Live blog: US still opposes Rafah assault after Netanyahu says date set

Monday, April 8, 2024

1751 GMT — The United States has said it still opposed a major Israeli assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said a date was set.

President Joe Biden's administration has repeatedly called on Israel to present a plan to protect civilians in Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken shelter from the six-month-old war.

"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's security," State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters when asked about Netanyahu's remarks.

"It's not just a question of Israel presenting a plan to us. We have made clear to them that we think that there is a better way to achieve what is a legitimate goal, which is to degrade and dismantle and defeat the Hamas battalions that still remain in Rafah," Miller said.

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1821 GMT — Türkiye has largest share in total annual exports to Palestinian markets: official

A Palestinian official has said that Türkiye has the largest share in total annual exports to Palestinian markets.

Rashad Yousef, director of policies and planning at the Ministry of National Economy, told Anadolu that trade with Türkiye has grown significantly over the last five years regarding exports and imports.

Over the last five years, he said Türkiye has become the second source of goods in Palestinian markets after Israel.

"If we exclude Israel, Türkiye is the largest source of goods and products in the Palestinian market," the Palestinian official said.

1655 GMT — Israeli offensive in Khan Younis damaged more than half of all buildings in the city: experts

A pair of mapping experts have said Israel’s offensive in the southern Gaza City of Khan Younis appears to have leftover half of the city’s buildings with damage or destruction visible from space.

As of last week, over 55 percent of the city’s buildings were likely damaged or destroyed, according to an analysis of Copernicus Sentinel-1 satellite data by Corey Scher of the CUNY Graduate Center and Jamon Van Den Hoek of Oregon State University. They say that accounts for 45,000 buildings.

Still, the damage in Khan Younis and other parts of the Gaza’s south is considerably less than in the north of Gaza, where the researchers estimate 70 percent of buildings were likely damaged or destroyed.

1653 GMT — Türkiye to take action against Israel unless ceasefire achieved

The Turkish foreign minister has announced that the country has decided to take "a string of measures" against Israel until a ceasefire is reached.

"Türkiye has decided to take a string of measures against Israel until a ceasefire is achieved and Israel allows uninterrupted aid into Gaza," Hakan Fidan told a press conference at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the capital Ankara.

"These measures, approved by our president, will be implemented step by step, and without delay. These measures will be shared with the public by our relevant institutions," he said.

The foreign minister said Türkiye "requested to be involved in humanitarian airdrops to Gaza, but Israel rejected it even though Jordan approved it."

"There is no excuse for Israel to block our attempt to airlift aid to starving Gaza residents."

1700 GMT —There is a date' for Rafah invasion: Israeli PM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that a date has been set for an offensive in the city of Rafah, which Israel says is one of the last Hamas strongholds in Gaza.

He did not say when the invasion would occur but reiterated that victory over Hamas "requires entry into Rafah and the elimination of the terrorist battalions there. It will happen - there is a date," Netanyahu said in a video statement.

1613 GMT — Israeli's Lapid says he discussed need for Gaza solution with Blinken

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has said he discussed the need for a solution in Gaza, most importantly the release of hostages, in his talks with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

Lapid, speaking to reporters following the discussion, said a hostage deal is difficult but doable, he added.

1612 GMT — UNSC refers Palestinian bid to become full UN member to committee

The United Nations Security Council has referred the Palestinian Authority's application to become a full member of the world body to the committee on the admission of new members.

Malta's UN Ambassador Vanessa Frazier proposed that the committee meet on Monday at 3 pm to consider the application. Malta is president of the Security Council for April.

1551 GMT — White House: Waiting for Hamas response to hostage release proposal

CIA Director William Burns was in Cairo over the weekend for "a serious round" of negotiations on securing the release of hostages being held by Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza, and Hamas is reviewing a new proposal now, the White House has said.

White House spokesperson John Kirby said the United States was taking the discussions very seriously and was hoping to secure a hostage release deal as soon as possible since it would also lead to a ceasefire of around six weeks.

He said more than 300 aid trucks entered Gaza on Sunday, but the White House would continue to press Israel to allow more humanitarian aid supplies into the Palestinian enclave.

1549 GMT — Over 1M cases of infectious diseases reported in Gaza

Gaza’s government media office has reported more than one million cases of infectious diseases due to mass displacement in the besieged Gaza.

"Some 1,089,000 cases of infectious diseases and 8,000 cases of hepatitis C were recorded in Gaza," the office said in a statement.

"There are 10,000 cancer patients are at the risk of death and urgently need medical care," the media office said.

1439 GMT — Hamas is flexible at Cairo talks: group's leader

Hamas flexible at Cairo talks, as Israel insists on limiting talks to only prisoner swaps and limited return of displaced Palestinians, the group's leader Sami Abu Zuhri has told Anadolu.

Israel and Hamas sent teams to Egypt on Sunday after the arrival on Saturday of CIA Director William Burns, whose presence underlined rising US pressure for a deal that would free hostages held in Gaza and get aid to isolated civilians.

1438 GMT — Right time to do a hostage deal, says Israel's defence minister

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said it is the right time to do a hostage deal with Hamas, a day after the military pulled out troops from Gaza's main southern city.

With indirect talks between Israel and Hamas on a Gaza truce and a hostage deal going on in Cairo, Gallant told Israeli army recruits that, "I think we are at an appropriate moment" to do a deal with the movement, six months into the war.

"The relentless pressure on Hamas and the position of strength from which we come into this campaign, allow us flexibility and freedom of action," he added, according to a statement issued by his office.

"There will be difficult decisions and we will be ready to pay the price in order to get the hostages back, and then return to fighting."

1327 GMT — Iran general killed in Syria was on Hezbollah's top council: group source

An Iranian general killed in a strike in Syria's capital was a member of Hezbollah's Shura Council, the powerful Lebanese group's decision-making body, a source close to the movement said.

The April 1 air strike levelled the Iranian embassy's consular annexe in Damascus, killing seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) members, including two generals.

One of them was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander in the Quds Force, the Guards' foreign operations arm.

1240 GMT — Saudi Arabia, Pakistan call for global efforts to halt Israeli war on Gaza

Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met in Mecca, Saudi Arabia to discuss a myriad of regional and global developments of mutual interest, including the situation in Gaza, said a joint statement.

The two leaders, who met on Sunday, urged "for international efforts to halt Israeli military operations in Gaza, mitigate humanitarian impact and underscored the imperative for the international community to pressure Israel to cease hostilities, adhere to international law, and facilitate unhindered humanitarian aid access to Gaza," said the statement released by Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry.

"They discussed the need for advancing the peace process in accordance with relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly as well as the Arab Peace Initiative aimed at finding a just and comprehensive solution, for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital," the statement said.

1208 GMT — Australia doesn't find Israel’s explanation on aid workers' killing 'satisfactory': PM

Israel is yet to provide a satisfactory explanation for the death of seven aid workers last week, Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said.

Albanese told public broadcaster ABC that he expected Tel Aviv would fully cooperate with Mark Binskin as Australia’s special adviser on Israel’s response to the missile strikes.

"We would expect that someone of Mr. Binskin's stature, frankly, will be given every cooperation from the Israel Defense Forces and the Israeli government," he said. “We don’t find the explanations to be satisfactory to this point."

He said the killing of seven aid workers has "shaken the world" and it is "unacceptable" that almost 200 aid workers have died since the Israeli war on Gaza began in October last year.

1203 GMT — Israel 'undecided' on criminal investigation over Gaza aid workers deaths

Israel has not decided yet on launching a criminal investigation into last week’s killing of seven aid workers in an air strike in Gaza, according to local media.

"The military prosecution has not yet decided whether to launch a criminal investigation against those involved" in the strike, the Israeli public broadcaster KAN said.

"The security establishment tends to allow the involvement of independent external parties from international organisations in investigating the incident," it added.

1136 GMT — Gaza death toll from Israeli attacks tops 33,200: ministry

At least 33,207 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during Israel's brutal war on the besieged enclave, the enclave's Health Ministry has said.

The toll includes at least 38 deaths over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, adding that 75,933 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war began on October 7.

1125 GMT — Iran's supreme leader rules out sending volunteers to Palestinian territories

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has said the deployment of volunteers to the Palestinian territories is not possible, in an indication Tehran is not seeking direct ground involvement in the war in Gaza.

Video footage on Khamenei's official website showed him making the remarks during a meeting with students.

"Rest assured that if it was possible to send young men to Palestine, it would have been done before you say it," Khamenei said.

1008 GMT — UN officials in Lebanon urge Israel border de-escalation

United Nations officials have said that six months of violence on the Israel-Lebanon border "must stop", urging de-escalation "while there is still space for diplomacy".

Israeli forces and Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah, an ally of the Palestinian resistance group Hamas, have exchanged regular cross-border fire since Israel launched its war in Gaza.

"It is six months since the exchanges of fire across the Blue Line began, and continue unabated, taking a heavy toll on both sides," said a joint statement from UN special coordinator for Lebanon, Joanna Wronecka, and Aroldo Lazaro, head of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL).

"The violence and suffering has gone on too long. It must stop," the officials said.

1004 GMT — Israeli minister threatens to topple Netanyahu if Rafah not attacked

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has threatened to topple the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu if he ends the war in Gaza without launching an offensive on the southern city of Rafah.

"If the Prime Minister decides to end the war without an extensive attack on Rafah in order to defeat Hamas, he will not have a mandate to continue serving as Prime Minister," the far-right politician wrote on X.

Ben Gvir's threat comes amid reports of a possible breakthrough in Israel's indirect negotiations with Hamas to reach a hostage-prisoners exchange deal and a cease-fire.

0935 GMT — Germany 'pathetic' to give Gaza aid and Israel arms: Nicaragua

Nicaragua has hit out at Germany at the UN's top court over its support to Israel, saying it was "pathetic" to give weapons to the Israeli government while simultaneously providing aid in Gaza.

"It is indeed a pathetic excuse to the Palestinian children, women and men to provide humanitarian aid, including through airdrops, on the one hand, and to furnish the military equipment that is used to kill and annihilate them... on the other hand," Daniel Mueller, a lawyer for Nicaragua, told the court.

Nicaragua brought the case against Germany before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to demand that judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin from providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.

"By sending military equipment and now defunding UNRWA (UN agency for Palestinian refugees)... Germany is facilitating the commission of genocide," the submission says.

0935 GMT — Hamas says Gaza truce talks remain deadlocked despite reports of progress

A Hamas official has said no progress was made at a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks in Cairo also attended by delegations from Israel, Qatar and the US, shortly after Egyptian sources said headway had been made on the agenda.

"There is no change in the position of the occupation and therefore, there is nothing new in the Cairo talks," the Hamas official, who asked not to be named, told Reuters news agency. "There is no progress yet."

0912 GMT — Israeli army kills Palestinian woman in alleged stabbing attempt

The Israeli army on Monday opened fire on a Palestinian woman in the Jordan Valley area, east of the occupied West Bank, alleging an attempted stabbing of soldiers.

The woman arrived at the Tayasir checkpoint, and "after she refused to identify herself, she tried to stab the IDF (army) soldiers who were at the post," the Times of Israel daily quoted a military statement as saying.

The statement added that the soldiers fired and "neutralized" her, without disclosing her identity.

There was no reported injuries among the soldiers.

0810 GMT — Israel says Hezbollah commander killed in Lebanon strike

The Israeli military has said it killed a Hezbollah commander in an overnight air strike in Lebanon, as cross-border violence flares between Israel and the Iran-backed group.

Ali Ahmed Hussein of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Forces was "eliminated" by Israeli jets in the area of Sultaniyeh in southern Lebanon, the military said in a statement, accusing him of attacks against Israeli targets in recent months.

At least two other people were killed in the strike, according to the Israeli military, Lebanese state media and a security source.

0810 GMT — Israeli army raids West Bank cities, detains more Palestinians

The Israeli army has stormed several cities in the occupied West Bank, including Tulkarem and its refugee camp, demolishing infrastructure and detaining people, Anadolu news agency reports.

Military bulldozers excavated and destroyed infrastructure and there were armed clashes throughout the raid, witnesses said. Houses and shops were also ransacked.

The forces imposed tightened restrictions around the refugee camp deploying snipers in buildings while beginning to excavate the streets, Palestine's official news agency Wafa said.

0331 GMT — Israel gears up for Rafah invasion after devastating Khan Younis

Israeli leaders prepare for a ground invasion in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, where most of the Palestinian territory's population has fled after six months of brutal bombardment.

Israel pulled its forces out of southern Gaza on Sunday. But Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said troops had left the city of Khan Younis "to prepare for future missions, including... in Rafah" on Monday.

After troops left areas in and around the largely destroyed Khan Younis, a stream of displaced Palestinians walked there, hoping to return to their homes from temporary shelters in Rafah, a little further south. But they saw nothing but loss.

"Isn't the bombing, death and destruction enough?" 51-year-old Palestinian man Muhammad Younis asked. "There are bodies still under the rubble. We can smell the stench."

0215 GMT — Germany faces Gaza genocide case at top UN court

Germany faces charges from Nicaragua at the top UN court that it is “facilitating” acts of genocide and breaches of international law in Israel's war on Gaza.

In a 43-page submission to the International Court of Justice, Nicaragua argues that Germany is in breach of the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention, set up in the wake of the Holocaust.

Nicaragua is demanding the judges impose emergency measures to stop Berlin providing Israel with weapons and other assistance.

The Central American country will set out its case on Monday, with Germany due to respond the following day.

0028 GMT — Three killed in Israeli strike on south Lebanon, sources say

Three people have been killed, including a field commander in Lebanon's Hezbollah elite forces Al Radwan, in an Israeli strike on Al Sultanya village in Southern Lebanon, two security sources told Reuters.

2351 GMT — Gaza truce talks in progress in Cairo, per Egypt media

Progress has been made in discussions in Cairo on a Gaza truce and there is agreement on the basic points between all parties involved, Egypt's Al-Qahera News state-affiliated TV channel has said, citing a senior Egyptian source.

The Egyptian media also noted that Israel, US delegations to leave Cairo shortly and discussions to extend for next 48 hours.

2345 GMT — Australia appoints advisor to probe Gaza aid worker killings

Australia has tasked a former military chief with monitoring Israel's probe into the deaths of seven aid workers in Gaza, seeking "full accountability" for the killings.

Australian national Lalzawmi "Zomi" Frankcom was among the group of World Central Kitchen volunteers killed last week in an Israeli air strike.

Israel's military said it had fired two officers in the aftermath, but its attempts to explain have done little to curb international outrage.

Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong has been deeply critical of Israel's initial response.

2316 GMT — Hamas 'determined' in Gaza truce, hostage swap deal with Israel

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has reiterated its commitment to securing a deal that brings a cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the repatriation of hostages.

“A delegation from the movement arrived in Cairo and met with Abbas Kamel," Hamas said in a statement.

“The delegation emphasised Hamas's demands, its desire to reach an agreement that would achieve a complete cessation of hostilities, the withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza, the free return of displaced people to their regions and places of residence, the relief of our people and the beginning of reconstruction of what was destroyed by the occupation,” it said.

2300 GMT — Israel's withdrawal from Khan Younis unrelated to hostage deal: officials

The Israeli army's decision to withdraw all of its forces from the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis is not related to the negotiations on a hostage deal, an Israeli media outlet reported, citing senior Israeli military officials.

“As one officer explained, after the 98th Division had been operating in the Khan Yunis area for four months, such large-scale manoeuvres were producing dwindling returns,” Israel’s Haaretz daily reported.

The military leaders, who preferred not to disclose their names, said the Israeli army “has long understood that keeping numerous troops essentially static in Gaza instead of moving them to fight in new areas endangered them because their fixed positions turned them into targets for terrorist cells,” the report said.

2200 GMT — Egypt boosts Gaza aid with 300 daily trucks via Rafah crossing

Egypt has decided to increase the number of truckloads of humanitarian supplies entering Gaza through the Rafah crossing to 300 per day effective Sunday, an official has said.

Diaa Rashwan, head of the Egyptian Information Service, said in a statement that his country had decided to increase the number of humanitarian aid trucks carrying food, medical supplies and daily necessities following the directives of President Abdel Fattah el Sisi.

Rashwan neither specified whether all of the aid is Egyptian or also comes from other countries and entities nor the number of trucks currently entering Gaza through Rafah.

For our live updates from Sunday, April 7, click here.