UN says Israel starving Gaza children amid increasing outcry over siege

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Yemen's Houthi rebels launched a missile early Sunday toward Israel, which the Israeli military said it shot down.

Sirens sounded in parts of Israel around the Dead Sea over the attack, which the Houthis did not immediately claim.

"The missile was intercepted prior to crossing into Israeli territory," the Israeli military said.

American airstrikes, meanwhile, continued targeting the Houthis overnight into Sunday, part of an intense campaign targeting the rebels that began on 15 March/

At least 40 Palestinians killed by Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip on Saturday, medics say.

Iran-backed Houthi rebels said Saturday that a series of US strikes on territory under their control including the Yemeni capital Sanaa had wounded at least eight people.

"Eight citizens, including two children, were wounded when the American enemy targeted a residential district" west of Al-Rawda in Sanaa, said the Houthi-run Saba news agency.

It cited the Houthi administration's health ministry as the source for what it said was a provisional toll.

An AFP correspondent in Sanaa reported earlier Saturday having heard explosions.

The Houthis, who control large parts of the war-torn country, also reported strikes in other parts of the country, including their stronghold Saada in the north.

They said the fuel port of Ras Issa in the western Hodeida region - where they say 80 people were killed in strikes just over a week ago - had also been hit.

Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the West Bank, warned on Saturday of dwindling aid supplies and a shrinking capacity for humanitarian organiSations to operate, as humanitarian needs continue to grow across Gaza.

Speaking to reporters from northern Gaza, Whittall said that aid agencies are continuing their efforts, despite immense challenges, to provide assistance wherever possible.

He stressed that residents in the Gaza Strip are facing suffocating conditions and unending suffering, as a total and prolonged siege has remained in effect for nearly two months.

Hospitals are overcrowded, and critical supplies needed to provide treatment have run out, he added

All school and offices were ordered closed for Sunday in the city of Bandar Abbas, the capital of Hormozgan province where a deadly blast and major fire struck a container port on Saturday, state media reported.

"Schools, offices, and universities in Bandar Abbas city will be closed Sunday", to allow authorities to focus on the emergency effort as smoke spreads in the region, the provincial head of crisis management Mehrdad Hassanzadeh said, quoted by the state television.

A major explosion at Iran's port of Shahid Rajaee on Saturday killed at least eight people and wounded 750, the interior minister told state TV.

Eskandar Momeni, at the site of the disaster, told the broadcaster: "This incident has left eight people dead and 750 injured. All resources from other cities and Tehran have been dispatched... and we hope to be able to extinguish the fire in the coming hours."

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas appointed a close aide as the first ever vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Saturday, according to a member of the organisation's executive committee.

"Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas appointed Hussein al-Sheikh as a deputy (vice president) of the PLO leadership," Wasel Abu Yousef said, in a move that positions Sheikh as a potential successor to veteran leader Abbas.

The number of people injured in this morning's huge port explosion at Iran's Shahid Rajaee port has surpassed 700, according semi-official news agency Tasnim. 

Five people have died.

Saturday's nuclear talks with Iran were positive and productive, a senior US administration official said, adding that both sides agreed to meet again in Europe "soon".

"There is still much to do, but further progress was made on getting to a deal," the official added.

(Reuters)

An Israeli soldier was killed and three others wounded during clashes with Hamas fighters in northern Gaza on Thursday, the Israeli military has announced.

Negotiations between Iran and the US over the future of Tehran's nuclear programme will continue next week, Oman's foreign minister said this afternoon after the third round of talks concluded.

"US Iran talks today identified a shared aspiration to reach agreement based on mutual respect and enduring commitments. Core principles, objectives and technical concerns were all addressed," Badr Albusaidi wrote on X.

 "Talks will continue next week with a further high level meeting provisionally scheduled for May 3rd."

US Iran talks today identified a shared aspiration to reach agreement based on mutual respect and enduring commitments. Core principles, objectives and technical concerns were all addressed. Talks will continue next week with a further high level meeting provisionally scheduled…

— Badr Albusaidi - بدر البوسعيدي (@badralbusaidi) April 26, 2025

Four Palestinians have been killed and others wounded in an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, this afternoon, Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting.

The third round of Iran-US nuclear talks has finished in Oman, Iranian state media is reporting.

The two sides' technical teams met this morning to discuss the framework of a potential agreement before Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff held another round of 'indirect' discussions.

We'll bring you more as we get it.

At least four people were killed and more than 500 injured in a powerful explosion on Saturday that ripped through a vital port in southern Iran, state media said.

"Unfortunately, at least four deaths have been confirmed by rescuers," the head of the Red Crescent Society's Relief and Rescue Organization, Babak Mahmoudi, told state TV.

More than 500 people have been injured in the blast, which occurred this morning at the Shahid Rajaee port in the southern city of Bandar Abbas.

(AFP)

Hamas is open to a years-long truce with Israel in Gaza but is not willing to lay down its arms, an official said on Saturday, as leaders of the Palestinian group met mediators in Cairo for ceasefire talks.

"The idea of a truce or its duration is not rejected by us, and we are ready to discuss it within the framework of negotiations. We are open to any serious proposals to end the war," said Taher Al-Nono, the media adviser for the Hamas leadership, in the first clear signal that the group was open to a longer-term truce.

However, Nono ruled out a core Israeli demand that Hamas lay down its arms. Israel wants to see Gaza demilitarised.

"The weapon of resistance is not negotiable and will remain in our hands as long as the occupation exists," Nono said.

Announcing the reason that caused the explosion at the Shahid Rajaee port on Saturday might take some time, the Iranian government has said.

Syria has set up a committee to monitor activities of Palestinian factions in Syria and seeks further discussions on the issue, reports said Saturday.

The number of people injured this morning's blast at Iran's Shahid Rajaee port has risen to 516, according to the country's semi-official news agency Tasnim.

BREAKING: Massive explosion hits the Iranian port of Bandar Abbas pic.twitter.com/PDNvcmCVOi

— BNO News (@BNONews) April 26, 2025

Israel's military said Saturday it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, whose Houthi rebels have launched attacks throughout the Gaza war, as well as a drone approaching "from the east".

"Following the sirens that sounded recently in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted" before "crossing into Israeli territory", a military statement said.

The Houthis later announced a "military operation" targeting the Nevatim air base in southern Israel, claiming that "the missile reached its target".

In a separate incident, the Israeli military said a drone "that was on its way to Israeli territory from the east was intercepted" by the air force.

(AFP)

Israeli attacks have killed 56 Palestinians in Gaza over the past 24 hours, the local health ministry said this morning.

This brings the death toll since 18 March - when Israel resumed its military assault on the strip - to 2,111, according to ministry estimates.

Almost 51,500 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October 2023. More than 117,500 others have been injured.

The number of people injured in the explosion at Iran's Shahid Rajaee port has risen to 115, state media is reporting.

At least 47 people were injured in the explosion that Iran's Shahid Rajaee port this morning, according to the Fars news agency.

Rescue and security teams are attempting to control the fire but the port remains in a "chaotic state", the semi-official Tasnim news agency says.

"The cause of this incident was the explosion of several containers stored in the Shahid Rajaee Port wharf area. We are currently evacuating and transferring the injured to medical centres," Reuters reports Iranian state TV as saying,

The explosion occurred soon after Iranian and American officials began a third round of nuclear talks in Oman.

Israeli strikes killed at least 17 people across Gaza on Saturday, according to Gaza's civil defence agency

Israel resumed its military assault on Gaza on 18 March, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

"Israeli air strikes in several areas killed 17 people since dawn," civil defence official Mohammed Al-Mughayyir told AFP.

Ten were killed in a strike on a house in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood, he said.

Witnesses say that 20 others are thought to be buried under the rubble.

A large explosion has hit Iran's Shahid Rajaee port in Bandar Abbas, according to local media.

Footage shared by Tasnim shows a large plume of smoke rising at the port.

The news agency says the incident was caused by a fuel tank.

It is still unclear what caused the explosion or whether anyone was killed or injured.

This is a developing story.

📹 انفجار در بندر شهید رجایی بندرعباس

محل انفجار یک ساختمان اداری است

مدیرکل مدیریت بحران هرمزگان: هنوز علت این موضوع مشخص نیست pic.twitter.com/JZbBzwHxiZ

— خبرگزاری تسنیم 🇮🇷 (@Tasnimnews_Fa) April 26, 2025

Iran and the US have begun a third round of nuclear talks in Oman as efforts to find a diplomatic solution to curb Tehran's nuclear ambitions gather pace.

The two sides' technical teams are currently meeting in the Omani capital before Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff hold indirect talks later.

We'll bring you more as we get it.

US President Donald Trump on Friday said he told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that "we've got to be good to Gaza" and allow food and medicine to enter the strip.

"I said we've got to be good to Gaza. Those people are suffering," he said in response to a question about whether he raised the blockade with the Israeli leader this week.

"There's a very big need for food and medicine and we're taking care of it," he told reporters on Air Force One.

Gaza's civil defence agency said an Israeli strike on Gaza City on Saturday killed at least four people and left "more than 30" feared buried under the rubble of a house.

"Our crews were able to recover four martyrs and five wounded following the attack," which hit a family home in Gaza City's Sabra neighbourhood at dawn, civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which more than a month ago had resumed its offensive against Hamas across the Gaza Strip.

(AFP)

Hamas seeks an agreement to end the Gaza war that would include the one-time release of all remaining hostages and a five-year truce, an official from the Palestinian group said Saturday.

"Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years," the official told AFP on condition of anonymity, as a delegation from his group was set to meet mediators in Cairo later in the day.

(AFP)

Canada's Prime Minister Mark Carney on Friday joined European nations condemning Israel's siege on Gaza and demanding food and aid be allowed into the besieged territory.

"The UN World Food Programme just announced that its food stocks in Gaza have run out because of the Israeli Government’s blockade — food cannot be used as a political tool," he wrote on X.

The top diplomats of the UK, France and Germany on Wednesday called on Israel to stop blocking aid into Gaza and warned of "an acute risk of starvation, epidemic disease and death".

The UN World Food Programme just announced that its food stocks in Gaza have run out because of the Israeli Government’s blockade — food cannot be used as a political tool.

Palestinian civilians must not bear the consequences of Hamas’ terrorist crimes. The World Food Programme…

— Mark Carney (@MarkJCarney) April 25, 2025

The UN's World Food Programme said Friday it had depleted its food stocks in war-ravaged Gaza, where Israel has blocked all aid for more than seven weeks.

After 18 months of war, the situation in Gaza "is probably the worst" it has been, the UN's humanitarian office has said, with the head of the world body's Palestinian refugee agency decrying the aid stoppage on Friday as "politically motivated starvation".

WFP, one of the main providers of food assistance in the Palestinian territory, said it had "delivered its last remaining food stocks to hot meals kitchens in the Gaza Strip" on Friday.

It said "these kitchens are expected to fully run out of food in the coming days".

WFP’s food stocks in Gaza have been depleted.

◾No food has entered Gaza in over 7 weeks — the longest border closure the Strip has ever faced.
◾WFP has more than 116,000 tons of food positioned at aid corridors, ready to enter as soon as borders reopen. pic.twitter.com/pdeEJCddfl

— World Food Programme (@WFP) April 25, 2025

(AFP)

The head of the UN's Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) has accused Israel of inflicting a "manmade and politically motivated" starvation on the people of Gaza as the siege nears its eighth week.

Israel imposed a complete blockade on goods entering Gaza on 2 March. Supplies of food, fuel, medicine and aid are rapidly dwindling, prompting the UN to warn of the gravest humanitarian crisis yet in the besieged territory.

"Children are starving," Philippe Lazzarini wrote in a post on X.

"A manmade and politically motivate starvation."

#Gaza: children are starving.

The Government of Israel continues to block the entry of food + other basics.

A manmade & politically motivated starvation.

Nearly 2 months of siege.

Calls to bring in supplies are going unheeded. pic.twitter.com/leqPwWikZe

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) April 25, 2025