Israel kills 59 in Gaza on Monday as Netanyahu meets Trump in Washington

We're closing this live blog.

Join us at 0900 am GMT on Tuesday for more developments from Gaza and the rest of the Middle East.

Iran and the United States will hold "indirect high-level" talks in Oman on Saturday, Iran's foreign minister said Tuesday, hours after US President Donald Trump announced talks with Tehran.

"Iran and the United States will meet in Oman on Saturday for indirect high-level talks," Abbas Araghchi said on social media platform X. "It is as much an opportunity as it is a test. The ball is in America's court."

(AFP)

Fifty-nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Monday, medical sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic.

US President Donald Trump on Monday touted himself as a mediator between Israel and Turkey in their struggle over politically fragile Syria, where both countries are jostling for influence.

Trump, speaking alongside key ally Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House, touted his "great relations" with Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan as an avenue for negotiations.

"I told the prime minister, I said, just Bibi if you have a problem with Turkey, I really think I'm going to be able to work it out," Trump told reporters, using Netanyahu's nickname.

"You know, I have a very, very good relationship with Turkey and with their leader, and I think we'll be able to work it out," he added.

(AFP)

Israel will "eliminate" its trade deficit with the United States, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said during a White House visit Monday, as the world reels from stinging tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump.

"We will eliminate the trade deficit with the United States... We think it's the right thing to do," Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office, saying he felt Israel could serve "as a model for many countries."

(AFP)

One of two British lawmakers who were denied entry into Israel at the weekend accused the Israeli government on Monday of being motivated by "control and censorship".

Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang, from the governing Labour Party, flew from London to Israel on Saturday but were blocked from entering the country and deported.

The pair had been due to visit the occupied Palestinian territory of the West Bank.

"This act was not just a diplomatic affront. This wasn't about security. It was about control and censorship," Mohamed told the UK parliament.

Read more here.

(AFP)

At least 46 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli forces since dawn on Monday, medical sources tell Al Jazeera Arabic.

During his public meeting with Netanyahu, Trump reiterated his idea for the US to seize control of Gaza and rebuild it as a luxury international tourist destination.

Referring to Gaza under his vision as a "Freedom Zone", he insisted that countries would be happy to resettle Palestinians from the territory who would be forcibly expelled under his proposal.

Trump said the US would start direct, high-level talks with Iran over its nuclear program on Saturday, in a shock announcement during his meeting with Netanyahu.

"We're having direct talks with Iran, and they've started," Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

"Maybe a deal's going to be made, that would be great. We are meeting very importantly on Saturday, at almost the highest level."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday during a White House meeting with President Donald Trump that new negotiations were in the works aimed at getting more Israeli prisoners released from war-torn Gaza.

"We're working now on another deal that we hope will succeed, and we're committed to getting all the hostages out," Netanyahu told reporters in the Oval Office.

(AFP)

American-Palestinian Muhammad Rabee feels abandoned by the United States, he told AFP on Monday, a day after Israeli forces killed his 14-year-old son during a family visit in the occupied West Bank.

Rabee's family live in New Jersey, and like the vast majority of Palestinians from the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya are dual citizens, but the father said Washington "turns a blind eye" to soaring Israeli attacks and abuses against them.

Read more here.

(AFP)

Israeli strikes Monday on southern Lebanon killed three people, according to the health ministry, with Israel's military saying it had "eliminated" a Hezbollah commander.

Israel has continued to strike Lebanon since the 27  November ceasefire that largely halted more than a year of hostilities with the Iran-backed Hezbollah group, including two months of all-out war.

An "Israeli enemy" strike on Monday on the town of Taybeh, near the border, "led to the death of one citizen", Lebanon's health ministry said in a statement.

Read more here.

(AFP)

The leaders of France, Egypt and Jordan on Monday said the Palestinian Authority must head post-war governance in Gaza.

The question of who will rule the Palestinian territory has been one of the main sticking points in efforts to prolong a ceasefire in Gaza that collapsed last month.

On a visit to Cairo where he met his counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi as well as Jordan's King Abdullah II, French President Emmanuel Macron said Hamas should have no role in governing the Gaza Strip once its war with Israel is over.

"Governance, law and order, and security in Gaza, as well as in all Palestinian territories, must be the sole responsibility of a strengthened Palestinian Authority," the three heads of state said in a joint statement.

Read more here.

(AFP)

The heads of six UN agencies called on Monday for an urgent renewal of the ceasefire in Gaza, warning of aid shortages and hunger since Israel resumed its all-out assault with the deadliest week for Gaza's children of the past year.

Israel has blocked food and humanitarian supplies from entering the Palestinian enclave since 2 March, and resumed its brutal military assault on 18 March.

"More than 2.1 million people are trapped, bombed and starved again, while, at crossing points, food, medicine, fuel and shelter supplies are piling up," said a statement co-signed by the heads of six UN agencies including the UN's aid coordination agency (OCHA) and the World Food Programme.

Read more here.

(AFP)

An Israeli strike on Monday in Lebanon's south killed two people, hours after the Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah leader in an earlier strike, Lebanese state media said.

"Two Syrians were killed on a motorcycle and one citizen was injured in an enemy strike on the Dardara road" in Lebanon's southern Marjayoun district, the official National News Agency said.

(AFP)

Nearly 400,000 Gaza residents have been displaced in the weeks since Israel resumed military operations in the territory, with relentless attacks leading to "large-scale civilian casualties," the UN secretary-general's spokesman said Monday.

"Survivors across Gaza are being displaced repeatedly and forced into an ever shrinking space where their basic needs just cannot be met," said spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

(AFP)

At least 42 Palestinians have now been killed by Israeli forces since dawn on Monday, Al Jazeera Arabic reports, citing medical sources.

The scheduled press conference between President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been cancelled, the White House announced moments ago.

The two leaders are still expected to meet in front of reporters in the Oval Office, where they will discuss Gaza and US tariffs on Israeli goods.

We'll bring you more as we get it.

French President Emmanuel Macron, US President Donald Trump, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah held a call on Monday to discuss the situation in Gaza, according to the French presidency.

Macron and King Abdullah are currently in Egypt to discuss Gaza with Sisi.

The French president is expected on Tuesday to visit warehouses for aid to Gaza and a hospital where wounded Palestinians from Gaza are treated on the third day of his visit to Egypt. 

(Reuters)

Israel has started its plan to forcibly remove Palestinians from Gaza, with deportation flights already commencing from Ramon Airport, Israel's interior minister, Moshe Arbel, said on Monday.

Arbel announced that more than 16 flights carrying Palestinians from Gaza had departed from Ramon Airport, in what appears to be a state-backed effort to forcibly remove Palestinian residents from the besieged enclave under the guise of "voluntary migration".

"I can say that this will likely increase in the coming period," the minister added.

He did not, however, specify the aircraft’s size or capacity, the number of passengers from the Gaza Strip, or their destination.

Read the full report here

Israeli forces flattened farmland and cleared entire residential districts in Gaza to open a "kill zone" around the enclave, according to a report on Monday that quoted soldiers testifying about the harsh methods used in the operation.

The report, from the Israeli rights group Breaking the Silence, cited soldiers who served in Gaza during the creation of the buffer zone, which was extended to between 800-1,500 metres inside the enclave by December 2024 and which has since been expanded further by Israeli troops.

"The borderline is a kill zone, a lower area, a lowland," the report quotes a captain in the Armored Corps as saying. "We have a commanding view of it, and they do too."

Read the full story here 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned over the dire situation for pregnant women in Gaza as it marked World Health Day, revealing that the ongoing violence, displacement, and lack of medical access have left the pregnancies of 55,000 women clouded by fear.

According to the WHO, one-third of pregnant women in Gaza are facing high-risk pregnancies, while 20 per cent of newborns are born prematurely, underweight, or with complications, requiring advanced medical care that is increasingly hard to obtain in the besieged enclave.

The organisation also reported that essential medical supplies, including portable incubators, neonatal ventilators, ultrasound machines, oxygen pumps, and 180,000 doses of routine childhood vaccines — enough to protect 60,000 children under two — have been blocked from entering Gaza.

This shortage is leaving sick newborns and young children without the critical care they need to survive.

A group of activists marched on the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing calling for its immediate opening.

Activists rally at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only gate to the world, demanding its immediate opening to allow badly needed humanitarian aid into the enclave. pic.twitter.com/8Gikde2bJ0

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 7, 2025

A senior delegation from Hamas is expected to arrive in Cairo within hours to hold talks with Egyptian officials, focusing on Egypt’s latest efforts to broker a ceasefire in Gaza and advance Palestinian reconciliation, sources told Al-Araby Al-Jadeed.

At the top of the agenda is a new Egyptian proposal described by Israeli media as a "serious" offer. The plan includes a partial prisoner exchange and a 70-day truce in Gaza, during which negotiations would resume for a second phase of the deal.

According to the proposal, Hamas would release nine living Israeli captives—including dual US-Israeli national Edan Alexander—as well as return the remains of three US-Israeli citizens. In exchange, Israel would release 300 Palestinian prisoners, including 150 serving life sentences, and 2,200 detainees from Gaza.

The proposed truce would also allow for increased entry of humanitarian aid and fuel, the reopening of crossings, and the provision of full information about the remaining captives.

Israel's Supreme Court will hear arguments on Tuesday on whether Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu acted lawfully in sacking the head of the domestic intelligence service amid a political scandal that has fuelled a wave of anti-government protests.

Netanyahu's move to oust Bar sparked a furious reaction from critics who said the real reason for his dismissal was a police and Shin Bet investigation into possible ties between Netanyahu aides and Qatar.

He has dismissed the so-called "Qatargate" affair as a political witch-hunt launched against him by what he called the "Deep State" and said two aides arrested in the probe had been taken "hostage".

(Reuters) 

The Bank of Israel left short-term interest rates unchanged for a 10th straight meeting on Monday, staying cautious as Israel broke its ceasefire with Hamas.

The central bank left its benchmark rate at 4.50 percent.

"In view of the continuing war, the Monetary Committee's policy is focusing on stabilizing the markets and reducing uncertainty, alongside price stability and supporting economic activity," it said in a statement following its decision.

The central bank reduced the key rate by 25 basis points in January 2024 after inflation eased and economic growth slowed amid the Gaza war, but it has kept policy steady since then.

The Dutch government said on Monday it had tightened export controls for all military and 'dual use' goods destined for Israel.

All direct exports and the transit of these goods to Israel will be checked to see if they comply with European regulations, and will no longer be covered by general export licences, the government said in a letter to parliament.

"This is desirable considering the security situation in Israel, the Palestinian territories and the wider region," foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp and trade minister Reinette Klever wrote.

"Exporters will still be able to request permits, that will then be checked against European regulations."

Read the full story here 

Lebanese President Michel Aoun met with Speaker of Parliament Nabih Berri to discuss the latest developments in the south of Lebanon and the outcomes of US Deputy Middle East envoy Morghan Ortega’s visit to Lebanon. The discussions focused on security concerns in the region and the ongoing situation in Gaza, with no guarantees provided regarding an end to Israeli violations.

Meanwhile, across Lebanon, solidarity protests were held in various areas in support of Gaza, condemning the international community’s silence and complicity in the Israeli atrocities against Palestinians. In the northern city of Tripoli, municipal workers staged a demonstration under the banner "Supporting Gaza is a Duty and Jihad," with the town’s mayor, Riyad Yamak, denouncing the massacres in Gaza and southern Lebanon. He accused the US of supporting Israeli crimes against Palestinians, describing the ongoing violence as an act of genocide.

In the Bekaa Valley, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine organized a protest near the Palestinian Cultural Center in Bar Elias, where speakers condemned the Israeli genocide in Gaza and urged the Arab and Islamic nations to rise in defense of Gaza's population.

Students in Beirut also held a protest outside the American University of Beirut and the Lebanese American University, raising Palestinian flags and chanting slogans against the ongoing Israeli massacres.

An Israeli drone strike on the southern Lebanese town of Al-Taybeh killed one person and caused significant damage this morning.

The strike targeted a motorcycle being ridden by a man who owned a repair shop, leading to his death and the destruction of his business.

According to Hezbollah-affiliated media, the airstrike took place while the town was experiencing a series of Israeli violations. These included a helicopter attack on a fuel station in Aytat al-Shab and a bombing of a drilling rig in the town of Lif, injuring two people. The repeated Israeli aggressions have raised concerns about the stability of the ceasefire agreement implemented on November 27, 2023.

During a visit to Beirut, US Deputy Middle East envoy, Morghan Ortega, met with Lebanese officials to discuss security issues, including the implementation of the ceasefire and Israel's continued violations. While the meetings were described as "positive and constructive," Lebanon did not receive any guarantees from the US regarding the cessation of Israeli attacks.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Monday that 15 medics and rescuers killed by Israeli forces last month in Gaza were shot in the upper body with "intent to kill".

Younis Al-Khatib, president of the Red Crescent in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, told journalists in Ramallah: "There has been an autopsy of the martyrs from the Red Crescent and civil defence teams. We cannot disclose everything we know, but I will say that all the martyrs were shot in the upper part of their bodies, with the intent to kill."

A Palestinian teenager with US citizenship was killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, Palestinian officials said on Sunday, with the Israeli military saying it shot a "terrorist" who endangered civilians by hurling rocks.

The incident is the latest in a surge of violence and near-daily confrontations in the volatile West Bank, where settler violence and clashes between Israeli forces and armed Palestinians have kept it on edge.

The mayor of Turmus Ayya, Adeeb Lafi, told news agency Reuters earlier in the day that Omar Mohammad Rabea, 14, was shot along with two other teenagers by an Israeli settler at the entrance to Turmus Ayya and that the Israeli army pronounced him dead after detaining him.

Read the full report here

French President Emmanuel Macron is set to visit El Arish, a key location for humanitarian aid near Gaza, amid a blockade preventing humanitarian aid from reaching the Strip.

This visit is symbolic, marking France’s voiced concerns as Israel halts the flow of aid into Gaza.

Macron, who recently condemned the resumption of Israeli strikes on Gaza alongside Egyptian President Al-Sisi, will meet Jordan’s King Abdullah II to discuss immediate steps towards a ceasefire and the resumption of humanitarian aid after his meeting with Al-Sisi. 

PRCS President Younis al-Khatib has revealed evidence from video footage showing Israeli forces killing Palestinian medics, challenging Israel’s official narrative. Key findings include: 

• Ambulances had emergency lights on, and paramedics wore official vests, contrary to Israeli claims. 
• The footage shows direct gunfire at ambulances, confirmed by a survivor who recounted being used as a "human shield" before escaping. 
• Al-Khatib claimed that Israel has failed to provide any proof that PRCS vehicles have ever transported Hamas fighters in the past 15 years. 

The video also captured paramedics praying for enough fuel to complete their missions, showing the impact of Israel’s siege on rescue efforts and the pressure on medical staff.

A Palestinian journalist was burned alive, and at least 10 other people were wounded in an Israeli airstrike on Sunday night that targeted a tent accommodating reporters in the southern Gaza Strip.

Videos shared online appear to show journalist Hilmi Al-Faqaawi on fire after the tent he was in in Khan Younis was struck by the Israeli military, as his colleagues tried to rescue him, but to no avail.

Another video shows his charred body wrapped in a blanket and carried out by people.

Read the full story here

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has held a press conference in el-Bireh, West Bank, calling for an independent investigation into Israel’s killing of paramedics in Gaza.

Younis al-Khatib, president of PRCS, condemned Israel’s ongoing false claims regarding events in Gaza, particularly in relation to the deaths of 15 paramedics. "We’ve grown accustomed to Israel’s fabricated stories, but now, it’s clear to the world, and the media, who is telling the truth," al-Khatib said.

Referring to the released video footage of the attack on paramedics, which he described as "heart-wrenching and painful".

French President Emmanuel Macron said on a visit to Cairo on Monday that he was strongly opposed to any displacement of Palestinians or annexation in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"We are firmly opposed to the displacement of populations and to any annexation of both Gaza and the West Bank," Macron said as he met with his Egyptian counterpart Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.

"This would be a violation of international law and a serious threat to the security of the entire region, including Israel," he said.

French President Emmanuel Macron said Hamas should have no part in governing Gaza, in remarks on Monday as he visited Egypt.

Macron said the Palestinian Islamist militants should "no longer constitute a threat to Israel" while reiterating his "full support for the reconstruction plan for Gaza" endorsed by the Arab League.

Gaza's civil defence agency reported at least 12 people were killed Monday in Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory.

The latest strikes, part of renewed military operations after a two-month truce, come with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Washington for talks with US President Donald Trump later on Monday, where the ongoing fighting is set to be on the agenda.

An air strike hit a tent used by journalists in a makeshift displacement camp in the southern Gaza Strip, killing two people, said civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal.

The Hamas government media office said journalist Hilmi al-Faqaawi, who worked for a local news agency, was killed in the attack in the city of Khan Yunis. Bassal said that nine others, all journalists, were wounded.

The Palestinian Journalists Syndicate has condemned Israel for what it called a "heinous massacre" after an Israeli airstrike near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis killed one journalist and wounded nine others.

The attack targeted a tent where journalists had been sheltering, and journalist Helmi al-Faqawi of Palestine Today TV was killed when the tent caught fire.

The Syndicate has called on the International Criminal Court to begin proceedings against Israel and urged the UN Security Council to take immediate action in response to the attack, which represents a violation of international law.

The Israeli military has dismissed recent media reports suggesting it would allow humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, despite mounting international pressure. These reports, including one from Yedioth Ahronoth, claimed that Israel was planning a pilot project to distribute aid while ensuring it did not reach Hamas.

Israel’s Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich swiftly rejected the claim, saying: "Not a single grain of wheat will enter the territory."

In a statement on social media, the Israeli army said it was following political directives and reaffirming that no aid would be delivered to Gaza under any circumstances. The army said that its actions aligned with government policy and that the focus remained on preventing aid from reaching Hamas.

The UN has warned of a growing hunger crisis in Gaza, with the International Court of Justice having previously ruled that Israel must allow unimpeded aid access to the territory. However, Israel continues to refuse while the situation continues to deteriorate.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a ceasefire in Gaza and the lifting of Israel's blockade on humanitarian aid during a meeting with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo. 

The two leaders were also expected to meet with Jordan’s King Abdullah II for a trilateral summit on the situation in Gaza.

US President Donald Trump is set to hold a joint news conference this evening (UK time) with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the White House confirmed.

Netanyahu will seek tariff relief after Trump imposed a 17 per cent tariff on Israeli goods from the US, its largest trading ally. 

A group of 10 Britons fighting for the Israeli forces are facing a war crimes complaint set to be submitted today to the Met police by a leading UK human rights lawyer.

A team of UK lawyers are set to hand in a 240-page dossier to Scotland Yard's war crimes unit today accusing the British citizens of involvement in "indiscriminate attacks on civilian areas" and "coordinated attacks on protected sites including historic monuments and religious sites", among other crimes.

Barrister Michael Mansfield, who is among the lawyers in the case, said: "If one of our nationals is committing ​an offence, we ought to be doing something about it​. Even if we can’t stop the government of foreign countries behaving badly, we can at least stop our nationals from behaving badly.

"British nationals are under a legal obligation not to collude with crimes committed in Palestine. No one is above the law."

The Palestinian National and Islamic Forces have called for a global strike against Israeli ongoing attacks in Gaza, urging supporters across the world to join. 

In a statement, the forces said that the mobilisation is needed to highlight the "horrific massacres and crimes committed by Israeli forces" including the killing of civilians, particularly children and women, and journalists and the widespread destruction aimed at displacing Palestinians from their homes.

Israel has dramatically expanded its occupation in the Gaza Strip since last month now controlling more than 50% of the territory and squeezing Palestinians into shrinking wedges of land.

The largest contiguous area the army controls is around the Gaza border, where the military has razed Palestinian homes, farmland and infrastructure to the point of uninhabitability, according to Israeli soldiers and rights groups. This military buffer zone has doubled in size in recent weeks.

The demolition close to the Israeli border and the systematic expansion of the buffer zone has been going on since the war on Gaza began 18 months ago.

Israeli settlers have placed mobile homes in villages around the southern occupied West Bank, including the village of Khirbet Umm al-Khair in the Masafer Yatta area.

منظمة البيدر: مستوطنون يشرعون بوضع كرفانات استيطانية على بعد أمتار قليلة من مساكن الأهالي في خربة أم الخير بمسافر يطا جنوب شرق الخليل.#طوفان_الأقصى #الضفة_الغربية #قطاع_غزة pic.twitter.com/4OYrtHtZas

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is in Washington today to meet US President Donald Trump to discuss issues including tariffs and the "Iranian threat".

The two countries are dealing with a set of extremely thorny issues, including Trump's shock imposition of 17 percent tariffs on Israeli imports, an elusive search for a ceasefire in Gaza, and concern over Iran's nuclear program.

Netanyahu will meet Trump to "discuss tariffs, efforts to bring back Israeli hostages (from Gaza), Israel-Turkey relations, the Iranian threat, and the fight against the International Criminal Court," which has accused the Israeli leader of war crimes, his Jerusalem office said in a statement.

Read the full diplomatic agenda here 

At least 10 civilians, including journalists, were killed and others injured early Monday morning in Israeli airstrikes on various areas of the Gaza Strip.

Israeli warplanes targeted a journalists' tent near Nasser Medical Complex Hospital in Khan Yunis, killing journalist Hilmi al-Faqawi and Yousef al-Khazindar.

Journalists Ahmed Mansour, Hassan Islayh, Ahmed al-Agha, Mohammed Fayeq, Abdullah al-Attar, Ihab al-Bardini, Mahmoud Awad, Majed Qudaih, and Ali Islayh were injured, some seriously.

According to Palestinian agency Wafa, Israel also bombed two houses west of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, killing two citizens and wounding others.