Some 30 people missing beneath debris of destroyed house in Gaza City: Report

We reported earlier that four people were killed and several injured in an Israeli strike on the Khour family home in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood.

The Palestinian Civil Defence has confirmed that four bodies were recovered from beneath the rubble of the family’s home, and that “a large number of people remain missing” following the attack.

A local Palestinian news organisation now reports that some 30 people are still missing beneath the debris of the Israeli attack.


_{People gather around an impact crater in the aftermath of Israeli bombardment in the Sabra neighbourhood of Gaza City}

Lack of equipment stalls search for 30 people buried under bombed Gaza City home

Mahmoud Basal, spokesman for the Palestinian Civil Defence in Gaza, said a lack of rescue equipment has prevented emergency workers from reaching more than 30 people believed to be under the rubble of a home bombed by Israel before dawn.

Four people were killed in that attack on the Khour family home in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood and five were wounded, Basal said.

“Our crews cannot reach them because of the lack of the necessary machinery,” he told the AFP news agency.

Israeli aircraft destroyed 40 engineering vehicles on Wednesday in Gaza that the civil defence said were used for removing heavy debris in search and rescue operations and to remove the bodies of the dead from the Strip’s many destroyed buildings.

At least 16 killed in early morning Israeli attacks on Gaza

Medical sources have told Al Jazeera Arabic that at least 16 people have been killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip since early this morning. Most died in attacks on Gaza City, where some 13 of the 16 were killed.

Israel's International BLACKMAIL Campaign

Dr. Norman Finkelstein explains the mysterious cases of Israel blackmailing members of the international community to maintain the illusion of the settler-colonial state's "humanitarian" image over the years, and during the genocide in Gaza.

Israel is 'on the road to fascism', warns Israeli historian Avi Shlaim

Israeli historian Avi Shlaim argued on Thursday that the political attributes of Israel's state increasingly resemble those of the fascist far-right in the 1930s, adding that the country was on a trajectory toward growing international isolation.

Shlaim was speaking at a screening of 'Under Fire: Israel's war on medics', a documentary produced by Middle East Eye and presented by award-winning journalist Hind Hassan about Israel's targeting of rescue workers during its bombardment of south Lebanon and Gaza.

Specifically, Shlaim argued that international impunity offered by Israel's Western allies had only encouraged the growth of the country's far-right and its domination of Israel's state institutions throughout the war on Gaza.

I would say Israel is already there, just thinly holding up appearances of democracy. The US is on the road to facism.

Meet the Palestinian lawyer EXPOSING Israeli war crimes

Raji Sourani is a Palestinian lawyer at the forefront of the movement to bring Israelis to justice for committing war crimes in Gaza.

Sourani met Declassified editor Phil Miller shortly after handing a dossier to the Metropolitan Police in London about alleged war crimes relating to British-Israelis that served in Gaza. The Palestinian lawyer, known as 'Mr ICC' in his homeland, has also played a central role in holding Israeli politicians accountable at the International Criminal Court and, in 2024, he was appointed to South Africa's legal team, who are charging Israel with genocide in the International Court of Justice.

Born in Gaza City in 1953, Sourani is the founder and director of the Palestine Center for Human Rights. He was a prominent human rights campaigner and lawyer during the first and second intifadas (1987-1993 and 2000-2005 respectively) in occupied Palestine, for which he has spent time in Israeli prisons and is currently blacklisted by the US and Israel. He fled Gaza to Paris after his two-storey home was blown up by a bomb on October 22, 2023 - he believes he was directly targeted.

This could just be an accident, but with what's going on between Israel and Iran and the timing, I'm holding my breath.

Massive explosion at Iranian port kills 14 and injures hundreds

https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/26/middleeast/iran-bandar-abbas-port-explosion-intl/index.html



At least 14 people have been killed and 750 injured in a huge explosion at the port of Bandar Abbas in southwestern Iran, according to official Iranian media citing the country’s interior ministry.

The explosion sent a huge plume of thick, gray smoke from the Shahid Rajaee part of the port complex, according to videos geolocated by CNN, with the government saying the blast was likely linked to chemicals being stored.

Iran’s Minister of Interior Eskandar Momeni said six people remain missing as firefighters continue to work to extinguish the blaze, despite challenges posed by high winds, Iranian media reported.

No cause has been given for the explosion. A government spokeswoman, Fatemeh Mohajerani, said it would take some time to establish the cause “but so far what has been determined is that containers were stored in a corner of the port that likely contained chemicals which exploded.

...

Iran's SHOCKING Announcement After DEVASTATING EXPLOSION In Vital Sea Port Shakes Middle East!

Lot of background in the video, can't find any shocking announcement though. Clickbait title as usual.

Iran claims blast linked to shipment of chemicals used to make fuel for ballistic missiles; coincides with US-Iran nuclear talks; same port hit by suspected Israeli cyber attack in 2020

https://www.timesofisrael.com/major-blast-at-south-iran-port-injures-more-than500/

...

In March, the port took in a shipment of “sodium perchlorate rocket fuel,” the private security firm Ambrey said. The fuel is part of a shipment from China by two vessels to Iran, first reported in January by the Financial Times. The fuel was going to be used to replenish Iran’s missile stocks, which had been depleted by its direct attacks on Israel during the war with Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“The fire was reportedly the result of improper handling of a shipment of solid fuel intended for use in Iranian ballistic missiles,” Ambrey said.

Ship-tracking data analyzed by The Associated Press put one of the vessels believed to be carrying the chemical in the vicinity in March, as Ambrey said. Iran hasn’t acknowledged taking the shipment. The Iranian mission to the United Nations didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Saturday.

It is unclear why Iran would not have moved the chemicals from the port, particularly after the Beirut port blast in 2020, in which more than 200 people were killed in a chemical explosion. However, Israel has targeted Iranian missile sites where Tehran uses industrial mixers to create solid fuel, including during its response to a massive Iranian missile barrage launched at Israel last October.

Main events on April 26th

_{People surround the bodies of the Khour family in the yard of the sl-Shifa hospital after their house was hit by an Israeli strike in Gaza City’s Sabra neighbourhood on Saturday}

Top UN official warns of ‘full-scale famine conditions’ in Gaza

Jonathan Whittall, the head of the UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) in Gaza, says Israel’s “total and complete blockade” of the Strip, which is nearing the end of its second month, is causing “endless suffering”.

“The coming days in Gaza are going to be critical. Today, people are not surviving in Gaza. Those that aren’t being killed with bombs and bullets are slowly dying,” Whittall told journalists at a news conference in Gaza City.

“As humanitarians, we can see that aid is being weaponised through its denial,” he said. “There’s no justification for the denial of humanitarian assistance.”

Whittall also confirmed that the WFP’s stockpiles in Gaza are exhausted and said “there are no meaningful food distributions currently happening in” the Strip.

He warned that Gaza is on the verge of “full-scale famine conditions” but said such a declaration will need to be based on evidence. OCHA will be working with other organisations to determine whether the hunger crisis in Gaza constitutes a famine, he added.

Let's argue some more about the terminology while people are already dying from starvation, ffs.

Hamas again rejects calls for disarmament

As we’ve been reporting, Hamas officials have been meeting mediators in Cairo to discuss proposals to restore the ceasefire in Gaza.

These negotiations have been at an impasse since Israel abandoned the ceasefire deal agreed in January, by imposing a total blockade on Gaza on March 2 and resumed its deadly attacks on March 17.

Taher al-Nono, a top Hamas official, speaking to the Reuters news agency, insisted on an Israeli commitment to ending the war.

“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,” he said.

However, al-Nono ruled out a core Israeli demand that Hamas lay down its arms. “The weapon of resistance is not negotiable and will remain in our hands as long as the occupation exists,” he said.

Mahmud Mardawi, another Hamas official, also emphasised that any new ceasefire would require “guarantees regarding the end of the war”. He added, “The occupation can return to war after any partial deal, but it cannot do so with a comprehensive deal and international guarantees.”

Some context: The IRA laid down their arms 7 years after reaching peace with the UK. This call for disarmament is just put in so Hamas can not accept the total surrender deal. Just an excuse for Israel to keep the genocide going.

Ex-Israeli spy chief calls for ‘non-violent civilian revolt’

Ami Ayalon, a former chief of the Israeli security agency, Shin Bet, has addressed antigovernment protesters in Tel Aviv, encouraging the crowds to “take to the streets” and “stop the country”.

“Non-violent civilian revolt is the civic duty of every citizen,” Ayalon said, while criticising the Netanyahu government for surveilling “citizens who wish to protest” – a claim also made by the current Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar, who is engaged in a power struggle with Netanyahu.

“We are fighting for Israel’s Jewish-democratic identity as formulated by the founding fathers in the Declaration of Independence,” Ayalon said.

Two groups of protesters have been staging rallies against Netanyahu’s government every Saturday, with one group gathering to oppose what they call the prime minister’s crackdown on Israeli democracy and the others demanding a deal for the release of Israeli captives in Gaza.

The Times of Israel said the two groups gathered in separate squares in Tel Aviv and then merged, as they do each week, on the city’s Begin Road.

_{Protesters rally outside the Israeli defence ministry in Tel Aviv to demonstrate against Israel’s attacks on Gaza, on Saturday}

Top UK legislator slams Israel’s ‘devastating’ blockade

Hamish Falconer, the British minister for the Middle East and North Africa, has expressed concern over the WFP’s announcement that its food stocks in Gaza have run out.

“Israel’s devastating aid block is putting civilians, including 1m children, at risk of starvation,” he wrote on X.

“The UK, France and Germany are clear – it must end,” he added, referring to a statement by the three countries on April 23 that called on Israel to lift the punishing blockade.

Yesterday WFP announced its food stocks in Gaza have run out, having delivered its final supplies.

Israel’s devastating aid block is putting civilians, including 1m children, at risk of starvation. The UK, France and Germany are clear - it must end. https://t.co/9C3ZsAqzjt

— Hamish Falconer MP (@HFalconerMP) April 26, 2025

In a separate post, Falconer also called for investigations into all Israeli attacks that have killed aid workers.

Israel “must hold those responsible to account, and ensure this never happens again”, he added.

US forces bomb Yemen’s Sanaa, wounding at least 8

The official Saba news agency is reporting that the US raids hit residential buildings in the Al-Sab’een and Bani Al-Harith districts in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa.

At least eight civilians, including two children, were wounded, the Ministry of Health said.

Pro-Israel demonstrators accused of assaulting woman in New York

The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) is calling on the New York Police Department (NYPD) to pursue hate crime charges against “members of a pro-Israel mob” who were seen chasing and attacking a woman, whom they thought was Arab-American.

The incident, which was caught on video and posted online, occurred after protesters gathered outside an event where Israel’s far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, was speaking in Brooklyn, New York.

Drop Site News, which posted the video, said the mob threw a traffic cone into her head and a garbage can at her legs, and taunted her “with explicit threats of rape”.

The video showed a single police officer escorting the woman as dozens of men, many of whom appeared to be Orthodox Jewish, followed and harassed her.

CAIR’s national deputy director, Edward Ahmed Mitchell, denounced the men’s actions.

“We strongly condemn the violent mob of pro-Israel racists who chased and attacked a woman down a New York City street while shouting ‘Death to Arabs’ and other vile slurs, such as calling her a ‘waste of semen’,” he said.

“We call on elected officials across New York to condemn these hate actions, and we call on law enforcement to identify and prosecute those responsible for hate crimes,” Mitchell added.

"If a huge mob of men surrounding a woman and threatening her security fails to shake our conscience, then we are a lost people. The NYPD must investigate this shocking incident as a hate crime and bring the perpetrators..." @CAIRNewYork #Gaza
READ MORE: https://t.co/BYtAA7EToI https://t.co/l6F3b1GSKR

— CAIR National (@CAIRNational) April 26, 2025

US says UNRWA is not immune from lawsuits

The Trump administration has reversed the US government’s longstanding position that the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) was protected from civil liability. The new position was unveiled in a letter the Justice Department filed in federal court in New York on Thursday as part of a lawsuit that aims to hold the agency accountable for the Hamas-led attacks of October 7.

The lawsuit, filed by families of some of the victims of the massacre, alleges that UNRWA had aided Hamas by, among other things, permitting weapons storage and deployment centres in its schools and medical clinics and by employing Hamas members.

Lawyers for UNRWA have called the lawsuit “absurd” and have said in court filings that the agency was immune from liability as a “subsidiary organ” of the UN.

UNRWA provides aid and services – including health and education – to some 2.5 million Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, as well as 3 million more in Syria, Jordan and Lebanon. Since the Israel-Hamas war, it has been the main lifeline for a population reliant on humanitarian aid in Gaza.

Israel has banned UNRWA from operating in territory it controls, alleging that some 19 out of its 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in the Hamas attack. UNRWA said it fired nine staffers after an internal UN investigation concluded that they could have been involved, although the evidence was not authenticated or corroborated.

Ex-Israeli prime minister says military suffering manpower shortages

Naftali Bennett says the Israeli military has been “stretched beyond its limits” with the fighting in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, the Jordan Valley, Lebanon, Syria and the Sinai over the past year and a half.

“Never have we been required to manage so many borders and soldiers,” he said, in a lengthy post on X. “At this moment, the [Israeli army] is short 20,000 soldiers.”

Bennett called on the government to further lift restrictions on enlisting ultra-orthodox Jewish Israelis to help alleviate pressure on other reservists, which he said includes his son. In January, the Israeli military enlisted 338 ultra-Orthodox Jews, after the Supreme Court ruled there was no legal ground for previous exemptions.

Israel, states that supply it with weapons ‘must be stopped’: UN special rapporteur

Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territory, has called for an end to arms transfers to Israel.

“Seriously, how many children, along with their parents and grandparents, we must witness being starved, burned alive, or gathered into plastic bags after Western-manufactured bombs have shattered them?” she said in a social media post.

Several Western countries have continued to supply lethal weapons to Israel despite the enormous human toll caused by its war on the Palestinian enclave. The US, Israel’s closest ally, has supplied the bulk of weaponry, including 2,000-pound bunker buster bombs.

“Israel must be stopped, and so [should] the states supplying it with weapons,” Albanese wrote.

Burn patients in Gaza enduring ‘excruciating pain with limited or no relief’

Doctors Without Borders (MSF) says its teams on the ground has seen an increase in the number of patients with burn injuries since Israel resumed its war on Gaza on March 18.

Most of them are children.

But as Israeli authorities continue to maintain their siege on Gaza, blocking access to basic aid and medicine, including pain killers, many patients have been “left to endure excruciating pain with limited or no relief”, the group said.

“Children scream as we are forced to peel burned fabric from their skin,” said Dr Ahmad Abu Warda, an MSF medical activity manager working at Nasser Hospital.

“They beg us to stop, but if we don’t remove the dead tissue, infection and sepsis can lead to death. Without enough medical supplies, and with too many patients needing care for burn injuries, we are not able to provide proper care. We are merely delaying inevitable infections.”

With no food, no pain relief, and no clean water, burn patients in Gaza are stuck in a cycle of infection and despair:https://t.co/pYQ9WaUTKj

— MSF International (@MSF) April 26, 2025

With farmland destroyed, aid blocked, Gaza’s food supplies dwindling fast

Israel imposed an aid blockade on the Gaza Strip on March 2, two weeks before shattering a ceasefire by resuming military operations on March 18.

Rights groups have called the blockade a “starvation tactic” that endangers the territory’s entire population and a potential war crime. Markets across Gaza are nearly bare, and charity kitchens are running out of food. Meat, milk, cheese and fruit have vanished. Vegetables, when found, are priced beyond reach.

In tent camps, displaced families boil cans of peas and carrots over wood fires for their only daily meal. Doctors are warning that the lack of protein and nutrients is already causing a sharp increase in child malnutrition and thousands are suffering acute cases. At one market, tomatoes now sell for 50 shekels a kilo, nearly $14, compared with less than $1 before the war.

Number of people killed in Gaza rises

The Health Ministry has released its latest daily update on the number of casualties in Israel’s war on Gaza. In a statement, it said a total of 51 bodies were brought to hospitals across Gaza in the past 24 hours, with 115 people wounded during the period.

It added that “an additional 697 martyrs have been added to the cumulative statistics after their data was completed and verified by the committee monitoring missing persons”.

The figures take the overall death toll since October 7, 2023, to at least 52,423, with 117,639 wounded.

Israeli air attacks intensify

The demolition of homes is still taking place in Rafah and the eastern side of Gaza City. Over the past hour, we have also recorded a major surge in Israeli attacks, not just on the central areas, but in the north as well.

Israeli fighter jets have targeted two areas in Deir el-Balah with two consecutive air strikes. The first one took place on agricultural land in the western end of the city with no casualties reported.

The second targeted a group of civilians close to one of the central malls in a very densely populated area. According to medical sources in Al-Aqsa Hospital, four Palestinians were killed in the attack, and local civilians and ambulances transported other casualties. The strike left behind a significant level of destruction on the street that was targeted without any prior warning.

In Khan Younis, a makeshift tent was struck by three drone missiles. Among the casualties are three children and a woman.

Israel increases military checkpoints in Jordan Valley, Qalqilya

Israeli forces have increased military restrictions in the Jordan Valley region and the Qalqilya province in the occupied West Bank, Wafa news agency reported.

In the Jordan Valley, Israeli forces tightened their restrictions at the Hamra checkpoint, causing traffic jams. In Qalqilya, temporary military checkpoints were set up at the southern entrance to the city, near Hableh town, and at the eastern entrance to the city.

Witnesses told Wafa that soldiers stopped vehicles, checked passengers’ IDs, and detained cars for extended periods.

Palestinian man dies during chase by Israeli forces

Wafa is reporting that the Palestinian worker collapsed during a chase by Israeli forces in ar-Ram town, near occupied East Jerusalem.

It said the man, identified as Arafat Qadous, was later pronounced dead.

“Almost every day, Israeli occupation forces harass and pursue Palestinian workers attempting to access jobs within Israel. Thousands of Palestinian workers are often blocked from reaching their workplaces, with many subjected to detention or physical harm,” Wafa reported.