpetrate more war crimes and more pogroms across the Palestinian population,” he said.
He added that they fear worse in the future as more paramedics, ambulance and civil defence crews could be targeted and assassinated, saying, “This means the population is doomed, and the relief workers will not be able to perform their duties.”
“We hope the international community, human rights organisations, and other legal organs take firm measures against the Israeli forces and the perpetrators held to account.
“Due protection must be provided to healthcare workers — this vest I’m wearing is supposed to protect me, which is cherished under international humanitarian law and international treaties,” Basal concluded.
