Israel’s war on Gaza updates: Netanyahu says date set for Rafah offensive
US says it has not been briefed on a date and still opposes a major Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city.
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The live page is now closed. You can continue to follow our coverage of the war in Gaza here.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that a date has been set for a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, even as the United States reiterates its opposition to a full-scale incursion.
- Conflicting reports are emerging on Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo with Egyptian media reporting “significant progress”, but Hamas and Israeli officials saying no agreement is close.
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) begins two days of hearings to consider Nicaragua’s request that emergency measures be imposed on Germany over its support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
- At least 33,207 Palestinians have been killed and 75,933 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack stands at 1,139, with dozens still held captive.
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A look at what happened today
We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a quick recap of today:
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a date is set for a ground offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where about 1.4 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering.
- The United States has reiterated its opposition to a full-scale incursion, with Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller saying such a move “would have an enormously harmful effect” on civilians.
- With conflicting reports emerging on ceasefire talks in Cairo, both Hamas and Israeli officials have said they are not close to a potential agreement, with a Hamas official saying the group has rejected the latest proposal.
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) began two days of hearings to consider Nicaragua’s request that emergency measures be imposed on Germany over its support for Israel’s war on Gaza.
- Iran’s foreign minister has accused Washington of approving a deadly strike believed to be carried out by Israel on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus last week.
UN Security Council refers Palestine’s full membership bid to committee
The UN Security Council president has referred the Palestinian Authority’s (PA’s) application for Palestine to become a full member of the world body to its membership committee.
The 15-member committee is expected to make a decision about Palestine’s status this month, said Vanessa Frazier, Malta’s UN ambassador, who also proposed that the committee meet on Monday to consider the application.
You can read more here.
Rafah invasion threat ‘raises questions’ about negotiations: Hamas official
Senior Hamas spokesperson Sami Abu Zahry has told Al Jazeera that Netanyahu’s remarks that a Rafah attack is imminent “raises questions about the purpose of resuming negotiations”.
“The success of any negotiations depends on ending the aggression,” said Zahry, adding that the group’s “demands are clear: an end to aggression against our people”.
At least 16 Palestinians killed in attacks on central, southern Gaza
Women and children were among at least 16 Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours.
The Wafa news agency said at least five people were killed in an attack on the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.
A doctor, identified as Shadi Abu Hassanein, was also killed in a separate attack on Gaza City.
At least 10 bodies, including those of six children, were recovered by civil defence workers after a residential building was bombed in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.
Several others were wounded in the attacks, the reports added.
Israel gives update on aid entry to Gaza
Israel’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) office says that 419 aid trucks entered the Gaza Strip on Monday, saying it is “the highest number of aid trucks” that entered Gaza since the start of its assault on the enclave.
It also said 29 food trucks were “coordinated to northern Gaza”, where famine is looming.
Israel has been repeatedly criticised for blocking the entry of aid to the Gaza Strip, with global NGO Oxfam accusing Israel last month of blocking the aid “deliberately”.
Authorities in Gaza have also said the aid trickling into the Strip is nowhere near enough to facilitate the needs of Gaza’s 2.3 million population.
Sirens activated in southern city of Eilat, Israeli media says
Sirens have sounded in the Red Sea port city of Eilat, according to Israeli media reports.
The reports said a drone was intercepted. The Times of Israel quoted the Israeli military as saying a “suspicious aerial target” that entered Israeli airspace in Eilat was downed by Israel’s Iron Dome system.
‘Information war has added to the trauma of the war in Gaza,’ UN chief says
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says denying international journalists entry into Gaza is “allowing disinformation and false narratives to flourish”.
“An information war has added to the trauma of the war in Gaza – obscuring facts and shifting blame,” he said in a post on X.
An information war has added to the trauma of the war in Gaza – obscuring facts and shifting blame.
Denying international journalists entry into Gaza is allowing disinformation and false narratives to flourish.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) April 8, 2024
US senator says Israel war on Gaza will legally be considered a genocide
Democratic US Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts said during an event at a local mosque last week: “If you want to do it as an application of law, I believe that they’ll find that it is genocide, and they have ample evidence to do so.”
A video of Warren’ ‘s comments posted on X by a GBH News reporter began circulating on Monday.
She made her comments on Friday during an event at the Islamic Center of Boston in Wayland, Massachusetts, the United States.
Statement from Warren spokesperson sent this morning to @GBHNews: pic.twitter.com/rp1PYagnkz
— Tori Bedford (@Tori_Bedford) April 8, 2024
Prisoners group says Israel holding bodies of 26 Palestinian detainees
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says Israeli authorities are holding the bodies of 26 Palestinian detainees.
The NGO said the figure includes the body of novelist and activist Walid Daqqah, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who had terminal cancer and who died in Israeli custody on Sunday.
“No decision” has been made about the fate of Daqqah’s body so far, the group said in a statement.
Israel routinely withholds the bodies of Palestinians, which human rights groups say amounts to collective punishment of bereaved families. International law considers the practice a violation of human rights.
84 bodies found in Khan Younis after Israeli withdrawal
The number of bodies ambulance workers have recovered from Khan Younis so far now stands at 84, according to our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic.
Civil defence workers have been pulling bodies from under the rubble after Israeli forces withdrew from the southern Gaza city, leaving widespread destruction after months of intense Israeli attacks and fighting.
What military support does the US provide to Israel?
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza is putting US assistance to Israel under heavy scrutiny and prompting calls for Washington to put conditions on the military funding it provides, Reuters reports.
In 2016, the US signed a record $38bn agreement to provide Israel with military aid over 10 years.
Of that, $33bn was for military equipment and $5bn for missile defence systems.
Israel became the first international operator of the F-35 fighter jet with plans for a fleet of 75 of the technologically advanced aircraft.
The US helps fund Israel’s Iron Dome short-range rocket defence system and the “David’s Sling” system to shoot down rockets fired from up to 200km (124 miles) away.
A further $14bn for Israel, proposed by President Joe Biden last year, is currently held up in Congress.
Al-Quds Brigades says it fires missile at Israeli soldiers in Re’im
The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Quds Brigades, says it has fired a missile towards a crowd of Israeli soldiers in a kibbutz in Israel.
The missile landed in Re’im close to the Gaza Strip, the group said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
Israel rejects Turkey’s request to airdrop aid to Gaza: Minister
Turkey says Israel has blocked its attempt to airdrop aid to Gaza and promises to take a series of new measures against the country.
The Turkish air force wanted to conduct part of a humanitarian aid operation with its cargo planes.
“Today we learned that our request … was rejected by Israel. There is no excuse for Israel to block our attempt to airlift aid to starving Gazans,” Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said.
“We decided to take a series of new measures against Israel,” he said, adding that they would soon be made public.
Attack on WCK staff part of a ‘continuing act of genocide’: Rights groups
An attack that killed seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers in Gaza last week “exemplifies Israel’s policy of targeting humanitarian relief operations in Gaza”, three Palestinian human rights organisations say.
Al-Haq, Al Mezan Center for Human Rights and the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights condemned the April 1 attack, saying it “underscores” the Israeli army’s “deliberate targeting” of humanitarian operations and aid workers in the enclave.
“It provides yet another example in the pattern of Israel’s systematic military attacks on humanitarian aid convoys and distribution centres, and coupled with the deliberate attacks on Palestinians awaiting aid and workers involved in aid distribution and protection,” the groups said in a statement.
The attacks, they said, amount to a “continuing act of genocide” and force humanitarian organisations to cease life-saving operations in Gaza.
Iran accuses US of approving deadly strike on consulate
Iran’s foreign minister has accused Washington of approving a deadly strike believed to be carried out by Israel on Tehran’s consulate in Damascus last week.
“America is responsible for this incident and must be held accountable,” Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amirabdollahian told reporters after he inaugurated a new consulate in the Syrian capital.
“The fact that the US and two European countries opposed a [UN Security Council] resolution condemning the attack on the Iranian embassy is a sign that the US gave the green light to the Zionist regime [Israel]” to carry out the attack, he said.
Asked about Amirabdollahian’s remarks, Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh denied Washington was connected to the attack.
“I can very forcefully push back on that and say … the US military had no involvement in that strike that took place in Damascus,” she told journalists.
A day after the April 2 consulate strike, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby dismissed as “nonsense” comments by Amirabdollahian that Washington, Israel’s main backer, bore responsibility for the attack.
More on Walid Daqqa: Israeli police attack mourners
Israeli police have attacked a tent set up for mourners to pay their respects to the family of the Palestinian detainee who died while incarcerated.
The attack took place in Daqqa’s hometown, Baqa al-Gharbiyye, a predominantly Palestinian city in northern Israel near the border with the occupied West Bank.
Daqqah had been imprisoned since 1986. He had terminal cancer, but Israeli authorities refused to release him.
Israeli cops attack the mourning tent set up for Walid Daqqah, who died in Israeli jail yesterday.
Daqqah had been imprisoned since '84. Amnesty Intl called for his release last year.Note this is not in the West Bank, Gaza or Jerusalem. These are Palestinian citizens of Israel. https://t.co/1ShKr91e1v
— Mohammad Alsaafin (@malsaafin) April 8, 2024
PRCS says ‘significant damage’ found at al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis
After the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the southern Gaza city, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says its teams have found “significant damage to the hospital and its medical equipment as well as Hebrew writings on the walls”.
Khan Younis had been subject to months of intense Israeli bombardments and fighting. Israeli troops had raided the hospital several times, killing people, surrounding it with tanks, and forcing doctors, patients and displaced families sheltering there to evacuate.
Palestine Red Crescent teams checked on PRCS Al-Amal Hospital, in Khan Younis following the withdrawal of occupation forces from the area, leaving behind significant damage to the hospital and its medical equipment, as well as Hebrew writings on the walls.#NotATarget ❌… pic.twitter.com/QhzpH1HVBu
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) April 8, 2024
Death of Palestinian detainee ‘cruel reminder of Israel’s systematic medical neglect’
Amnesty International says the death in custody of Walid Daqqah, a Palestinian citizen of Israel who had terminal cancer, is a “cruel reminder of Israel’s disregard for Palestinians’ right to life”.
The 62-year-old Palestinian writer was the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails after being imprisoned for 38 years.
He died in Israeli custody despite calls for his urgent release on humanitarian grounds following his 2022 diagnosis with bone marrow cancer and the fact that he had already completed his original sentence.
Israeli authorities continue to hold his body.
“Sanaa Salameh, Daqqah’s wife, could not embrace her dying husband one last time before he passed. Israeli authorities must now return [his] body to his family without delay so they could give him a peaceful and dignified burial and allow them to mourn his death without intimidation,” said Erika Guevara-Rosas, Amnesty International’s senior director for research, advocacy, policy and campaigns.
The death in custody of Walid Daqqa, a 62-year-old Palestinian writer who was the longest-serving Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails after 38 years of imprisonment, is a cruel reminder of Israel’s disregard for Palestinians’ right to life ⬇️https://t.co/hSz0gdZgVj
— Amnesty International (@amnesty) April 8, 2024
Gaza’s media office releases updated figures of ongoing ‘genocide’
Gaza’s Government Media Office has released updated “key figures” to mark 185 days since Israel launched its assault on the besieged enclave.
Here are some of the most notable figures:
- At least 33,207 Palestinians have been killed, including 14,520 children.
- Thousands more remain missing or trapped under the rubble.
- At least 485 medical staff have been killed.
- More than 75,930 Palestinians have sustained injuries.
- At least 11,000 Palestinians with life-threatening injures require treatment outside Gaza.
- About 17,000 children have lost either one or both parents.
- More than one million displaced people have contracted infectious diseases.
- More than 310 medical staff and 20 journalists have been arrested by Israeli forces.
- At least two million Palestinians are now internally displaced in Gaza.
Rights group says without ceasefire, Israeli aid steps ‘meaningless’
Gisha, an Israeli NGO that focuses on protecting the freedom of movement of Palestinians, says government steps to improve aid flows into Gaza would be “meaningless” if there is no ceasefire or “effective deconfliction”.
“These measures and many others should have happened months ago. The fact that they didn’t has resulted in more avoidable death and suffering for Palestinians in Gaza. Much more must still be done to facilitate the humanitarian response to the catastrophe,” the group said.
After claiming repeatedly that there's no limit on aid to Gaza, IL announced steps to remove restrictions & improve aid flows. How & when the measures will be implemented remains to be seen. Without ceasefire or effective deconfliction they're meaningless.https://t.co/4KBGmGy6tU pic.twitter.com/6cLxFOPEEW
— Gisha גישה مسلك (@Gisha_Access) April 8, 2024
Hamas official says movement rejects latest Israeli Gaza ceasefire proposal
Hamas has rejected the latest Israeli ceasefire proposal suggested at talks in Cairo, senior official Ali Baraka tells Reuters.
A Hamas official had earlier told Reuters that no progress had been made in the negotiations.
US has not been briefed on a date for Israel’s Rafah invasion, State Dept says
The US has not been briefed on a date for Israel’s invasion of Rafah, US Department of State spokesperson Matthew Miller says, after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that a date has been set.
Miller told reporters at a regular news briefing that Washington does not want to see a full-scale invasion of Rafah, Gaza’s last refuge for displaced Palestinians, in any event.
“We have made clear to Israel that we think a full-scale military invasion of Rafah would have an enormously harmful effect on those civilians and that it would ultimately hurt Israel security,” Miller said.
More Americans think Israel has gone too far in Gaza: Poll
According to the latest Chicago Council on Global Affairs-Ipsos poll, slightly more Americans think Israel has gone too far and its military actions in Gaza are not justified (32 percent) than think Israel is justified in defending its interests (27 percent).
The poll also found that four in 10 Americans say the US should exert diplomatic pressure (14 percent) on Israel or restrict military aid (26 percent), but 23 percent say the US should not pressure Israel at all.
The survey shows that three in 10 Americans view Netanyahu very or somewhat favourably (30 percent). This share has declined since September, especially among Democrats (from 24 to 17 percent) and independents (from 35 to 23 percent).
Wednesday first day of Eid al-Fitr: Grand Mufti of Jerusalem
Sheikh Muhammad Ahmad Hussein, who is in charge of Jerusalem’s Islamic holy places, including Al-Aqsa Mosque, has said that Tuesday is the last day of the fasting month of Ramadan.
In a statement, Hussein expressed hope that before the next Eid, “Palestinian freedom and independence will have been achieved and the brutal aggression against our people in Gaza will have ended.”