Live blog: Israel kills 77 Palestinians in last 24 hours

Sunday, March 31, 2024

1201 GMT — At least 77 people were killed and more than a hundred injured in the last 24 hours in Israeli attacks in Gaza, officials in the besieged Palestinian enclave said.

“Many people are still trapped under the rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the Gaza health ministry said.

At least 32,782 Palestinians have been killed and 75,298 injured in Israel’s ongoing offensive on Gaza that started on October 7.

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1736 GMT — Israeli strike on Gaza hospital kills four, wounds 17: WHO

An Israeli airstrike on al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza killed four people and wounded another 17, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

The strike was witnessed by a World Health Organization team that was at the hospital to assess needs and collect incubators, he wrote, adding: "WHO staff are all accounted for."

1736 GMT — Israeli military claims Lebanon strike 'eliminated' a Hezbollah commander

An air strike in Lebanon "eliminated" a Hezbollah missile unit commander, Israel's military said, with Israel and the Iran-backed group exchanging near-daily cross-border fire for months.

The Israeli Air Force "struck a vehicle in the area of Kunin in Lebanon in which Ismail Al Zin was located," the military said. "Al Zin was a significant commander in the Anti-Tank Missile Unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Forces."

Hezbollah confirmed the death of Al Zin in a statement, which did not specify if he belonged to Radwan, an elite unit.

1708 GMT — Another Palestinian journalist killed in Gaza, death toll rises to 137 since Oct. 7

A Palestinian photojournalist was killed in an Israeli attack in Gaza, taking the death toll of journalists to 137 since last October, Gaza’s government media office said.

The media office said Abdulwahab Awni Abu Oun was killed in an attack on his home in the Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

1423 GMT — Israel arrests 25 more Palestinians in West Bank raids

Israeli forces detained 25 more Palestinians in military raids in the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

The arrests took place in the cities of Hebron, Bethlehem, occupied East Jerusalem, Jenin, Tubas and Qalqilya, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement on Sunday.

“Six women were among the detainees, who were later released,” the statement said.

The new arrests brought the number of Palestinians detained by Israel in the West Bank since October 7 to 7,895.

1105 GMT — 4 killed, 16 injured in Israeli air strike on tent on grounds of Gaza hospital

At least four Palestinians were killed and 16 injured in an Israeli air strike on a tent for displaced people on the grounds of a Gaza hospital, according to official Palestinian news agency Wafa.

Several journalists were among those injured in the attack, which struck a tent in the courtyard of al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central Gaza city of Deir Al Balah, Wafa said, citing medical sources.

“The Israeli occupation committed a new massacre inside a hospital that provides medical service for displaced people and citizens,” Gaza's government media office said in a statement, referring to several Israeli attacks over the last several months that hit hospitals.

It held the US administration, Israel, and the international community “fully responsible for this crime.”

1105 GMT — Jordanians protest against Israel ties

Activists in Jordan called for further protests Sunday after days of demonstrations against the war in Gaza and Jordan's peace treaty with Israel that have brought thousands onto the streets.

Jordan, where nearly half the population is of Palestinian origin, has seen regular rallies in Amman and elsewhere in solidarity with Gaza since Israel's military onslaught after Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack.

Recent protests have seen rare clashes between demonstrators and security forces in the capital and Jordan's largest Palestinian refugee camp.

1019 GMT — Pope renews call for Gaza ceasefire

Pope Francis has renewed his calls for the release of Israeli hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, as fresh truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas were due to begin.

"I appeal once again that access to humanitarian aid be ensured to Gaza, and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on October 7 and for an immediate ceasefire in the Strip," the Pope said on Sunday in his Easter message in the Vatican.

0931 GMT — Netanyahu govt failed to return hostages, must go: opposition

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has called for early elections, saying the government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must go since it has failed to return the hostages held in Gaza since October 7.

“One after the other, the ministers of the government go on air this morning and attack the families of the abductees. You are out of your mind. Young women, elderly people, children were kidnapped on your watch," Lapid said on X.

"For half a year you fail to bring them home, and then you blame their families? This government of destruction must go home. Election now."

Earlier on Sunday, Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu criticised the families of the detainees after a mass demonstration they held on Saturday in Tel Aviv urging the government to resign.

0706 GMT — Israeli police kill bus station attacker

Israeli police said they shot dead a suspect in a knife attack that wounded two people Sunday at the main bus station in the southern city of Beersheva.

Medics said they treated a 20-year-old man at the scene "with a stab wound to his body" before he was taken to hospital. Police said another person was also lightly hurt.

"The terrorist who carried out the stabbing attack was neutralised on the spot," said police, later clarifying that he was dead.

Israeli media said that the attacker was a young Bedouin man and Israeli citizen whose clan hails from the Negev desert region of which Beersheva is the largest city.

0554 GMT — Cuban president calls for end to 'genocide' in Gaza

Cuba’s president has called on the international community to take action to end the "genocide" in Gaza.

Sharing a photo of the Palestinian flag being projected onto Jose Marti Memorial in the capital Havana, Miguel Diaz-Canel said late Saturday: "Cuba demands that the genocide stop now."

"As long as Palestinian land continues to be martyred, bled, destroyed to its foundations by the hatred of the Israeli occupier, we cannot tire of denouncing the crime and calling on the international community," Diaz-Canel wrote on X.

0426 GMT — Truce talks to resume in Cairo, Egyptian media says

Talks aimed at brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas in Gaza will resume in Cairo on Sunday, Egyptian news outlet Al Qahera has reported, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave the green light for fresh negotiations.

"An Egyptian security source confirmed to Al Qahera News the resumption of negotiations on a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Egyptian capital Cairo tomorrow," an anchor for the channel, which is close to the country's intelligence services, said in a broadcast on Saturday.

Egypt, Qatar, and key Israeli ally the United States have mediated previous rounds of negotiations, but a workable agreement has remained elusive.

0327 GMT — UN chief condemns explosion in Lebanon

The head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, has condemned an explosion that targeted an Observer Group Lebanon (OGL) patrol and injured three UN military observers and a language assistant.

"The situation along the Blue Line between Lebanon and Israel since 8 October last year, with daily exchanges of fire between non-state armed groups based in Lebanon and the Israel Defense Forces, continues to be of grave concern," his statement said.

Earlier Saturday, at least one civilian and three soldiers from the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were injured in an Israeli raid that targeted their vehicle in the south of the country, according to media reports.

The Israeli army denied that it targeted any UNIFIL vehicle in the Rmeish area in southern Lebanon.

0002 GMT — Israeli army kills over 400 Palestinians in al-Shifa Hospital

The government media office in Gaza has reported that Israeli forces targeted 1,050 homes near the al-Shifa medical complex, killing over 400 Palestinians in the last two weeks.

The office expressed condemnation and criticised the "international silence over this crime".

Separately, Israeli special forces have encircled a residence in Al Baraka area, situated south of Deir al Balah in central Gaza.

In the southern region of Gaza, TRT World's correspondent observed Israeli military vehicles advancing towards Mawasi al Qarara via Al Matahin street.

Simultaneously, intense artillery shelling from both naval vessels and ground vehicles has been directed at the tents housing displaced individuals and the chalet area opposite Khan Younis port.

The correspondent noted a significant escalation in Israeli artillery shelling targeting Deir al Balah in central Gaza.

2330 GMT — Thousands gather for London pro-Palestinian rally

Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters rallied in London on Saturday, in the latest demonstration in the British capital demanding a ceasefire in Gaza and more aid for the war-ravaged territory.

The event, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, began at Russell Square in the city centre before attendees marched to Trafalgar Square for a mid-afternoon rally.

London has seen numerous large-scale pro-Palestinian protests since Israel mounted its military offensive to Gaza on October 7.

2325 GMT — UK gov't lawyers: Israel breaks international law

The British government allegedly received legal advice from its lawyers that Israel is breaking international law, according to a leaked recording.

Government's lawyers said that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza but the government has failed to make it public, according to a recording obtained by the Observer newspaper, sister paper to the Guardian.

The Chair of the House of Commons Foreign Affairs Select Committee Alicia Kearns said at a Conservative Party fundraiser on March 13 that legal advice would mean the government has to suspend all arms sales to Israel.

For our live updates from Saturday, March 30, click here.