Israel kills ‘numerous’ gunmen in battle for ‘Gaza corridor’
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Israel has killed “numerous” Hamas gunmen in the battle for the central Gaza corridor, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) reported.
Footage of the fighting posted on social media shows Israeli troops firing rockets at Hamas positions as well as using drone strikes.
“The troops in recent days killed numerous gunmen in clashes and ambushes, as well as by calling in airstrikes and artillery shelling”, the Times of Israel reported, citing the IDF. The army also took out rocket launching sites, a tunnel shaft and buildings used by Hamas, it said.
A narrow strip of land running from the border with Israel near Be’eri to the coast, controlling the so-called Netzarm corridor enables Israeli forces to carry out raids in northern and central Gaza while managing Palestinian access to the north. It also allows Israel to operate a secure crossing to channel aid into northern Gaza, the Times of Israel reported.
Follow the latest updates below.
03:11 PM BST
That’s all for today
Thank you for tuning in to today’s live blog. We’ll be back tomorrow to bring you all the latest from the Israel-Hamas war.
Key moments from today:
Hamas has rejected a US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, and will instead put out its own roadmap for bringing the war to a permanent end, mediators reported.
The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has warned that border skirmishes with Israel risk spiralling out of control, leading to a broader regional conflict.
Rishi Sunak has said that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, “needs to do more” to alleviate “intolerable” suffering in Gaza.
Israel is planning to open a new border crossing to channel desperately needed aid into northern Gaza amid fears that Israeli protesters will block the current crossing site, local media reported.
A Lebanese man accused of funnelling “tens of millions” of dollars from Iran to Hamas has been found shot dead in the mountains near Beirut, a security source told AFP.
US plans to build a $180 floating pier off the coast of Gaza to unload desperately-needed aid are still weeks away from completion, reports suggest.
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza is a “mistake,” said US president Joe Biden as he called for a ceasefire.
Nancy Pelosi, the former US House speaker, has accused Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, of only being concerned for his own political survival.
Israel has threatened to attack Iran directly if Tehran launches an attack on Israel from its own territory.
Hamas is unable to meet Israel’s demand for the release of 40 living hostages as part of a proposed truce agreement, Israeli television networks reported.
03:08 PM BST
Watch: Khan Younis hospital destroyed
02:57 PM BST
Biden’s threats to cut off support to Israel did not go far enough, warn current and former US officials
A group of seven current and former US officials have warned that President Biden’s threats to cut off support to Israel did not go far enough to reflect the “moral urgency” of the situation.
One current official with 25 years of national security experience, said internal opposition to official White House policy on Israel has become “deeper, wider and more despairing” than at any other point in the conflict, the BBC reported, despite Israel agreeing to withdraw its troops and allow aid into the war-torn region following the White House’s warning.
“I read it as Israel doing the bare minimum to get through the day and avoid arms transfers being halted,” the official added.
Another said that US administration staff have created at least dozen group chats on WhatsApp and Signal, comprising hundreds of members, to vent their exasperation. “There’s a lot of eye rolling... People can point out the inconsistencies and the fallacies pretty quickly,” they said.
The reports of internal dissent come after hundreds of civil servants in the US and European countries signed a letter in February warning that their governments risked being complicit in “grave violations of international law”.
02:49 PM BST
Hamas ‘rejects’ US Gaza truce proposal
Hamas has rejected a US proposal for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage release, and will instead put out its own roadmap for bringing the war to a permanent end, mediators reported.
Hamas’s main issue with the plan is that it does not include a reference to ending the war, mediators told the Wall Street Journal, adding that the militant group would prefer to put forward their own offer based on a previous proposal.
The US plan, suggested at peace talks in Cairo, called for a six-week ceasefire, during which time Hamas would release 40 hostages in exchange for 900 Palestinians detained in Israel, including 100 serving long sentences for terrorism-related charges.
Under the previous proposal, which Hamas appears to favour, Israel would release prisoners in exchange for some hostages, along with a partial troop withdrawal and unfettered access to northern Gaza for displaced Palestinians, with more hostages to be released later once all troops withdraw.
A senior Israeli official familiar with the negotiations said that Israel was open to using the US proposal as a basis for talks, but that the plan is seen as favoring Hamas., the WSJ said.
02:19 PM BST
Israel agrees to let 150,000 Gazans return to the north in potential truce, say officials
Israel has agreed to concessions about the return of Palestinians to the north of Gaza, but believes Hamas does not want to strike a ceasfire deal, Israeli officials reported.
Under US proposals, Israel has agreed to allow the return of 150,000 Palestinians to north Gaza with no security checks, two officials with knowledge of the talks told Reuters. In return, they said, Hamas would be required to give a list of female, elderly and sick hostages it still holds alive.
Israel’s assessment is that Hamas does not want to strike a deal yet, the Israeli officials said.
The proposed ceasefire arrangement comes as delegations from Israel and Hamas meet in Cairo for US and Qatari-mediated talks to arrange a truce and the release of hostages.
02:06 PM BST
Pictured: IDF soldiers in action in the Gaza Strip
01:56 PM BST
Danger of escalation on Lebanese border ‘is real’, says UN official
The head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon (UNIFIL) has warned that border skirmishes with Israel risk spiralling out of control, leading to a broader regional conflict.
“The danger of escalation is real,” Aroldo Lazaro said in a statement. “There is no military solution to the current confrontation and violence; a political and diplomatic solution is the only way forward.”
Israel has previously warned that time is running out to find a diplomatic solution to the simmering conflict unless Iran-backed Hezbollah forces back away from the border region.
01:46 PM BST
Netanyahu ‘needs to do more’ to alleviate suffering in Gaza, says Sunak
Rishi Sunak has said that Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, “needs to do more” to alleviate “intolerable” suffering in Gaza.
“It was a shocking tragedy what happened to our veterans when they were selflessly carrying out aid missions into Gaza, and I’ve also said repeatedly the situation in Gaza is increasingly intolerable,” the prime minister told LBC, referring to three British aid workers who were killed by an Israeli strike on 01 April, generating international outcry.
“The humanitarian suffering that people are experiencing isn’t right, and Prime Minister Netanyahu needs to do more to alleviate that. I’ve made that very clear to him,” Mr Sunak added.
Addressing pressure on the government to suspend arms sales to Israel in order to leverage a ceasefire, Mr Sunak defended Britain’s current stance, stating that “none of our closest allies” have halted existing arms export licenses.
01:30 PM BST
Israel setting up new Gaza aid crossing to evade protesters
Israel is planning to open a new border crossing to channel desperately needed aid into northern Gaza amid fears that Israeli protesters will block the current crossing site, local media reported.
Israel “is giving up on opening the Erez crossing, fearing it will be blocked by Israeli protesters,” Doron Kadosh, an Israeli Army Radio correspondent, said.
Mr Kadosh did not specify where the new crossing will be placed, but said it would be located at a “less central” position than Erez, which sits at the terminus of a major motorway, in order to prevent protestors from using their trucks to block aid from passing into the war-torn territory.
Israeli protesters have repeatedly attempted to block aid trucks at the Kerem Shalom crossing in southern Gaza, arguing that relief should be withheld until the hostages held in Gaza by Hamas are released.
01:23 PM BST
‘Hamas financier’ found riddled with bullets in Lebanon villa
A Lebanese man accused of funnelling “tens of millions” of dollars from Iran to Hamas has been found shot dead in the mountains near Beirut, a security source told AFP.
The body of Mohammad Sarur, who was under US sanctions, was found riddled with bullets on Tuesday in a villa in the town of Beit Mery, just outside the Lebanese capital. Mr Sarur had been shot five times and was in possession of an undisclosed sum of money that the killers did not touch, the source, who was not named, said.
Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) later reported that the body of a 57-year-old Lebanese man, identified by initials that correspond to Mr Sarur’s, had been found in the area near Beit Mery.
Mr Sarur was placed under sanctions by the US in 2019 for acting as a middle-man, channelling funds from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards through Hezbollah in Lebanon to Hamas in order to carry out terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip.
12:46 PM BST
No date set for Rafah invasion, says Israel’s defence minister
Yoav Gallant has told his US counterpart, Lloyd Austin, that Israel has not decided when it will invade Rafah, The Times of Israel reported, contradicting prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s comments.
Mr Gallant’s remarks came in a call with Mr Austin in which he said that Israel is still finalising its plans to evacuate the roughly 1.5 million Palestinians currently sheltering in Gaza’s southernmost city.
Mr Netanyahu said just hours before that the invasion of Rafah “will happen - there is a date”, later adding that “no force in the world” could stop it.
When asked if Mr Netenyahu has briefed Washington on its proposals, Jake Sullivan, the US national security adviser, told reporters earlier today: “If he has a date he hasn’t shared it with us.”
12:14 PM BST
Pictured: Aid drops into Gaza
11:51 AM BST
Israel’s ‘disproportionate response’ risks destabilising ‘entire world’, says Spanish PM
Spain’s prime minister Pedro Sanchez has warned that Israel’s “disproportionate response” in Gaza risks destabilising “the entire world”.
Israel’s “absolutely disproportionate response” has “overturned decades of humanitarian law and threatened to destabilise the Middle East and, as a consequence, the whole world”, the prime minister told lawmakers, adding that recognising a Palestinian state is “in Europe’s geopolitical interests”.
“The international community cannot help the Palestinian state if it does not recognise its existence,” he said.
Spain is one of a growing number of European nations, including Ireland, Malta and Slovenia who have announced they are ready to recognise Palestinian statehood.
Mr Sanchez raised the subject during a visit last week to Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, when he indicated that Spain could recognise Palestine as a nation by the end of June.
He is due to meet with several other leaders, including those of Norway and Portugal, in the coming days to discuss the issue, a government spokeswoman said.
11:31 AM BST
US Gaza aid pier still weeks away as famine fears grow
US plans to build a $180 floating pier off the coast of Gaza to unload desperately-needed aid are still weeks away from completion, reports suggest.
Constructed by around 1,000 US troops, the pier, located around three miles offshore, is due to become operational in early May and aims to deliver some two million meals a day to the war-torn region.
White House officials have acknowledged the pier is still weeks away and not as efficient in delivering aid as via ground convoys, ABC reported. The officials added that the pier is part of a broader effort to open up every aid route possible to address potential famine in Gaza.
11:15 AM BST
Watch: Netanyahu is making a mistake in Gaza, says Biden
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s approach to the war in Gaza is a “mistake,” said US president Joe Biden as he called for a ceasefire.
“I think what he’s doing is a mistake. I don’t agree with his approach,” Biden told Univision, a US Spanish-language TV network. “What I’m calling for is for the Israelis to just call for a ceasefire, allow for the next six, eight weeks, total access to all food and medicine going into the country.”
The release of the interview comes after president Biden called Mr Netanyahu last week and reportedly threatened to withdraw US support for Israel’s offensive unless it took steps to protect aid workers and civilians.
Mr Biden failed to mention the release of hostages in the interview, forcing the White House to issue a statement confirming that the proposed truce would see 40 Israeli hostages released over the ceasefire period.
11:04 AM BST
Pictured: Israeli troops in action
10:43 AM BST
Bowing to international pressure ‘hurt’ hostage negotiations, say Israeli officials
Israeli officials have blamed the pullback of IDF troops and the surge of humanitarian aid into Gaza for the anticipated failure of truce talks in Cairo, local media reported.
“We gave up our strong bargaining chips for nothing,” Israeli sources told Ynet . “Hamas is digging in with its demands for an end to a war and a troop withdrawal, and is determined to play tricks with the mediators.”
The sources added that Israel softening its stance “really hurt negotiations”.
Israel pulled its troops out of Khan Younis and pledged to allow more aid into the beleaguered region following last week’s talks with the US, in which president Biden threatened to withdraw support if his counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu, did not comply.
10:05 AM BST
Israeli military hits dozens of targets in Gaza as Eid begins
Israeli air strikes hit dozens of targets in Gaza over the past day including “military sites, launchers, tunnel shafts, and infrastructure”, the military reported.
Sites in northern Gaza included Jabalia and Gaza City’s Shejaiya neighbourhood, with one attack targeting a Hamas cell that posed a threat to ground troops, the IDF said.
The airstrikes also resulted in a heavy civilian losses, including the killing of at least four children in the Nuseirat refugee camp, Al Jazeera reported, citing rescue workers.
09:44 AM BST
Pictured: Palestinians mark the start of Eid
09:03 AM BST
Netanyahu only cares about his own survival, says Pelosi
Nancy Pelosi, the former US House speaker, has accused Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, of only being concerned for his own political survival.
“I think he’s interested in one thing, his own survival, and that’s it,” the California congresswoman said in a podcast interview with David Axelrod, a former Barack Obama aide.
“I’ve said this to Netanyahu over the years, ‘I don’t know whether you don’t know how to make peace, you don’t want to make peace, or you’re afraid of peace. But you could [be] doing so much more instead of just throwing red meat to [the] crowd.”
Did a live #AxeFiles event w/@SpeakerPelosi at @ASU yesterday, at which she absolutely unloaded on
@netanyahu. pic.twitter.com/1mdS0G5jka— David Axelrod (@davidaxelrod) April 9, 2024
08:45 AM BST
Israel will attack Iran on its own soil if Tehran carries out direct attack, says foreign minister
Israel has threatened to attack Iran directly if Tehran launches an attack on Israel from its own territory.
“If Iran attacks from its own territory, Israel will respond and attack in Iran,” Israel Katz, the foreign minister, posted on Twitter, tagging Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei.
The threat came moments after Ayatollah Khamenei told a crowd in Tehran that Israel’s ‘evil regime” “must be punished”, following an airstrike, widely believed to have been carried out by Israel, on the Iranian consular in Damascus last week that killed seven members of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard.
Iran provides military backing to proxies, including Hezbollah in Lebanon and the Houthis in Yemen, who have caused disruption across the region since Israel’s invasion of Gaza.
See post at 8.09am for further details.
08:33 AM BST
Pictured: Palestinians pray in Rafah
08:09 AM BST
Israel ‘must be punished’ for Syria embassy attack, says Khamenei
Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said that Israel “must be punished and it shall be” for attacking the Iranian embassy compound in Syria.
“When they attack the consulate, it is as if they have attacked our soil,” Ayatollah Khamenei said in a speech marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. “The evil regime made a mistake and must be punished and it shall be.
His comments come after suspected Israeli warplane’s bombed Iran’s consulate in Damascus last week, killing seven members of Tehran’s Revolutionary Guard, in what appeared to be a major escalation of Israel’s war with regional adversaries.
08:01 AM BST
Hamas unable to meet truce demands, Israeli reports suggest
Hamas is unable to meet Israel’s demand for the release of 40 living hostages as part of a proposed truce agreement, Israeli television networks reported.
The militant group has claimed doing so would force it to release male Israeli soldiers - a move it has refused to make - as it does not hold 40 living hostages who are either elderly, women or female soldiers, the Kan public broadcaster said.
It added that Hamas wants to releaser fewer than 40 hostages, describing the issue as the biggest obstacle in ongoing negotiations.
Elsewhere, a senior Israeli diplomatic official, who was not named, accused Hamas chief Yahha Sinwar of “constantly dragging his feet and opposing an agreement,” Israel’s Channel 12 news reported.
07:46 AM BST
Iran smuggling weapons into West Bank ‘to stoke unrest’ against Israel
Iran is smuggling weapons to the occupied West Bank in an apparent attempt to foment unrest as part of its ongoing shadow war with Israel, according to US intelligence officials.
Iran has been operating smuggling routes across the Middle East with the help of intelligence operatives, militants and criminal gangs to bring weapons to the West Bank, several security officials from the United States, Israel and Iran told the New York Times on Tuesday.
The Iranian officials who request anonymity said Tehran wants to flood the Israel-occupied Palestinian territories with weapons to foment potential unrest against Israel.
Reports about Iran’s ongoing smuggling efforts were highlighted by an academic study last year that noted a noticeable uptick in weapons and drugs smuggling into the West Bank via Jordan and Egypt.
Read Nataliya’s full report here.
