Saturday, April 6, 2024
15:20 GMT — UN humanitarian chief calls Gaza war 'betrayal of humanity'
Israel's war on Gaza has escalated into a "betrayal of humanity", the United Nations' humanitarian chief has said.
In a statement on the eve of the six-month anniversary of the war, Martin Griffiths, the outgoing under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief, called for a "collective determination that there be a reckoning for this betrayal of humanity."
"Each day, this war claims more civilian victims," said Griffiths, who will leave his post at the end of June due to health reasons.
"Every second that it continues sows the seeds of a future so deeply obscured by this relentless conflict."
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14:32 GMT — Israeli army detains 45 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank raids
Israeli army forces rounded up 45 more Palestinians in overnight raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners' affairs groups.
The arrests included worshippers exiting the Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem after observing Laylat al Qadr, the holiest night for Muslims in the month of Ramadan, as well as others in the West Bank cities of Hebron, Jenin, Nablus, Tubas, Tulkarem, Ramallah, and Jericho, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.
Both organisations reported instances of “brutal beatings, threats against detainees and their families, and the destruction and demolition of citizens' homes” during the arrests.
This brought the number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in the West Bank to 8,080 since last October, according to Palestinian figures.
13:18 GMT — Three aid trucks arrive at hospitals in northern Gaza
Three aid trucks containing fuel, medicines, and medical supplies have entered northern Gaza via Salah al Din Street, eyewitnesses said.
Palestinian medical sources said that one of the trucks carried fuel while the two others carried medicines and medical supplies.
They added that the trucks were designated for the Kamal Adwan and Al Awda hospitals in the town of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza.
12:01 GMT — Hamas delegation heads to Cairo to discuss Gaza ceasefire
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has announced that a leading delegation from the movement will head to Cairo on Sunday in response to an Egyptian invitation to discuss ceasefire developments in Gaza.
“A leadership delegation from Hamas headed by Khalil Al-Hayya will head tomorrow, Sunday, to Cairo, in response to the call of our brothers in Egypt,” the movement said in a statement.
Hamas confirmed its adherence to its position presented on March 14.
“The demands of our people and national forces are for a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of the (Israeli) occupation forces from Gaza, the return of the displaced to their places of residence, freedom of movement, relief and shelter, in addition to a serious hostage exchange deal,” Hamas said.
10:29 GMT — Israeli army says it retrieved body of hostage in Gaza’s Khan Younis
The Israeli army has said that it retrieved the body of a hostage during an operation in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
In a statement, the Israeli army said that “the body of the late hostage Elad Katzir, who according to intelligence information was killed in captivity … was retrieved from Khan Younis.”
Katzir was taken hostage alongside his mother, who was later released on November 24, 2023, as part of a hostage deal between Hamas and Israel, the statement said.
09:56 GMT — Hamas refuses to 'back down' on Gaza ceasefire demands
Palestinian resistance movement Hamas has refused to "back down" from its demands for a Gaza ceasefire but agreed to send a delegation for renewed talks in Cairo over the weekend.
"Hamas confirms its adherence to the position it presented on March 14 ... and we will not back down from this position," a statement said, referring to the group's demands that include a complete ceasefire in Gaza and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Palestinian territory.
08:28 GMT — 46 more Palestinians killed in Gaza as Israeli onslaught continues: Health Ministry
At least 46 more Palestinians have been killed and 65 others injured over the last 24 hours, as Israel continued its onslaught on besieged Gaza, Palestine's Health Ministry in the territory said.
“The Israeli occupation (forces) committed four massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, leaving 46 martyrs and 65 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.
07:31 GMT — Palestinian death toll from Israeli attacks reaches 33,137: ministry
The health ministry in Gaza has said that at least 33,137 people have been killed in the territory during nearly six months of war on Gaza.
A ministry statement also added that 75,815 people have been wounded in Gaza since October 7.
05:52 GMT — Israeli info on aid worker killings 'not sufficient': Australia
Australia's Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said that information from Israel about the death of an Australian aid worker killed in a Gaza air strike was "not sufficient".
US-based World Central Kitchen — founded by Spanish-American celebrity chef Jose Andres — said a "targeted attack" by Israeli forces on Monday had killed seven aid workers.
After being briefed by Israeli authorities, Australia had "made clear that we have not yet received sufficient information to satisfy our expectations" about Frankcom's death, Wong told reporters.
04:18 GMT — Australia to appoint 'special adviser' on probe into Israel airstrike
Australia's government said it would appoint a special adviser to work with Israel to ensure "full confidence" in investigations into an airstrike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers, including an Australian.
"The government will appoint a special adviser who we have requested the Israelis work with so we can be advised about the appropriateness of the process," Foreign Minister Penny Wong said in a televised media conference in Adelaide.
"We want to have full confidence in the transparency and accountability of any investigation, and we will continue to work to achieve that."
03:53 GMT — Denmark to implement ‘very restrict approach’ in military exports to Israel
Denmark announced that it would implement a “very restrictive approach” for military exports to Israel amid the “disastrous consequences” of the ongoing onslaught in Gaza.
"As a result of the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas and the disastrous consequences this has for the civilian population of Gaza, as of March 25, 2024, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has further tightened our approach to exporting military equipment to Israel," Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said in written comments to a local news outlet Thursday.
He said Denmark will be moving from an already restrictive approach to a very restrictive approach when assessing specific applications for the export of military equipment and dual-use products to Israel.
03:00 GMT — Pelosi joins call for Biden to stop supply of US arms to Israel
Representative Nancy Pelosi, former House speaker and a key ally of Joe Biden, has signed a letter from dozens of congressional Democrats to the president and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, urging a halt to weapons transfers to Israel.
Support from Pelosi, a veteran member of Biden's Democratic Party, for stopping the transfer of weapons to Israel showed that the view is increasingly becoming mainstream in the party.
The letter called on the Biden administration to conduct its own probe into an Israeli air strike that killed seven staff of the aid group World Central Kitchen on Monday.
02:50 GMT — US urges Egypt, Qatar to press Hamas on hostage deal with Israel
President Joe Biden has written to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, calling on them to press Hamas resistance group for a hostage deal with Israel, according to a senior administration official, a day after Hamas accused Tel Aviv of being "intransigent," saying it has rejected every proposal put forward.
The letters to Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi and Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani come as Biden has deployed CIA Director Bill Burns to Cairo for talks this weekend about the hostage crisis.
White House officials say negotiating a pause in Israel's war on Gaza to facilitate the exchange of hostages held in Gaza for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel is the only way to put a temporary ceasefire into effect and boost the flow of badly humanitarian aid into the territory.
02:31 GMT — Jordan demands opening of all crossings, end to starvation in Gaza
Jordan has urged the opening of all land crossings into besieged Gaza and an end to starvation in the blockaded enclave.
"All land crossings to Gaza must be opened. A ceasefire must begin now," Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi wrote on X. "UN must be in charge of all humanitarian operations and have full access."
Safadi noted that "anything short of that'll be another lie and won't even begin to address the catastrophe Israel has created," stressing that "starvation of Gazans must end."
02:17 GMT — Illegal Israeli settlers torch 4 Palestinian homes in eastern West Bank
Israeli illegal settlers have burned four Palestinian homes in a Bedouin community in northern Jericho in the eastern occupied West Bank.
Hassan Malihat, general supervisor of the Al-Baydar Organisation for Defending Bedouin Rights, told Anadolu Agency that Zionist settlers attacked the Ras Al-Ain Bedouin community and torched the homes.
He warned of the implementation of ethnic cleansing against the Palestinians from a settlers' war against the Palestinian Bedouin communities in the eastern West Bank, known as the Al-Aghwar area, which constitutes 30 percent of the total West Bank area.
02:10 GMT — Israel conducts raids in West Bank, wounds 3 Palestinians
The Israeli army has wounded at least three Palestinians during night raids in the occupied West Bank.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said the army raided the village of Osarin, near Nablus in the northern West Bank, and fought with Palestinians.
It added that medical teams transferred one Palestinian wounded by an Israeli live bullet to the hospital.
02:05 GMT — Colombia seeks to intervene in ICJ genocide case against Israel
Colombia has asked the International Court of Justice [ICJ] to allow it to intervene in the lawsuit that South Africa filed against Israel for acts of "genocide" in besieged Gaza, the court reported.
"Today, Colombia, invoking Article 63 of the Statute of the Court, filed in the Registry of the Court a declaration of intervention in the case concerning the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip," it said in a statement.
Colombia made it clear that it does not seek to become part of the process initiated by South Africa, but it wants to submit its declaration "in the genuine belief that the States parties to the Genocide Convention should do everything in their power to contribute to ensure the prevention, suppression and punishment of genocide."
For our live updates from Friday, April 5, click here.
