Israeli troops deploy to new corridor across southern Gaza as scores killed

The New Arab's live blog on the war in Gaza and regional developments has now ended, and will resume at 0900 am.

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Palestinian journalist Islam Maqdad has been killed following an Israeli attack on a home in Khan Younis, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting.

The attack targeted the Abdel Hadi family, where at least eight people have been killed, and others wounded.

The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV said at least two people have been killed and two others wounded in the US attack on the northern province of Saada, following initial reports that one person was killed.

It also reported that US forces have launched five new attacks on the Kamaran Island in the Red Sea, off the coast of Hodeidah.

Israel has detained two British members of parliament and refused entry to the officials who were visiting as part of a parliamentary delegation, British Foreign Minister David Lammy said in a statement late on Saturday.

Sky News, citing a statement from the Israeli immigration ministry, says that the detained parliamentarians are Labour MPs Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, who were rejected because they were suspected of plans to "document the activities of security forces and spread anti-Israel hatred."

Yang represents the Earley and Woodley constituency, while Mohamed is the MP for Sheffield Central. Both had flown to Israel from Luton on Saturday, Sky News said.

"I have made clear to my counterparts in the Israeli government that this is no way to treat British Parliamentarians, and we have been in contact with both MPs tonight to offer our support," Lammy said.

"The UK government's focus remains securing a return to the ceasefire and negotiations to stop the bloodshed, free the hostages and end the conflict in Gaza," he further added. 

Yemen's Houthi rebels said on Saturday said one person was killed and several others wounded in air strikes in the north of the country that they blamed on the United States.

"One citizen was killed and four others wounded in an American attack against a solar energy site in the Hafsin neighbourhood in the west of the city" of Saada, said the Saba news agency and Al-Masirah television channel.

Both media earlier reported four air strikes on Sadaa, the rebel's stronghold in the northern mountains.

"Civil protection teams are fighting to put out the blazes and rescue the victims," said Saba.

Rebel-held areas of Yemen have seen near-daily strikes blamed on the United States since Washington launched an air campaign against the Houthis on 15 March.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will travel to Washington on Sunday to meet with US President Donald Trump and discuss issues including tariffs and the "Iranian threat", his office said.

"The two leaders will 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 Netanyahu of war crimes, his office said in a statement on Saturday.

Israeli forces have raided the villages of Kafr Malik and Kafr Ni'ma, in the Ramallah and al-Bireh Governorate on Saturday, Wafa reported.

Israeli forces also stormed the town of Idhna, west of Hebron, throwing sound grenades and fired tear gas canisters at Palestinians, resulting in multiple cases of respiratory problems.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Saturday announced that he would hold a trilateral summit on the situation in Gaza with Egypt President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II.

"In response to the Gaza emergency and during my visit to Egypt at President al-Sisi's invitation, we will hold a trilateral summit with the Egyptian president and the King of Jordan," Macron wrote on X ahead of his trip to the north African country on Monday and Tuesday.

An Israeli drone attack has killed one Palestinian and injured scores more in Bani Suheila, a town in the Khan Younis governorate of the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera is reporting.

The area has been heavily bombarded on Saturday, with at least six Palestinians killed in an earlier attack on the Qizan Abu Rashwan neighbourhood.

Israel says troops have deployed to a newly established security corridor across southern Gaza.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday announced the new Morag Corridor and suggested it would cut off the southern city of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the rest of Gaza.

A military statement Saturday said troops with the 36th Division had been deployed in the corridor. It was not immediately clear how many had deployed or where exactly the corridor was located. Morag is the name of a Jewish settlement that once stood between Rafah and Khan Younis, and Netanyahu suggested it would run between the cities.

Maps published by Israeli media showed the new corridor running the width of the narrow coastal strip from east to west.

Hamas' armed wing released a video on Saturday showing two Israeli captives alive in Gaza, speaking to the camera and describing how they had survived an alleged Israeli strike.

The Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades released the more than two-minute clip, in which one of the two men appears with a bandage on his right cheek and right hand.

AFP was unable to verify the authenticity of the footage or when it was filmed.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Washington on Monday, a senior US official has said.

The death toll from Israel's 18-month onslaught on Gaza has risen to 50,669, according to the latest figures released by the Gaza Health Ministry earlier today.

More than 115,000 others have been wounded in the violence.

An Israeli airstrike killed at least six Palestinians in northern Gaza on Saturday, according to local reports.

Several others were injured in the attack, which occurred in Beit Hanoun, north of Gaza City, Palestinian news agency WAFA reports.

A video recovered from the cellphone of an aid worker killed in Gaza alongside other rescuers shows their final moments, according to the Palestine Red Crescent, with clearly marked ambulances and emergency lights flashing as heavy gunfire erupts.

The aid worker was among 15 humanitarian personnel who were killed on March 23 in an attack by Israeli forces, according to the United Nations and the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS).

🚨 Video That Exposes the Israeli Occupation’s Lies

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has obtained a video from the family of a martyred EMT, found on his mobile phone after his body was recovered from a mass grave in Gaza. He was among 15 ambulance and relief team members… pic.twitter.com/8iWqULxijC

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) April 5, 2025

Gaza's health ministry said at least 60 dead and 162 injured people were admitted to hospitals in the territory over the past 24 hours, noting that the number of casualties since Israel resumed strikes on 18 March has reached 1,309 killed and over 3,000 injured.

The UN's Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA, said at least 100 children were killed or injured every day in Gaza since Israeli attacks resumed on 18 March.

"Young lives cut short in a war not of children’s making. Since the war began 1.5 years ago, 15,000 children were reportedly killed. The ceasefire at the beginning of the year gave Gaza’s children a chance to survive and be children," UNRWA said in a statement posted on X.

"The resumption of the war is again robbing them of their childhood. The war has turned Gaza into a "no land" for children. This is a stain on our common humanity. Nothing justifies the killing of children wherever they are. Resume the #ceasefirenow."

“Harrowing.

At least 100 children are reported killed or injured every day in #Gaza, since the strikes resumed (on 18 March) according to @UNICEF

Young lives cut short in a war not of children’s making.

Since the war began 1.5 years ago, 15,000 children were reportedly… pic.twitter.com/lIdPx0LyN7

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) April 4, 2025

A US envoy is in Lebanon on Saturday meeting with officials in her second visit to the country since Trump's election and the ceasefire with Israel took hold in November.

"The meeting between President of the Republic General Joseph Aoun and Deputy US Special Envoy to the Middle East Morgan Ortagus was constructive. The two delegations discussed several issues, most notably the situation in southern Lebanon, the Lebanese-Syrian border, and the financial and economic reforms to combat corruption," a post on the Lebanese Presidency's X account said.

"The meeting was preceded by a private meeting between the President of the Republic and the US Special Envoy."

Ortagus' visit comes as Israel continues to violate the already fragile ceasefire agreement. Israeli airstrikes have assassinated several Hezbollah and Hamas commanders lately, but also killed civilians.

الاجتماع بين رئيس الجمهورية العماد جوزاف عون ونائبة المبعوث الأميركي إلى الشرق الأوسط مورغان أورتاغوس، كان بنّاءً، وتم البحث بين الوفدين، في عدد من الملفات، أبرزها:
- الوضع في الجنوب اللبناني
- الحدود اللبنانية-السورية
- الإصلاحات المالية والاقتصادية لمكافحة الفساد

وكان قد سبق… pic.twitter.com/Yksmfu5Rj6

— Lebanese Presidency (@LBpresidency) April 5, 2025

Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman's remarks were interrupted by a pro-Palestinian protesting employee during the technology company's 50th anniversary celebration on Friday over the firm's ties with Israel.

An investigation by The Associated Press revealed earlier this year that AI models from Microsoft and OpenAI were used as part of an Israeli military program to select bombing targets during its wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

The Verge tech news website quoted an email that Aboussad, the protesting employee, sent to other Microsoft employees justifying her protest.

Aboussad was cited by AP to be saying that she and another protesting employee lost access to their work accounts after the protest.

The Israeli military is one of Microsoft AI’s biggest clients - with that relationship deepening during some of the worst Israeli bombardment of Gaza during this genocide.

This is a Muslim Microsoft employee calling out the CEO of Microsoft AI — who is British Syrian (not… pic.twitter.com/PONX1rCwlK

— Sana Saeed (@SanaSaeed) April 4, 2025