Here’s how things stand on Thursday, April 11, 2024:
Fighting and humanitarian crisis
- An Israeli attack in northern Gaza on Wednesday killed three sons of Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh as Israel continued its bombardment of the besieged enclave on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.
- Israel said they were Hamas operatives, while Haniyeh accused Israel of acting in “the spirit of revenge and murder”.
- Separately, Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel is planning to “flood” Gaza with aid through a new crossing and a port just north of the besieged territory.
- He promised to “streamline security checks” that aid organisations have blamed for choking the flow of assistance to the territory’s more than two million people through six months of war.
- US forces dropped more humanitarian assistance into northern Gaza on Wednesday, according to a statement from US Central Command. “The US C-130s dropped over 50,680 US meal equivalents into Northern Gaza,” the statement said.
Diplomacy and geopolitical tensions
- On Thursday, the Israeli air force conducted joint exercises with the Cypriot air force, according to a report by the Israeli Army Radio station GLZ. GLZ said it involved long-range drills and an attack on a remote target.
- A Lebanese man, Mohammad Srour, sanctioned by the US for his alleged links with the Palestinian group Hamas, was found dead on Wednesday after he went missing for a week. He was sanctioned in 2019 for giving “financial, material, technological support, financial or other services” to Hamas and for his affiliation with Hezbollah.
- In the US, President Joe Biden promised “ironclad” support for Israel on Wednesday as Iran threatens reprisals over a strike that levelled an Iranian consulate building in Damascus and killed two generals.
- In a post on X, Foreign Minister Israel Katz threatened that Israeli forces would strike Iran directly if it launched an attack from its territory against Israel.
- Reuters news agency reported on Thursday that the US’s Middle East envoy, Brett McGurk, called the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar and Iraq, asking them to deliver a message to Iran to avoid escalating tensions with Israel. Iran blames Israel for the rise in tensions.
- German airline Lufthansa said on Wednesday it had suspended flights to Tehran due to the heightened fears of a possible conflagration between Iran and Israel.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
- On Thursday, Israeli troops reportedly carried out raids in two towns in the occupied West Bank.
- An Al Jazeera correspondent said Israeli forces entered the town of Beit Ummar north of Hebron in the early hours of Thursday morning. They also went into Idhna, which lies west of Hebron.
