Israel announces it has ‘completed the encirclement of Rafah’

The Israeli military says that it has now completed the construction of the Morag Corridor, which cuts off the southern city of Rafah from the rest of Gaza.

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

“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.

“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,” he said.

Rafah now part of Israeli ‘security zone’ says defence minister

Israel Katz, Israel’s defence minister, says the country’s army has seized what it calls the “Morag Corridor”, a route in southern Gaza that cuts off Rafah from the rest of the Strip.

This move effectively turns Rafah into an “Israeli security zone”, he said.

In a statement, Katz threatened Palestinians in Gaza, saying, “This is the last chance to banish Hamas and release all hostages, stopping the war.” If they do not do as he says, he went on, Israeli operations will spread to “most of Gaza’s territory”.

Katz also said that the Netzarim Corridor, a route that divides the Strip in two, will also be expanded. Israel withdrew from the Netzarim Corridor briefly during the ceasefire earlier this year, only to seize it again when it resumed hostilities.

“Willful passage”, he continued, will be granted for Palestinians who wish to flee Gaza, mentioning again US President Trump’s plan to remove Palestinians from Gaza.

Israel issues more forced displacement orders for Gaza

On X, the Israeli army’s Arabic language spokesperson has ordered residents to many neighbourhoods in Khan Younis to leave, warning of an imminent attack “with great force”.

The spokesperson ordered “all residents of the Gaza Strip who are present in the areas of Khan Younis and in the neighborhoods: Qizan al-Najjar, Qizan Abu Rashwan, al-Salam, al-Manara, al-Qurain, Maan, al-Batn al-Sameen, Jurt al-Lot, al-Fakhari and the southern neighborhoods of Bani Suhaila”, to leave their homes in advance of the attack and proceed to al-Mawasi, west of the city on Gaza’s sea coast.

The spokesperson claimed that Hamas fired rockets at Israel from this area. Earlier, we reported that the Israeli army said that three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip were intercepted without causing casualties.

Hamas calls for the release of captives in exchange for an end to the war

In a statement, the group said, “The escalating calls within the occupying entity to stop the war and free the prisoners confirm [Israeli PM Benjamin] Netanyahu’s responsibility for prolonging the war and for the suffering of his prisoners and our people.”

This appears to be a reference to the more than a thousand Israeli special forces reservists who signalled their support of air force reservists set to be dismissed from active duty after calling for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza.

The statement continued, “the blood of Gaza’s children and the occupation’s prisoners are victims of Netanyahu’s ambitions to remain in power and to escape prosecution”.

“The equation is clear: the release of captives in exchange for a cessation of the war. The world accepts it, but Netanyahu rejects it. Every day of delay means more killing of defenseless civilians among our people and an unknown fate for the occupation’s prisoners,” it concluded.

EU demands Israel lift devastating aid blockade on Gaza

The European Union has has decried the dire situation in Gaza and called for accountability after Israeli troops shot dead 15 emergency workers on a rescue mission.

“The European Union deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza. The EU’s priorities remain the resumption of the ceasefire, the release of all hostages and the restoration of humanitarian aid at scale into Gaza,” a statement said.

“The EU firmly condemns the killing of 15 humanitarian aid workers in Gaza on March 23 and calls for accountability. Too many Israelis and Palestinians have suffered and the death toll of civilians in Gaza is unacceptable.

“The EU is extremely concerned by reports of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, which suggest that food supplies brought in during the ceasefire are running out. Under International Humanitarian Law, humanitarian aid must reach civilians in need.”

What’s happening in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem?

In tandem with the near-constant bombardment of Gaza, Israeli forces are continuing violent raids across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Here are some of the reports coming in:

Palestinian teen severely injured in Israeli settler car-ramming attack

Defense for Children International – Palestine (DCI-P) has highlighted the case of a teenager who was deliberately struck by an Israeli settler who drove his vehicle at three Palestinians boys as they walked along a road south of Nablus in the occupied West Bank.

The child rights group said Ahmad Wisam Ahmad Odeh,16, was walking at 2:15pm on Monday along the main street in the village of Huwara when an Israeli settler accelerated their car and drove directly at the three boys.

Ahmad was launched some five metres in the air (16 feet) and 10 metres (33 feet) along the road by the force of the impact, sustaining serious injuries including a liver haemorrhage, 20 stitches in his head, and severe bruising, the rights group said.

“Under international law, Israel, as the occupying power, must protect the Palestinian civilian population from all acts of violence, including from attacks by Israeli settlers,” DCI-P’s Ayed Abu Eqtaish said.

“Yet, Israeli settlers act with near-total impunity, nearly always with full protection from Israeli authorities,” he said.

Ahmad Wisam Ahmad Odeh, 16, was walking with his friends on Monday when an Israeli settler deliberately struck him with a car. Ahmad sustained internal injuries in addition to a head wound that required 20 stitches.

Read more: https://t.co/Sw7k4yaUFP

— Defense for Children (@DCIPalestine) April 11, 2025

Teenage boy shot by Israeli forces near Bethlehem

Wafa news agency, citing local security sources, reports that a Palestinian teenager was shot by Israeli forces during a military raid on the town of Beit Fajjar, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank, last night.

The Palestinian news agency said soldiers stormed the town and fired live ammunition and sound grenades towards residents.

The boy, who is 17 years old, was shot in the foot and is receiving treatment at a hospital, Wafa reported.

Clashes erupt in northern occupied West Bank

Clashes have erupted between Palestinians and Israeli forces following a raid on the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.

Israeli incursions into the occupied West Bank have intensified since Israel’s war on Gaza began on October 7, 2023, with more than 10,000 detained in the past 18 months.

While global attention remains fixed on the Gaza assault, Israel is rapidly redrawing the map of the occupied West Bank. At least 40,000 people have been forcibly displaced since January.

Israel’s seizure of Rafah forces Palestinians to ‘squeeze’ into Gaza

One-quarter of a million Palestinians who called Rafah home can no longer have access to it.

Strategically speaking, this also means the two main crossings connecting the Gaza Strip to the world – the Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) crossing for commercial goods and humanitarian assistance and the Rafah border with Egypt, which allows people to leave or enter the enclave – are now off limits.

They’re beyond Palestinians’ reach and that tightens the Israeli siege even more. It also means Palestinians, 2.1 million of them, are now squeezed into about one-third of Gaza.

The UN estimates about 66 percent of Gaza is already off limits to Palestinians. Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz has publicly stated the goal – since breaking the ceasefire with Hamas – is to apply pressure on the civilian population.

He basically gave the population an ultimatum: topple Hamas and deliver the Israeli captives. Katz said that’s the only way to end the war.

More than 4,000 homes using solar panels destroyed in Gaza

Israeli forces continue their large-scale assault on Gaza with renewed attacks on civilian infrastructure, Gaza’s Media Office says.

More than 4,000 houses and facilities using solar power have been targeted and destroyed, it said in a statement. The solar systems were a “vital artery” for operating medical equipment, powering hospitals, water wells, desalination plants and other services.

“This systematic targeting comes within the framework of repeated threats issued by officials and ministers in the Israeli occupation government, most notably the Israeli defence minister, who publicly vowed to target all energy sources in the Gaza Strip, including solar energy, in a clear effort to return the Strip to ‘primitive times’.”

The office noted, “this constitutes a full-fledged war crime under international humanitarian law and the Geneva Conventions.”

Israeli army ‘systematically destroying all means of survival’

While air raids continue to cause civilian casualties and widespread destruction, they are also forcing people into repeated displacement across the Gaza Strip.

It will be extremely difficult for these communities to rebuild, let alone resume even a shadow of normal life, as the Israeli military and its occupying forces on the ground systematically destroy all means of survival.

This includes the complete devastation of the entire eastern part of Gaza, which represents 32 percent of the Palestinian territory.

Especially alarming now is the complete isolation of Rafah city from the remainder of Gaza. Strategically and geographically, Rafah is a very important location. It is not only the main lifeline connecting Palestinians to the outside world, but also the major entry point for humanitarian aid.

Israel ground troops move into northern Gaza districts

The Israeli army says troops launched ground assaults in the Daraj and Tuffah neighbourhoods in Gaza City overnight. In a statement on Telegram, the army said the incursion is intended to “enhance the security control in the area, dismantle terrorist infrastructure, and expand the security zone”.

The announcement comes after Israel said it entirely encircled the southern Rafah area, cutting it off from the rest of the Gaza Strip.


Israeli military plans to take over ‘most of Gaza’: Defence chief

Defense Minister Israel Katz earlier announced Israel’s army has surrounded Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah in order to create a “security zone”. Katz said the military is also taking over several areas in northern Gaza and the “security zone is being expanded, including in the Netzarim Corridor“.

Tens of thousands of residents of Khan Younis and surrounding areas in southern Gaza were told to flee immediately. “Troops are operating with significant force in the area, and will strike with intensity on any location from which rockets are launched,” the military posted on X.

Katz added in his statement: “Soon, [army] operations will intensify and expand to other areas throughout most of Gaza, and you will need to evacuate the combat zones.”


Israeli army issues new evacuation order for central Gaza

After a rocket was fired earlier from central Gaza, Israel’s military has told civilians to immediately flee the area from where it is suspected to have been launched.

“To all residents of the Gaza Strip who are in the Nuseirat area … this is a final advance warning before the attack!” said army spokesperson Avichay Adraee in a statement. “We will attack with great force every area from which rockets are launched.”

It listed the neighborhoods of al-Iman, al-Taqwa, al-Basatin, al-Zahraa, al-Bawadi, and al-Nuzha as areas to be targeted.


_{Relatives mourn next to the body of a Palestinian killed by Israel at Al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza, Saturday}

‘Frustration, helplessness’ as Israel issues late-night displacement order

Palestinian sources say a rocket fired in recent hours landed in the eastern area of the Gaza Strip. That’s where Israel’s army just announced its forced displacement order.

Nuseirat is a densely populated refugee camp. People have been moving there for the past month during Israeli attacks. Now, late in the night, they’re forced to move south to the al-Mawasi area, which Israel has repeatedly bombed.

People here feel frustration and helplessness. They don’t know what to do now. It’s a long way from Nuseirat to al-Mawasi, and there’s no safety guarantees. For vulnerable groups, the elderly, women and children, and those who need medical care, it’s going to be very difficult for them to evacuate at this time.

Hamas delegation visits Egypt for Gaza ceasefire talks

A Hamas negotiating team, led by senior official Khalil al-Hayya, has arrived in Cairo at the invitation of Egyptian officials.

“We, in the Hamas movement, affirm we are positive about any proposals that guarantee a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, an end to the suffering of our Palestinian people, and the achievement of a serious prisoner-exchange deal,” Hamas said in a statement.

The delegation is meeting mediators from Egypt and Qatar as part of continuing efforts to reach a truce deal to end Israel’s war on Gaza, it added.

US bombs western, central Yemen: Report

US air strikes have targeted multiple locations in war-battered nation, including a vocational institute in the al-Sawma’ah district of al-Bayda governorate in central Yemen, which was struck five times.

In a separate attack, Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV channel said three strikes hit the al-Salheen area of Saada governorate in the west of the country.

More than 60 people have been killed in Yemen since Washington launched a military offensive on March 15 against Houthi forces. The Yemeni armed group had threatened to renew attacking Israeli-linked shipping in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s breaking of the ceasefire in Gaza.

Qassam Brigades releases footage of Israeli American captive

The armed wing of Hamas has released a video showing captured Israeli soldier Edan Alexander who holds dual Israeli-US citizenship.

Alexander is seen sitting in a tiny space in the more than three-minute clip.

“We really think we’ll come home dead. There’s nothing to say, no hope,” he says.

Main events on April 12th

Israel ‘targeting the remaining Palestinian Christian presence in Gaza’: Official

Husam Zomlot, the head of the Palestinian mission to the UK, has shared a video online of the aftermath of the Israeli attacks on al-Ahli Hospital.

He said the attack was “not a one-off”, adding that “the bombardment of the Anglican Hospital has two goals: destroying the last remaining and partially operating hospital in Gaza city, and, on Palm Sunday, targeting the remaining Palestinian Christian presence in Gaza”.

🚨🚨Today’s Israeli war crime of bombing Al Ahli Baptist hospital in Gaza city was not a one-off. The bombardment of the Anglican Hopsital has two goals: Destroying the last remaining and partially operating hospital in Gaza city, and, on Palm Sunday, targeting the remaining… pic.twitter.com/ZjkNc6KY0b

— Husam Zomlot (@hzomlot) April 13, 2025

‘How can a hospital be evacuated in 20 minutes?’ asks German FM after bombing

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has refused to condemn the Israeli bombing of the al-Ahli Hospital, but questioned the devastating attack.

“The cruel Hamas terror must be combated. But international humanitarian law applies, with a special obligation to protect civilian areas. How can a hospital be evacuated in less than 20 minutes?” she asked in a post on X.

“A firm ceasefire is needed in Gaza. The hostages must be released and humanitarian aid must be allowed in. Otherwise, there will only be more suffering, hatred, and displacement.”

WHO chief says one child died in al-Ahli attack

At least three people, including a 12-year-old boy with a head injury, have been reported dead following their forced evacuation from the al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City. “He was on oxygen, as were the two other patients, and the family basically walked with them to a nearby hospital, a very small facility with no capacity for the number of patients head their way. And they [the patients] arrived dead,” said al-Nahhas, emergency doctor in the city of Deir el-Balah.

World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus condemned Israel’s attack on al-Ahli Hospital, where one child died due to the “disruption” of healthcare.

“The hospital was forced to move 50 patients to other hospitals. Forty critical patients couldn’t be moved. The hospital is unable to receive new patients pending repairs,” Ghebreyesus wrote on X.

During Israel’s early morning attack, the hospital’s emergency room, laboratory, and pharmacy were destroyed.

Al-Ahli hospital in #Gaza is out of service following this morning’s evacuation order and attack - @WHO has received an update from the hospital’s director. A child died due to disruption of care.

The emergency room, laboratory, emergency room X-ray machines and the pharmacy…

— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) April 13, 2025

Palestine Red Crescent confirms missing medic held by Israel

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says it has been informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross that Assad Al-Nsasrah, its medic who has been missing since an Israeli assault on Rafah last month that killed 15 aid workers, is being held by Israeli authorities.

🚨Urgent: We have been informed by the International Committee of the Red Cross that PRCS medic Assad Al-Nsasrah is being held by the Israeli occupation authorities. His fate had remained unknown since he was targeted along with other PRCS medics in #Rafah.
📢We call on the… pic.twitter.com/l0oOxujS8G

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) April 13, 2025

I would ‘prefer to be in hell than be in Gaza right now’

Mads Gilbert, an emergency medicine doctor who has spent extensive time working in Gaza, says the attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital is in effect “a death sentence to anyone who sustains major injury or trauma or has a surgical condition” in northern Gaza.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Tromso, Norway, Gilbert said he knows the hospital well and described it as “a well-run, very important medical institution in north Gaza”.

Referring to Israel’s claim that Hamas was using the hospital, Gilbert said the Israeli military “has never, ever been able to show any evidence or proof that the Palestinian hospitals” that have repeatedly come under attack were being used as “command centres”.

“What kind of cowardly, sadistic and completely amoral army will attack a hospital with sick and wounded people in the middle of the night?” Gilbert asked.

“I think I actually prefer to be in hell than to be in Gaza now … because what’s going on is a very systematic, very cynical and … sadistic way of undermining people’s capacity to live,” he said.

Israel has bombed and burned 35 hospitals during Gaza war

The attack on al-Ahli Arab Hospital overnight is a continuation of the Israeli army’s systematic targeting of healthcare facilities across the Gaza Strip since its war on the Palestinian enclave began in October 2023.

The Government Media Office in Gaza has published a list of 35 hospitals – including al-Ahli Hospital – that Israeli forces have attacked during the ongoing war.

Here are just a few examples of other attacks:

Explosion at UN building in Gaza caused by Israeli tank shells: Report

The damage caused by an explosion at a UN building in central Gaza’s Deir el-Balah that killed a European staffer and wounded several last month was reportedly consistent with two Israeli tank rounds.

The Israeli-made, high-explosive, multipurpose M339 round was likely what had left the fragments found at the scene, The Washington Post reported after speaking with multiple international experts.

After the attack, the UN significantly downsized its presence in Gaza as the Israeli military continues to block all aid and attack the enclave.

The UN said Israel was behind the attack, but the Israeli army denied responsibility.

Israeli army continues to target Rafah

Our colleagues are reporting that Israeli forces have destroyed several residential buildings west of the southern Gaza city.

On Saturday, the Israeli army said it completed the construction of what it calls the Morag Corridor, which cuts off Rafah from the rest of Gaza, as Israel expanded its attacks on the southern part of the Gaza Strip.