Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 44

Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 44
Palestinian children stand near the site of an Israeli strike on a house, in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip April 6, 2025. (Reuters)
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Updated 07 April 2025
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Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 44

Gaza rescuers say Israeli strikes kill 44
  • A Hamas statement called the strike “a deliberate act of child killing” and a “confirmation of the sadistic and barbaric nature of the occupation and its fascist leaders”

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories: Gaza’s civil defense agency said Israeli strikes killed at least 44 people on Sunday as Israel’s prime minister vowed a “strong response” to a rare salvo of rockets fired from the Hamas-ruled territory.
Dozens of Palestinians have been killed almost daily since Israel resumed its military offensive in Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire that had brought relative calm to the territory.
“The death toll as a result of Israeli air strikes since dawn today is at least 44, including 21 in Khan Yunis,” a city in the southern Gaza Strip, civil defense agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP.
One strike killed six people on Al-Nakheel Street in the Al-Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza City, where a group had gathered near a bakery, Bassal said.
Three children were among the dead, he said.
A Hamas statement called the strike “a deliberate act of child killing” and a “confirmation of the sadistic and barbaric nature of the occupation and its fascist leaders.”
AFP footage captured thick plumes of smoke rising from central and northern Gaza as Israeli forces bombarded areas of the besieged Palestinian territory.
A ceasefire brokered by the United States, Egypt and Qatar ended on March 18 as Israel resumed its offensive in response to the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023.
Elsewhere Israel said it shot dead “one terrorist” in the West Bank for throwing rocks, with Palestinian officials claiming it was a 14-year-old boy with US citizenship.
Gaza has since endured a new wave of relentless strikes and artillery fire, with dozens of fatalities reported on a near-daily basis.
Efforts to revive the ceasefire and secure the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza have so far failed.
The stalled efforts will be on the agenda during a meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump, set for Monday in Washington.
Netanyahu ordered a “strong response,” his office said, after the Israeli military reported about 10 “projectiles” had been fired from Gaza within minutes of each other on Sunday. Most were intercepted.
The Israeli offensive since 2023 has severely weakened Hamas, but the army has recorded 10 other rockets fired at Israel over the past two weeks.
Israeli police said debris fell in Ashkelon, near the Gaza border, and paramedics said one man had been wounded.
“The prime minister instructed to deliver a strong response and approved the continuation of the intensified IDF operations in Gaza against Hamas,” Netanyahu’s office said.
One Israeli strike on Sunday hit the home of the Abu Issa family in Deir el-Balah, killing women and children, according to witnesses.
“There were no wanted individuals in the house — even the men were at the mosque,” said Mohammad Al-Azaizeh, a resident.
“They were all civilians — children, women and girls. A missile tore through every floor, flattening the house. It felt like a nuclear bomb had hit us.”
AFP footage from another strike late on Saturday in Gaza City showed scenes of devastation at a hospital, where men and women mourned bodies wrapped in white shrouds.
“We heard the explosion and rushed to check on the children,” said Umm Haytham Al-Salakhi through tears, as she grieved a relative at Al-Ahli Hospital.
“I kept calling out for all our children.”
One sobbing man cradled a relative’s body, as dozens gathered to perform funeral prayers before the victims were taken for burial.
“They struck unarmed civilians while they slept,” said another resident, Mohammad Rahmi, who also lost a relative in the bombing.
Several men held the bodies of children wrapped in shrouds, while rescuers transported the wounded to the hospital, according to AFP images.
Some of the wounded, including children, were treated in the hospital’s corridor as relatives gathered nearby.
Scenes from a destroyed home revealed collapsed concrete slabs and twisted metal, as children sifted through the rubble in search of salvaged belongings.
Since Israel’s military resumed its offensive in Gaza last month, more than 1,330 people have been killed in the territory, according to the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry.
The war began after Palestinian militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
The overall death toll since the war erupted now stands at 50,695, according to the Gaza health ministry.


Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say

Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say
Updated 15 sec ago
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Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say

Israel attacks Yemen’s Hodeidah after evacuation warnings, Houthis say
HODEIDAH: Israel attacked Hodeidah in Yemen after the Israeli army said it had warned residents of three ports under Houthi control to evacuate, the Houthi interior ministry said on Sunday.
The strikes came shortly after Israel warned residents of Ras Isa, Hodeidah and Salif to leave, saying the ports were being used by the Iranian-backed Houthis.
There was no immediate comment on the attack from Israel.
The strikes came a few days after a missile launched toward Israel by the Houthis was intercepted.
The attack came ahead of US President Donald Trump’s visit to the Middle East this week.
Trump, who had launched an intensified military campaign against Houthi strongholds in Yemen on March 15, agreed to an Oman-mediated ceasefire deal with the group, who said the accord did not include Israel.
The Houthis have been launching missiles and drones at Israel as well as attacking vessels in global shipping lanes, in a campaign that they say is aimed at showing solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
Israel has carried out numerous retaliatory airstrikes on Houthi targets in Yemen.

Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released in truce efforts

US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander has been held by Hamas since the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war. (File/AFP
US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander has been held by Hamas since the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war. (File/AFP
Updated 12 min 49 sec ago
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Hamas says Edan Alexander, last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released in truce efforts

US-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander has been held by Hamas since the October 7, 2023 attack that triggered the Gaza war. (File/AFP
  • Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States
  • Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months

GAZA CITY: Hamas says Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage in Gaza, will be released as part of efforts to establish a ceasefire, reopen crossings into the territory and resume the delivery of aid.
The Hamas statement Sunday night does not say when the release will happen.
The announcement comes shortly before US President Donald Trump visits the Middle East this week. Trump is not planning to visit Israel.
Alexander is an Israeli-American soldier who grew up in the United States. He was abducted from his base during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack that ignited the war in Gaza.
Khalil Al-Hayyah, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said the group has been in contact with the US administration over the past few days.
He said in a statement Hamas is ready to “immediately start intensive negotiations” to reach a final deal for a long-term truce which includes an end to the war, the exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages in Gaza and the handing over of power in Gaza to an independent body of technocrats.
Alexander’s parents did not immediately return requests for comment, and there was no immediate response from the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Trump has frequently mentioned Alexander, now 21, by name in the past few months.
“Every time they say Edan’s name, it’s like they didn’t forget. They didn’t forget he’s American, and they’re working on it,” Edan’s mother, Yael Alexander, told The Associated Press in February.
Bombardment continues
Israeli strikes overnight and into Sunday killed 15 people in the Gaza Strip, mostly women and children, according to local health officials.
Two of the strikes hit tents in the southern city of Khan Younis, each killing two children and their parents, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. Another seven people were killed in strikes elsewhere, including a man and his child in a Gaza City neighborhood, according to hospitals and Gaza’s Health Ministry.
The Israeli military says it only targets militants and tries to avoid harming civilians. It blames Hamas for civilian deaths in the 19-month-old war because the militants are embedded in densely populated areas. There was no immediate Israeli comment on the latest strikes.
Israel has sealed Gaza off from all imports, including food, medicine and emergency shelter, for over 10 weeks in what it says is a pressure tactic aimed at forcing Hamas to release hostages. Israel resumed its offensive in March, shattering a ceasefire that had facilitated the release of more than 30 hostages.
The UN and aid groups say food and other supplies are running low and hunger is widespread.
Children carrying empty bottles raced after a water tanker in a devastated area of northern Gaza on Sunday. Residents of the built-up Shati refugee camp said the water was brought by a charity from elsewhere in Gaza. Without it, they rely on wells that are salty and often polluted.
“I am forced to drink salty water, I have no choice,” said Mahmoud Radwan. “This causes intestinal disease, and there’s no medicine to treat it.”
COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, says enough aid entered during a two-month ceasefire this year and that two of the three main water lines from Israel are still functioning. Aid groups say the humanitarian crisis is worse than at any time in the 19-month war.


Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army

Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army
Updated 11 May 2025
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Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army

Qatar delivers more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanese army
  • Delivery is third and final shipment of fuel for 25
  • Qatar’s actions indicate its support for the Lebanese people

LONDON: Qatar dispatched more than 60,000 tonnes of fuel to Lebanon on Sunday as part of ongoing efforts to strengthen the country’s security capabilities.

The Qatar Fund for Development delivered the third and final fuel shipment for 2025, which comprised 62,000 tonnes of fuel, to the northern Lebanese port of Tripoli.

The fund stated that the shipment is intended to strengthen the Lebanese army’s operational capabilities and contribute to Lebanon's security and stability, the Qatar News Agency reported.

The delivery is a sign of Qatar’s support for the Lebanese people, as well as a contribution to prosperity and stability in the country, the QNA added.


Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister

Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister
Updated 11 May 2025
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Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister

Palestinian vice president discusses Gaza, West Bank with Qatar’s prime minister
  • Hussein Al-Sheikh calls for Palestinian Authority to take on civil, security responsibilities in Gaza
  • Qatari official briefed on latest developments in West Bank

LONDON: Hussein Al-Sheikh, the vice president of Palestine, has discussed in Doha the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and West Bank with Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al-Thani.

Al-Sheikh spoke of the Palestinian stance on Gaza, calling for the complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from the enclave to allow the Palestinian Authority to take on civil and security responsibilities, the Palestine News Agency reported.

The officials looked at the preparations for the upcoming Arab League Summit in Baghdad and the anticipated visit of US President Donald Trump to the region this week.

Al-Sheikh also briefed the Qatari official on the latest developments in the West Bank, highlighting the urgent need for a ceasefire and the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Qatar’s prime minister reaffirmed his country’s strong support for the Palestinian cause, emphasizing the importance of international law and the establishment of a Palestinian state, the WAFA Agency added.

Al-Sheikh was appointed vice president by Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas after being selected as the deputy chairman of the executive committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization in April.

He met Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan in Jeddah last week during his first regional visit following his appointment.


UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port

UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port
Updated 11 May 2025
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UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port

UK maritime agency reports incident northwest of UAE port

CAIRO: The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said on Sunday it received a report of an incident 80 nautical miles off the United Arab Emirates’ Jebel Ali port.
UKMTO said a vessel in the area reported a small craft colliding with it and was seen attempting to collide with other vessels in the area, adding that all crew were safe.