Israeli strikes kills dozens in Gaza including people sheltering at school

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Israeli forces abducted two Palestinians from Dheisheh refugee camp, south of the occupied West Bank city of Bethlehem - Wafa reports.

The agency says the forces rounded up two young men from the camp after Israeli special forces, known as Mista'arvim and army units, snuck their way into the refugee camp and deployed at the main entrance. They then fired live bullets and tear gas bombs.

Spain’s Socialist government is under fire from junior coalition partner Sumar for reversing a decision to cancel a €6.6 million ammunition contract with Israeli firm Guardian LTD.

The deal, scrapped in 2023 amid criticism of Israel’s actions in Gaza, was reinstated after legal advice warned that cancelling would still require full payment.

Sumar, led by Deputy PM Yolanda Díaz, called the move a "flagrant violation" of their coalition agreement and demanded its reversal.

The issue, along with a new plan to boost defence spending, has strained the fragile coalition. Some Sumar members, including United Left lawmaker Enrique Santiago, warned that they are considering “all scenarios,” potentially threatening the government’s stability ahead of its 2027 term end.

(Reuters)

A British MP was held in Israeli detention while attempting to enter the West Bank as part of a British delegation organised by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP).

On 13 April, Andrew George MP from the Liberal Democrat party was detained for hours upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport.

During a press conference in Westminster, he said: "I was anxious about potential detentions during our trip as my criticism of the situation in Gaza has been widely reported in Israeli media.

"We were aware of the risks after the deportation of our parliamentarian colleagues Abtissam Mohamad MP and Yuan Yuang MP."

After being interrogated for over two hours, he was allowed entry. 

Shockat Adam MP and Andrew George MP have returned from a trip to the West Bank organised by the International Centre of Justice for Palestinians (ICJP). 

The trip took place only a week after two British MPs, Abtissam Mohamad MP and Yuan Yuang MP, were deported by Israel on a separate delegation. 

Speaking from Westminster in London, Mr Adam, from the Independent Alliance, said: "We witnessed relentless attacks from Israeli settlers and we saw Palestinians being dehumanised and the constant erosion of hope. Gaza might be an open prison, but the West Bank is not only a prison, it is a place filled with hundreds of increasing checkpoints where a half-hour journey can last four hours."

The Independent MP for Leicester South warned: "If the international community does not intervene in the West Bank there will be a humanitarian catastrophe like that in Gaza."

The delegation visited refugees exiled from the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem during Israel's recent military offensive in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Mr George, from the Liberal Democrat party, added: "The situation we witnessed was unacceptable. Palestinians have been restricted from their rights and freedoms under the Israeli government."

Spain's interior ministry on Wednesday said a politically embarrassing multi-million-dollar arms purchase from an Israeli company would go ahead after state legal services advised against its attempt to scrap the contract.

Ministry sources told AFP on Wednesday that the move had been abandoned following a recommendation by the state legal services "that advised against the cancellation due to the advanced stage of the processing of the contract".

"The cancellation would have meant paying the company without receiving the equipment," the sources added.

Hamas's armed wing released a video on Wednesday showing an Israeli captive alive in Gaza, speaking in Hebrew and walking through a tunnel.

The nearly three-minute clip released by the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades shows the captive speaking to the camera. AFP was unable to immediately identify him or verify when the footage was recorded.

A 12-year-old boy was killed after Israeli forces shot him in Jenin in the occupied West Bank.

Mahmoud Mithqal Ali Abu al-Haijja, 12, succumbed to his injuries, with the Palestine Red Crescent Society revealing they had transported a child who had gunshot wounds to the cheek and abdomen.

Over 400 patients, representing around 40 percent of all dialysis cases in the territory, have died during the 18-month war because of a lack of proper treatment, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.

The toll includes 11 patients who have died since the beginning of March, with the ministry adding that the shortage of dialysis equipment is exacerbated by a shortage of kidney medication.

This comes as Israel continues with its aid blockade on the Gaza Strip, preventing life-saving medical and food supplies from entering the enclave.

A federal judge is scheduled to consider a request Wednesday to immediately release a Palestinian man who led protests against the war on Gaza as a student at Columbia University and was arrested during an interview about finalising his US citizenship.

Mohsen Mahdawi, a legal permanent resident for 10 years, was arrested 14 April at the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services office in Colchester, Vermont, by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, his lawyers said. He is being detained at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in St. Albans.

The government also filed a response Tuesday. US District Court filings in Mahdawi's case, with the exception of judicial orders, are not publicly available online.

A representative of Mahdawi and a Justice Department lawyer did not immediately respond to an emailed request for the document Wednesday morning.

Iran is ringing two deeply buried tunnel complexes with a massive security perimeter linked to its main nuclear facility, a report said Wednesday, amid US and Israeli threats of attack.

The Institute for Science and International Security released its report based on recent satellite imagery, and David Albright, the institute president, said the new perimeter suggested that the tunnel complexes, under construction beneath Mt. Kolang Gaz La for several years, could become operational relatively soon.

Iran's nuclear chief Mohammad Eslami, referring to concerns about the vulnerability of the country's nuclear program, on Tuesday appeared to refer to projects such as the construction of the new security perimeter around the tunnel complexes.

"Efforts are ongoing" to "expand protective measures" at nuclear facilities, Eslami was quoted by Iranian state media as saying at an event marking the anniversary of the establishment of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

(Reuters)

Gaza's Ministry of Health have announced that 39 people have been killed and 105 wounded in the past 24 hours in Israeli attacks.

The ministry added that 51,305 people have been killed and 117,096 have been wounded since the start of the war in October 2023.

In the holy city of Jerusalem, the official response to Pope Francis's death has been largely muted, with an Israeli government account on X reportedly posting and later deleting a message of condolence.

Israeli media outlet Ynet reported on Tuesday that the official State of Israel X account managed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had posted, "Rest in peace, Pope Francis. May his memory be a blessing."

But it later removed the message and instructed Israeli missions worldwide to delete any similar posts from social media, the report said.

Ynet also said that diplomats were told not to sign condolence books for Pope Francis located at Vatican embassies around the world.

Israel's military said on Wednesday that they likely intercepted a missile launched from Yemen, with the Iran-backed Houthi rebels saying they had launched the attack and claiming it had been successful.

Shortly after 4:00 am local time (0100 GMT), the Israeli army announced that the missile triggered air raid sirens in Haifa and other communities in northern Israel.

"An interceptor was launched toward the missile, and the missile was most likely successfully intercepted," it said on Telegram.

Huthi military spokesman Yahya Saree said the group had carried out the attack on "a vital Zionist enemy target in the occupied area of Haifa".

"The missile reached its target... and interception systems failed to intercept it, causing fear and panic," he added.

Human Rights Watch accused Israel on Wednesday of "indiscriminate" attacks on civilians during its recent war on Lebanon, saying two deadly strikes in eastern Lebanon should be investigated as war crimes.

HRW said "two unlawful Israeli strikes" on the town of Yunin in the eastern Bekaa Valley that killed more than 30 people "were apparent indiscriminate attacks on civilians".

"At least one of the attacks used an air-dropped bomb equipped with a United States-produced Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM) guidance kit," it said.

"The attacks should be investigated as war crimes."

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Wednesday urged Hamas to release hostages still held in Gaza, calling it the main factor fuelling Israeli attacks on the territory.

"Hamas has given the criminal occupation excuses to commit its crimes in the Gaza Strip, the most prominent being the holding of hostages," Abbas said at a meeting in Ramallah. "I'm the one paying the price, our people are paying the price, not Israel. My brother, just hand them over."

At least 50 Palestinians have been detained by the Israeli army over the past 24 hours - Al Jazeera Arabic reports. Detainees include minors, women and prisoners who were released before.

Sources told the publication the arrests were concentrated in Ramallah, where at least 24 were detained and 16 were identified.

Israeli forces installed two iron gates at the western and eastern entrances to Jenin camp - Wafa reports.

Local sources revealed that the forces installed an iron gate near the Return Roundabout west of the camp, and another gate at its main eastern entrance.

This comes as the forces prevent Palestinians and the media from entering the camp since the beginning of its offensive.

Germany, France and Britain on Wednesday called on Israel to stop blocking humanitarian aid into Gaza, warning of "an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death".

"This must end," their foreign ministers said in a joint statement. "We urge Israel to immediately re-start a rapid and unimpeded flow of humanitarian aid to Gaza in order to meet the needs of all civilians."

Gaza's civil defence agency on Wednesday said its crew recovered charred bodies from a school-turned-shelter for displaced people, as Israeli strikes killed 17 people in the territory since dawn.

"Seventeen people have been killed since dawn," civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

He said 11 of the victims, who included women and children, died in an air strike targeting the Yafa school building in Gaza City's Al-Tuffah neighbourhood.

"The school was housing displaced people. The bombing sparked a massive blaze, and several charred bodies have since been recovered," he said.

The United Nations on Tuesday appointed an envoy to complete a "strategic assessment" of the agency charged with aiding Palestinians, a spokesman said.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appointed Ian Martin of the United Kingdom to review the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, to assess the "political, financial, and security" constraints the agency faces.

Israel cut all contact with UNRWA at the end of January and has accused 19 of its 13,000 employees in Gaza of being directly involved in the 7 October attacks.

"We're trying to see how in this very complex environment, UNRWA can best deliver for the Palestine refugees it serves. For the communities it serves, they deserve to be assisted by an organization, by an UNRWA that can work in the best possible manner," spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a missile early Wednesday toward northern Israel, a rare target for the group as a monthlong intense US airstrike campaign continues to target them. The Houthis separately claimed shooting down another MQ-9 Reaper drone over Yemen.

Sirens sounded in Haifa, Krayot and other areas west of the Sea of Galilee, the Israeli military said.

"An interceptor was launched toward the missile, and the missile was most likely successfully intercepted," the Israeli military said.