Live Updates: Hezbollah strikes Israeli base in retaliation

Wednesday, April 17, 2024

13:20 GMT — Hezbollah strikes Israeli base in retaliation

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it launched a drone and missile attack on an Israeli base in response to strikes that killed its three members the day before.

Hezbollah said it launched "a combined attack with guided missiles and explosive drones on a new military reconnaissance command centre in Arab Al Aramshe," an Arab-majority village of northern Israel.

The attack came "in response to the enemy assassinating a number of members in Ain Baal and Shehabiya" on Tuesday, the group said.

13:11 GMT — Hamas leader Haniya to visit Türkiye this weekend: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erodgan has said he will host the leader of Palestinian group Hamas, Ismail Haniya, in Türkiye this weekend.

"The leader of the Palestinian cause will be my guest this weekend," Erdogan told lawmakers.

Their last meeting was in July 2023 when Erdogan hosted Haniya at the presidential palace in Ankara alongside Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas.

12:27 GMT — Netanyahu rejects 'claims about famine' in Gaza

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected that war-torn Gaza is facing the threat of famine.

Netanyahu "rejected the claims by international organisations about famine in Gaza and said that Israel is doing above and beyond" what is needed "on the humanitarian issue," his office said, as UN and aid agencies have repeatedly warned Gaza is on the brink of famine.

12:16 GMT — Gaza truce talks 'stalling': mediator Qatar

Negotiations between Israel and Hamas to secure a truce in Gaza and a hostage exchange have stalled, Qatar's prime minister said.

"We are going through a sensitive stage with some stalling, and we are trying as much as possible to address this stalling," Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani told a news conference with Romanian Prime Minister Marcel Ciolacu.

Qatar, with the United States and Egypt, has been engaged in weeks of behind-the-scenes talks to secure a truce in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails.

11:35 GMT — Italy urges Israel to exercise restraint after Iran attack, calls for ceasefire in Gaza

Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani urged Tel Aviv to exercise restraint in the wake of Iran’s weekend attack on Israel and called for a ceasefire in Gaza.

“Israel has obtained a clear success, neutralizing almost completely the effects of the unacceptable Iranian attack. So, I expressed our wish that they stop here, consolidating this political and military success,” Tajani said in an interview with Italian daily La Stampa.

The foreign minister said he told his Israeli counterpart Israel Katz that Tel Aviv should show restraint after Iran’s attack and not retaliate, adding that Katz would convey Italy’s position to Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

10:43 GMT — Gaza death toll from Israeli aggression rises to 33,899

At least 33,899 people have been killed in Gaza by Israel during more than six months of brutal war, according to Palestinian health officials.

The toll includes at least 56 deaths over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said in a statement, adding that 76,664 people have been wounded in Gaza since the Israeli war on the enclave began following the resistance group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7.

09:37 GMT — US conducts humanitarian airdrops into Gaza

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted another round of airdrops of humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza to provide relief to civilians affected by the ongoing war.

"The joint operation included two C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft, and US Army Soldiers specialised in aerial delivery of US humanitarian assistance supplies," CENTCOM said on X.

The planes dropped over 25,300 US meal equivalents into northern Gaza, it added.

08:40 GMT — US should not lose sight of Gaza disaster: Senator

Independent US Sen. Bernie Sanders warned Tuesday that the US should not forget the disaster in Gaza as tensions continue to simmer between Israel and Iran.

"While we pay attention to this developing Israeli-Iran crisis, I hope very much that we will not lose sight of the unprecedented humanitarian disaster now taking place in Gaza. We must not lose sight of that disaster," Sanders said on the Senate floor.

Stressing that what is happening in Gaza is "horrendous," he said: "It is inhumane and it is in gross violation of American and international law."

07:45 GMT — Protesters in Croatia call on Germany to stop backing Israel's Gaza war

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Croatia gathered in front of the German Embassy in the capital Zagreb and demanded that Germany stop supporting Israel’s war in Gaza.

Participants of the demonstration, which was organised by the Free Palestine Initiative, came to the embassy with their hands painted red and unfurled a banner that s aid "Germany, stop supporting genocide.”

The demonstrators also reacted to Germany's termination of the Palestine Congress in the capital Berlin last week, which was attended by academics and activists.

07:00 GMT — Israeli aggression in Gaza signals failure of army — Hamas

The Palestinian group Hamas said that the "Zionist madness" directed against Palestinian civilians in Gaza reflects the failure of the Israeli army in the face of the resistance.

"The Zionist madness against civilians signals the complete failure of the occupation army in front of the resistance and a re flection of Zionist terror from larger developments,'' Hamas leader Izzat al Rishq said in a statement on Telegram.

He highlighted "the Nazism of the occupation army, as revealed in some images at the Shifa Medical Complex in Gaza City, where the worst massacre in the world against the health sector was committed.''

06:44 GMT — US conducts humanitarian airdrops into Gaza

The United States Central Command (CENTCOM) conducted another round of airdrops of humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza to provide relief to civilians affected by the ongoing war.

"The joint operation included two C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft, and US Army Soldiers specialised in aerial delivery of US humanitarian assistance supplies," CENTCOM said on X.

The planes dropped over 25,300 US meal equivalents into northern Gaza, it added.

06:20 GMT — US should not lose sight of Gaza disaster: Senator

Independent US Sen. Bernie Sanders warned Tuesday that the US should not forget the disaster in Gaza as tensions continue to simmer between Israel and Iran.

"While we pay attention to this developing Israeli-Iran crisis, I hope very much that we will not lose sight of the unprecedented humanitarian disaster now taking place in Gaza. We must not lose sight of that disaster," Sanders said on the Senate floor.

Stressing that what is happening in Gaza is "horrendous," he said: "It is inhumane and it is in gross violation of American and international law."

06:01 GMT — Protesters in Croatia call on Germany to stop backing Israel's Gaza war

Pro-Palestinian demonstrators in Croatia gathered in front of the German Embassy in the capital Zagreb and demanded that Germany stop supporting Israel’s war in Gaza.

Participants of the demonstration, which was organised by the Free Palestine Initiative, came to the embassy with their hands painted red and unfurled a banner that s aid "Germany, stop supporting genocide.”

The demonstrators also reacted to Germany's termination of the Palestine Congress in the capital Berlin last week, which was attended by academics and activists.

05:33 GMT — Israel kills dozens of Palestinians in new Gaza strikes

Israel has killed at least 28 Palestinians, including many children, in fresh strikes on the different parts of besieged Gaza, witnesses told TRT World and local media reported.

Israeli war planes killed eight people in the Tuffah neighbourhood after striking a police vehicle. Israeli bombardment on the al-Maghazi camp in Gaza's Deir al-Balah neighbourhood killed 13 Palestinians.

Israel killed seven Palestinians in an air strike on a family in Yabna camp in Rafah city. A number of people were left wounded in these strikes.

05:20 GMT — US to query Israel about 6-year-old's killing

The US State Department will ask Israel for more information about the January killing of 6-year-old Palestinian Hind Rajab in besieged Gaza, spokesperson Matthew Miller said, calling for a full investigation into the matter after a Washington Post report cast doubt on Israel's earlier explanation.

The terrified girl trapped in a car in Gaza with her dead family had begged for help in a phone call to rescuers, in which gunfire could be heard as she described Israeli forces drawing near.

Relatives found her body 12 days later, along with those of her aunt, uncle and their three children, in their car near an ambulance and two dead ambulance workers who had tried to save her.

05:00 GMT — UN committee unable to agree on Palestine's bid for full membership

A United Nations Security Council [UNSC] committee considering an application by Palestine to become a full UN member "was unable to make a unanimous recommendation" on whether it met the criteria, according to the committee report seen by the Reuters news agency.

Palestine is still expected to push the 15-member Security Council to vote — as early as this week — on a draft resolution recommending it become a full member of the world body, diplomats said.

Such membership would effectively recognise a Palestinian state.

For our live updates from Tuesday, April 15, click here.