‘This is a war of extermination’

We’ve been reporting on an Israeli attack that destroyed a charity kitchen in southern Khan Younis and killed three people as fears of famine rise over Israel’s total blockade of Gaza.

Israel’s army has bombed desperate people waiting in line for food at community kitchens throughout its war.

“They know the location of the actual fighters, so why are they targeting civilians?” asked Mohamed Mustafa, a relative one of those killed. “The kitchen provides food, it doesn’t hide hostages. This is a war of extermination, and the entire world is supplying the [Israeli] occupation with the most powerful weapons to carry it out.”

He added: “The world is either conspiring, complicit, or colluding with the occupation.”

Casualties after Israeli forces target home in Gaza City

An unspecified number of Palestinians have been wounded after Israeli bomb targeted a house in the Zeitoun neighbourhood south of Gaza City. At least 30 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip with air strikes and artillery.

Israel’s army has announced it launched a ground assault on the Shujayea district of Gaza City, sending residents fleeing for their lives, but unsure where to find safety.

Israel has cut 70% of Gaza’s water supply: Official

The Israeli army halted the flow of water from Israeli company Mekorot to the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off 70 percent of the Palestinian enclave’s total water supply.

According to Gaza municipality spokesperson Hosni Mehanna, the disconnection affects the main pipeline located in Shujayea neighbourhood in eastern Gaza City, where Israeli forces have been conducting a military assault since Thursday.

“The reasons behind the interruption remain unclear, but we are coordinating with international organizations to inspect whether the pipeline was damaged due to the heavy Israeli bombardment in the area,” Mehanna said.

The stoppage may have either been caused by direct military activity or from a deliberate political decision by Israeli authorities, he said. “Regardless of the cause, the consequences are dire. If the flow of water from Mekorot is not restored soon, Gaza will face a full-blown water crisis.”

The Gaza Strip – already suffering from a chronic shortage of clean water, infrastructure collapse, and contaminated groundwater – is now facing the risk of widespread thirst, dehydration, and outbreak of disease.

UNICEF: Israel must let aid in for 1 million suffering Gaza children

The UN children’s organisation UNICEF has urged Israel to allow aid convoys access to Gaza to help alleviate the plight of about one million children and young people in the war-battered territory.

“No aid has been allowed into the Gaza Strip since 2 March 2025 – representing the longest period of aid blockage since the start of the war,” UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa Edouard Beigbeder said.

This has led to shortages of food, safe water, shelter, and medical supplies, he added. Without these essentials, malnutrition, disease and other preventable conditions will likely surge, leading to an increase in preventable child deaths, said Beigbeder.

“UNICEF has thousands of pallets of aid waiting to enter the Gaza Strip. Most of this aid is lifesaving – yet instead of saving lives it is sitting in storage. It must be allowed in immediately. This is not a choice or charity – it is an obligation under international law.”

Main events on April 5th

Palestinian journalist killed in Israeli attack on south Gaza

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Islam Maqdad was killed in an Israeli attack on Khan Younis. The attack targeted the home of the Abdel Hadi family.

The Quds News Network is reporting that at least eight Palestinians were killed and several more wounded in that attack. Footage of the attack, posted online by Palestinian media, shows a large fire at the targeted site and medics and civilians recovering bodies of the victims from the rubble.

The truth is antisemitic. To point out the truth is antisemitic. To protest against the absurdity of this, is also antisemitic. And if you don't like it, well you are an antisemite.

Activists unveil giant banner with the names of Palestinians killed by Israel

Watch below to see the banner with the names of Palestinians killed in Israel’s war on Gaza since October 2023 during a protest in Washington, DC:

British MPs ‘astounded’ after being denied entry to Israel

Two British members of parliament who were denied entry to Israel say they are “astounded” by the decision.

“We’re astounded at the unprecedented step taken by the Israeli authorities to refuse British MPs entry on our trip to visit the occupied West Bank,” Labour politicians Abtisam Mohamed and Yuan Yang said in a joint statement on X.

“It is vital that parliamentarians are able to witness first-hand the situation in the occupied Palestinian territory.”

They added: “We are two, out of scores of MPs, who have spoken out in parliament in recent months on the Israel-Palestine conflict and the importance of complying with international humanitarian law.

“Parliamentarians should feel free to speak truthfully in the House of Commons, without fear of being targeted.”

Author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie calls Gaza war ‘mass murder’

The Nigerian writer says it is unbelievable that governments around the world are doing nothing about the “mass murder” in Gaza.

“I think the idea of collective punishment is dehumanising. You cannot hold a whole group of people responsible for the actions of certain members of their community,” Adichie told Al Jazeera.

“In the end, it’s that some people have decided to look at Palestinians as somehow not fully human because if you think of Palestinians as fully human you cannot find excuses for this kind of mass murder,” she said.

Adichie added that as a storyteller, it’s important for people to read about Palestinian lives and remember that what’s going on is not “normal.”

Milosevic’s ex-prosecutor raises possibility of Israel ‘war crimes’ in killing of Palestinian medics

A top British human rights lawyer and lead prosecutor at Slobodan Milosevic‘s 2002 trial has called on the international community to put more pressure on the Israeli government to fully explain its role in the killing of 15 Palestinian medics in Gaza.

In an interview with Al Jazeera, Geoffrey Nice said that “it would be very hard to believe” that those involved in the massacre of the medical workers were “rogue elements” of the Israeli military.

“When you have the people, who can send the bulldozers and their diggers, the people who send out the public relations information, which turned out be false, it is very hard to believe that this is a rogue element.

“If it is not a rogue element, then what’s being done is in accordance with the practice and accepted practice within the [Israeli army], and that’s going to be something very difficult to confront,” said Nice, who also took part in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

“Without better justification, or any justification, this is a terribly serious war crime.”

Gaza Civil Defence fears ‘worse’ if Israel not held to account for killing medics

There has been international condemnation after a video emerged of an Israeli attack that killed 15 Palestinian medics in March.

The video contradicts Israel’s version of events – as the medics’ vehicles are marked, the occupants are wearing reflective clothing, and emergency lights are clearly visible – and there are now calls for the attack to be investigated as a war crime.

“The repercussions on us as a Palestinian population are very dire, namely on the relief workers, paramedics and Civil Defence teams,” Palestinian Civil Defence spokesperson in Gaza Mahmoud Basal told Al Jazeera.

“Does the international community wish to see health workers stop fulfilling their humanitarian mission? If those culprits go unpunished and this crime and the Israelis continue to act with impunity, they will continue to perpetrate more war crimes and more pogroms across the Palestinian population.

“We fear worse in the future as more paramedics, ambulance and civil defence crews will be targeted, assassinated. This means the population is doomed and the relief workers will not be able to perform their duties.

“We hope the international community, human rights organisations, and other legal organs take firm measures against the Israeli forces and the perpetrators held to account.

“Due protection must be provided to healthcare workers – this vest I’m wearing is supposed to protect me, which is cherished under international humanitarian law and international treaties.”

Two people killed in Israeli attack on Lebanon, Health Ministry says

Lebanon’s Health Ministry says two people have been killed in an Israeli attack in the town of Zibqin in southern Lebanon.

The initial toll was one person killed, but one wounded person later died, the ministry said.

Separately, the Israeli army said in a statement that it had targeted alleged Hezbollah members in the Zibqin area while they were “attempting to rebuild Hezbollah terror infrastructure sites”.

The latest attack comes a week after Israel targeted Beirut for the first time since a fragile truce was announced in November.

Death toll from US attacks on Yemen rises: Report

The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV is reporting that at least two people have been killed and two others wounded in the US attack on the northern province of Saada.

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

Palestinians in West Bank protest against ‘terrible war’ in Gaza

Palestinians have rallied in the city of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank to express their support for Gaza.

Residents carried flags and chanted slogans, condemning Israel’s continued bombing of the Gaza Strip.

Mustafa Barghouti, the head of the Union of Palestinian Medical Relief Committees, spoke at the event, accusing Israel of committing genocide and war crimes.

“Every day the Israeli air strikes kill or mutilate 100 more Palestinian children. Thousands of people have been killed or injured since the activation of this genocide war. We demand immediate stop of this terrible war. People in Gaza are subjected to three war crimes in parallel – the war crime of genocide, the war crime of collective punishment and the war crime of ethnic cleansing,” he said.

“More than 200,000 people have been already evicted. For the 10th time in Gaza. And more than that, nothing is getting to Gaza for 34 days: not a glass of water, not a single piece of bread, not any medication to treat the injured people.”

_{Palestinians protest against the war on Gaza, in Ramallah, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, April 5}

Palestinian teenager who died in Israeli prison showed signs of starvation, report says

Starvation was likely the leading cause of death for a Palestinian teenager who died in an Israeli prison, according to a doctor who observed the autopsy.

Walid Ahmad, 17, who had been held for six months without being charged, suffered from extreme malnutrition and showed signs of inflammation of the colon and scabies, said a report by Daniel Solomon, who watched the autopsy, conducted by Israeli experts at the request of the boy’s family.

The AP obtained a copy of Solomon’s report from the family. It did not conclude a cause of death but said Ahmad was in a state of extreme weight loss and muscle wasting. It also noted that Ahmad had complained to the prison of inadequate food since at least December, citing reports from the prison medical clinic.

Ahmad died last month after collapsing in Megiddo Prison and striking his head, Palestinian officials said, citing witness accounts from other prisoners. Israel’s prison service said a team was appointed to investigate the death and its findings would be sent to the authorities.

Ahmad is the youngest Palestinian to die in an Israeli prison since the start of the Gaza war, according to Physicians for Human Rights Israel, which has documented Palestinian prisoner deaths. He was taken into custody from his home in the occupied West Bank during a predawn raid in September for allegedly throwing stones at soldiers, his family said.

The autopsy was conducted on March 27 at Israel’s Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, which has not released a report of its findings and did not respond to requests for comment. The Ahmad family’s lawyer, Nadia Daqqa, confirmed Solomon, a surgeon, was granted permission by an Israeli civil court to observe the autopsy.

Israeli settlers attack farmers, vehicles near Ramallah

The Wafa news agency is reporting that Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinian farmers and vehicles near the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah, under the protection of Israeli forces.

Amin Abu Elaya, head of Al-Mughayer Village Council, told Wafa that a group of settlers threw stones at farmers and vehicles at the western entrance of the village, on the road leading to the neighbouring village of Abu Falah.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

Earlier, Abu Elaya said that Israeli forces also attacked a Bedouin community near the same village.

The soldiers reportedly detained several of the residents of the community and threatened them with further consequences if they left their tents, or approached a nearby military outpost.


Israeli forces shoot and wound 2 in West Bank

Two Palestinians have been wounded after Israeli forces opened fire near the separation wall in the occupied West Bank.

A medical source told Al Jazeera that two were wounded in the early hours of this morning near Wadi al-Hummus, northeast of Bethlehem in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Three people wounded in Israeli attack near Bethlehem

Three Palestinians have been wounded in an attack by Israeli forces in the Wadi Abu Hummus area, east of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, late last night.

Local sources told Wafa that Israelis fired live ammunition, tear gas, and stun grenades at a group of people trying to go to their jobs in Jerusalem.

A 17-year-old was shot twice in his thigh. Another worker sustained bruises and wounds, while a rubber-coated metal bullet to the mouth injured a third.

One person injured by Israeli live fire near Jenin

At least one person was injured after being shot by Israeli forces near Rummanah village, northwest of Jenin in the occupied West Bank. Local sources told Wafa that an Israeli soldier fired at a group of people trying to go to their workplaces, injuring one of them with a live shot to his foot.

Israel using starvation as ‘coercion’ to secure captives deal

Former UN Undersecretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Martin Griffiths tells Al Jazeera that when he was asked if Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war by the International Criminal Court in the early days of the war, he replied that he didn’t know what Israel’s motive would have been.

“But now I think the motive is inescapably visible,” he said, explaining that Israel is using starvation as “coercion” to secure the release of captives, “after which they will eliminate Hamas”.

He said this would amount to a “war crime if proved”.

“I think what is needed, because the evidence is so clear, including the killing of aid workers the other day, is a case for action independently, through the UN probably, through the mobilisation of member states and their obligations and under the law and then to the courts to prosecute,” he said.

Situation in Gaza becoming ‘desperate’, says UNRWA

It’s been over a month since Israel banned the entry of crucial humanitarian aid deliveries into Gaza, and the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) says it is continuing to assist with whatever supplies remain.

However, the agency wrote on X that stocks are “getting low and the situation is becoming desperate.”

“The siege must end, and humanitarian aid must be allowed back in,” the agency added.

Israel has turned Rafah into ‘comprehensive humanitarian disaster’, Gov’t Media Office says

Israeli attacks on Rafah in southern Gaza have created a “comprehensive humanitarian disaster and massive destruction that has affected all aspects of life”, the Strip’s Government Media Office says in a statement.

The office said Israeli forces have now completely isolated the city from the rest of Gaza after they created what they have called the Morag Corridor to split the enclave.

“[Israel] continues to commit horrific massacres against defenceless civilians, causing the systematic and comprehensive destruction of infrastructure, vital facilities, and residential homes, rendering the city uninhabitable,” it said in the statement.

“The Palestinian Ministry of Health has recorded the deaths of dozens in recent days, all civilians attempting to return to inspect the ruins of their homes.”

The office said Israeli forces have destroyed more than 90 percent of the homes in Rafah governorate – more than 20,000 buildings containing more than 50,000 housing units – as well as destroying 22 of the 24 water wells, more than 85 percent of the sewage network, and eight schools and educational institutions. It said 12 medical centres are now completely out of service with the maternity hospital and the Indonesian Hospital destroyed.

Last year Biden's red line: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/11/biden-netanyahu-rafah-military-operation-safety-plan

Israeli attacks hit Gaza residential building and tent for the displaced

The Israeli military attacked several targets in Gaza, killing at least 46 Palestinians in the past 24 hours. Since dawn this morning, at least nine people have been confirmed dead in Khan Younis after attacks on a residential building and a tent sheltering displaced people.

Rescuers have been searching through rubble for victims.

Israel plans to cut off Rafah from rest of Gaza by establishing ‘Morag Corridor’

Al Jazeera’s Hind Khoudary, reporting from Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, said Israeli troops between Rafah and Khan Younis are in the process of isolating Rafah from the rest of Gaza. “These troops are shooting at anyone who is getting close to the area. The only area open to Palestinians now is the al-Rashid corridor on the coastal road,” she said.

“This means more Palestinians are being squeezed into Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah as Israel tries to take over more land – and Rafah is very important because it’s the main road for the Karem Abu Salem crossing [between Gaza and Israel] – it’s the main window for Palestinians through Rafah.”

While Israel says the creation of the Morag Corridor, which cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza, is purely operational and meant to constrain Hamas, it’s actually part of a longer-term Israeli strategy to control Gaza from afar, says Robert Geist Pinfold, a lecturer in international security at King’s College London.

“On the one hand, it’s classic medieval siege warfare in 2025. On the other hand, I think there’s a more worrying long-term strategic logic to this. Israel has always sought to control the Gaza Strip, particularly to oversee what comes in and what comes out and ‘security’ over the territories, as Israel would call it,” he told Al Jazeera.

“But they also don’t want to rule over Palestinians or be in the heart of those urban Palestinian areas – not out of the goodness of their hearts but because they see this would be a political and security headache,” he added.

“These [Morag, Netzarim and Philadelphi] corridors are named after settlements, and the settlements did not appear there randomly. They were put there for this specific purpose: to cut off Gaza’s urban areas and give Israel the ability to squeeze the territory when and if it desires.”

Israel carrying out operation in Tal as-Sultan and Araba in Rafah

Our correspondent on the ground in the Gaza Strip says Israeli forces are pushing into the two neighbourhoods of the city. The correspondent also reported that soldiers opened fire near homes in the Shujayea suburb east of Gaza City.

Last week, Israel issued an order in Rafah for residents to leave or face attacks after it said it was expanding operations to pressure Hamas into handing over Israeli captives.