Israel continues to pound Gaza, killing six in Khan Younis

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Elite US university Harvard was hit with a $2.2 billion freeze in federal funding Monday after rejecting a list of sweeping demands that the White House said was intended to crack down on campus anti-Semitism.

The university had made public a letter to students and staff defying a call for changes to its governance, hiring practices and admissions policy from the administration of President Donald Trump.

"Harvard's statement today reinforces the troubling entitlement mindset that is endemic in our nation's most prestigious universities and colleges -- that federal investment does not come with the responsibility to uphold civil rights laws," Trump's Joint Task Force to Combat Anti-Semitism said in a statement.

(AFP)

Harvard University risked billions of dollars in federal funding Monday as it rejected a list of sweeping demands that the Trump administration said are intended to crack down on campus antisemitism.

The call for changes to its governance, hiring practices and admissions procedures expands on a list Harvard received on 3 April, which ordered officials to shut diversity offices and cooperate with immigration authorities for screenings of international students.

Harvard president Alan Garber vowed in a letter to students and faculty to defy the government, insisting that the school would not "negotiate over its independence or its constitutional rights."

Read more here.

(AFP)

One person has been killed in an Israeli drone strike on a house in Gaza City, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting.

The number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Monday has risen to 15, medical sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic.

A Palestinian man who led protests against the war in Gaza as a student at Columbia University was arrested Monday at a Vermont immigration office where he expected to be interviewed about finalizing his US citizenship, his attorneys said.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident who has held a green card since 2015, was detained at the US Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Colchester by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, his lawyers said.

As a student, Mahdawi was an outspoken critic of Israel's military campaign in Gaza and organized campus protests until March 2024. He co-founded the Palestinian Student Union at Columbia with Mahmoud Khalil, another Palestinian permanent resident of the U.S. and graduate student who recently was detained by ICE.

Read more here.

(The Associated Press)

The US has approved the sale of engines used for military vehicles to Israel in a deal worth $180 million, the Pentagon said Monday.

“The United States is committed to the security of Israel, and it is vital to US national interests to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability,” the Defense Security Cooperation Agency said in a statement.

The US provides Israel with billions of dollars of arms and military equipment each year.

The Trump administration signed off on a $3 billion arms deal in February that will see Israel receive thousands of warheads.

Hamas said Monday that it would respond to a new Israeli proposal for a Gaza ceasefire after internal consultations, with a senior official telling AFP the proposal crossed a "red line" on disarmament.

"Hamas affirms that its leadership is studying ... will present its response as soon as the necessary consultations are completed," the Palestinian armed group said in a statement.

(AFP)

Mediator Egypt has presented a new Israeli proposal for a Gaza ceasefire to Hamas, Egyptian state-affiliated Al Qahera News TV said on Monday, but a senior Hamas official said at least two elements of the proposal were non-starters.

Citing sources, Al Qahera said mediators awaited Hamas' response. But senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri's assessment suggested the militant group was unlikely to agree.

Abu Zuhri told Reuters the proposal did not meet the Palestinian group's core demand that Israel commit to a complete halt of hostilities.

In the proposal, Israel also for the first time called for the disarmament of Hamas in the next phase of negotiations, which the militant group will not agree to, Abu Zuhri said.

"Handing over the resistance's weapons is a million red lines and is not subject to consideration, let alone discussion", Abu Zuhri said.

(Reuters)

At least 13 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks in Gaza since dawn on Monday, medical sources told Al Jazeera this evening.

Iran's foreign minister is to visit ally Russia this week to discuss nuclear negotiations with the United States, ahead of a new round of talks between the foes planned for Rome.

On Saturday, Abbas Araghchi held talks with US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff in Oman - the highest-level negotiations since the 2015 nuclear accord collapsed.

"Dr Araghchi will travel to Moscow at the end of the week," said foreign ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, adding the trip was pre-planned and would be "an opportunity to discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks".

Read more here.

(AFP)

A second round of nuclear talks between the United States and Iran will be held in Rome, Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was reported as saying on Monday.

Iran and the US said they held "positive" and "constructive" talks in Oman on Saturday and agreed to reconvene this week.

(Reuters)

Syria's ambassador to Moscow has requested asylum in Russia, state news agency TASS reported on Monday.

The Russian news outlet provided no further details on the reported request by Bashar Jaafari, who was appointed ambassador to Russia in 2022 after 15 years as Syria's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Read more here.

(Reuters)

President Emmanuel Macron said Monday he hoped French recognition of a Palestinian state would encourage others to do the same, and that countries who do not recognise Israel should do so.

"What we want to trigger is a series of other recognitions," Macron said in Paris during a visit to an Arab culture centre.

The French president announced this week that France could recognise a Palestinian state at a UN conference in June.

(AFP)

French President Emmanuel Macron Monday urged "reform" of the Palestinian Authority as part of a plan for the West Bank-based administration to govern a post-war Gaza without Hamas.

France is among European nations to have backed a plan for Gaza to return to the control of the Ramallah-based authority after nearly two decades of Hamas rule if a ceasefire deal is reached to end the war with Israel.

Macron called his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas on Monday after last week announcing France could take the unprecedented step of recognising a Palestinian state in coming months, sparking ire from Israel.

"It is essential to set a framework for the day after: disarm and sideline Hamas, define credible governance and reform the Palestinian Authority," Macron said on X after the phone call.

Read more here.

(AFP)

Gaza is now facing its most severe humanitarian crisis since the war began, with no aid entering the territory for weeks and conditions rapidly deteriorating, the UN's humanitarian agency said today.

"The humanitarian situation is now likely the worst it has been in the 18 months since the outbreak of hostilities," said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

No supplies have reached Gaza for a month and a half, since Israel ended a two-month ceasefire and began blocking their delivery, it said.

(AFP)

Hamas will send a delegation to Qatar to continue indirect ceasefire talks with Israel over the war in Gaza, an official from the Palestinian group said Monday.

The official said teams have been discussing terms for a new ceasefire agreement over recent days in Cairo, including a proposal that Hamas free eight to 10 Israeli prisoners held in Gaza.

A major sticking point remains over whether the war would end as part of any new deal.

The talks in Qatar are meant to take place later this week or next, they said.

Officials from Israel and Qatar had no immediate comment.

Read more here.

(The Associated Press)

Conditions at hospitals in Gaza are "beyond description", a World Health Organisation spokesperson tells the BBC, a day after Israeli bombing put one of the strip's last functioning hospitals out of service.

"We're seeing attack after attack on hospitals, healthcare workers, ambulance workers... the very people that are relied on, who give their all to save lives. But they don't give their all to lose their lives."

Israeli warplanes on Sunday bombed the Baptist Hospital in Gaza City, destroying its emergency department, oxygen unit, and pharmacy.

Israel has since October 2023 destroyed most of Gaza’s hospitals and medical facilities in what the UN has described as a "systematic" attempt to dismantle the strip’s healthcare system.

President Donald Trump said on Monday that Iran must abandon any drive for a nuclear weapon or face harsh consequences that could include a military strike on Tehran's nuclear facilities.

"Of course it does," Trump said when asked if a potential response could include strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

(Reuters)

A Lebanese soldier was killed and three wounded in a blast in southern Lebanon, according to L'Orient Today, which named the soldier killed as Senior Adjutant Fadi el-Jassem.

Additionally, the three wounded were named as Lieutenant Rabih Hassan, Corporal Hussein al-Sheikh, and Chief Warrant Officer Hussein Ataya.

The outlet reports that the army has said a device exploded in the Aazieh Valley.

Iraq's state news agency reported on Monday that Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi told his Iraqi counterpart that the second round of nuclear talks with the US would be held "soon" in the Italian capital Rome under Omani mediation.

(Reuters)

An Israeli strike on Gaza City's al-Tuffah neighbourhood has killed six people, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa. The attack follows from an earlier strike in the al-Sha'af area that killed three people, according to Al Jazeera.

France's President Emmanuel Macron Monday called for "reform" of the Palestinian Authority as part of a plan that would see the West Bank-based body govern a post-war Gaza without Islamist movement Hamas.

"It is essential to set a framework for the day after: disarm and sideline Hamas, define credible governance and reform the Palestinian Authority," Macron said on X following a phone call with his Palestinian counterpart Mahmud Abbas.

1,525 current and former Israeli soldiers with the armoured corps have signed a letter calling for an immediate end to the war and the release of all Israeli captives, according to Haaretz.

The letter, signed by two former military chiefs Dan Halutz and Ehud Barak, who himself was an Israeli PM, read: "The continuation of the fighting no longer serves the objectives the [military] was given at the start of the war."

"There must be immediate action to bring the hostages home."

Haaretz quoted Rami Mata, a former deputy commander of the Yiftach Brigade and an organiser of the letter, who said: "Even the chief of staff himself openly admitted today that 'not all the objectives in Gaza can be achieved.' If so, why do we keep sacrificing lives for goals that cannot be realised?"

Israel has the right to defend itself, but its current actions go beyond proportionate self-defence, Kaja Kallas, the European Union's top diplomat, told reporters on Monday.

(Reuters)

The Hostages and Missing Families Forum, a body representing the families of Israeli captives held in Gaza, is calling on the government to come to a deal with Hamas that would see the full release of all captives in the enclave following reports a 10-captive deal for a ceasefire is being negotiated.

"While the families wait hopefully and would welcome the release of any hostage from Hamas captivity, we continue to call or a comprehensive deal that will return ALL hostages immediately," the body said in a post on X.

"We urge the obvious, possible, and appropriate solution: end the war and return all the hostages, the living and the murdered, immediately."

Response to Prime Minister Netanyahu's Confirmation of Ongoing Negotiations for a 10-Hostage Release Deal:

While the families wait hopefully and would welcome the release of any hostage from Hamas captivity, we continue to call for a comprehensive deal that will return ALL… pic.twitter.com/FAGZmJyj0L

— Bring Them Home Now (@bringhomenow) April 14, 2025

The Islamic Endowments Department in Jerusalem has reported that at least 765 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Monday to perform religious rituals and mark the Jewish holiday of Passover.

The incident follows a similar incursion the previous day, when nearly 500 settlers entered the site in occupied East Jerusalem under the protection of Israeli security forces.

The Jerusalem governorate condemned the actions, calling the presence of Knesset members and rabbis at the site "a provocation to Muslims’ sentiments and a violation of international law".

According to long-standing status quo agreements, non-Muslims are permitted to visit the Al-Aqsa compound but are not allowed to perform religious rituals there.

In a disregard for the sentiments of millions of Muslims around the world, Israeli Jewish settlers performed provocative dances and songs this morning outside the Old City of Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa Mosque--the third holiest Muslim place of worship--is located. pic.twitter.com/xcy0uOFjRq

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 14, 2025

The Health Ministry in Gaza has reported that 38 more Palestinians were killed in the past 24 hours, with one person rescued from beneath the rubble.

This raises the total number of Palestinians killed since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza to 50,983, with 116,274 others wounded.

Since Israel resumed its military offensive on March 18, following the collapse of the ceasefire, at least 1,613 people have been killed and 4,233 wounded.

Many more are feared to be trapped under debris or remain missing and unreachable.

Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) has said that its operations in the Al Ahli Hospital in Gaza has ceased after the hospital was knocked out of action by Israeli strikes on Sunday.

Dr Ahamd Al-Shurafa, an Orthopedic Surgeon at the hospital, told MAP staff in Gaza that "the hospital is now completely out of service until further notice due to multiple airstrikes by Israeli forces that targeted key hospital buildings, resulting in the complete suspension of most if not all medical services. Our medical teams in the hospital continue to face a serious and ongoing threat to their safety."

Al-Shurafa noted that the hospital cannot provide any emergency services to patients, and that those currently in the hospitals care are getting care "similar to that of a hostel." 

"We are unable to perform any surgical procedures, as these patients require laboratory diagnostics, pharmacy support, and emergency referrals in case of complications - all of which have ceased entirely due to the recent attack."

"We are currently conducting a comprehensive assessment of the hospital's status, but unfortunately, no immediate solutions are in sight. Even in the best-case scenario, services are unlikely to resume before at least one week from now," he added.

Israel has released 10 Palestinian prisoners through the Kissufim crossing into central Gaza, according to The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site Al-Araby Al-Jadeed, which said that local sources said the prisoners were in poor health and had been transported to the Al-Aqsa Hospital by the Red Cross.

The latest round of talks in Cairo to restore the defunct Gaza ceasefire and free Israeli hostages ended with no apparent breakthrough, Palestinian and Egyptian sources said on Monday.

The sources said Hamas had stuck to its position that any agreement must lead to an end to the war in Gaza, a position that has been rejected by Israel.

But despite that fundamental disagreement, the sources said a Hamas delegation led by the group's Gaza Chief Khalil Al-Hayya had shown some flexibility over how many hostages it could free in return for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel should a truce be extended.

An Egyptian source told Reuters the latest proposal to extend the truce would see Hamas free an increased number of hostages. Israeli minister Zeev Elkin, a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's security cabinet, told Army Radio on Monday that Israel was seeking the release of around 10 hostages, raised from previous Hamas consent to free five.

Hamas has asked for more time to respond to the latest proposal, the Egyptian source said.

"Hamas has no problem, but it wants guarantees Israel agrees to begin the talks on the second phase of the ceasefire agreement" leading to an end to the war, the Egyptian source said.

(Reuters)

A senior Hamas official said on Monday that the Palestinian group is prepared to release all Israeli hostages in exchange for a "serious prisoner swap" and guarantees that Israel will end the war in Gaza.

Hamas is engaged in negotiations in Cairo with mediators from Egypt and Qatar - two nations working alongside the United States to broker a ceasefire in the besieged territory.

"We are ready to release all Israeli captives in exchange for a serious prisoner swap deal, an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the Gaza Strip and the entry of humanitarian aid," Taher al-Nunu, a senior Hamas official, told AFP.

However, he accused Israel of obstructing progress towards a ceasefire.

"The issue is not the number of captives," Nunu said, "but rather that the occupation is reneging on its commitments, blocking the implementation of the ceasefire agreement and continuing the war".

"Hamas has therefore stressed the need for guarantees to compel the occupation (Israel) to uphold the agreement," he added.

UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi said Monday he will travel to Tehran this week to discuss cooperation on the country's nuclear programme, saying that diplomatic solutions were "urgently needed".

"Continued engagement and cooperation with the Agency is essential at a time when diplomatic solutions are urgently needed," Grossi said in a post on X, adding that he will "travel to Tehran later this week". According to a diplomatic source, the International Atomic Energy Agency head's visit is expected to take place on Thursday.

The next round of indirect talks between the United States and Iran over Tehran's nuclear programme will be held in Rome, the Dutch foreign minister and a second diplomatic source said Monday.

Dutch minister Caspar Veldkamp said at an EU meeting that the talks will take place in the Italian capital, while two diplomats based in the city confirmed that information and said they would happen on Saturday.

Several petitions are being reported by the Israeli press from active and former soldiers from different wings of the Israeli military calling for an end to the war.

According to Ynet, 1,600 former paratroopers and infantry soldiers have signed a letter demanding that the government bring home hostages even if that means an end to the war, according to Times of Israel (ToI).

Haaretz also reported that 170 current and former reservists of Israel's research and development Talpiot program have also signed a letter saying they support the protest by Air Force reservists who accused the government's war policy of being based on "political and personal interests."

ToI reports that other letters have come from military reservist doctors, former 8200 intelligence unit members, ex-Mossad members and navy reservists.

Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi is set to visit Moscow this week to discuss recent nuclear negotiations with the United States held in Oman, the foreign ministry spokesman said on Monday.

"Dr Araghchi will travel to Moscow at the end of the week," said spokesman Esmaeil Baqaei, adding that the trip was "pre-planned" and would be "an opportunity to discuss the latest developments related to the Muscat talks."

France, Britain and Germany will be vigilant regarding nuclear disussions between the United States and Iran to ensure they conform with European interests, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on Monday.

"We will be vigilant, along with our British and German friends and partners, to ensure that any (US-Iran) negotiations that may take place comply with our security interests with regard to Iran's nuclear programme," Barrot said as he arrived for an EU foreign ministers' meeting in Luxembourg.

(Reuters)

The European Union will increase its financial support for the Palestinian Authority with a three-year package worth around 1.6 billion euros ($1.8 billion), the European Commissioner responsible for the Middle East told Reuters in an interview.

Dubravka Suica, the European Commissioner for the Mediterranean, said the financial support would go hand in hand with reforms of the Palestinian Authority, which has been accused by critics of corruption and bad governance.

"We want them to reform themselves because without reforming, they won't be strong enough and credible in order to be an interlocutor, not for only for us, but an interlocutor also for Israel," Suica said.

The commissioner's remarks came ahead of a first "high-level political dialogue" between European Union foreign ministers and senior Palestinian officials including Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa in Luxembourg on Monday.

(Reuters)

The Palestinian foreign ministry on Monday condemned the Israeli prime minister's criticism of French President Emmanuel Macron for announcing that Paris intended to recognise a Palestinian state within months.

"The ministry strongly condemns the unjustified attack and offensive remarks made by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his son against President Emmanuel Macron," the Ramallah-based ministry said in a statement, after Netanyahu declared that Macron was "gravely mistaken" in supporting the idea of Palestinian statehood.