Israel’s war on besieged Palestinians of Gaza — now in its 180th day — has killed at least 32,975 Palestinians and wounded 75,577 others as outrage grows globally following Israel’s strike and killing of aid workers in Gaza.
Wednesday, April 3, 2024
1221 GMT — Egypt state media has reported that the bodies of six foreign aid workers killed in Israeli strikes have been transported out of Gaza.
Bodies will be received by representatives from their home nations and then they will be repatriated to their respective countries, according to reports.
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1049 GMT — UN rights council to consider call for Israel arms embargo
The UN Human Rights Council will consider a draft resolution calling for an arms embargo on Israel, citing the “plausible risk of genocide in Gaza”.
If the draft resolution is adopted, it would mark the first time that the United Nations’ top rights body has taken a position on the war raging in Gaza.
The text condemns “the use of explosive weapons with wide-area effects by Israel” in populated areas of Gaza and demands that Israel “uphold its legal responsibility to prevent genocide”.
The text was brought forward by Pakistan on behalf of 55 of the 56 UN member states in the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) – the exception being Albania.
0951 GMT — Israel army implicates Hezbollah in UN peacekeepers’ wounding
Israel’s military said it had obtained information that indicated a Hezbollah explosive charge caused the blast that wounded UN peacekeepers in Lebanon last week.
The UN peacekeeping force said three military observers and a translator were wounded in Saturday’s blast in south Lebanon, where Israel and Hezbollah militants trade frequent cross-border fire.
“According to information available to the (army), the explosion that occurred on March 30… occurred after a UNIFIL patrol passed over a charge that had been previously placed by Hezbollah in the area,” army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.
0932 GMT — Freedom Flotilla Coalition to bring aid, international observers to Gaza this month
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FCC) will sail several ships carrying 5,500 tonnes of humanitarian aid and hundreds of international observers to besieged Gaza in mid-April, its Spanish chapter Rumbo a Gaza said in a statement sent to Anadolu.
Rejecting Israel’s control over the entrance of humanitarian aid, Rumbo a Gaza said it will not allow Israel to inspect the shipments.
“For everyone’s safety and to ensure that aid reaches those who need it, the FFC will be bringing hundreds of international humanitarian observers from many countries and different backgrounds,” the statement said.
The voyage aims to “challenge the current illegal Israeli blockade on the Gaza Strip.”
0907 GMT — Gaza death toll nears 33,000 amid ongoing Israeli assault
A total of 32,975 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since last October, the Health Ministry in the besieged enclave said.
The Health Ministry in Gaza made the statement as the deadly Israeli onslaught on the enclave entered its 180th day. The ongoing onslaughts have also injured 75,577 Palestinians, it added.
It noted that in the past 24 hours, “Israel committed five massacres against families across Gaza that left 59 martyrs and 83 others injured.”
“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads and rescuers are unable to reach them,” it said.
0906 GMT — Following two-week raid, Israel leaves Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital in ruins
Following extensive damage to Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital following two weeks of Israeli army raid, Palestinian doctors said the hospital’s entire premises had been destroyed by fire and bombings, rendering it unusable.
Speaking to Anadolu, Marwan Abu Sada, head of the Department of Surgery at the hospital, said the Israeli army withdrew from al-Shifa Hospital, leaving behind widespread destruction throughout the hospital’s buildings and facilities.
Abu Sada underlined that the destruction inflicted by the Israeli army has made it impossible to resume medical operations to aid the wounded and patients.
0850 GMT — Israeli president, army chief extend apologies over killing of foreign aid workers in Gaza
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and army chief Herzi Halevi extended apologies for the Israeli army’s killing of aid workers in Gaza affiliated with the US-based aid organisation World Central Kitchen (WCK).
In a statement by his office, Herzog made a phone call with WCK founder Chef Jose Anders during which he “expressed his deep sorrow and sincere apologies over the tragic loss of life of WCK staff in the Gaza Strip.”
The Israeli army’s Chief of Staff Halevi also issued an apology for the Israeli air strike on the aid convoy in Gaza.
0626 GMT — Israel accused of ‘genocide in plain sight’ by British lawmaker
An independent British member of parliament has denounced Israel’s killing of international aid workers, saying Israel is “out of control.”
Referring to Monday’s deadly strike in Gaza on aid workers with the food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), Claudia Webbe said on X that Israel is out of control and is “deliberately killing” international aid workers.
Also referring to Israel’s recent move to ban the Qatari television Al Jazeera, she stressed that it has passed a law to “ban journalists.”
“Israel is killing Palestinians in Gaza. Murder and genocide in plain sight. They don’t want you to know the truth,” underlined Webbe.
0435 GMT — British lawmaker calls for probe into whether UK-supplied arms used in Israeli attack on aid workers
A British lawmaker called on the government to launch an investigation into the Israeli killing of humanitarian aid workers in Gaza, saying the attack showed why Britain “should immediately suspend arms sales to Israel.”
In a letter to Foreign Secretary David Cameron, Labour MP Richard Burgon demanded that the government immediately launch a full investigation into whether UK-supplied arms were used in an Israeli air strike in Gaza on Monday that killed seven aid workers with the food charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), including three British nationals.
“This attack once again underlines why the UK should immediately suspend arms sales to Israel, given the role these could be playing in such deadly attacks on Gaza and even in war crimes carried out by the Israeli government,” said the member of parliament for East Leeds.
0425 GMT — Four officers injured in Israel car-ramming attack: police
Four Israeli police were injured in a car-ramming attack at a checkpoint in the centre of the country, police said, adding that the assailant was killed after trying to stab other security forces.
The 26-year-old man crashed into four police officers at a checkpoint in the town of Kochav Yair, which borders the occupied West Bank and sits northeast of Tel Aviv.
The officers suffered minor injuries and were taken to hospital, Israeli police says.
0405 GMT — US conducts humanitarian airdrops into Gaza
US 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 four C-130 U.S. Air Force aircraft and U.S. Army Soldiers specialized in aerial delivery of U.S humanitarian assistance supplies,” CENTCOM said on X.
The planes dropped over 50,680 U S meal equivalents into northern Gaza, it added.
0106 GMT — Israel says strike killing aid workers was ‘grave mistake‘
Israel’s defence chief has said that a strike that killed seven aid workers in Gaza was a “grave mistake”, after the incident prompted a chorus of international condemnation.
“This incident was a grave mistake,” Israeli military chief Herzi Halevi said in a video message on the strike that hit a World Central Kitchen (WCK) convoy on Monday.
“It shouldn’t have happened,” Halevi said, as he blamed the strike on a “misidentification — at night during a war in very complex conditions.”
“We are sorry for the unintentional harm to the members of WCK.”
0042 GMT — Biden says Israel ‘has not done enough to protect aid workers’
US President Joe Biden has said he is “outraged” and “heartbroken” over an Israeli air strike in Gaza that killed seven aid workers, highlighting that Israel “has not done enough to protect aid workers.”
“They were providing food to hungry civilians in the middle of a war. They were brave and selfless. Their deaths are a tragedy,” Biden said in a statement.
Noting that Israel has pledged to conduct a thorough investigation into the killings, he said “that investigation must be swift, it must bring accountability, and its findings must be made public.”
2130 GMT — Palestine reignites its quest for full UN seat amid Israel’s war
Palestine has officially revived its application to become a full member state in the United Nations, according to a letter from their UN envoy.
“Upon instructions of the Palestinian leadership, I have the honor to request that renewed consideration be given to this application by the Security Council during April 2024,” UN envoy Riyad Mansour wrote in the letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, which has been transmitted to the council.
The Palestinians, who have had observer status at the world body since 2012, have tried for years to gain full membership, which would amount to recognition of Palestinian statehood, already recognised by most of the UN member states.
2100 GMT — Missile attack from Lebanon targets northern Israel: reports
At least 14 missiles have been launched from Lebanon toward the city of Nahariyya and illegal settlements in western Galilee in northern Israel, Israeli media reported.
Two missiles were intercepted, and seven fell in open areas, Yedioth Ahronoth daily said without specifying the fate of the remaining rockets.
For the first time since last November, sirens sounded in the city of Nahariya earlier in the night, according to the newspaper. There have been no reported injuries as of yet.
