'Hell on earth': Red Cross says vital supplies running out in Gaza

The New Arab's live blog on the war in Gaza and other regional developments has now ended, and will resume at 0900am.

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Israeli forces have bombed the Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza City as patients were being evacuated, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting.

Two airstrikes reportedly destrpyed the hospital's emergency unit, the main entrance and the facility holding medical oxygen for intensive care patients.

The Government Media Office in Gaza slammed the bombing, calling it a "heinous" and "terrible" crime.

US airstrikes have reportedly struck multiple locations in Yemen, Houthi-linked media said, including a vocational institute in the al-Sawma’ah district of al-Bayda governorate.

In a separate attack, al-Masirah channel said three airstrikes hit the al-Salheen area in the Al-Salem district of Saada governorate in the west of the country.

A Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo, Egypt for Gaza truce talks, Al Jazeera is reporting. 

In a statement, the Palestinian group said: "We, in the Hamas movement, affirm we are positive about any proposals that guarantee a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, an end to the suffering of our Palestinian people, and the achievement of a serious prisoner-exchange deal."

Police intervened during a pro-Palestinian protest in Milan, Italy on Saturday. Dozens of riot police officers could be seen among the crowd, attempting to break up the demonstration.

Milano, tensione al corteo pro Palestina: interviene la polizia per isolare gruppo manifestanti pic.twitter.com/ktYGXoz5jo

— Local Team (@localteamit) April 12, 2025

US-Iran talks on Saturday in Oman marked a "step forward" between the two adversaries, the White House said, describing discussions including President Donald Trump's regional envoy as "positive and constructive."

"These issues are very complicated, and Special Envoy (Steven) Witkoff's direct communication today was a step forward in achieving a mutually beneficial outcome," the White House said in a statement, adding the sides agreed to "meet again next Saturday

Two Palestinians were injured on Saturday evening following an attack by Israeli settlers near the town of Kafr ad-Dik, in the occupied West Bank province of Salfit, Palestinian media said.

Settlers from the illegal settlement of Brukhin reportedly ambushed farmers' vehicles as they traveled along a road in the Susiya area, north of Kafr ad-Dik. The attack damaged the vehicles.

Syria's finance minister, foreign minister and central bank chief are planning to attend the annual spring meetings held by the International Monetary Fund and World Bank in Washington, D.C. this month, four sources familiar with the plans said.

It would be the first visit to the meetings by a high-level Syrian government delegation in at least two decades, and the first high-level visit by Syria's new authorities to the U.S. since former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.

Two of the sources told Reuters it was unclear whether Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani, Finance Minister Mohammed Yosr Bernieh and Central Bank Governor Abdelkader Husrieh had yet received visas to the United States.

Spokespeople for the IMF, World Bank, Syrian foreign ministry and Syrian presidency did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The other two sources said a high-level meeting focused on reconstruction efforts for Syria could be held on the sidelines of the IMF-World Bank meetings.

Tehran and Washington are very close to agreement on the content of future negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme, Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said Saturday after a first round of talks in Oman.

"During the meeting, I think we came very close to a basis for negotiations," Araghchi told Iranian state television. "At our next meeting, if we can finalise that basis, we will have gone a large part of the way."

Hamas's armed wing released a video Saturday showing an Israeli hostage alive in Gaza, speaking to the camera and criticising the government for not securing his release until now.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades released the more than three minute clip, in which the hostage is seen sitting in a tiny place.

The New Arab was unable to immediately verify the authenticity of the footage or when it was filmed.

At least 11 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since the early hours of the morning, according to medical sources speaking to news publication Al Jazeera.

The attacks targeted areas including al-Mawasi, which the Israeli army had designated as a "humanitarian safe zone," in southern Gaza, and Jabalia in the north.

Hamas’s armed wing, the Qassam Brigades, has claimed responsibility for a rocket attack on Israel earlier today.

In a statement posted on Telegram, the group said it targeted the Nir Yitzhak settlement using its short-range 114mm "Rajum" rocket system.

The Israeli military previously reported that three rockets were launched from the Gaza Strip and intercepted, with no casualties reported.

Iran and the US agree to hold more negotiations over Tehran's nuclear program next week, Iran state television reports. 

Iran and US envoys 'briefly spoke in the presence of the Omani foreign minister' at end of talks, Iran state TV also reported.

Tens of thousands of protesters rallied in Bangladesh’s capital on Saturday to condemn Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip.

The protesters, estimated at some 100,000, gathered at the Suhrawardy Park in the Dhaka University area. They carried hundreds of Palestinian flags and chanted slogans such as "Free, Free Palestine."

Many among them beat the images of U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing them of backing Israel.

Symbolic coffins and effigies representing civilian casualties were carried during the rally.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, headed by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, and Islamist groups and parties expressed their solidarity with the rally.

Bangladesh, a Muslim-majority nation of 170 million people, maintains no diplomatic relations with Israel and it officially supports an independent Palestine.

Hamas has reiterated its position that an end to the war in Gaza must be tied to the release of captives held in the territory.

In a statement, the group said, "The escalating calls within the occupying entity to stop the war and free the prisoners confirm [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu’s responsibility for prolonging the war and for the suffering of his prisoners and our people."

The comment appears to refer to the growing dissent within Israel, including more than a thousand special forces reservists who have backed air force personnel facing dismissal for opposing the continuation of the war.

Hamas added that "the blood of Gaza’s children and the occupation’s prisoners are victims of Netanyahu’s ambitions to remain in power and to escape prosecution."

"The equation is clear: the release of captives in exchange for a cessation of the war. The world accepts it, but Netanyahu rejects it. Every day of delay means more killing of defenceless civilians among our people and an unknown fate for the occupation’s prisoners," the statement concluded.

The Israeli military on Saturday issued an evacuation order for residents of Khan Younis and surrounding areas in southern Gaza, ahead of a planned strike after projectiles were fired from there earlier in the day.

"[Israeli army] troops are operating with significant force in the area, and will strike with intensity on any location from which rockets are launched," the military's Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

"For your safety, move immediately westward to recognised shelters in Al-Mawasi" area, he added.

Iran's foreign ministry said on Saturday that ongoing indirect talks with the United States in Oman over its nuclear programme were not expected to be "long", state television reported.

Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei described the negotiations as "just a beginning" and said Tehran did not "expect this round of talks to be very long," in comments broadcast on state TV.

Israel announced on Saturday that its military had completed the takeover of a new corridor in southern Gaza, advancing its efforts to seize large parts of the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The military also announced a sweeping evacuation order for tens of thousands of residents of Khan Younis and surrounding areas in southern Gaza ahead of a planned strike after projectiles were fired from there earlier in the day.

The seizure of the "Morag axis" came while Hamas expected "real progress" towards a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, an official from the group told AFP, with senior leaders from the Palestinian movement scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo later on Saturday.

"The IDF (military) has now completed its takeover of the Morag axis, which crosses Gaza between Rafah and Khan Yunis, turning the entire area between the Philadelphi Route (along the border with Egypt) and Morag into part of the Israeli security zone," Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a statement addressed to residents of Gaza.

"Soon, IDF operations will intensify and expand to other areas throughout most of Gaza, and you will need to evacuate the combat zones.

"In northern Gaza as well - in Beit Hanoun and other neighbourhoods - residents are evacuating, the area is being taken over and the security zone is being expanded, including in the Netzarim corridor," he added.

A spokesperson for Gaza City’s municipality says Israel’s ongoing interference with the Mekorot water pipeline is worsening the territory’s already dire water crisis.

In early April, the Israeli military stopped water from the Mekorot company from reaching Gaza, cutting off around 70 percent of the enclave’s supply.

The official stated that Israeli forces are preventing technicians from accessing the damaged infrastructure, adding that if allowed, repairs could be completed within 24 hours and urgently needed water could begin flowing back to parts of the city.

Most military sites belonging to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon have been placed under Lebanese army control, a source close to the group said on Saturday.

A November 27 ceasefire that ended more than a year of conflict between Hezbollah and Israel, including two months of full-blown war, stipulated that only United Nations peacekeepers and Lebanon's army should be deployed in the country's south.

The deal required the Iran-backed group to dismantle its remaining military infrastructure in the south and move its fighters north of the Litani River, which is about 30 kilometres (19 miles) from the Israeli border.

"Out of 265 Hezbollah military positions identified south of the Litani, the movement has ceded about 190 to the army," the source said on condition of anonymity.

Under the ceasefire, Israel was to complete its troop withdrawal from Lebanon by February 18 after missing a January deadline, but it has kept troops in five places it deems strategic.

Israel has continued to strike what it says are Hezbollah infrastructure or members of the group in Lebanon.

A 17-year-old Palestinian boy was shot by Israeli forces during a military raid in Beit Fajjar, a town south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa news agency, citing local security sources.

Wafa reported that Israeli soldiers stormed the area overnight, firing live rounds and sound grenades at residents.

The teenager was shot in the foot and is currently being treated in hospital.

The Israeli military said its air force intercepted three projectiles that were identified as crossing into Israeli territory from southern Gaza on Saturday.

"Following the sirens that sounded a short while ago in open areas near the Gaza Strip, three projectiles that were identified crossing into Israeli territory from southern Gaza were intercepted by the IAF. No injuries were reported," the military said in a statement.

Qatar has strongly criticised Israel’s decision to shut down UNRWA-run schools in occupied East Jerusalem, calling it part of a wider pattern of violations against Palestinians.

In a statement, the Qatari Foreign Ministry said it "considers the deprivation of children from education a new crime in the ongoing series of Israeli crimes in the occupied Palestinian territories."

Earlier this year, Israel passed legislation effectively banning the UN agency for Palestinian refugees- UNRWA- from operating within its territory, the occupied West Bank, and East Jerusalem, severely hindering its ability to provide services.

Qatar also emphasised "the need for the international community to act urgently to hold Israel accountable and oblige it to comply with international laws."

A Hamas official told news agency AFP that senior leaders from the group are heading to Cairo on Saturday for Gaza ceasefire talks with Egyptian mediators.

"We hope the meeting will achieve real progress towards reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza," the official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

Lawyers representing Mahmoud Khalil, the detained Columbia University student, have condemned a recent decision by a US immigration judge to deport him, describing the ruling as deeply unjust.

Johnny Sinodis, a member of Khalil’s legal team, said the judge showed "not an ounce of desire" to ensure a fair hearing .

"[The ruling] was historic in its unfairness. The judge went out of her way to make very clear to us and anyone in the courtroom that the constitutional arguments we were making had no place in immigration court," he said during an online press briefing.

Another lawyer, Marc Van der Hout, criticised the ruling by Judge Jamee Comans of the LaSalle Immigration Court in Louisiana, calling it the "epitome of the lack of due process in a court proceeding in this country."

"It was shocking. The immigration judge had made up her mind before the hearing even started. What she was going to do, she basically cut off questioning throughout the proceeding," he added.

Khalil, a US permanent resident detained over his pro-Palestine activism, still has the option to appeal the decision.

Israel's military said Friday it had intercepted an incoming UAV while a military source in Jordan said another drone had crashed there, as Iran-backed Houthis claimed the attacks.

"A short while ago, a UAV (drone) that was on its way to Israeli territory from the east was intercepted by the IAF (Israeli air force)," the Israeli military said in a statement, without elaborating.

In Israel's eastern neighbour Jordan, several media outlets reported that Israel's military had intercepted a Yemeni drone over the Dead Sea.

A Jordanian military source said an unidentified drone breached the country's airspace and crashed in the Ma'in area of Madaba Governorate, some 30 kilometres (20 miles) southwest of the capital Amman.

No casualties were reported, but falling debris ignited a fire in the wooded area where it came down.

Jordanian military personnel and civil defence teams extinguished the blaze.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Israel on Friday of sowing divisions in Syria in a bid to "dynamite" the "revolution" that toppled dictator Bashar al-Assad.

Turkey is a key backer of Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa, whose group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) led the rebel coalition that ousted Assad in December.

"Israel is trying to dynamite the December 8 revolution by stirring up ethnic and religious affiliations and turning minorities in Syria against the government," Erdogan told a forum in the southern Mediterranean resort of Antalya.

Sharaa, who arrived in Antalya earlier in the day, met with Erdogan on the sidelines of the diplomacy forum, with the Turkish presidency posting a photo of the two shaking hands on X.

A Syrian foreign ministry statement said the talks emphasised "Turkey's support for the Syrian people for reconstruction and lifting the economic sanctions on Syria".

The talks also addressed "strengthening joint cooperation between the two countries in different sectors", the statement said.

It was Sharaa's second trip to Turkey as leader, after Erdogan welcomed him to Ankara in February.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees has sounded the alarm over growing hunger in Gaza, warning that children are now going to sleep without food.

Juliette Touma, UNRWA’s Director of Communications, said the Israeli blockade- now entering its sixth week- has brought the flow of aid and commercial goods to a halt, leaving food stocks depleted and bakeries unable to operate.

UNRWA posted on X urging swift international intervention to stop the crisis from worsening further.

"All basic supplies are running out in #Gaza," says Juliette Touma, UNRWA Director of Communications. "It means babies, children are going to bed hungry."

Six weeks into the Israeli-imposed siege blocking the entry of aid and commercial supplies, food stocks are nearly gone,… pic.twitter.com/r3buDfUF0j

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 12, 2025