Live blog: Qatar re-evaluating its Israel-Hamas mediation role — PM

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

1746 GMT — Qatar is reassessing its role as a mediator between Israel and Hamas after suffering criticism, its prime minister has said.

"Qatar is in the process of a complete re-evaluation of its role because there has been damage to Qatar," Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani told a press conference, without elaborating.

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1718 GMT — US concerned over ill-treatment of UNRWA staff by Israeli forces

The United States is deeply concerned by claims in a report from the UN Palestinian refugee agency that agency staff and others detained by Israeli forces in Gaza were subjected to ill-treatment, State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel said.

Washington will press Israel on the need for a full investigation into allegations regarding UNRWA staff, Patel said, after a report outlined incidents including severe beatings and detainees being forced to strip naked.

1656 GMT — Food trucks enter Gaza from Ashdod Port for first time: Israeli army

The Israeli military said food trucks entered the blockaded Gaza from Ashdod Port for the first time since Tel Aviv approved the opening of the port to aid shipments.

"Eight World Food Program (WFP) trucks of flour entered the Gaza Strip from the Ashdod Port today," the statement said, adding that the trucks underwent security checks at the port and were then admitted into Gaza through the Israeli-controlled Kerem Shalom crossing.

1513 GMT — At least 14 Israeli soldiers wounded in strike from Lebanon

Israel's army said 14 soldiers were wounded after a drone and missile attack by Lebanon's Hezbollah group struck a village in northern Israel.

"As a result of the attack, six soldiers were severely injured, two moderately injured and six others were lightly injured," the army said in a statement.

1503 GMT — UN Security Council to vote Friday on Palestinian UN membership

The United Nations Security Council is scheduled to vote on Friday on a Palestinian request for full UN membership, said diplomats, a move that Israel's ally the United States is expected to block because it would effectively recognize a Palestinian state.

The 15-member council is due to vote at 1900 GMT Friday on a draft resolution that recommends to the 193-member UN General Assembly that "the State of Palestine be admitted to membership of the United Nations," said diplomats.

A council resolution needs at least nine votes in favour and no vetoes by the US, Britain, France, Russia or China to pass. Diplomats say the measure could have the support of up to 13 council members, which would force the US to use its veto.

1434 GMT — Israel intensifies air strikes in southern Lebanon

The Israeli army has intensified attacks in southern Lebanon following a Hezbollah missile strike that injured at least 14 Israeli soldiers in northern Israel.

Israeli fighter jets struck a house in the border town of Naqoura and a tank shell targeted another house in Dahiya Al Tahta in southern Lebanon, the state-run National News Agency reported.

Warplanes also carried out air strikes in the towns of Naqoura, Tayr Harfa, Yarin and Ayta Al Shaab. Fighter jets also struck the outskirts of the border towns of Alma al-Shaab and Dahieh with white phosphorus shells, the broadcaster said.

There were no available reports yet of casualties or damage.

1421 GMT — Israel cabinet approves $5 billion plan to bolster, develop Gaza border towns

Israel's cabinet has approved a five-year, $5 billion-plan to rebuild and strengthen communities near the Gaza border, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel would invest the funds in housing, infrastructure, education, employment, health and other areas.

1400 GMT — Turkish foreign minister meets Hamas chief in Qatar

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas political bureau, have met in Doha to discuss the latest on Gaza conflict, according to diplomatic sources.

Fidan held a meeting with Haniyeh and his delegation, and deliberated on issues concerning humanitarian assistance to Gaza, ceasefire, as well as hostages, the sources added.

1359 GMT — Palestine slams US envoy over full UN membership bid

Palestine has criticised the US opposition to a Palestinian application to become a full UN member.

US Representative to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield said that having a full membership of Palestine in the UN would not help reach a two-state solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

"The stability of Palestine is the only gateway that leads to stability in the region and the world," Palestinian Authority spokesperson Nabil Abu Rudeineh said in a statement.

"Thomas-Greenfield's statement is not up to the US position that speaks about a two-state solution and establishing a just peace based on international resolutions," he added.

1231 GMT — Hamas leader Haniya to visit Türkiye this weekend: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodgan has said he will host the leader of Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniya, in Türkiye this weekend.

"The leader of the Palestinian cause will be my guest this weekend," Erdogan told lawmakers.

Their last meeting was in July 2023 when Erdogan hosted Haniya at the presidential palace in Ankara alongside Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.

1227 GMT — Netanyahu rejects 'claims about famine' in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected that war-torn Gaza is facing the threat of famine.

Netanyahu "rejected the claims by international organisations about famine in Gaza and said that Israel is doing above and beyond" what is needed "on the humanitarian issue," his office said, as UN and aid agencies have repeatedly warned Gaza is on the brink of famine.

1216 GMT — Hezbollah strikes Israeli base in retaliation

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it launched a drone and missile attack on an Israeli base in response to strikes that killed its three members the day before.

Hezbollah said it launched "a combined attack with guided missiles and explosive drones on a new military reconnaissance command centre in Arab Al Aramshe," an Arab-majority village of northern Israel.

The attack came "in response to the enemy assassinating a number of members in Ain Baal and Shehabiya" on Tuesday, the group said.

1006 GMT — Gaza truce talks 'stalling': mediator Qatar

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure a truce in Gaza and a hostage exchange have stalled, Qatar's prime minister said.

"We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this stalling," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a news conference with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

Negotiators are trying to "move forward and put an end to the suffering that the people in Gaza are experiencing and returning the hostages", Sheikh Mohammed said.

0923 GMT — Italy urges Israel to exercise restraint after Iran attack, calls for ceasefire in Gaza

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged Tel Aviv to exercise restraint in the wake of Iran’s weekend attack on Israel and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Israel has obtained a clear success, neutralizing almost completely the effects of the unacceptable Iranian attack. So, I expressed our wish that they stop here, consolidating this political and military success,” Tajani said in an interview with Italian daily La Stampa.

The foreign minister said he told his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz that Tel Aviv should show restraint after Iran’s attack and not retaliate, adding that Katz would convey Italy’s position to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

0833 GMT — Gaza death toll from Israeli aggression rises to 33,899

At least 33,899 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel during more than six months of brutal war, according to Palestinian health officials.

The toll includes at least 56 deaths over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said in a statement, adding that 76,664 people have been wounded in Gaza since the Israeli war on the enclave began following the resistance group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

0317 GMT — US conducts humanitarian airdrops into Gaza

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted another round of airdrops of humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza to provide relief to civilians affected by the ongoing war.

"The joint operation included two C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft, and US Army Soldiers specialised in aerial delivery of US humanitarian assistance supplies," CENTCOM said on X.

The planes dropped over 25,300 US meal equivalents into northern Gaza, it added.

"To date, the U.S. has dropped 891 tons of humanitarian assistance," it said.

0310 GMT — US should not lose sight of Gaza disaster: Senator

Independent US Sen. Bernie Sanders warned Tuesday that the US should not forget the disaster in Gaza as tensions continue to simmer between Israel and Iran.

"While we pay attention to this developing Israeli-Iran crisis, I hope very much that we will not lose sight of the unprecedented humanitarian disaster now taking place in Gaza. We must not lose sight of that disaster," Sanders said on the Senate floor.

Stressing that what is happening in Gaza is "horrendous," he said: "It is inhumane and it is in gross violation of American and international law."

0201 GMT — Protesters in Croatia call on Germany to stop backing Israel's Gaza war

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Croatia gathered in front of the German Embassy in the capital Zagreb and demanded that Germany stop supporting Israel’s war in Gaza.

Participants of the demonstration, which was organised by the Free Palestine Initiative, came to the embassy with their hands painted red and unfurled a banner that s aid "Germany, stop supporting genocide.”

The demonstrators also reacted to Germany's termination of the Palestine Congress in the capital Berlin last week, which was attended by academics and activists.

One of the demonstrators, Aneta Vladimirov, told the media that the red paint on their hands symbolizes the blood on the hands of Germany.

0000 GMT — Israeli aggression in Gaza signals failure of army — Hamas

The Palestinian group Hamas said that the "Zionist madness" directed against Palestinian civilians in Gaza reflects the failure of the Israeli army in the face of the resistance.

"The Zionist madness against civilians signals the complete failure of the occupation army in front of the resistance and a re flection of Zionist terror from larger developments,'' Hamas leader Izzat al Rishq said in a statement on Telegram.

He highlighted "the Nazism of the occupation army, as revealed in some images at the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, where the worst massacre in the world against the health sector was committed.''

“The participatory American and supportive Western position towards Zionist madness has been and remains a factor in the expansion of the conflict in the region," he added.

2100 GMT — Israel kills dozens of Palestinians in new Gaza strikes

Israel has killed at least 28 Palestinians, including many children, in fresh strikes on the different parts of besieged Gaza, witnesses told TRT World and local media reported.

Israeli war planes killed eight people in the Tuffah neighbourhood after striking a police vehicle. Israeli bombardment on the al-Maghazi camp in Gaza's Deir al-Balah neighbourhood killed 13 Palestinians.

Israel killed seven Palestinians in an air strike on a family in Yabna camp in Rafah city. A number of people were left wounded in these strikes.

2018 GMT — US to query Israel about 6-year-old's killing

The US State Department will ask Israel for more information about the January killing of 6-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab in besieged Gaza, spokesperson Matthew Miller said, calling for a full investigation into the matter after a Washington Post report cast doubt on Israel's earlier explanation.

The terrified girl trapped in a car in Gaza with her dead family had begged for help in a phone call to rescuers, in which gunfire could be heard as she described Israeli forces drawing near.

Relatives found her body 12 days later, along with those of her aunt, uncle and their three children, in their car near an ambulance and two dead ambulance workers who had tried to save her.

The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that an investigation had found Israeli armoured vehicles were present in the area, contrary to the Israeli Defence Forces' claim that a preliminary investigation had found its forces were not within firing range of the car in which she was trapped.

2000 GMT — UN committee unable to agree on Palestine's bid for full membership

A United Nations Security Council [UNSC] committee considering an application by Palestine to become a full UN member "was unable to make a unanimous recommendation" on whether it met the criteria, according to the committee report seen by the Reuters news agency.

Palestine is still expected to push the 15-member Security Council to vote — as early as this week — on a draft resolution recommending it become a full member of the world body, diplomats said.

Such membership would effectively recognise a Palestinian state.

The Security Council committee on the admission of new members — made up of all 15 council members — agreed to its report on Tuesday after meeting twice last week to discuss the Palestinian application.

"Regarding the issue of whether the application met all the criteria for membership ... the Committee was unable to make a unanimous recommendation to the Security Council," the report said, adding that "differing views were expressed."

For our live updates from Tuesday, April 16, click here.