Main events on April 19th
- At least 52 people have been killed by Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn.
- Yemeni media affiliated with the Houthis are reporting that the US has carried out at least 29 air raids across Yemen this evening.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says Hamas has rejected a ceasefire proposal to return half the captives because the Palestinian group wants a complete end to the war, a scenario Netanyahu says would mean an end to Israel’s “achievements”.
- A spokesperson for the Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, says the fate of the Israeli-American captive Edan Alexander is unknown after its fighters found the body of the guard looking after the captive.
- The head of Turkish intelligence has held discussions with a Hamas delegation to look at options to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
- Israeli forces have clamped down on worshippers and prevented dozens of families from reaching their homes in the Old City of occupied East Jerusalem as Christians celebrate Holy Saturday.
Hamas releases video of Israeli captive
The Palestinian group has published a third video of Elkana Bohbot, in which the Israeli captive addresses his family in a mock telephone call and tells them he dreams about returning home to them, according to the Times of Israel.
“Keep doing everything for me!” he says in the video, adding he has “appealed to the state, appealed to the government, appealed to everyone”.
Bohbot says his health was not good and that he is afraid he will die.
The video came as Netanyahu ordered the Israeli military to intensify the pressure on Hamas after the Palestinian group rejected an Israeli proposal for a temporary truce.
Hamas said it is willing to free all remaining captives all at once in exchange for an end to the war on Gaza.
Elkana Bohbot speaks on a telephone in an unknown location, in this screengrab from a video released by Hamas, on April 19
