MIDDLE EAST
2 HOURS AGO
Live blog: Death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza rises to 33,843
Israel’s war on besieged Palestinians of Gaza — now in its 193rd day — has killed at least 33,843 people and wounded over 76,575 as illegal settlers joined by Israeli troops kill several Palestinians in occupied West Bank.
A mass grave has been discovered at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, according to a news report by Al Jazeera Arabic. / Photo: AA
AA
A mass grave has been discovered at Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza, according to a news report by Al Jazeera Arabic. / Photo: AA
Tuesday, April 16, 2024
1010 GMT — At least 33,843 people have been killed in Gaza during more than six months of Israeli aggression, according to Palestinian health ministry in the besieged enclave.
The toll includes at least 46 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 76,575 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war began when on October 7.
1005 GMT — Israeli army raids parts of northern Gaza, forces residents to flee
The Israeli army carried out a sudden incursion into parts of northern Gaza, forcing Palestinians to flee.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli army carried out a sudden incursion into areas in eastern Jabalia and Beit Hanoun, and into northern Beit Lahia town amid heavy artillery shelling and firing.
The Israeli forces surrounded schools that were sheltering displaced Palestinians in Beit Hanoun, and detained all men inside after forcing them to strip to their underwear clothes.
The women and children were ordered to leave the shelters, the eyewitnesses added.
They also said the Israeli army is seeking to empty Beit Hanoun again, after Palestinians had returned to the border town following the Israeli army’s withdrawal.
0954 GMT — Italy willing to send troops if Palestinian state were created, says foreign minister
Italy’s government is willing to send troops together with other countries if a Palestinian state were created, the country’s foreign minister said in an interview with the state-run Ansa news agency.
“The Italian government is strongly committed to peace, we are friends of Israel but we want to work for peace, including potentially sending troops if there were the will to create a Palestinian state together with forces of other countries,” Antonio Tajani said.
“(Italy) has a strong dialogue with the Palestinian Authority, it’s our interlocutor. I spoke to Prime Minister (Mohammad) Mustafa, whom I invited to Italy. This shows that we want to have a relationship with the only legitimate Palestinian authority, to work on the solution of two peoples, two states, the only possible solution for stability in the area.”
0933 GMT — UN human rights office says resolving ‘catastrophic situation’ in Gaza must remain ‘priority’
Amid rising tension between Israel and Iran in recent days, the UN human rights office on Tuesday urged states to resolve the situation in Gaza on “priority.”
“The UN human rights office urges all states with influence to do everything in their power to halt the increasingly horrific human rights and humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the rising violence and targeted attacks in the West Bank, and the heightened risk of wider escalation of the conflict in the Middle East,” OHCHR spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani told a UN briefing in Geneva.
“Resolving the catastrophic situation of civilians in Gaza must remain a priority,” Shamdasani underscored.
Stressing that Israel continues to impose “unlawful restrictions” on the entry and distribution of humanitarian assistance, she reiterated the call for an immediate ceasefire.
0640 GMT — Israeli army raids several areas across occupied West Bank
The Israeli army carried out several raids across the occupied West Bank to arrest Palestinians, according to eyewitnesses.
The Israeli forces raided the city of Qalqilya, northern the West Bank, and stormed into several homes in the city, the eyewitnesses told Anadolu.
They added that the Israeli army vehicles intentionally hit Palestinian cars to damage them, while the snipers were deployed on the houses in the city.
The Israeli army also raided the town of Hableh, southern Qalqilya, and at least detained four Palestinians.
Other Israeli incursions were reported in Tulkarem, Bethlehem, Ramallah, Hebron, and Jenin, where five Palestinians at least were detained by the Israeli forces, local sources told Anadolu.
The Israeli army’s incursions come in the light of a wave of illegal settlers’ violence against Palestinians during which they torched dozens of Palestinian homes and cars.
More updates 👇
0416 GMT — Several Palestinians killed in Israeli air strike on mosque in Jabalia in northern Gaza
Several Palestinians were killed and others injured early Tuesday by Israeli air strikes that targeted a mosque in Jabalia in northern Gaza, the official Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
Medical sources said that “several martyrs and nine wounded were transported to Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza as a result of the Israeli occupation’s aircraft targeting the Al Fakhoura Martyrs Mosque located west of the Jabalia refugee camp.”
Israeli army vehicles also infiltrated the town of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza, besieging a school sheltering displaced people and opening fire on them, said WAFA.
Local sources reported an outage in communications and internet services in Beit Hanoun coinciding with the incursion by Israeli troops.
0005 GMT — Four Palestinians killed in Rafah
Israel has killed at least four Palestinian civilians in Rafah’s Tal al Sultan area, while striking Nuseirat camp city in central Gaza and north of Gaza, witnesses told TRT World.
2200 GMT — Pro-Palestine protests hit US cities
Pro-Palestine demonstrators have blocked roadways in Illinois, California, New York and Oregon, temporarily shutting down travel into Chicago O’Hare International Airport, onto the Golden Gate and Brooklyn bridges and on a busy West Coast highway amid Israel’s carnage in besieged Gaza.
In Chicago, protesters linked arms and blocked lanes of Interstate 190 leading into one of the nation’s busiest airports around 7 am, a demonstration they said was part of a global “economic blockade to free Palestine,” according to Rifqa Falaneh, one of the organisers.
Traffic in the San Francisco Bay Area was snarled for hours as demonstrators shut down all vehicle, pedestrian and bike traffic on the Golden Gate Bridge and chained themselves to 55-gallon drums filled with cement across Interstate 880 in Oakland.
Protesters marching into Brooklyn blocked Manhattan-bound traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge. In Eugene, Oregon, protesters blocked Interstate 5, shutting down traffic on the major highway for about 45 minutes.
AA
Dozens of police officers on scene as Pro-Palestinian protesters shut down the famous Golden Gate Bridge to protest Israeli attacks on Gaza and Rafah, in San Francisco.
2100 GMT — Qatar, Iran leaders call for ceasefire
Qatar and Iran have stressed the need for a ceasefire in besieged Gaza and all other Palestinian territories in a phone call between the two countries’ leaders.
According to the Qatar News Agency (QNA), Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al Thani phoned Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, with whom he discussed “bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to support and strengthen them.”
They also stressed the need for a ceasefire in Gaza and all Palestinian territories as “a permanent and final solution to the Palestinian cause that achieves a lasting and comprehensive peace in the region.”
2032 GMT — Large protests against Israeli participation in Eurovision expected
Over 20,000 people from various European countries are expected to travel to the city of Malmo in Sweden to protest Israel’s participation in the Eurovision song contest, set to be held in the Scandinavian country on May 7, local media reported.
The Palestine Network launched an initiative to organise demonstrations and other cultural activities in the city during Eurovision week, according to national broadcaster SVT Nyheter.
One of the many organisations collaborating to hold two demonstrations in the city is the Palestine Group in Malmo.
“We are planning two large, peaceful demonstrations on May 9 and 11 in Malmo. We hope that many people will come from Denmark to participate,” Per-Olof Karlsson, one of the organisers, told the broadcaster.
2000 GMT — Israel ‘unhappy’ with China’s failure to condemn Iran’s retaliation
Israel is “unhappy” with China’s failure to condemn Iranian retaliatory attacks on Israel over the weekend, according to an Israeli diplomat in Beijing.
Speaking at a press briefing, Yuval Waks, a senior official at the Israeli embassy in Beijing, said Israel’s expectation from China strongly condemned the attacks and acknowledged Israel’s right to self-defence.
“We did not see that, unfortunately. Therefore, we were unhappy with the statement,” Waks said.
Acknowledging the strong bilateral ties between China and Iran, Waks emphasised Israel’s deep concerns regarding Iran’s “adverse role” in the region and its support for “terrorist groups”.
“Nevertheless, we have conveyed our deep concerns about Iran’s negative role in our region and its support for terrorist groups to our Chinese counterparts,” Waks added.
For our live updates from Monday, April 15, click here.
SOURCE: TRTWORLD AND AGENCIES
