Israel’s war on besieged Palestinians of Gaza — now in its 194th day — has killed at least 33,899 people and wounded over 76,664 as UNSC committee fails to agree on Palestine’s bid for full membership.
Wednesday, April 17, 2024
1006 GMT — 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.
Negotiators are trying to “move forward and put an end to the suffering that the people in Gaza are experiencing and returning the hostages”, Sheikh Mohammed said.
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0923 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.
0833 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.
0317 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.
“To date, the U.S. has dropped 891 tons of humanitarian assistance,” it said.
0310 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.”
0201 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.
One of the demonstrators, Aneta Vladimirov, told the media that the red paint on their hands symbolizes the blood on the hands of Germany.
0000 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.”
“The participatory American and supportive Western position towards Zionist madness has been and remains a factor in the expansion of the conflict in the region,” he added.
2100 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.
2018 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.
The Washington Post reported on Tuesday that an investigation had found Israeli armoured vehicles were present in the area, contrary to the Israeli Defence Forces’ claim that a preliminary investigation had found its forces were not within firing range of the car in which she was trapped.
2000 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.
The Security Council committee on the admission of new members — made up of all 15 council members — agreed to its report on Tuesday after meeting twice last week to discuss the Palestinian application.
“Regarding the issue of whether the application met all the criteria for membership … the Committee was unable to make a unanimous recommendation to the Security Council,” the report said, adding that “differing views were expressed.”
