Live Updates: Hamas presses Israel to end Gaza war for hostage release

Thursday, April 25, 2024

14:11 GMT — Hamas has reiterated its demand Israel end the Gaza war as part of any deal to release hostages held there, with Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior official in the Palestinian resistance group, telling Reuters that US pressure on Hamas "has no value".

13:12 GMT — 18 countries call Hamas to release hostages for 'ceasefire'

The leaders of 18 nations whose nationals remain captive in besieged Gaza have demanded their immediate release and said it would lead to what they called a "credible end of hostilities."

A statement from the leaders of Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, the UK and the US said the fate of the hostages and Gaza's civilians, "who are protected under international law, is of international concern."

"We emphasise that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities," they said.

12:56 GMT — Belgian aid worker killed in Israeli air strike in Rafah

A Belgian aid worker and his son have been killed by Wednesday night's Israeli air strike in Rafah, Belgian development agency Enabel has said.

"It is with deep sorrow and horror that we learn of the death of our colleague Abdallah Nabhan (33) and his 7-year-old son Jamal last night after an Israeli airstrike in the eastern part of the city of Rafah," the agency said on X.

According to a statement released by the agency, Nabhan’s wife is in critical condition in hospital and the couple's two other children — aged 5 and 7 months — sustained minor injuries.

12:54 GMT — Israel's Nahal Brigade exits Gaza, prepares for Rafah invasion: report

The Israeli army’s Nahal Brigade has withdrawn from Gaza to prepare for a looming ground attack in Rafah city, according to local media.

The brigade will be replaced by the 679th Armored Brigade and the 2nd Infantry Brigade, Israeli Army Radio has reported.

The elite brigade will reportedly take part in a planned ground offensive in Rafah, where more than 1.4 million people have taken refuge from Israel’s ongoing war on Gaza.

12:50 GMT — Israel kills Palestinian teenager in occupied West Bank: officials

Palestinian officials have said Israeli forces killed a 16-year-old boy during a raid in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah.

Israeli police said "hits were identified" when forces responded to stone-throwing with gunfire but did not directly address the allegation.

The Palestinian Health Ministry said Khaled Raed Arouq was shot in the chest and "martyred by the occupation's live bullets".

12:02 GMT — Telecom blackout hits Gaza amid Israeli onslaught

Palestinian telecoms company Paltel has said that communications and internet services went down in central and southern Gaza.

In a statement, the company said the services were disrupted “due to Israel’s relentless aggression.”

"Our teams are working to restore the services as soon as possible," it added.

11:37 GMT — Egypt rejects Palestinian displacement, aims for Gaza ceasefire

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el Sisi has renewed his country’s rejection of the forced displacement of Palestinians, saying Cairo is seeking to reach a ceasefire in Gaza.

"Egypt’s position is clear from the first moment that it rejects any displacement of Palestinians from their lands to Sinai or any other area in order to preserve the Palestinian cause and protect Egypt’s national security," he said in a speech marking the Sinai Liberation Day.

10:43 GMT — Hezbollah rejects Israeli claim of killing half of its forces

Hezbollah has denied an Israeli claim that it had killed half of the Lebanese group's commanders in the south of the country, saying only a handful were slain.

Israel's Defence Minister Yoav Gallant has said that "the other half are in hiding and abandoning the field to IDF (Israeli army) operations," he added, without specifying how many.

A Hezbollah source told AFP that the number of slain Hezbollah militants who "hold a certain level of responsibility does not exceed the number of fingers on one hand".

The source said Gallant's claim was "untrue and baseless" and designed to "raise the morale of the collapsed (Israeli) army".

10:42 GMT — More than 100 arrested at US university pro-Palestinian protests

More than 100 people were arrested at two universities in California and Texas, officials said, after pro-Palestinian protests erupted across US campuses this week.

Demonstrations flared at the University of Southern California's (USC) Los Angeles campus, where 93 people were arrested for trespassing, and at the University of Texas (UT) in Austin, where 34 were arrested, according to authorities.

The tense standoffs were among the latest on-campus confrontations between law enforcement, including police in riot gear, and banner-wielding students outraged at the mounting death toll in Israel's war on the tiny enclave.

USC said on social media site X at around midnight that the protest had ended and the campus would remain "closed until further notice."

10:41 GMT — Palestinians so far uncovered 392 bodies from Gaza mass graves

Palestinians have uncovered 392 bodies of people in three mass graves at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, the civil defence agency has said.

"Civil defence teams have dug up 392 bodies from the mass graves," Yamen Abu Sulaiman, the head of Palestinian civil defence agency in Gaza said. Bodies of children were found among the victims.

"We don't know the reason for the presence of children's bodies in mass graves at the hospital," Abu Sulaiman said.

The Palestinian Civil Defence Team separately called on the United Nations to investigate what it said were Israel's "war crimes" at a Gaza hospital.

09:43 GMT — French police break up pro-Palestinian university protest

French police broke up a pro-Palestinian protest by dozens of university students in Paris, officials said, as Israel's bombardment of Gaza sparks a wave of anger across college campuses in the United States.

Police intervened as around 60 students gathered on a central Paris campus of the elite Sciences Po university on Wednesday evening, management said.

"After discussions with management, most of them agreed to leave the premises," university officials said in a statement to AFP, saying the protest was adding to "tensions" at the university.

But "a small group of students" refused to leave and "it was decided that the police would evacuate the site", the statement added.

09:40 GMT — Gaza death toll surpasses 34,300 as Israeli attacks continue

Gaza’s death toll from ongoing Israeli aggression has surged to 34,305 since last October, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said.

A ministry statement said that 77,293 other people have also been injured in the Israeli onslaught.

“At least 43 people were killed and 64 others injured in Israeli attacks in the last 24 hours,” the ministry said.

“Many victims are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” it added.

09:24 GMT — Amnesty calls on US universities to lift crackdown on Gaza protests

Amnesty International urged university administrations across the US to safeguard and facilitate the students' right to peacefully and safely protest or counter protest on their campuses.  

In a report, the rights watchdog condemned the suppression of student protests against the war in Gaza.

"Any steps taken to silence, harass, threaten, or otherwise intimidate those who gather peacefully to protest and speak out is a violation of their rights," said Paul O’Brien, the executive director of Amnesty International USA.

According to O’Brien, universities have responded repressively to protests in support of Palestinian rights, involving local authorities and even demanding arrests.

"Academic freedom is central to the right to education," it said. "Campus activism is a crucial component of that freedom."

09:03 GMT — Another Palestinian journalist killed in Gaza, death toll rises to 141 since October 7

One more Palestinian journalist was killed in an Israeli air strike, taking the death toll since last October to 141, according to Gaza’s government media office.

Mohammed al Jamal, a reporter with Palestine Now news agency, lost his life when fighter jets struck his house in Rafah in southern Gaza, the media office said in a statement.

07:50 GMT — Israeli troops 'abduct 9 doctors from Gaza hospital'

The Israeli army executed hundreds of displaced, sick and injured people during a raid on the Nasser Medical Complex in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza during a ground assault that lasted for four months, the Gaza Media Office said.

“The depth of the mass graves we found (in Nasser Hospital) confirms that they were dug using large machinery such as Israeli occupation bulldozers and other vehicles,” the head of the media office, Ismail Al Thawabteh, told Anadolu Agency.

“The Israeli army abducted nine doctors from the Nasser Medical Complex to an unknown location and committed the crime of enforced disappearance against them,” Al Thawabteh added.

The head of the Gaza media office identified some of the doctors abducted as Ahmad Mousa, Bayan Shurrab, Iyad Shaqoura, Mahmoud Shehada, Ahmad Al-Smairi, Nahed Abu Taima, Khalid Al-Ser, and Alaa Barbakh.

07:43 GMT — Hezbollah, state media say Israeli drone strike hits east Lebanon

State media and a Hezbollah source said one person was wounded in an Israeli drone attack on eastern Lebanon following a flare-up in cross-border fire between Hezbollah and Israel.

It came a day after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israeli forces were carrying out "offensive action" across southern Lebanon, as cross-border fire intensified.

The violence has fuelled fears of all-out conflict between Iran-backed Hezbollah and Israel, which last went to war in 2006.

"An Israeli drone attack hit a truck carrying fuel" for Hezbollah in the village of Duris, just southwest of the Bekaa Valley city of Baalbek, a Hezbollah source told AFP.

07:30 GMT — Israeli council considers issuing international arrest warrant for Netanyahu: Report

The Israeli National Security Council held secret discussions on the possibility of issuing international arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, a local media outlet reported.

Israel's Channel 13 reported that the discussions took place “in anticipation of the possibility of international arrest warrants being issued in the coming days against senior officials in Israel.”

“According to the information and indications available to senior officials in Israel, there is a possibility that the International Criminal Court in The Hague will issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Halevi,” the channel added.

06:47 GMT — Edward Said’s daughter says she’s ‘disappointed’ by Columbia University’s handling of pro-Palestine protests

As many students at Columbia University in New York gathered on their campus for a pro-Palestinian protest Tuesday, among them was a notable guest, Najla Said, the daughter of the late Palestinian intellectual Edward Said, a former professor of literature at the university.

Until his death in 2003, Edward Said was a vocal advocate and one of the most influential voices for the rights of the Palestinian people.

If he were alive today, according to Najla, he would be "incredibly proud" of the students at Columbia University.

"He would have probably approached (Columbia University) President (Minouche) Shafik personally and tried to speak with her and tried to help this situation not turn into what it has, which is also heartbreaking because it really makes me wish he were here," she told Anadolu in a video interview.

"I am deeply disappointed in the leadership of Columbia, as I think many people are," she said.

05:50 GMT — Hamas to lay down arms if two-state solution implemented: Report

A top Hamas political official told The Associated Press that the group is willing to agree to a truce of five years or more with Israel and transform into a political party if a two-state solution is implemented.

The comments by Khalil al-Hayya in an interview Wednesday came amid a stalemate in months of ceasefire talks.

Al-Hayya said Hamas wants form a unified government for Gaza and the West Bank. He also said Hamas would accept “a fully sovereign Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza and the return of Palestinian refugees in accordance with the international resolutions".

04:17 GMT — US engages ballistic missile, UAVs launched from Yemen

The US engaged an anti-ship ballistic missile and unmanned aerial vehicles launched from areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthi group, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) said.

"At 11:51 a.m. (Sanaa time) on April 24, a coalition vessel successfully engaged one anti-ship ballistic missile (ASBM) launched from Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist-controlled areas in Yemen over the Gulf of Aden.

"The ASBM was likely targeting the MV Yorktown, a US-flagged, owned and operated vessel with 18 US and four Greek crew members," CENTCOM said on X.

04:37 GMT — 34 arrested during pro-Palestine protest at University of Texas camps

The number of pro-Palestine protestors who were arrested during a demonstration at the University of Texas has risen to 34, authorities said.

"As of 9 p.m., 34 arrests have been made by law enforcement on the UT Austin campus related to today’s protest," said the Texas Department of Public Safety on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Wednesday.

Among the arrested was a FOX 7 Austin photographer who was filming the demonstration by the students on the UT Austin campus.

04:15 GMT — World Central Kitchen workers killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza will be honored at memorial

A memorial at the National Cathedral in Washington will honour the seven World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by Israeli air strikes in Gaza earlier this month.

José Andrés, the celebrity chef and philanthropist behind the Washington-based World Central Kitchen disaster relief group, is expected to speak at the celebration of life service, and famed cellist Yo-Yo Ma will perform, organizers said.

The Biden administration said Thursday that Douglas Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris, and US Assistant Deputy Secretary of State Kurt Campbell would be among senior administration figures attending.

03:41 GMT — Ben-Gvir evacuated from building besieged by Israeli protesters

Israeli police have evacuated extremist minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from a building in West Jerusalem that was surrounded by protesters, including families of captives in besieged Gaza.

Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that hundreds of protesters gathered in the area near the building where far-right Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu and extremist rabbi Bentzi Gopstein accompanied Ben-Gvir.

The police evacuated the notorious minister from the scene after its officers secured him.

03:13 GMT — Israeli officials admit failure of campaign to halt UNRWA funding

Top officials in Israel have acknowledged the failure of an Israeli campaign against international funding for the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees [UNRWA], Israel's Haaretz daily reported.

"Several countries have announced over the past few weeks that they will renew the funding to UNRWA, which they froze at the start of the Gaza war in the wake of Israeli claims that the organisation was cooperating with [the Palestinian group] Hamas and that some of its employees had actively participated in the October 7 attack," said the daily.

"In recent days, the Israeli campaign against UNRWA has received a series of blows, including an announcement by Germany, one of Israel's main supporters, of its intention to resume funding for the agency, which it froze last January."

02:52 GMT — Israeli council anticipates possible arrest warrant for Netanyahu

The Israeli National Security Council has held secret discussions on the possibility of international arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, and Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi, a local media outlet reported.

Israel's Channel 13 reported that the discussions took place "in anticipation of the possibility of international arrest warrants being issued in the coming days against senior officials in Israel."

"According to the information and indications available to senior officials in Israel, there is a possibility that the International Court of Justice in The Hague will issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Gallant and Halevi," the channel added.

02:20 GMT — Casualties as Israel strikes Gaza's crammed Rafah city

Israel has launched multiple air strikes on besieged Gaza's southern city of Rafah, killing at least three people, according to local sources.

Over 1.5 million Palestinians have taken refuge in the city to escape Israel's carnage elsewhere in the blockaded enclave.

A spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government said Israel was "moving ahead" with its plans for a ground invasion on Rafah but gave no timeline.

02:14 GMT — Netanyahu calls US campus protests 'anti-Semitic'

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has lashed out at pro-Palestinian demonstrations on American college campuses, falsely claiming that protests are anti-Semitic and comparing them to the lead-up to the Holocaust.

In a video statement, Netanyahu claimed that "anti-Semitic mobs have taken over leading universities."

"This is reminiscent of what happened in German universities in the 1930s," he alleged.

02:00 — Israel strikes two towns in southern Lebanon

Israel has struck the towns of Hula and Maroun in al-Ras in southern Lebanon.

Since October 7, at least 380 people have been killed in Lebanon in Israeli strikes and shelling, according to an AFP news agency tally.

For our live updates from Wednesday, April 24, click here.