Saturday, April 20, 2024
13:50 GMT — An official in the Palestine Liberation Organization has said that Israel is committing “genocide” in the Nur Shams camp for the third day in a row as the Israeli army continues to storm the Tulkarm city and the Nur Shams camp resulting in several casualties.
“The siege has been ongoing since Thursday evening. The Israeli army is besieging the camp from all sides. No one can enter or leave it,” Mu’ayyad Shaa’ban, the head of the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission, told Anadolu.
“The situation is catastrophic and difficult in every sense of the word,” he said.
Shaa’ban pointed out that "the Israeli army forces bombed Palestinian homes with Energa bombs where two martyrs were officially reported."
“A number of martyrs are believed to be on the streets and neither ambulances nor even citizens can reach them,” he added.
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15:13 GMT — Palestinian president restructures Central Elections Committee
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has issued a presidential decree restructuring the Central Elections Commission, headed by Rami Walid Kamel Hamdallah, the Palestine News Agency Wafa reported.
The agency added that Abbas received the new head of the Central Elections Committee, Rami Hamdallah, at the presidential headquarters in the city of Ramallah.
The committee includes in its membership Lamis Al Alami, Mazen Sissalem, Kholoud Ashakhshir, Shukri Nashashibi, Issa Mahna, Yasser Moussa Harb, Youssef Awadallah, and Ahmed Al Khaldi.
14:29 GMT — Erdogan urges Palestinian unity after meeting Hamas chief: office
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has urged Palestinians to unite amid Israel's war on Gaza, following hours-long talks with Hamas chief Ismail Haniya in Istanbul, his office said.
"It is vital that Palestinians act with unity in this process. The strongest response to Israel and the path to victory lie in unity and integrity," Erdogan said according to a Turkish presidency statement.
13:41 GMT — Israeli army detains 30 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank
The Israeli army has detained 30 more Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
According to a joint statement issued by the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoners Society, the new arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli forces since Oct. 7 to 8,340.
The latest arrests took place mostly in the Nur Shams camp in Tulkarm which has been subject to an Israeli military operation since Thursday.
Earlier Saturday, Mu’ayyad Shaa’ban, the head of the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission and a resident of Nur Shams camp, told Anadolu that Israel is committing “genocide” in the camp.
12:56 GMT — Palestine to reconsider US ties after veto of bid for full UN membership
The Palestinian Authority will reconsider bilateral relations with the US after Washington vetoed a Palestinian request for full United Nations membership, President Mahmoud Abbas has said in an interview with the official WAFA news agency.
12:54 GMT — Israeli strike kills 9 family members in Rafah
Civil defence agency in Gaza has said an overnight Israeli strike killed nine members of a Palestinian family including six children in the southern city of Rafah.
Five children aged one to seven and a 16-year-old girl were among the dead, along with two women and a man, according to the city's al Najjar hospital.
"Nine martyrs including six children were pulled out from the rubble after Israeli air forces struck a house of the Radwan family in Tal al-Sultan in Rafah," Gaza Civil Defence agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal said in a statement.
"People were sleeping peacefully," said neighbour Abu Mohammed Ziyadah.
12:18 GMT — China's foreign minister says admitting Palestinian state to UN is move to rectify injustice
China's foreign minister Wang Yi has said efforts to admit a Palestinian state into the United Nations were a move to rectify a prolonged injustice, state media Xinhua reported.
He made the comments at a joint press conference with his Papua New Guinea counterpart during a visit to the country.
"A prompt admission of Palestine into the United Nations is a move to rectify a prolonged historical injustice," Xinhua quoted Wang as saying.
12:16 GMT — President Erdogan receives Hamas chief in Istanbul
Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has received Hamas Political Bureau Chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul.
No further details of the closed-door meeting at the Dolmabahce Office were provided.
On Wednesday, Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan also met with Haniyeh in Doha to discuss Israel's war on Gaza, according to diplomatic sources.
Fidan and Haniyeh along with his delegation deliberated on issues concerning humanitarian assistance to Gaza, ceasefire, as well as hostages, the sources added.
10:32 GMT — Top French diplomat, Palestinian premier discuss situation in West Bank, Gaza
French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne and Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa over the phone discussed the situation in Gaza and the occupied West Bank, according to an official statement.
In a statement on X, the French Foreign Ministry said Sejourne and Mustafa discussed a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all prisoners, and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to the statement.
Sejourne condemned "the unacceptable ongoing violence in the West Bank" during the meeting, it added.
10:28 GMT — Egypt demands opening of Israeli crossings with Gaza
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed the need to open Israeli crossings with the besieged Gaza.
“We demand that the six Israeli crossings with Gaza be opened to humanitarian aid,” said Shoukry in a joint news conference with his Turkish counterpart Hakan Fidan in Istanbul.
The Egyptian official stressed that the “failure to do so violates international law.”
Shoukry said that “since the beginning of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, Israeli hurdles persisted.”
He noted that Egypt has “engaged international allies in setting up Gaza centre for aid distribution.”
The Egyptian minister also said: “We must prevent the displacement of Palestinians and work to establish an independent Palestinian state.”
Shoukry also stressed that the Iran-Israel tension “diverted the international community's attention from the tragic situation in Gaza.”
10:11 GMT — Turkish, Egyptian foreign ministers discuss how to boost aid to Gaza
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said he addressed the "grave situation" in Gaza and how to step up humanitarian aid to the Israeli-besieged territory with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry during a meeting in Istanbul.
"We have discussed what more we can do to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza and what can be done in the long run for a two-state solution," Fidan told a joint news conference with Shoukry.
Fidan said the crisis in Palestine may trigger global issues, adding: “Cooperation between Egypt and Türkiye is extremely beneficial for our peoples and region.”
08:35 GMT — 37 more Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israeli onslaught continues: Health Ministry
At least 37 more Palestinians were killed and 68 others injured over the last 24 hours as Israel continues its onslaught on besieged Gaza, the territory's Health Ministry said.
“The Israeli occupation (forces) committed four massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 37 martyrs and 68 injured during the past 24 hours,” a ministry statement said.
“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.
The health ministry in Gaza has reported that the death toll has now risen to at least 34,049 during over six months of Israeli offensive on Gaza.
06:30 GMT — Israel kills seven Palestinians in Gaza's Rafah city
Israel has killed at least seven people in an air raid on Tal al-Sultan neighbourhood in Rafah, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
It said most of victims were "women and children", adding that a strike hit a residential home.
Death toll is likely to climb given the number of people who sustained wounds, WAFA reported.
05:21 GMT — London vigil commemorates medics killed by Israel
A vigil has been held outside of the prime minister's office in London to commemorate healthcare workers killed by Israel in besieged Gaza.
During the demonstration organised by Healthcare Workers 4 Palestine, names and photos of healthcare professionals were placed on the ground along with uniforms to symbolise the dead.
British healthcare workers were among the attendees, and a minute of silence was observed to remind them of their colleagues.
04:30 GMT — Israel hands over bodies of Palestinians killed by Zionist settlers
The Israeli military has handed back two corpses of Palestinians killed earlier this week by illegal Zionist settlers near Nablus in the northern occupied West Bank.
The National Campaign for the Recovery of Martyrs' Bodies said Israeli authorities handed over the bodies of Abdel-Rahman Bani Fadel, 30, and Mohammad Bani Jame', 21, who were killed by settlers' bullets.
Hussien Shejaeah, the Campaign's coordinator, told Anadolu Agency that Israeli authorities are still holding the bodies of 248 Palestinians killed as far back as 2015.
For our live updates from Friday, April 19, click here.
