Israeli strikes kill 39 in Gaza, US kills 12 in Yemen

Former US President Donald Trump is set to speak with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today, with discussions expected to focus on a potential Gaza ceasefire and the ongoing nuclear negotiations with Iran, according to Axios.

The outlet, citing two sources familiar with the matter, reported that the call comes at a time when efforts to secure a ceasefire and a captive release deal remain stalled, following the collapse of a US- and Egypt-brokered proposal last week.

Washington is reportedly eager to revive momentum, especially with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani — a key figure in mediating the previous ceasefire — due to arrive in the United States on Tuesday for meetings with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and White House envoy Steve Witkoff.

However, today’s developments unfold against the backdrop of renewed, indirect US-Iran dialogue, with Axios noting that Trump had advised Netanyahu two weeks ago against launching any Israeli military action against Iran at this time.

The new US ambassador to Israel on Monday called on Hamas to accept a deal that would secure the release of captives, in exchange for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

"We call upon Hamas to sign an agreement so that humanitarian aid can flow into Gaza to the people who desperately need it," Mike Huckabee said in a video statement on X.

"When that happens, and hostages are released which is an urgent matter for all of us, then we hope that the humanitarian aid will flow and flow freely".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday to deliver a "powerful response" to Yemen's Houthi rebels, who have repeatedly launched missiles at Israel since the outbreak of Israel's war on Gaza.

In remarks addressed "to the Huthis and to all those who wish us harm", Netanyahu said during a speech in central Israel: "Any attack against us will not go unanswered. There will be a powerful response."

Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit said Francis's "voice in condemning Israeli brutality was loud and clear until the very last moment".

His "compass on the Palestinian issue always pointed in the right direction", Aboul Gheit added, recalling "his daily communication with the residents of Gaza as they endured brutal Israeli aggression and bombardment".

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back against his domestic security chief, Ronen Bar, on Monday, saying that the head of Shin Bet "failed miserably" during the 7 October attacks.

"Bar confirms the assessment of all government ministers that he failed miserably on October 7th. This reason alone justifies the end of his tenure," read a lengthy response from Netanyahu in a statement issued by his office after Bar filed an affidavit containing accusations against the long-time premier.

Basem Naim, a senior official from Palestinian group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip, hailed the pope's opposition to Israel's war on the enclave.

"Pope Francis was a steadfast advocate for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, particularly in his unwavering stance against the war and acts of genocide perpetrated against our people in Gaza in recent months," Naim said in a statement.

Francis spoke of the Gaza war a day before he died, saying that a "growing climate of anti-Semitism around the world is worrisome" while condemning the "deplorable humanitarian situation" in Gaza and reiterating his call for a ceasefire.

The head of Israel's domestic intelligence service said on Monday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's bid to sack him followed his refusal to fulfil requests that included spying on Israeli protesters and disrupting the leader's corruption trial.

In an affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court, the head of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, said that Netanyahu's March move to dismiss him was not based on professional grounds but was prompted by unmet expectations of personal loyalty to the prime minister.

In response, Netanyahu's office said it would soon deliver a detailed refute of Bar's affidavit, which it called "false". Netanyahu's move to sack Bar fuelled protests in Israel and was suspended by the Supreme Court, after political watchdogs and opposition lawmakers argued the dismissal was unlawful. 

(Reuters) 

Members of Gaza's tiny Christian community said they were "heartbroken" on Monday at the death of Pope Francis, who campaigned for peace for the devastated enclave and spoke to them on the phone every evening throughout the war.

"We lost a saint who taught us every day how to be brave, how to keep patient and stay strong. We lost a man who fought every day in every direction to protect this small herd of his," George Antone, 44, head of the emergency committee at the Holy Family Church in Gaza, told Reuters.

"We are heartbroken because of the death of Pope Francis, but we know that he is leaving behind a church that cares for us and that knows us by name - every single one of us," Antone said, referring to the Christians of Gaza who number in the hundreds.

"He used to tell each one: I am with you, don't be afraid."

Francis phoned a final time on Saturday night, the pastor of the Holy Family parish, Rev. Gabriel Romanelli, told the Vatican News Service.

"He said he was praying for us, he blessed us, and he thanked us for our prayers," Romanelli said.

The next day, in his last public statement on Easter, Francis appealed for peace in Gaza, telling the warring parties to "call a ceasefire, release the [captives] and come to the aid of a starving people that aspires to a future of peace".

(Reuters) 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said the head of the country's internal security service falsely accused him of demanding personal loyalty in a Supreme Court affidavit on Monday.

"Ronen Bar submitted a false affidavit to the Supreme Court today, which will be thoroughly refuted in due course," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

Israel's internal security chief, whom the government is trying to sack, on Monday accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of demanding his personal loyalty and ordering him to spy on anti-government protesters.

Following a lengthy hearing, the Supreme Court on 8 April called on the government and the attorney general to find a compromise on the issue, giving them until after the Jewish Passover holiday, which has just ended.

Israeli media have reported that Bar could soon resign.

The document, an affidavit the security chief submitted to the court on Monday, contains several accusations against Netanyahu, including that he had asked Bar for personal loyalty.

"It was clear" that in the event of a constitutional crisis, he would be expected to obey Netanyahu and not the Supreme Court, Bar wrote in the document, which was released by the attorney general's office.

Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian on Sunday offered his condolences over the death of Pope Francis and praised his condemnation of "genocide" by Israel in Gaza.

"With sorrow, I offer my condolences on the passing of Pope Francis, the leader and spiritual guide of the world's Catholics," Pezeshkian said in a statement posted on his official website.

The president of Muslim-majority Iran said the pontiff's name and memory would remain "in the hearts of all awakened consciences and freedom-seekers" for his humanitarian stances, including the "condemnation of the genocide committed by the Israeli regime in Gaza".

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a law ratifying a strategic partnership treaty with Iran, Russian state news agency RIA reported on Monday.

Putin inked the 20-year strategic partnership pact with his Iranian counterpart, Masoud Pezeshkian, in January.

At least 65 Palestinian detainees have been killed since October 2023, in what the Palestinian Prisoners' Society (PPS) declares to be the most violent period yet for the Palestinian people as a whole under Israeli occupation.

PPS also revealed at least 40 of the 65 were abducted from the Gaza Strip, with others subjected to forced disapareances. 

Since 1967, 302 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli detention, with the number of detainees killed whose bodies are being held has reached 74, including 63 withheld since Israel's war.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog praised the deceased Pope Francis on Monday as "a man of deep faith and boundless compassion".

"He rightly saw great importance in fostering strong ties with the Jewish world and in advancing interfaith dialogue as a path toward greater understanding and mutual respect," the president said in a post on X.

The Pope had decreid the war on the Gaza Strip, calling for an investigation to determine whether Israel was comitting genocide in the enclave.

Three Palestinians were killed in separate incidents in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip - Wafa reports.

The publication revealed two siblings were killed after Israeli forces shelled a cart in al-Manara, while a Palestinian woman was killed after an Israeli drone targeted a tent housing displaced civilians in al-Mawasi.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas paid tribute to Pope Francis, who died Monday at 88, calling him a "faithful friend of the Palestinian people," the official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.

"Today, we lost a faithful friend of the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights," Abbas said, noting that Pope Francis "recognised the Palestinian state and authorised the Palestinian flag to be raised in the Vatican."

At least 39 Palestinians have been killed in the past 24 hours as Israel continues its war.

The Gaza Health Ministry also revealed that the killed include two bodies retrieved and 62 injuries.

Israel's war has brought the total Palestinians killed to 51,240 since October 2023, not including the 11,000 missing presumed dead. With over 1,864 killed since Israel broke the ceasefire on 18 March.

Israel cancelled visas for French left-wing lawmakers and officials days before they planned to visit Palestine on Sunday.

The delegation issues a statement confirming their visas had been revoked after receiving an extended invitation for a five-day visit aimed at "promoting international cooperation and a culture of peace" in the Palestinian territories and Israel.

Israel's interior ministry said the visas have been cancelled under a law that allows it to ban people from entering the state who could act against Israel.

Seventeen members have condemned the ban, saying they are victims of "collective punishment," and are calling for French President Emmanuel Macron to intervene.

Iran accused Israel on Monday of seeking to "undermine" ongoing talks with the United States on its nuclear programme, a key point of tension with the West.

"A kind of coalition is forming...to undermine and disrupt the diplomatic process," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei told reporters, saying Israel was behind the effort.

Gaza's civil defence agency on Monday accused the Israeli military of carrying out "summary executions" in the killing of 15 rescue workers last month, rejecting the findings of an internal probe by the army.

"The video filmed by one of the paramedics proves that the Israeli occupation's narrative is false and demonstrates that it carried out summary executions," Mohammed Al-Mughair, a civil defence official, told AFP, accusing Israel of seeking to "circumvent" its obligations under international law.

The medics and other rescue workers were killed when responding to distress calls near Gaza's southern city of Rafah early on 23 March, days into Israel's renewed offensive in the enclave.

US airstrikes targeting Yemen’s capital killed 12 people and wounded 30 others.

The Houthis described the strike as hitting the Farwa neighbourhood market in Sanaa’s Shuub district. That area has been targeted by the US before.

Lebanon's president said disarming Hezbollah was a "delicate" matter, as authorities reported Israeli strikes on Sunday that killed two people in the country's south.

Israel's military said it "eliminated" two Hezbollah operatives and targeted military infrastructure belonging to the Iran-backed group.

President Joseph Aoun said that restricting the bearing of arms to the state was "a sensitive, delicate issue that is fundamental to preserving civil peace" and required due "consideration and responsibility".

Lebanon would implement a state monopoly on weapons, he told reporters, "but we have to wait for the circumstances" to allow this, adding that "nobody is speaking to me about timing or pressure".

"Any controversial domestic issue in Lebanon can only be approached through conciliatory, non-confrontational dialogue and communication. If not, we will lead Lebanon to ruin," he added.