The Times of Israel liveblogged Tuesday’s events as they happened.
Demonstrators hold ’emergency Seder’ near Schumer’s home to protest US support for Israel
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators are holding “an emergency Passover Seder” near the Brooklyn home of US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer to protest American support for Israel, as the Senate is due to approve billions in military assistance for the Jewish state amid its war against Hamas in Gaza.
Among the organizers of the demonstration are the anti-Zionist Jewish Voice for Peace, far-left IfNotNow and Jews for Racial & Economic Justice.
“Hundreds will risk arrest while demanding Senator Schumer, who has recently spoken sharply against Netanyahu, take the next step and stop arming Israel,” says a statement from the protest organizers.
Lapid says Biden administration must intervene to stop ‘unforgivable’ antisemitism on US campuses
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid calls on the Biden administration to act as American university campuses are roiled by pro-Palestinian demonstrations against Israel, some of which have included calls for violence and alleged harassment of Jewish students.
“What’s happening on American college campuses is unforgivable,” Lapid says in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, “It is antisemitism, it is support for terrorism, it is support for Hamas which murders LGBT people and oppresses women.”
“The administration cannot stand by, it has to intervene,” he adds.
Herzog and VP Harris discuss efforts to free hostages, Iran attack and antisemitism in US
President Isaac Herzog and US Vice President held a Passover phone call in which they discussed a slate of issues, including the war in Gaza, efforts to release the hostages held by Hamas, Iran’s recent attack on Israel, Congress’ advancement of billions in military aid for the Jerusalem and antisemitism on US college campuses, according to statements from their offices.
Rockets launched at Margaliot in northern Israel without activating sirens; Hezbollah claims responsibility
Hezbollah claims responsibility for launching dozens of rockets at the northern community of Margaliot.
In a statement, the terror group says the attack is a response to recent deadly IDF strikes on southern Lebanon.
The IDF says that at least 10 rockets were identified crossing the border.
According to media reports, one of the rocket impacts caused damage to a chicken coop, while others caused a power outage in the community.
There are no reports of injuries.
No sirens sounded amid the attack.
Pentagon says construction of pier off coast of Gaza to begin ‘very soon’
The United States will begin construction “very soon” on a pier to boost deliveries of desperately needed aid to Gaza, the Pentagon says Tuesday.
“All the necessary vessels are within the Mediterranean region and standing by,” Pentagon spokesman Major General Pat Ryder tells journalists, referring to the watercraft carrying equipment for the pier project.
“We are positioned to begin construction very soon,” Ryder adds.
The facility will consist of an offshore platform for the transfer of aid from larger to smaller vessels, and a pier to bring it ashore.
Plans for a pier off the coast of the Palestinian enclave were first announced by US President Joe Biden in early March as aid deliveries were held up on the ground.
US officials have said the effort will not involve “boots on the ground” in Gaza, but American troops will come close to the war-torn territory as they construct the pier, for which Israeli forces are to provide security on the ground.
Protesters march toward US Embassy branch in Tel Aviv calling for immediate hostage deal
Hundreds of protesters march toward the US embassy branch in Tel Aviv, blocking off parts of Dizengoff Street as they demand a deal to immediately free the hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.
The protest comes on the 200th day of the war against Hamas, which began with the October 7 terror onslaught in southern Israel, and is happening alongside a main event organized by the Hostages Families Forum in nearby Hostages Square.
Chants of “We are all responsible for the lives of the hostages,” and “All of them, now!” are interspersed between anti-government slogans and calls for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to resign.
Hostage families stage performance outside IDF headquarters marking 200 days of captivity
Family members of the hostages held captive by Hamas in Gaza are currently staging a performance marking 200 days of captivity for their loved ones, outside the Kirya military headquarters in Tel Aviv.
Splattered with red paint resembling blood, some with rope binding their hands, the relatives are banging rhythmically against the ground and the metal gates to the Kirya complex. They are screaming “help!” and “bring them home,” as an audience gathers to watch the display.
The family members began their performance after a Q&A session, held in the adjacent Hostages Square, ended. After the speakers wrapped up, the relatives walked solemnly across the stage in a single-file line and sat at the entrance to the military base.
The hostage families and protesters are now chanting to 200, marking the number of days that the remaining hostages have been in Hamas captivity.
US envoy says Israel has taken ‘significant steps’ to relieve humanitarian crisis in Gaza, but risk of famine remains
Israel has taken significant steps in recent weeks on allowing aid into Gaza, the US special regional envoy for humanitarian issues says, but cautions that considerable work still needs to be done as the risk of famine in the enclave is “very high.”
David Satterfield declines to say whether Washington was satisfied by Israel’s moves, weeks after US President Joe Biden demanded action to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, saying conditions could be placed on US support for close ally Israel if it did not act.
“Israel has taken significant steps in these last two and a half weeks,” Satterfield tells reporters. “There is still considerable work to be done. But progress has been made.”
He says the risk of famine throughout war-devastated Gaza, especially in the north, is “very high,” calling for more to be done to get aid to those in need.
In the most recent update shared on April 21 by COGAT, the Defense Ministry body said 357 aid trucks had been transferred to Gaza in a single day, in addition to 92 trucks that reached the northern part of the enclave the night before.
US Senate votes to advance Israel aid bill after months of delay
Billions of dollars in foreign aid for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan advances in the US Senate, heading for a vote on final passage days after the House of Representatives abruptly ended a months-long stalemate and approved the assistance in a rare Saturday session.
As voting continues, the Senate votes 72 to 13 in favor of advancing the package of four bills passed by the House, more than the 60 needed to pave the way for a vote on final passage as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday.
The legislation will send $17 billion in defense aid to Israel, and some $9 billion to provide humanitarian relief to people in Gaza, as well as other war-torn regions (the final decision on allocation was up to the White House, with analysts expecting roughly $2 billion would go to Gaza).
The second bill provides $61 billion for Ukraine, and the third $8.12 billion “to counter communist China” in the Indo-Pacific. A fourth piece of legislation includes a potential ban on the social media app TikTok, measures for the transfer of seized Russian assets to Ukraine and new sanctions on Iran.
US President Joe Biden has promised to sign it into law as soon as it passes the Senate.
Father of slain IDF soldier: ‘Together we will win’ means nothing without the hostages
As survivors of October 7 and family members of the hostages speak at a Q&A panel marking 200 days of war in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square, another group of protesters passes by the event, their chants against the government audible from the nearby street.
Liron Eldor, the father of slain soldier Adi Eldor, who fought in Kfar Azza on October 7 and was killed in Khan Younis last February, is emphasizing the importance of a united front for the captives’ release, alluding to the adjacent anti-government protesters.
He also urges the audience not to allow “indifference to kill the hostages,” calling on Israelis to take to the streets in a fashion similar to the mass protests staged after Netanyahu’s attempted removal of Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
Eldor is also deriding commonly echoed slogans popularized during the ongoing war.
“Together we will win? Where is the ‘together?'” he asks, looking around. “Unconditional love — if the hostages are still not here after 200 days, where is this unconditional love? There is no ‘together we will win,’ no ‘unconditional love.'”
Israel’s FM denounces UN chief for failing to include Hamas on sexual violence blacklist
Foreign Minister Israel Katz accuses UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres of standing “shoulder to shoulder with the rapists and murderers of Hamas” for declining to blacklist the terror group, in a report published today, among organizations suspected by the UN of committing acts of sexual violence during conflict.
Guterres, fumes Katz, “refused to acknowledge Hamas’s responsibility for the grave sexual crimes that appear in the Patten report and to declare it a terrorist organization.”
“I am convinced that if the crimes of the Nazi regime came up for discussion during his tenure, he would refuse to condemn them as well if his political interests demanded that,” the minister says in a statement published by the Foreign Ministry. “Guterres has turned the UN into an extremely antisemitic and anti-Israel institution, and his time in office will be remembered as the darkest in the organization’s history.”
The ministry elaborates in the statement that Guterres ignored “the plethora of testimony and evidence that was collected and then included in the report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General on Sexual Violence in Conflict Pramila Patten.”
Patten, the United Nation’s envoy on sex crimes during conflict, last month presented a report at the UN indicating that rape and gang rape likely occurred during the October 7 Hamas onslaught against southern Israel, that “clear and convincing” evidence shows that hostages were raped while being held in Gaza, and that those currently held captive are still facing such abuse.
While Patten’s report “explicitly recognized the connection between Hamas’s October 7th attack and the horrific acts of sexual violence that were carried out in a systematic and deliberate manner,” the ministry says, “the UN Secretary-General refrained from attributing responsibility to the Hamas terrorist organization. This report constitutes a miserable and tragic testimony to the inadequacy of the functioning of the UN and its leader since October 7th, and it provides encouragement to terrorism and violence.”
Patten delivered remarks to the Security Council today in which she reiterated her findings: “Following the 7th of October attacks by Hamas, other armed groups and armed civilians, I visited Israel at the invitation of the government. My team and I confirmed that there are reasonable grounds to believe that conflict-related sexual violence occurred in at least three locations, and that sexual violence has been committed against individuals held as hostages and may be ongoing.”
WATCH: IDF releases footage of strike on rocket launch sites in north Gaza’s Beit Lahiya
Israeli fighter jets struck sites in northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya, from which six rockets were launched at the southern city of Sderot and the community of Zikim this morning, the military says.
The IDF says the sites included tunnel shafts, a rocket launcher primed for an attack and additional infrastructure.
Hundreds convene in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square for event marking 200 days since Oct. 7
Hundreds of people are convened in Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square for an event marking 200 days of captivity for those held hostage by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
The event, more intimate than the typical rallies staged by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum, is taking the form of a public Q&A panel, where attendees will ask questions to the speakers onstage — bereaved parents, internally displaced Israelis and survivors of the Supernova rave massacre.
Organizers are handing out notecards for audience members to write their questions for panelists onstage.
US unveils new sanctions against 2 companies, 4 individuals in Iran for ‘malicious cyber activity’
The US ramps up its sanctions against Iran, designating four people and two companies it says were “involved in malicious cyber activity” on behalf of the country’s military.
“These actors targeted more than a dozen US companies and government entities through cyber operations, including spear phishing and malware attacks,” the US Treasury Department says in a statement.
The individuals and companies were working “on behalf of” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Cyber Electronic Command (IRGC-CEC), the Treasury says.
“Iranian malicious cyber actors continue to target US companies and government entities in a coordinated, multi-pronged campaign intended to destabilize our critical infrastructure and cause harm to our citizens,” the Treasury’s under-secretary for terrorism and financial intelligence Brian Nelson says in a statement.
“The United States will continue to leverage our whole-of-government approach to expose and disrupt these networks’ operations,” he adds.
Tuesday’s sanctions are the latest to be levied against Tehran by the US and its allies both for its unprecedented attack on Israel earlier this month and for giving backing to anti-Israel proxies across the Middle East, as well as for providing military support for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Last week, the US and Britain announced widespread sanctions against Iran’s military drone program in response to Tehran’s large-scale attack on Israel.
Alongside the new sanctions, the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation has indicted the four individuals in question, “for their roles in cyber activity targeting US entities,” the Treasury Department says.
Israel Police says forces carried out counterterror operation in Jericho overnight after Palestinians say man shot dead
A Palestinian man was allegedly shot dead by Israeli forces in the West Bank city of Jericho early this morning, Palestinian health officials say.
He is identified by Palestinian media as Shadi Jalaita, 44, a father of three.
In response to a query by The Times of Israel, a spokesperson for Israel Police says its forces carried out a counterterrorism operation in the area overnight.
Amid the raid, police say officers shot at the legs of a suspect who approached the troops. And in another incident, the forces fired warning shots near a vehicle that was accelerating toward them, the spokesperson says.
The police spokesperson gives no details on the death of Jalaita.
The Israeli army says it was not involved in the overnight raid in Jericho.
Families of some hostages block Tel Aviv street to demand an immediate deal
Families of some hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, and supporters, block part of Tel Aviv’s Begin Street to demand a deal to immediately free the hostages.
The protest comes on the 200th day of the war against Hamas, and shortly before the start of a main gathering organized by the Hostages Families Forum in nearby Hostages Square.
IDF says Netzah Yehuda Battalion carrying out new pinpoint operation in north Gaza’s Beit Hanoun
The IDF launched a new pinpoint operation in northern Gaza’s Beit Hanoun just before Passover began yesterday.
The raid is being carried out by the Kfir Brigade’s Netzah Yehuda Battalion, alongside other forces under the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade.
The military says the Netzah Yehuda troops destroyed several sites belonging to terror groups in the area, including tunnel shafts.
Amid the operation, Sgt. First Class (res.) Salm Alkreshat, a tracker in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade, was killed.
Earlier today, the chief of the IDF Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yaron Finkelman, held an assessment with troops in the area, the military adds.
This marks the fourth operation carried out by the Netzah Yehuda Battalion in Gaza amid the war.
The unit, made up of ultra-Orthodox troops, had previously been permanently stationed in the West Bank, where it was at the center of several controversies connected to right-wing extremism and violence against Palestinians.
As a result of those past incidents, the United States is planning to blacklist the unit.
Trump slams anti-Israel protests on US college campuses, blames ‘disgrace’ on Biden
Former US president Donald Trump condemns the anti-Israel demonstrations that have swept college campuses in the US in recent days, blaming the unrest on US President Joe Biden.
Calling the protests “a disgrace to our country,” Trump says that Biden “has the wrong signal” when it comes to the demonstrations on college campuses, which have resulted in hundreds of arrests and which many Jewish students have said left them feeling unsafe.
“He’s got the wrong tone. He’s got the wrong words. He doesn’t know who he’s backing, and it’s a mess,” Trump adds.
Speaking outside the Manhatten courthouse where his hush-money trial is taking place, Trump complains that while there is a heavier police presence on the streets surrounding the courthouse “than anyone’s ever seen,” there are “very radical people wanting to rip the colleges down,” and nobody is doing anything to stop them.
IDF announces death of reservist killed in northern Gaza, bringing ground op toll to 261
The IDF announces the death of a reservist killed during fighting against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday.
He is named as Sgt. First Class (res.) Salm Alkreshat, 43, from the Bedouin community of Abu Rabia, a tracker in the Gaza Division’s Northern Brigade.
His death brings the toll of slain troops in the IDF’s ground offensive against Hamas to 261.
Man shot dead in Jericho by Israeli forces, Palestinian health authorities say
Palestinian health authorities say Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man during raids in the West Bank city of Jericho and nearby refugee camps.
The IDF said it was not involved in the incident, and directed The Times of Israel to ask Border Police.
A Border Police spokesman did not have an immediate comment on the incident when contacted.
Since October 7, troops have arrested some 3,850 wanted Palestinians across the West Bank, including more than 1,650 affiliated with Hamas. According to the Palestinian Authority health ministry, more than 480 West Bank Palestinians have been killed in that time.
Palestinian media reports 2 killed in Israeli airstrike in south Lebanon
Palestinian media reports that Israel hit a building in south Lebanon, killing two people.
According to the reports, the building was hit in Hanine.
There is no immediate comment from the Israel Defense Forces.
Israel has regularly carried out targeted killings of Hezbollah members in Lebanon since the terror group launched attacks on northern Israel on October 8.
Rocket sirens sound in Shomera, Zarit near Lebanon border
Sirens sound in Shomera and Zarit, near the northern border with Lebanon, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The communities close to the border have been largely evacuated of civilians since Hezbollah began its attacks on October 8.
UK’s top court to review government decision allowing arms exports to Israel
Britain’s High Court agrees to hear a legal challenge later this year over continued UK arms exports to Israel during its war against the Hamas terror group in Gaza.
A coalition of legal advocacy groups wants the court to scrutinize the UK government’s decision to keep selling military parts and arms to Israel, despite claims that it is unlawful because they are allegedly used in war crimes.
Britain’s strategic licensing criteria state that weapons should not be exported when there is a clear risk they could be used in violations of international humanitarian law.
The UK government department for business and trade, which authorizes the sales on the advice of the foreign office, is fighting the legal challenge.
At a court hearing, Judge Jonathan Swift schedules the case for a full hearing in October after various provisional legal matters are resolved over the coming months.
In February, the court had rejected a petition to fast-track the case, which was opposed by government lawyers.
Dearbhla Minogue, senior lawyer at the Global Legal Action Network, which is involved in the case, accused ministers of making the process “as painstakingly slow as possible.”
“Given the urgency of the situation in Gaza, the government should listen to the international legal consensus and halt weapons sales now,” she says.
Britain supplied 42 million pounds ($53 million) of arms to Israel in 2022.
Earlier this month, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the UK government’s assessment of Israel’s prosecution of the war in Gaza determined that London can continue exporting arms to Israel.
Marking 200 days of war, Hamas calls for escalation on all fronts and praises Iran attack on Israel
The spokesperson for Hamas’s armed al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Obeida, calls for an escalation across all fronts in a televised speech marking 200 days since the start of the war sparked by the terror group’s October 7 onslaught.
In a video aired by Al Jazeera TV, Abu Obeida praises Iran’s unprecedented attack launched on Israel on April 13, saying the use of explosive drones and ballistic missiles “set new rules, drew important equations, and confused the enemy and those behind it.”
He also calls for an escalation in the West Bank and Jordan calling it “one of the most important Arab fronts.”
Jordan, which lies between Iran and Israel, was one of a number of countries involved in the interception and shooting down of Iranian drones that were heading to Israel.
“We call on the Jordanian people to step up their actions and raise their voices,” Abu Obeida says.
He says Hamas is sticking to its demands at the ongoing talks – that Israel ends its military offensive, pulls out forces from Gaza, allows the displaced to return to northern Gaza and lifts the blockade.
“The government of the occupation is stalling in reaching a hostages-swap deal and is trying to obstruct efforts by the mediators to reach a ceasefire agreement,” Abu Obeida says.
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said yesterday that Hamas has “moved the goalpost” and changed its demands in the hostage negotiations.
Qatar and Egypt have been trying to mediate a truce and hostage deal, but Qatar’s foreign ministry’s spokesman said earlier on Tuesday all concerned parties should “show seriousness” in allowing such efforts to succeed.
Police say 133 were arrested overnight in anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests at NYU; all released
Police say more than 130 people were arrested overnight during anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests at the New York University campus, as student demonstrations gather pace in the United States over the war between Israel and the Hamas terror group.
The New York Police Department says 133 people had been arrested and released after being issued with court summons, as protests also intensify at Yale, Columbia University and other campuses.
Clashes broke out between NYPD officers and demonstrators at New York University yesterday after police moved in to clear out an anti-Israel “liberated zone” set up by pro-Palestinian protesters amid reports of antisemitic incidents.
Officers in riot gear scuffled with demonstrators, after the police began getting rid of equipment and arresting protesters for violating an order to disperse. Some of the protesters appeared to act violently toward officers.
US troops targeted in western Iraq, defense official says
American forces were targeted at a base in western Iraq, a US defense official says, the second such attack on the country’s troops after a more than two-month pause.
It followed another attack over the weekend in which rockets were fired from northern Iraq at a base in Syria that houses forces from the US-led coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group.
US troops in the Middle East have been attacked scores of times since mid-October, but the cycle of rocket and drone attacks and periodic retaliatory strikes stopped following heavy American air raids on Iran-linked targets in early February.
“Yesterday there was an attack against Al-Asad Air Base” that did not cause injuries or damage, the defense official says on condition of anonymity, without specifying the nature of the attack.
“This was the second attack against US forces since February 4,” the official says.
A wave of more than 165 attacks on US troops in Iraq and Syria began in October shortly after the start of the latest round of conflict between Israel and the terror group Hamas.
But a drone attack in Jordan killed three US soldiers in late January, after which Washington carried out strikes on dozens of Iran-linked targets in Iraq and Syria. The air raids were followed by a pause in the attacks that lasted until late this month.
The majority of the attacks were claimed by the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a loose alliance of Iran-backed groups that says it is angered by US support for Israel, but there have been no claims for either of the attacks this month.
Spain reopens probe into use of Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus tech to spy on politicians
Spain’s High Court reopens an investigation into the use of Israeli cyber-intelligence firm NSO Group’s Pegasus software to spy on Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez and other Spanish politicians.
The investigators will share information with France, where politicians and other figures were also targeted. The probe aims to find out who was behind the snooping. No one has yet been accused.
In 2022, the government said software from NSO Group was used to spy on ministers, triggering a political crisis in Spain that led to the resignation of its spy chief.
The government did not elaborate on whether foreign or Spanish groups were suspected of being behind the espionage.
The High Court started to investigate the matter but shelved the case last year after saying Israeli authorities did not cooperate.
But Judge Jose Luis Calama has decided to reopen its probe after France sent him details of its own investigation into the use of Pegasus software to spy on phones belonging to reporters, lawyers and public figures as well as members of the French government and politicians in 2021.
French President Emmanuel Macron changed his cell phone and phone number in light of the Pegasus spyware case.
Calama says that comparing the Spanish findings with technical data France has sent could help move the case forward.
IDF calls on residents to evacuate from some parts of north Gaza’s Beit Lahiya as troops launch operation
The IDF is calling on some residents of northern Gaza’s Beit Lahiya to evacuate to other areas of the town, as the military launches a new operation in the area.
Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesman, publishes a list of the zones that need to be evacuated alongside the announcement.
“You are in a dangerous combat zone,” Adraee warns, adding that the IDF will operate against “terror infrastructure” and operatives in the area.
At the beginning of Israel’s ground offensive against Hamas, the IDF called on all Palestinian civilians in northern Gaza to evacuate south, although some 300,000 have remained since regardless.
IDF says it targeted Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon strikes
Israeli fighter jets struck two buildings in southern Lebanon’s Ayta ash-Shab and Blida a short while ago, where the IDF says Hezbollah operatives were gathered.
Additional buildings used by Hezbollah in Markaba were also struck, the IDF adds.
Top far-left French MP summoned by police over suspected justification of terrorism for Hamas comments
The leader of far-left MPs in the French parliament is summoned for questioning by police in an investigation into suspected justification of terrorism over comments on the October 7 onslaught by Hamas.
Mathilde Panot heads the lower house of parliament faction of the France Unbowed (LFI) party, which has been repeatedly accused by opponents of failing to clearly condemn the attack by Hamas.
The LFI — which is now France’s strongest political force on the left — has in turn lashed out at what it sees as an erosion of free speech and accused Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Panot says it is the first time in the history of modern France that a head of a parliamentary faction “was summoned on such serious grounds.”
“I am warning about this serious exploitation of justice aimed at suppressing political expression,” she says.
On October 7, the LFI group in parliament published a text which sparked controversy because it described the Hamas attack as “an armed offensive by Palestinian forces” that occurred “in a context of intensification of the Israeli occupation policy.”
The LFI’s firebrand figurehead and former presidential candidate Jean-Luc Melenchon describe the summons as an “unprecedented event in the history of our democracy,” accusing the authorities of “protecting a genocide.”
IDF rejects ‘baseless’ claim of Gaza hospital mass burials, says bodies were exhumed in hunt for hostages
The IDF rejects claims by Hamas officials saying that Israeli troops were involved in mass graves and alleged executions of Palestinians at a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip.
“The claim that the IDF buried Palestinian bodies is completely baseless,” the IDF says in response to a query on the matter.
Hamas officials in Gaza claimed to have “discovered” a mass grave with more than 200 bodies at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, falsely asserting that those Palestinians were killed and then buried by Israeli forces.
The UN rights office claimed that some of the bodies were “found with their hands tied and stripped of their clothes.”
The IDF in its response says that during its operation in the area of Nasser Hospital in recent months, troops examined corpses that had been buried by Palestinians on the medical center’s grounds, “as part of an effort to locate hostages.”
The military says it operated in a “targeted manner,” only where it had intelligence that Israeli hostages may have been buried.
“The examinations were carried out in an orderly manner while maintaining the dignity of the deceased and in a respectful manner,” the IDF says, adding that the bodies were “returned to their place in an orderly and proper manner.”
In late February, the IDF carried out a raid against Hamas in the area of Nasser Hospital, with the IDF saying that it captured some 200 terror operatives who were holed up at the medical center.
Also amid the operation, Israeli forces found unused medication that had been destined for Israeli hostages, as well as caches of weapons.
“The operation was carried out in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff,” the IDF adds.
No bodies of hostages were found in the area.
Footage has documented Palestinians burying their dead at the hospital grounds before Israeli troops operated in the area.
The area of the burial site was geo-located by experts to the same location where Hamas officials claimed to have discovered a new mass grave.
Generally, the IDF does not tend to the bodies of slain Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
There is no evidence indicating that the burial ground the army says it examined in February is a different site from where Hamas claimed to have found a new mass grave.
Rocket sirens sound in northern border town
Sirens sound in the northern border community of Margaliot, warning of incoming rocket fire.
The towns close to the border have been largely evacuated of civilians since Hezbollah began attacks on October 8.
Iran’s Raisi: An Israeli attack on Iran could lead to nothing being left of ‘Zionist regime’
An Israeli attack on Iranian territory could radically change dynamics and result in there being nothing left of the “Zionist regime,” Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi is quoted as saying by the official IRNA news agency.
Raisi began a three day visit to Pakistan on Monday and has vowed to boost trade between the neighboring nations to $10 billion a year.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran will honourably continue to support the Palestinian resistance,” Raisi adds in the speech in Lahore.
UK court clears far-right activist of refusing to leave London march against antisemitism
British far-right figurehead Tommy Robinson is cleared of failing to comply with a dispersal order excluding him from a march against antisemitism.
Robinson, 41, was handcuffed and sprayed with synthetic pepper spray in London on November 26 after organizers said he was not welcome at the event.
But a judge at Westminster Magistrates’ Court tells him there is no case to answer, as the police had not legally authorized the order, which is designed to prevent anti-social behavior.
The police officer who signed the order admitted in court that he used the wrong date on the paperwork.
Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley Lennon, claimed to have been attending the march as a journalist and refused to leave, leading to his arrest.
On November 11, he had been seen among crowds of counter-protesters who clashed with police as pro-Palestinian demonstrators called for a ceasefire in Israel’s war with Hamas.
Robinson is a founder and former leader of the far-right English Defense League.
Saturday blast at pro-Iran militia base in Iraq caused by explosion in ammunition, rocket storage
A huge blast at Iraq’s Kalso military base used by the Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF) on Saturday was the result of an explosion in ammunition and rocket storage, state media reports, citing the investigators’ report.
No warplanes or drones were spotted in the sky above Iraq’s Babil province at the time of the explosion, according to the final report of the Iraqi military technical committee which investigated the explosion.
The blast killed a member of the PMF security force that includes Iran-backed groups.
Highly explosive material used in manufacturing ammunition was identified and the remnants of rockets were found 150 meters away from the explosion site, the report says.
State media does not say explicitly whether the explosion was believed to be an accident.
The PMF includes Iran-backed groups which, operating under the banner of the Islamic Resistance in Iraq, have attacked US troops in the region and targeted Israel.
Columbia’s main campus moves to hybrid learning for rest of semester amid anti-Israel protests
Columbia University’s main campus switches to hybrid learning for the rest of the semester as pro-Palestinian protests against Israel continue to roil the educational institution.
“Safety is our highest priority as we strive to support our students’ learning and all the required academic operations,” the Ivy League university’s provost, Angela V. Olinto, and chief operating officer, Cas Holloway, say in a statement.
The protests have drawn national attention — including from the White House — after video from weekend demonstrations showed protesters making antisemitic comments and calling for more attacks like the devastating one on October 7 that Hamas carried out against Israel.
The students set up a protest encampment in the center of campus last week as Columbia’s president, Minouche Shafik, addressed a congressional investigative committee on antisemitism. The university called in the NYPD to clear the unauthorized demonstration, charging more than 100 students with trespassing and further inflaming campus tensions.
Yesterday, an outspoken Israeli professor was blocked from entering a portion of the Columbia University campus and Jewish members of Congress have demanded action from the administration. Many Jewish students have reportedly left campus due to safety concerns, as well as the Passover holiday.
The encampment protests have now spread to other universities in recent days, including Manhattan’s New School and New York University, Yale and the University of Michigan.
IDF says troops launched ‘surprise operation’ Sunday evening in central Gaza corridor
The IDF’s Nahal Brigade launched a new pinpoint operation against Hamas in the central Gaza Strip corridor earlier this week, which the military says is continuing amid the Passover holiday.
The IDF says the “surprise operation” that began Sunday night is aimed at “deepening the achievements” in the Netzarim corridor.
The corridor, built around a road south of Gaza City, enables the IDF to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza while allowing Israel to control access to the north for Palestinians seeking to return after fleeing south.
“The forces are carrying out targeted raids and are thwarting terror in the area,” the IDF says in a statement.
Nahal troops spotted several gunmen amid the raid, and called in airstrikes by fighter jets against them and the buildings they were spotted operating at, according to the IDF. It adds that secondary explosions seen after the strikes indicate that the buildings were used to store munitions.
Hezbollah says it targeted military base near Acre in drone attacks on northern Israel
The Hezbollah terror group claims responsibility for launching several drones at northern Israel today.
In a statement, Hezbollah says it targeted the Shraga army base, just north of Acre.
The IDF said that it had downed three targets over the sea in the Acre and Nahariya area.
IDF: Two ‘suspicious aerial targets’ intercepted off coast of Acre
Another two “suspicious aerial targets” were successfully intercepted by air defenses over the sea, off the coast of Acre, the IDF says.
The suspected drones set off sirens in numerous communities in the Acre and Krayot area, just north of Haifa.
A rocket siren that sounded in Acre amid the incident was due to fears of falling shrapnel, the military says.
A short while before the two targets were intercepted, another suspected drone was shot down by air defenses off the coast of Nahariya.
Qatar says no justification to end Hamas presence in Doha while mediation ongoing
Qatar says there is no justification to end the presence of an office for Hamas in Doha while its mediation efforts continue in the war between Israel and the Palestinian terror group.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari adds in a press conference that Qatar remained committed to mediation, but repeats Doha’s assertion it’s reassessing its role in “frustration with attacks” on its efforts.
Ansari says the decision to re-evaluate those efforts was prompted by frustration with political attacks including from “ministers in Netanyahu’s government, who spoke negatively about the Qatari mediation.”
He adds: “They all know what the Qatari role is, its nature, and its details during the previous stage and they lied.”
It was reported that Hamas’s political chiefs are exploring moving their base of operations out of Qatar, as the Gulf state faces increasing pressure over its influence with the terror group in indirect hostage-for-truce negotiations with Israel.
Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks aiming to secure a deal that would see the release of hostages and a truce in Gaza.
Activist demands Alec Baldwin say ‘Free Palestine, F**k Israel,’ taunts him over set death until he hits her phone
Video shows actor Alec Baldwin confronted at a New York coffee shop by an anti-Israel protester, who repeatedly demands that he say “Free Palestine.”
The woman also taunts the Hollywood star over his fatal 2021 shooting of a cinematographer with a misfired prop gun while filming the movie “Rust.”
The actor eventually knocks the camera out of the individual’s hand.
“Alec can you please say ‘Free Palestine’ one time?” the woman asks as Baldwin stands in the coffee shop, apparently talking on the phone. “Why did you kill that lady? You killed that lady and got no jail time?”
“Free Palestine, Alec, just one time, and I’ll leave you alone,” she said. “I’ll leave you alone, I swear.”
Baldwin moves toward the coffee shop door and appears to suggest an employee call the police.
“You know he’s a fucking criminal,” the woman says.
“Just say ‘Free Palestine’ one time, one time,” she says.
“Fuck Israel, fuck Zionism,” please say it,” she says, before Baldwin knocks the camera out of her hand.
Last December, Baldwin was also confronted by anti-Israel protesters, who demanded to know if Baldwin condemned Israel for “the actions they’ve committed against Gazan children,” given he “work[s] for Hollywood,” evoking an antisemitic trope by implying that the filmmaking powerhouse is in cahoots with a shadowy Jewish lobby.
Sirens sound in Acre and northern towns, warning of rocket and drone attacks
Sirens in multiple northern communities warn of suspected drone and rocket attacks.
Alerts are heard in the coastal city Acre and towns a short distance north of Haifa.
IDF: ‘Suspicious aerial target’ intercepted off coast of Nahariya
A “suspicious aerial target” was successfully intercepted by air defenses over the sea, near the northern coastal city of Nahariya, the military says.
The incident set off suspected drone infiltration sirens in the communities of Mazra’a, Lohamei HaGeta’ot and Regba, just south of Nahariya.
Lebanon’s Hezbollah terror group has carried out repeated drone attacks on northern Israel amid the war in Gaza.
IDF: 2 rockets fired at south Israel; one intercepted while other falls short within Gaza
Two rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip at southern Israel a short while ago. The attack set off sirens in the border community of Zikim.
According to the IDF, one rocket was intercepted by the Iron Dome, while the second failed to cross the border.
It marks the second rocket attack from Gaza today, after four projectiles were fired at Sderot this morning.
Sirens in northern border towns warn of suspected drone attack
Sirens in several communities close to the northern border warn of a suspected drone attack.
Hezbollah has been attacking towns and military posts in northern Israel since October 8.
The sirens come shortly after the IDF confirmed it had killed two members of the terror group in strikes overnight and earlier today.
IDF: ‘Central terrorist’ in Hezbollah’s air defense unit, member of elite Radwan unit killed in Lebanon strikes
Two top Hezbollah operatives were killed in Israeli airstrikes in southern Lebanon this morning and overnight, the military says.
The target of this morning’s drone strike in Aadloun, near the coastal city of Tyre, was Hussein Azqul, who the IDF says was a “central terrorist” in Hezbollah’s air defense unit.
Azqul, according to the IDF, was “heavily involved in the activities of the [air defense unit] and took part in the planning and execution of a variety of terror activities.”
The military says his death is a “significant blow” to Hezbollah’s air defense unit.
The overnight strike in southern Lebanon killed Muhammad Attiya, who the IDF says is a member of the aerial unit of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force.
Attiya was “involved in the preparation and execution of terrorist attacks” against Israel, the IDF says.
Hezbollah confirmed the deaths of both Azqul and Attiya, saying they were killed “on the road to Jerusalem,” its term for operatives slain in Israeli strikes.
Their deaths bring the terror group’s toll amid the war in Gaza to 287.
Turkey’s Erdogan says he does not believe Hamas leaders will leave Qatar
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is quoted by media as saying that he does not believe the Palestinian terror group Hamas will leave its Qatar base, adding he had seen no such signs from Doha either.
Erdogan met with Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul on Saturday. Hamas has had an office in Turkey since 2011 when Turkey helped secure the agreement for the group to free Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
It was reported that Hamas’s political chiefs are exploring moving their base of operations out of Qatar, as the Gulf state faces increasing pressure over its influence with the terror group in indirect hostage-for-truce negotiations with Israel.
Citing Arab officials, The Wall Street Journal said Hamas has recently contacted two regional countries about having its leaders live there, one of which is Oman.
The outlet noted that if Hamas leaders were to leave Doha, it could be more difficult for negotiations to be held with the terror group.
Doha has hosted Hamas’s politburo leaders, including Ismail Haniyeh, since 2012.
Rocket sirens sound in Gaza border community Zikim
Sirens sound in the Gaza border town Zikim, warning of incoming rocket fire.
Earlier this morning, four rockets were fired from Gaza at the southern city of Sderot. The IDF said all four projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome.
Palestinians claim to ‘discover’ mass grave at Gaza hospital, falsely blame Israel
Hamas officials in Gaza claim to “discover” a mass grave with more than 200 bodies at a hospital in Khan Yunis.
The officials falsely claim the dead were buried in a mass grave by Israeli forces.
Despite the claims, the mass grave was not suddenly “discovered,” as it has been documented that Palestinians buried their dead at the hospital grounds both before and while Israeli troops operated in the area.
Generally, the IDF does not tend to the bodies of slain Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Mahmud Bassal, a spokesman for Gaza’s Hamas-run Civil Defense, tells AFP that “civil defense crews are still recovering bodies from inside Nasser Medical Complex, and since Saturday bodies of nearly 200 martyrs have been retrieved.”
Bassal said several of the recovered bodies had decomposed.
Ismail al-Thawabta, head of the Hamas government media office in Gaza, gave a higher figure of 283 bodies found at the hospital.
“We discovered mass graves inside Nasser Medical Complex” of people killed by “the occupation (Israeli) army,” Thawabta tells AFP.
The IDF had no immediate comment.
Intense fighting raged in mid-February in the area of Nasser hospital and Israeli tanks and armored vehicles surrounded it on March 26. Israel says Hamas uses hospitals as command centers and to hold hostages abducted in the October 7 attack.
IDF says jets hit Hamas rocket-launching positions in south Gaza overnight
Two Hamas rocket-launching positions in the southern Gaza Strip were struck by Israeli fighter jets overnight, the IDF says.
The military says the strike was carried out following new intelligence information that was received over the past few days, allowing the rocket launchers to be destroyed before they were used.
This morning, four rockets were fired from Gaza at the southern city of Sderot. The IDF says all four projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome.
Meanwhile, the IDF’s Nahal Brigade continues to operate in the central Gaza Strip corridor. The military says that over the past day, Nahal troops killed several gunmen with sniper fire.
Separately, the IDF says an airstrike was carried out against several terror operatives who were hiding near a civilian shelter in central Gaza’s Bureij.
Dozens more strikes were carried out across Gaza over the past day, targeting buildings used by terror groups, observation posts, rocket launch sites, other infrastructure, and operatives.
IDF: Fighter jets hit a number of Hezbollah targets in south Lebanon
Overnight, Israeli fighter jets struck a building used by Hezbollah in southern Lebanon’s Yaroun, alongside another site, the military says.
The IDF says that this morning troops carried out a strike in the same area to “remove a threat.”
Sirens that sounded early this morning in Metula were false alarms, the IDF adds.
Hostage families, supporters mark 200 days of captivity with Tel Aviv protest
Families of the hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip hold a protest in Tel Aviv to mark 200 days of their loved ones being held captive.
The families and their supporters paint their hands red and hold them up to the sky in an act of protest at the city’s HaBima Square.
The families call on the government to act to secure their release.
Airstrike blamed on Israel hits car in southern Lebanon, killing 1
An apparent Israeli airstrike on a car in southern Lebanon killed at least one person, officials say.
State media and witnesses say the strike happened in the area of Adloun, between the coastal cities of Sidon and Tyre, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) north of the border with Israel.
It was not immediately clear who was killed.
The Lebanese terror group Hezbollah and allied groups have been clashing with Israeli forces along the border for more than six months against the backdrop of Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military on the strike. Israel has regularly carried out targeted killings of Hezbollah and Hamas members in Lebanon, sometimes in areas far from the border.
Satellite images show tent compound under construction in Khan Younis ahead of possible Rafah op
Satellite photos analyzed by The Associated Press appear to show a new compound of tents being built near Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip as the Israeli military continues to signal plans of an offensive targeting the city of Rafah.
Images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by the AP show the tent compound starting to be fully under construction on April 16 just west of Khan Younis. Images taken Sunday show the tent compound in the time since has grown.
The Haaretz newspaper, without attributing the information, said that Egypt was constructing the tent compound ahead of a possible Rafah offensive.
The Israeli military did not respond to a request for comment about the tents. However, their construction comes as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened “additional painful blows” targeting Hamas over the breakdown of talks over trying to free the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
That could include the long-threatened attack on Rafah, where half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million people have fled amid the war. The US, Israel’s main ally, has repeatedly said any military operation needs to protect civilians.
Netanyahu has said he would order the military to evacuate civilians from Rafah for the offensive, but it is not clear where they could go.
Hamas says Gaza death toll reaches 34,183
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry says the Palestinian death toll since the terror group launched the October 7 attack on Israel now stands at 34,183.
The figure cannot be independently verified and includes more than 13,000 Hamas gunmen Israel says it has killed in battle. Israel also says it killed some 1,000 terrorists inside Israel on October 7.
Activists say Iran used attack on Israel as cover to launch crackdown on dissent at home
The same day Iran launched its first-ever direct attack on Israel it embarked on a less-noticed confrontation at home, ordering police in several cities to take to the streets to arrest women accused of flouting its strict Islamic dress code.
Iranian authorities insist that their so-called Nour (Light) campaign targets businesses and individuals who defy the hijab law, aiming to respond to demands from devout citizens who are angry about the growing number of unveiled women in public.
But activists and some politicians say the campaign appears aimed not only at enforcing mandatory hijab-wearing, but also at discouraging any wider dissent at a vulnerable moment for the clerical rulers.
Under Iran’s sharia, or Islamic law, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes. Offenders face public rebuke, fines or arrest.
As Iran’s drone and missile assault unfolded on April 13, Tehran police chief Abbasali Mohammadian went on state TV to announce the new campaign.
“Starting today, Police in Tehran and other cities will carry out measures against those who violate the hijab law,” he said, while hundreds of police swept onto the streets of the capital and other cities.
Social media users posted pictures of a heavy morality police presence in Tehran and videos of police violently arresting women they alleged were improperly dressed, including plainclothes security forces dragging young women into police vans.
Iran’s foreign minister calls EU sanctions ‘regrettable’
European Union sanctions announced following Iran’s attack against Israel are “regrettable” because the country was acting in self-defense, Iran’s Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian posts on X.
Iran launched more than 300 drones and missiles at Israel in what it said was retaliation against a suspected Israeli bombing of its embassy compound in Damascus.
On Monday, EU foreign ministers agreed in principle to expand sanctions on Iran by agreeing to extend restrictive measures on Tehran’s weapons exports of any drone or missile to Iranian proxies and Russia.
“It is regrettable to see the EU deciding quickly to apply more unlawful restrictions against Iran just because Iran exercised its right to self-defense in the face of Israel’s reckless aggression,” Amir-Abdollahian says, before calling on the EU to apply sanctions on Israel instead.
Dozens arrested as New York police clear out anti-Israel ‘liberated zone’ at NYU
Clashes have broken out between NYPD officers and demonstrators at New York University after police moved in to clear out an anti-Israel “liberated zone” set up by pro-Palestinian protesters.
Video shows officers in riot gear scuffling with demonstrators, after the police began getting rid of equipment and arresting protesters for violating an order to disperse. Some of the protesters appear to act violently toward officers, with a masked man draped in a keffiyeh throwing a chair toward them.
Dozens of the protesters — including students and faculty — were arrested, according to local media reports.
Biden meets with AOC in wake of her vote against military aid for Israel
US President Joe Biden meets with US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and two other prominent progressive lawmakers who have been outspoken critics of Israel amid its war against Hamas in Gaza.
The meeting came as Biden’s support for Israel’s response to the October 7 Hamas terror attack has divided Democrats, fraying Biden’s coalition of voters ahead of November’s presidential election.
Biden was seen walking into the Oval Office with Ocasio-Cortez as well as Senators Bernie Sanders and Ed Markey after returning aboard the Marine One helicopter to the White House from an Earth Day event they all attended in Virginia.
The lawmakers have sharply criticized Israel’s policies, with Ocasio-Cortez last month describing the humanitarian situation in Gaza as like “an unfolding genocide.” Over the weekend, she was among lawmakers who voted against a bill passed by the House to provide billions in military assistance to Israel, legislation that Biden has backed.
Still, the congresswoman from New York earlier this month made a case for Biden’s reelection despite his support for Israel, citing a “a vested interest in protecting democracy not just here domestically, but globally,” in an interview with the media organization Zeteo.
“I learned a long time ago to listen to that lady,” Biden said of Ocasio-Cortez in Virginia. “We’re going to talk more about another part of the world, too.”
The White House and the lawmakers decline to comment on the subject of the meeting.
Earlier, Biden said he condemned “antisemitic protests” but also “those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.” His administration has maintained support for Israel but put increasing emphasis on the Palestinian humanitarian situation in recent months.
Rocket warning sirens sound in town near Lebanon border
Incoming rocket sirens are sounding in the northern town of Metula, near Israel’s border with Lebanon.
US: Hamas has ‘moved the goal post’ in hostage negotations
WASHINGTON — Palestinian terror group Hamas has “moved the goal post” and changed its demands in the hostage negotiations with Israel mediated by Egypt and Qatar, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says.
Speaking at a daily press briefing, Miller says the United States will continue to push for an agreement that will see hostages taken on October 7 released and a pause in fighting in Gaza.
American official says failed rocket strike targeted US-led coalition base in Syria
WASHINGTON — A US defense official says that a failed rocket strike was launched at a base housing US-led coalition forces at Rumalyn, Syria, marking the first time since February 4 that Iranian-backed militias have attacked a US facility in Iraq or Syria. No personnel were injured in the attack.
Iraqi authorities said early Monday that they were searching for “outlaw elements” who launched an estimated five missiles across the border from Iraq into Syria late Sunday night targeting the base. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Also on Monday, a US official said American forces had shot down two drones near al-Asad Air Base in Iraq. The circumstances are under investigation.
Both officials spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details that have not been made public.
From October to February, an umbrella group of Iran-backed militias calling itself the Islamic Resistance in Iraq launched regular drone attacks on bases housing US troops in Iraq and Syria, which they said was in retaliation for Washington’s support of Israel in the ongoing war in Gaza and were aimed at forcing US forces to withdraw from Iraq.
Those attacks halted after three US soldiers were killed in a strike on a base in Jordan, near the Syrian border in late January, prompting US retaliatory strikes in Iraq, including one in central Baghdad that killed a militia commander. It was not immediately clear what prompted the attacks to begin again.
Biden slams ‘antisemitic protests, those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians’
While marking Earth Day in Virginia, US President Joe Biden is asked by a reporter if he condemns “the antisemitic protests on college campuses,” as numerous elite schools are increasingly convulsed by anti-Israel unrest.
“I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I’ve set up a program to deal with that,” he says.
“I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians and how they’re being…” Biden then adds before trailing off as a reporter asks if he thinks the Columbia University president should resign.
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