Israel says troops to 'remain indefinitely' as 19 killed in Gaza amid aid ban

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You can read our coverage on the latest developments in Israel's war on Gaza here. 

Read our exclusive interview with Lebanon's President Joseph Aoun about political, economic, and security challenges facing Lebanon here. 

The Israeli army is in 'damage control' over the suspension of air force reservists who signed a letter calling for a deal to release captives in Gaza and end the war, attempting to reduce its reliance on reservists and put conscripts on the frontlines instead.

Israel's military chief Eyal Zamir and airforce chief Tomer Bar are set to meet with representatives of the signatories who were suspended from service over the letter, as well as other service personnel who signed follow up letters in support of the air force reservists, according to Haaretz.

Sources speaking with Haaretz said that the decision to suspend the airforce reservists was made under government pressure, and that the ramifications of the decision, which comes amid a crisis in the reserves, must be presented to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the security cabinet.

Breaking | Israeli occupation aircraft bombard Shuhada Al-Shati Mosque in Al-Shati refugee camp, west of Gaza City. pic.twitter.com/BrHoKGrNVR

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) April 16, 2025

Lebanon reported two dead in separate Israeli strikes on the country's south Wednesday, as Israel's military said it had killed a Hezbollah operative, despite a ceasefire between the two sides.

A "drone strike launched by the Israeli enemy on a vehicle in Wadi al-Hujair killed one person", Lebanon's health ministry said in a statement, referring to an area around 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the border.

It later said a separate Israeli strike in Hanin, also near the border, "killed one person and wounded another".

The Israeli military said its air force "struck and eliminated" a member of Hezbollah's elite Radwan Force in the Qantara area, near Wadi al-Hujair.

Israeli airstrikes killed three Palestinians and wounded several others in separate attacks on Wednesday evening in Gaza.

An Israeli drone strike on Al-Qarara, north of Khan Younis resulted in two Palestinians killed and many others wounded, another person died after shelling hit a home in the Tuffah neighbourhood of Gaza City.

Iraq has summoned Lebanon's envoy over remarks by Lebanese President Joseph Aoun concerning Iraq's popular mobilization forces (PMF), Iraq's state news agency said on Wednesday citing a statement from the foreign ministry.

Aoun said during an interview with the New Arab's Arabic language edition, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed on Wednesday that Lebanon would not emulate Iraq's PMF — a state security force made up of several armed factions, including some that have enjoyed the backing of Iran - when it came to enforcing the state's monopoly on weapons.  

You can read our exclusive interview with President Aoun here. 

Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad released a video Wednesday showing an Israeli hostage alive, in which he appeals to the Israeli government and US President Donald Trump to secure his release.

Israeli media identified him as Rom Braslavski from Jerusalem. In the nearly seven-minute video, the hostage, appearing to speak under duress, lifts his shirt to reveal scratch marks on his skin.

He gestures frequently with his hands as he pleads for his release. He also describes enduring severe conditions, citing a lack of food and water.

The United Nations has raised concerns over new Israeli procedures that tighten control over humanitarian aid entering Gaza.

The move, announced by Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, introduces an additional authorisation mechanism for aid delivery.

The UN warned that these restrictions could hinder aid from reaching those in desperate need, adding that existing safeguards already prevent diversion of supplies.

An Israeli airstrike on Gaza City has killed Palestinian journalist Fatima Hassouneh and 10 of her family members, according to Wafa news agency.

The strike targeted their home in the Tuffah neighbourhood, east of the city. Since the war began, over 210 Palestinian journalists and media workers have been killed in Israeli attacks.

🚨Breaking: Fatima Hassouna, a Gazan photographer, documented the atrocities of the war from the start of the genocide, braving daily bombardments.

She and ten members of her family were killed when the Israeli army targeted her home. pic.twitter.com/UFy1wGi2gF

— Gaza Notifications (@gazanotice) April 16, 2025

The General Director of Gaza’s Al-Ahli Arab (Baptist) Hospital, Dr. Fadel Naim, has issued a desperate plea following an Israeli airstrike that has shut down the hospital’s emergency and reception departments, gutting one of the last lifelines for the wounded in northern Gaza.

Speaking to Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) staff via phone on Thursday, Dr. Naim described the attack as "unjustified" and "catastrophic", saying the hospital, already operating under immense pressure, can no longer provide even the most basic care.

"I feel deep sorrow, pain, anger, and helplessness. We were treating hundreds of wounded and seeing thousands of patients daily. Today, we are made unable to provide even the most basic care to the people who urgently need it," he said.

"This is not the first time Al-Ahli has been targeted,” Dr. Naim added. “Hospitals are supposedly protected under international law. Patients and medical personnel must be protected, and this protection must be upheld and respected at all times."

A second round of Iran-US nuclear talks will be held in the Italian capital Rome on Saturday with Omani mediation, Iran's state media said on Wednesday.

Iran's state news agency IRNA had said on Monday, quoting Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei, that the talks would be held in Oman's Muscat.

(Reuters)

Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi will visit Moscow on Thursday for talks, Iran's envoy to Russia said Wednesday, after Washington and Tehran held indirect talks over Iran's nuclear programme last week.

"Dr Araghchi will arrive in Moscow tomorrow on a visit to hold consultations with Russian top officials," Iran's ambassador to Russia Kazem Jalali wrote on X.

The German government said Wednesday that it was evacuating around 24 of its nationals from the war-battered Gaza Strip.

"There is currently an operation underway in close cooperation with the Israeli authorities to allow people to leave", foreign ministry spokesman Christian Wagner told journalists at a regular press conference.

He said "roughly two dozen" Germans were leaving the territory.

He added that there remained "a small, single-digit number" of other Germans whom the authorities were aware of in Gaza and who wish to leave.

Earlier this month Germany said that 19 of its citizens and 14 of their relatives had been evacuated from Gaza.

The Palestinian foreign ministry on Wednesday condemned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's visit to Gaza the previous day, in which he vowed to keep up Israel's offensive against Hamas.

"The provocative incursion by Benjamin Netanyahu into northern Gaza, along with his accompanying statements, is intended to prolong and intensify the crimes of genocide and forced displacement" in the Palestinian territory, the West Bank-based ministry said in a statement.

On the ground, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, says critical medicine shortages are placing the lives of Gaza’s wounded in peril.

"We make do with what we have, but the severe shortages of medicine, painkillers, and other essential medical supplies pose a grave threat," said Dr. Muhammad, who runs a UNRWA medical point in Gaza.

UNRWA and other aid organisations continue to sound the alarm as Israel maintains its total blockade on aid, with no supplies entering Gaza since early March.

“We make do with what we have, but the severe shortages of medicine, painkillers, and other essential medical supplies, pose a grave threat to the lives of our patients," explains Dr Muhammad, Head of an UNRWA medical point in #Gaza.

The first picture shows Loretta, 2, who… pic.twitter.com/sh9k9ok8I2

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 16, 2025

A senior Hamas official has said that any future ceasefire agreement must include a permanent end to Israel’s war on Gaza and the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the territory.

Khaled Qaddoumi, Hamas’ representative in Tehran, made the coments during a pro-Palestine gathering in the Iranian capital, warning that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza was worsening by the hour.

"The word catastrophe is not enough to describe the extremely critical situation in Gaza," Qaddoumi said. "What is happening is carried out with the full green light of the United States and Western powers."

Once again, a new Israeli proposal sparked debate and suspicion in Gaza about the prospect of achieving a ceasefire soon. Central to the controversy is an Israeli demand that many Palestinians consider unrealistic and offensive: the disarmament of armed resistance factions in Gaza, notably Hamas.

The new Israeli proposal, conveyed to Hamas by Egyptian and Qatari mediators, offers a 45-day ceasefire, a phased prisoner exchange, and discussions aimed at achieving a permanent truce, but only if the armed resistance in Gaza relinquish their weapons. 

For Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, such a condition is crosses a "red line".

Here's the reason why.

Two Palestinians confirmed killed between Qabatiyeh and Misilyeh, southeast of Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

The Palestinian Civil Affairs Commission confirmed their identities as Mohd Omar Zakarneh, 23, and Mirth Yasser Khzemiyeh, 19, and claimed that their bodies are being withheld by Israeli soldiers.

An Israeli has attacked a vehicle carrying a group of students as they were driving to school east of Yatta, south of Hebron. 

Director of Education in the Yatta Yasser Muhammad told Wafa news agency that the individual intercepted the car and slashed the tires with a dagger, preventing the students from reaching Huwwara Elementary School. 

The Israeli army has claimed it has killed a Hezbollah "terrorist in the Radwan Force" in the Qantara area in south Lebanon. 

The statement came after Lebanon's Health Ministry confirmed that one person was killed in an Israeli drone attack in the same area. 

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s Archwell foundation, which partners with organisations to drive change, halted donations to a Muslim women’s group in the US after their founder called for a Gaza ceasefire and denounced Israel’s war.

The foundation, established in 2020, cut ties with the Milwaukee Muslim Women’s Coalition (MMWC) earlier this week after they were made aware of a previous blog post from the group’s founder.

In February 2024, Janan Najeeb, the founder of MMWC, penned an online post in the Wisconsin Muslim Journal, where she called for a ceasefire in Gaza, and "an end to arming the apartheid state of Israel".

Read the full story here.

Over 200 former Israeli police officers, including senior commanders, have signed an open letter calling for the government to end the war in Gaza to secure the release of captives held by Hamas.

Among the signatories are former heads of the Israel Prison Service and district police forces, many of whom were ousted by far-right ministers.

The former officers echoed demands from Israel Air Force veterans, whose recent protest led to a dramatic confrontation with military leadership.

For the second consecutive year, Palestinians are marking Prisoners’ Day against the backdrop of Israel’s ongoing attacks in Gaza, with rights groups warning that Palestinian detainees are enduring the most brutal and inhumane conditions since the start of the Israeli occupation in 1967.

In a joint statement released on the eve of Prisoners’ Day, the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society, the Commission of Detainees’ Affairs, and Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association described the current moment as one of unprecedented suffering for Palestinian political prisoners.

The groups reported that since Israel launched its war on Gaza in October 2023, at least 63 Palestinian prisoners have died in Israeli custody, 40 of them from the besieged Gaza Strip. Many were killed directly through physical violence or indirectly through systematic deprivation, including the denial of medical care and food.

The most harrowing recent case was 17-year-old Walid Ahmad from Silwad, who died in March after being starved to death.

According to the report, the current wave of abuse includes "routine beatings, sexual violence, denial of medical care, and psychological torture".

Lebanon's health ministry said an Israeli strike in south Lebanon on Wednesday killed one person, a day after a similar raid killed two despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.

"The drone strike launched by the Israeli enemy on a vehicle in Wadi al-Hujair killed one person," the ministry said in a statement, referring to an area around 12 kilometres (seven miles) from the border.

The ministry also said a 17-year-old wounded in an Israeli strike in south Lebanon's Aitaroun a day earlier had died, bringing the toll in that raid to two dead.

The Israeli military had said the strike killed a Hezbollah operative.

Families of Israeli captives have slammed Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz's announcement that troops will indefinitely remain in Gaza "security zones".

In a statement, the Headquarters of the Families of the Prisoners Forum said: "They promised that the kidnapped come first. In practice, Israel is choosing to seize territory over the kidnapped.

"It is time to stop with the false promises and slogans. It is impossible to continue the war and at the same time release all the kidnapped."

The only feasible solution, the group added, is that all captives are freed as part of a deal "even at the cost of ending the war".

The director of Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital who was detained by Israeli forces in December is being held in "inhumane" conditions by Israel and subjected to "physical and psychological intimidation", his lawyer warned.

Hussam Abu Safiya, a 52-year-old paediatrician, rose to prominence last year by posting about the dire conditions in his besieged hospital in Beit Lahia during a major Israeli offensive.

On December 27, Israeli forces began an assault on the facility which they labelled a Hamas "terrorist centre", and arrested dozens of medical staff including Abu Safiya.

The military accused him of being a "Hamas operative". Abu Safiya's lawyer, Gheed Qassem, was able to visit the doctor on March 19 in Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank.

As Israel's war on Gaza enters its 19th month, the scale of devastation is staggering. Tens of thousands are dead, entire neighbourhoods lie in ruins, and famine threatens a besieged civilian population. Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, warns that the world is watching in silence. She says it is paralysed and complicit in what is unfolding.

In an exclusive interview with The New Arab, Albanese delivers a stark message. She says the situation in Gaza is not just a war but a genocide taking place in real time. She blames not only the Israeli military campaign but also the global indifference and support from powerful governments and corporations.

"I do not think there has been anything in modern history since the end of World War Two that is so sadistic and militarised as this attack," she says.

Read the full exclusive interview here.

Hundreds of settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque this morning under heavy protection from Israeli forces. 

According to the Jerusalem Governorate, large groups entered the compounds from al-Mughrabi Gate in groups and performed Talmudic rituals on the fourth day of the Jewish Passover holiday. 

It comes as settlers stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque involving more than 1,220 colonists yesterday. The extremist group "The Temple Mount is in Our Hands" launched promotional campaigns to encourage Israeli settlers to enter the area. 

Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stormed the Ibrahimi Mosque in the occupied West Bank city of Hebron, amid tight security measures and heavy guards escorting his convoy. Meanwhile, Israeli authorities closed the mosque to Muslim worshippers.

The far-right Israeli minister addressed the crowd of settlers storming the Ibrahimi Mosque and performed Talmudic dances in the courtyards of the building.

In his speech, Ben-Gvir said that Israel is going through "difficult times" and that there are elements within the Shin Bet trying to eliminate him politically to replace the elected government.

On Tuesday, Israeli forces closed the Ibrahimi Mosque to Muslim worshippers for the Jewish Passover holiday, opening it to settlers for two days.

Israel will not allow any humanitarian aid to enter Gaza to pressure Hamas, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said on social media.

Preventing humanitarian aid from entering the Strip "is one of the main pressure tools that prevents Hamas from using this measure against the population," Katz posted on X.

"In the current reality, no one is willing to enter any humanitarian aid into Gaza, and no one is preparing to enter any aid of this type."

The Israeli army has claimed that a senior Hamas fighter was killed in a coordinated attack with the Shin Beit intelligence service. 

Posting on social media, the military said the assistant to Hamas’s Gaza Brigade commander Mahmoud Abu Hasira was killed days ago in an attack in Gaza City.

Israeli forces in north-occupied East Jerusalem have shot dead a Palestinian youth at the Qalandiya checkpoint. The identity of the victim remains unknown. 

Other raids took place overnight including in the towns of Azzun, east of Qalqilya and a raid on Budrus village in west of Ramallah. 

من موقع إطلاق الاحتلال النار صوب شاب فلسطيني على حاجز قلنديا شمال القدس المحتلة pic.twitter.com/rSaTyWH0mX

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) April 16, 2025

Israeli forces have arrested Palestinian journalist Ibrahim Abu Safiyeh after raiding is home in Beit Sira, a village near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. 

Hamas's armed wing said Tuesday it had "lost contact" with the group holding Israeli-American captive Edan Alexander following an air strike on their location in Gaza.

"We announce that we have lost contact with the group holding soldier Edan Alexander following a direct strike on their location. We are still trying to reach them at this moment," Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades, said on his Telegram channel.

"Be prepared, soon your children will return in black coffins, with their bodies torn apart by shrapnel from your army’s missiles," the Qassam Brigades said in the video, along with footage from a previous handover of Israeli captives' remains in coffins.

"Your leadership has signed the decision to execute the prisoners in the Gaza Strip."

Read the full story here.

Israel’s defence minister says troops will remain in so-called security zones in Gaza indefinitely.

Israel Katz said Wednesday that Israeli forces "will remain in the security zones as a buffer between the enemy and (Israeli) communities in any temporary or permanent situation in Gaza".

Medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF) on Wednesday accused Israel of blocking essential aid to the Gaza Strip, saying there was nowhere safe for Palestinians or those trying to help them.

"Gaza has been turned into a mass grave of Palestinians and those coming to their assistance," said Amande Bazerolle, MSF's emergency coordinator there.

Israeli airstrikes have intensified across Gaza, resulting in the deaths of at least 23 Palestinians since dawn on Wednesday, according to medical sources on the ground.

According to Wafa news agency, Israeli forces killed a Palestinian sheltering in a tent near Gaza City, in the north of the Gaza Strip and an Israeli attack on an apartment near the as-Saraya intersection in the city centre killed two people.

Israeli forces also attacked the Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City, where thousands of people were sheltering in tents, killing two people.