Live Updates: Israel bombs home in Rafah, killing 12 Palestinians in Gaza city

Friday, March 29, 2024

03:28 GMT — Israel bombs home in Rafah, killing 12 Palestinians in Gaza city

Israel has killed at least 12 Palestinians in a strike targeting a house in besieged Gaza's Rafah city, health officials told the Reuters news agency.

Two children and four women were among the dead pulled from the rubble, said Dr. Saleh al-Hams, the head of the nursing department at the European Hospital.

Eight of the bodies, including two mangled and unidentifiable corpses, were transferred to the European Hospital. The rest of the remains were taken to Abu Yousef al-Najjar Hospital, according to hospital records. After almost six months of war, about a dozen of Gaza’s 36 hospitals are only partially functioning.

03:00 GMT — Netanyahu seeks delay in ultra-Orthodox conscription row

Israel's hawkish PM Benjamin Netanyahu has asked the top court for a new delay on compulsory military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews, an issue that has put his ruling coalition at risk.

While the Supreme Court did not immediately respond to Netanyahu's request, it ruled separately that state subsidies for military-age ultra-Orthodox men studying in seminaries rather than serving in uniform be suspended as of Monday.

The two ultra-Orthodox parties in Netanyahu's religious-nationalist coalition, United Torah Judaism and Shas, denounced the ruling as a "mark of Cain." They vowed to fight for what they deemed their constituents' "right" to stay in seminaries — but stopped short of threatening to walk out of the government.

For our live updates from Thursday, March 28, click here.