Israeli warplanes have destroyed the Iranian consulate in Damascus, killing several people including a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
Among those killed was Mohammad Reza Zahedi, a senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), Iranian state media reported. Iranian state television said several Iranian diplomats had been killed.
We’ll bring you more updates as they come – in our live blog below:
Closing summary
Senior US and Israeli officials planned to hold a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss the Biden administration’s alternative proposals to an Israeli military invasion of Rafah, a US official told Reuters. Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, called off a planned visit to Washington last week by a senior Israeli delegation after the US allowed passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations on Monday. Two days later Israel asked the White House to reschedule a high-level meeting on military plans for Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, officials said, in an apparent bid to ease tensions between the two allies. An American official told the Associated Press that the US anticipates that “expert teams” will follow up on the talks in person.
The Hamas-run Gaza media office said Israeli forces killed 400 Palestinians around al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, including a female doctor and her son, also a doctor, and put the medical facility out of function. “The occupation destroyed and burnt all buildings inside al-Shifa medical complex. They bulldozed the courtyards, burying dozens of bodies of martyrs in the rubble, turning the place into a mass graveyard,” Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the media office, was quoted as saying by Reuters. “This is a crime against humanity.” Israeli forces said earlier they had withdrawn from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City after a two-week operation. Residents described scenes of “total destruction” at the site, saying Israeli troops had “destroyed all sense of life” there. The Israeli military said it had killed and detained hundreds of gunmen in clashes in the area of the hospital, and seized weaponry and intelligence documents.
Benjamin Netanyahu revived moves to shut down Al Jazeera in Israel, saying through his party spokesperson that parliament would be convened in the evening to ratify the necessary law. Thereafter, Netanyahu “will take immediate action to shut down Al Jazeera in accordance with procedure set out in the law”, the Likud party statement said.
Netanyahu will be discharged from hospital on Tuesday afternoon after a hernia procedure, a statement from his office said. Earlier, the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem said he was conscious and conversing with family, and that he was recovering. It did not specify how long that might take.
At least 32,845 Palestinians have been killed and 75,392 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement. There have been 63 Palestinians killed and 94 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry said.
Israeli police said on Monday they had arrested the sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as part of an investigation in southern Israel. Police told AFP that Sabah Abdel Salam Haniyeh, who is an Israeli citizen, was taken into custody in the town of Tel Sheva as part of an investigation also involving Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet.
We are closing this blog now, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Middle East coverage here.
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Here are some of the latest images coming out from the newswires:
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Netanyahu to be discharged from hospital on Tuesday after successful hernia procedure
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, will be discharged from hospital on Tuesday afternoon following his hernia procedure, a statement from his office said.
“The prime minister is feeling very well, and he continues to carry out his daily routine from the hospital,” it said.
Earlier, the Hadassah Medical Centre in Jerusalem said Netanyahu was conscious and conversing with family after undergoing a successful hernia operation, adding that he was recovering. It did not specify how long that might take.
Netanyahu, 74, was fully sedated yesterday while undergoing surgery for a hernia doctors discovered during a routine examination.
Israel’s deputy prime minister and justice minister, Yariv Levin, temporarily served as acting prime minister.
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A second shipment of food aid arrived by sea on Monday in the latest test of a new maritime route from Cyprus.
One of the three boats could be seen off the coast, and Cyprus’ foreign minister, Constantinos Kombos, said they had received permission to offload, the Associated Press reported. The precise mechanism of delivery was not yet clear.
Israel has faced accusations, including from the UN’s top rights official, Volker Türk, that it is potentially committing “a war crime” by continuing to obstruct food aid to Gaza’s population of 2.3 million.
Aid groups say only a fraction of the supplies required have been allowed in since October, when Israel placed Gaza under near-total siege.
Israel has tried to blame shortages on the Palestinian side, namely a lack of capacity to distribute aid, while humanitarian groups say that Israel is not allowing enough trucks in to make deliveries.
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As we mentioned earlier, there are reports that the US and Israel were due to hold a virtual meeting on Monday over the planned offensive in Rafah, which Benjamin Netanyahu has come under pressure to abandon.
“The meeting is scheduled for today. It will be online. There may be a meeting in person later this week,” an Israeli source told AFP.
An American official, meanwhile, told the Associated Press that the US anticipates that “expert teams” will follow up on the talks in person.
Israel had agreed to send a delegation to Washington for discussions on the plans, but cancelled the trip after the US failed to veto a UN security council ceasefire call, abstaining instead.
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Israeli troops killed 400 Palestinians around al-Shifa hospital, Gaza media office says
The Hamas-run Gaza media office said Israeli forces killed 400 Palestinians around al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, including a female doctor and her son, also a doctor, and put the medical facility out of function.
“The occupation destroyed and burnt all buildings inside al-Shifa medical complex. They bulldozed the courtyards, burying dozens of bodies of martyrs in the rubble, turning the place into a mass graveyard,” Ismail Al-Thawabta, director of the media office, was quoted as saying by Reuters. “This is a crime against humanity.”
These claims are yet to be independently verified. The Israel Defense Forces have been approached for comment.
Israel’s military announced earlier that it had pulled out of al-Shifa hospital after a two-week raid that left most of the major medical complex in ruins.
The Israeli military said it had killed or detained hundreds of Hamas militants in the hospital area, seized weaponry and intelligence documents, lost two soldiers in fighting, and claimed to have sought to prevent harm to civilians, patients or medics.
Hamas and medics deny any armed presence in hospitals.
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Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly revives attempt to close Al Jazeera in Israel
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who is under considerable pressure from families of Israeli hostages held captive in Gaza, has reportedly revived a push to close down Al Jazeera in Israel.
Netanyahu urged his coalition government to pass legislation in the Knesset that would allow senior ministers to shut down foreign news networks deemed a security risk, according to the Qatar-owned media network, Al Jazeera.
He promised to “immediately act to close Al Jazeera” following the law’s adoption, according to a statement from his Likud party, with officials told to ensure the Israeli parliament passes a second and third reading of the bill tonight.
Al Jazeera has previously accused Israel of systematically targeting its offices and personnel.
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An Israeli supreme court decision on the divisive issue of military draft exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jews has gone into effect.
Reuters has filed this report:
The court decided last week to freeze funding to Jewish seminaries whose students have not turned up to be drafted into the military.
Monday was also the last day for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to submit a bill that would address the mass draft exemptions granted to the ultra-Orthodox, which it was not expected to do on time.
Ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel enjoy a system of broad exemptions to Israel’s compulsory military service and the issue has long divided the nation.Secular Israelis say the ultra-Orthodox should share in the burden of protecting the country, a demand that has sharpened during the war against Hamas in Gaza. The ultra-Orthodox, meanwhile, say drafting them into the military would compromise their pious way of life.
They say they share the burden of service by praying and being observant Jews. The supreme court ruled that the current system of conscription exemptions is discriminatory.
You can read more about the military exemption here:
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Death toll in Gaza reaches 32,845, says health ministry
At least 32,845 Palestinians have been killed and 75,392 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Monday.
There have been 63 Palestinians killed and 94 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry statement added.
Most of the casualties have been women and children, the health ministry has said, and thousands more bodies are likely to remain uncounted under rubble across Gaza.
Summary of the day so far...
Israeli forces have withdrawn from al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City after a two-week operation, the Israeli military said on Monday, leaving behind a wasteland of ruined buildings, and, according to Gaza’s health ministry, dozens of bodies. Footage circulated on social media – and not yet verified by the Guardian – showed the bodies of dead Palestinian people, some covered in dirty blankets, scattered on the ground. It showed the grounds heavily ploughed up, and numerous buildings outside the facility either flattened or burned down. Residents described scenes of “total destruction” at the site, saying Israeli troops had “destroyed all sense of life” there. The Israeli military said it had killed and detained hundreds of gunmen in clashes in the area of the hospital, and seized weaponry and intelligence documents.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has undergone a “successful” hernia surgery, according to a statement from his office. He had entered surgery yesterday to treat a hernia discovered during a routine check-up, as thousands of Israelis joined the latest anti-government protests in Jerusalem. Demonstrators, including relatives of those being held captive in Gaza, criticised the failure to free the Israeli hostages and called for new elections.
Israeli police said on Monday they had arrested the sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as part of an investigation in southern Israel. Police told AFP that Sabah Abdel Salam Haniyeh, who is an Israeli citizen, was taken into custody in the town of Tel Sheva as part of an investigation also involving Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet.
The US and Israel are expected to hold a virtual meeting later to discuss the Biden administration’s alternative proposals to an Israeli military invasion of Rafah. Israeli officials have said that Rafah, located on the Egyptian border, is Hamas’ last major stronghold in Gaza. An estimated 1.5 million Palestinians – over half of Gaza’s population – have taken refuge in Rafah after fleeing Israeli bombardment elsewhere in the territory. Netanyahu has been warned that launching a ground invasion of the southern city would have devastating humanitarian consequences and would result in many more civilians being killed. The White House has said it will not support a Rafah operation without the Israelis presenting a credible plan to ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians.
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In Wisconsin, in the US, a campaign by anti-war voters to abandon Joe Biden during the Democratic primary has found an ally in the labor movement – but not from its traditional leaders.
Instead, the Listen to Wisconsin campaign, an effort inspired by the Michigan campaign to reject Biden during the primary over his military support for Israel, has earned the support of rank-and-file trade unionists and a statewide coalition of low-wage workers and immigrants angry about the president’s handling of the war.
“Individuals in labor have been very active,” said Janan Najeeb, a Wisconsin organiser spearheading the Listen to Wisconsin campaign.
Israel’s war on Gaza has laid bare a divide within the labor movement – which has played out largely between union leaders in the AFL-CIO, the largest US labor federation, and the movement’s rank and file, many of whom have vocally opposed the war and turned to their unions as an avenue for political action.
You can read the full story by my colleague, Alice Herman, here:
Here is a video of the destruction left in the wake of the Israeli army’s withdrawal from the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City:
“During [the Israeli] siege inside al-Shifa hospital, we did not have the means to treat patients … We could not treat or bury them,” a nurse with the hospital told Al Jazeera.
“The smell of corpses filled the place,” she added. “What happened to us is indescribable.”
Hundreds of residents have rushed to the area around the al-Shifa hospital to check on damage to the surrounding residential districts.
“I haven’t stopped crying since I arrived here, horrible massacres were committed by the occupation here,” said Samir Basel, 43, speaking to Reuters via a chat app as he toured the hospital’s grounds in Gaza City.
“The place is destroyed, buildings have been burnt and destroyed. This place needs to be rebuilt – there is no Shifa hospital anymore.”
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Israeli police said on Monday they had arrested the sister of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as part of an investigation in southern Israel.
Police told AFP that Sabah Abdel Salam Haniyeh, who is an Israeli citizen, was taken into custody in the town of Tel Sheva as part of an investigation also involving Israel’s security agency, Shin Bet.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a senior Israeli military spokesperson, said Hamas and the smaller Islamic Jihad group had established their main northern headquarters inside the al-Shifa hospital, which the Israeli military pulled out from earlier.
He said the troops had arrested about 900 suspected militants during the raid, including more than 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad fighters, and seized over $3m in different currencies, as well as weapons. These claims are yet to be independently verified.
He denied that any civilians had been harmed by Israeli forces, saying the army had evacuated more than 200 of the estimated 300 to 350 patients and delivered food, water and medical supplies to the rest, according to the Associated Press.
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Gaza is facing deepening anarchy as the last remnants of civil order break down, leaving a vacuum increasingly filled by armed gangs, clans, powerful families and criminals, dozens of interviews with senior aid officials, experts and people in the territory reveal.
The interviewees described the continuing threat of famine and bombardment by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) but also a brutal new world in which guns, knives and intimidation often determine who gets desperately needed humanitarian assistance.
The five-month Israeli military offensive has removed Hamas from power in most of Gaza but the Islamist militant group has not been replaced by any other form of governance. Systematic targeting of Gaza’s police force, which Israel considers part of Hamas, and the release of hundreds of prisoners from jails by the group early in the conflict have exacerbated the chaos.
You can read the full story here:
Residents describe 'total destruction' around al-Shifa hospital after Israeli troops 'destroyed all sense of life' there
Mohammed Mahdi, a resident, has described a scene of “total destruction” around the site of the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City, after Israeli troops pulled out of the medicial facility after a two-week military operation.
He told the Associated Press that several buildings had been burned down and that he had counted six bodies in the area, including two in the hospital courtyard. This claim has not been independently verified by the Guardian.
Video footage circulating online showed heavily damaged and charred buildings, mounds of dirt that had been churned up by bulldozers and patients on stretchers in darkened corridors.
Another resident, Yahia Abu Auf, said there were still patients, medical workers and displaced people sheltering inside the medical compound after several patients had been taken to the nearby Ahli hospital. He said army bulldozers had plowed over a makeshift cemetery in Shifa’s courtyard.
“The situation is indescribable,” he said. “The occupation destroyed all sense of life here.”
The Israeli military said it had killed and detained hundreds of gunmen in clashes in the area of the hospital, and seized weaponry and intelligence documents, while “preventing harm to civilians”. Hamas and medical staff deny that Palestinian fighters have any armed presence in hospitals.
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Tens of thousands of Israeli protesters call for Netanyahu’s removal
Thousands of people took to the streets of Jerusalem for a second consecutive night on Sunday, calling for greater efforts to free the hostages held in Gaza and the ousting of Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
The protesters in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Be’er Sheva, Caesarea and other cities on Saturday – and at a further demonstration outside the Knesset in Jerusalem on Sunday – demanded the release of those still held captive in Gaza after close to six months, and labelled Netanyahu an “obstacle to the deal”, vowing to persist until he leaves power.
The families of hostages have urged ministers, including Netanyahu’s political rival and war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, to unite with other MKs in removing Netanyahu from power, accusing the PM of deliberately sabotaging efforts to secure the release of their relatives.
According to Israel, 253 Israelis and foreigners were kidnapped by Hamas on 7 October. Of those taken, about 130 remain unaccounted for.
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Opening summary
Welcome to our continuing live coverage of Israel’s war in Gaza and the wider Middle East crisis.
Israel has confirmed that its forces have withdrawn from Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital after a two-week operation there.
Earlier, Palestinian residents reported that the Israeli military had withdrawn and the Gaza health ministry also said the IDF had withdrawn tanks and vehicles from the complex housing the hospital, Agence France-Presse (AFP) said.
More on that in a moment but first, here is a summary of the latest developments:
Talks aimed at brokering a truce between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip resumed in Cairo on Sunday, but Hamas, the militant Palestinian group, were reportedly not present as it waited to hear from mediators on whether a new Israeli offer was on the table. Egypt, Qatar and the US have mediated previous rounds of negotiations, but a workable agreement has remained elusive.
Israel’s Red Sea port city of Eilat came under an aerial attack on Monday that caused no casualties, the military said, with an Iranian-backed armed group in Iraq issuing a claim of responsibility. The military’s statement said a flying object launched from east of Israel had struck a building in Eilat. There was no interception by air defences, it said. The Islamic Resistance in Iraq, a militia, later said it had attacked a “vital objective” in Israel “using appropriate weapons”.
Israel has given the UN a proposal to dismantle Unrwa, its relief agency in the Palestinian territories, and transfer its staff to a replacement agency to make large-scale food deliveries into Gaza, according to UN sources. The proposal was presented late last week by the Israeli chief of the general staff, Lt Gen Herzi Halevi, to UN officials in Israel, who forwarded it to the organisation’s secretary general, António Guterres, on Saturday, sources familiar with the discussions said.
An Israeli airstrike hit a tent camp in the courtyard of a crowded hospital in central Gaza on Sunday, according to reports. An associated press reporter filmed the strike and aftermath at al-Aqsa Martyrs hospital in Deir al-Balah, where thousands of people have sheltered. The Israeli military said it struck a command centre of the Islamic Jihad militant group and claimed the hospital’s functioning was not affected. “The command centre and terrorists were struck precisely, intended on minimising harm to uninvolved civilians in the area of the hospital,” the military said.
The strike at al-Aqsa hospital was witnessed by a World Health Organization team sent there to assess needs and to collect incubators for the north of Gaza, WHO chief, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said in a post on X. “Four people were killed and 17 injured. WHO staff are all accounted for.” He gave no details of the victims. Several journalists were reportedly injured in the strike.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has undergone a “successful” hernia surgery, according to a statement from his office. Netanyahu was “in good shape and beginning to recover”, AFP reports. Doctors discovered the hernia on Saturday and Netanyahu had the surgery after completing his daily schedule, his office said.
The United States and Israel are expected to hold a virtual meeting on Monday to discuss the Biden administration’s alternative proposals to an Israeli military invasion of Rafah, Axios reported on Sunday citing three Israeli and US officials.
At least 32,782 Palestinians have been killed and 75,298 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said in a statement.
A bomb exploded in a shopping area in a northern Syrian city held by pro-Turkish forces on Sunday morning, killing eight people and injuring more than 20 others, a war monitor said. At least “eight people were killed and 23 others wounded” when “a car bomb exploded in the middle of a popular market” in Aleppo province’s Azaz, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. It is unclear who carried out the attack in the town which is run by pro-Turkish militias fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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Israel withdraws from al-Shifa hospital area
Israeli forces say they have withdrawn from Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital after a two-week operation.
Earlier, the Gaza health ministry and Palestinian residents said the Israeli military had withdrawn tanks and vehicles from the complex housing the al-Shifa hospital, according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).
After a two week raid, an AFP journalist and eyewitnesses saw tanks and vehicles pulling out.
The Israeli army said it had killed about 200 militants in fighting in and around al-Shifa, and that it seized weapons and valuable intelligence.
It has been accused of recklessly endangering civilians and of decimating a health sector already overwhelmed because of the war.
21 patients have died since the hospital came under siege on 18 March. Hostilities continue around the hospital according to updates from Al-Shifa hospital in #Gaza reported by a health worker inside the hospital.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 31, 2024
107 patients are in an inadequate building, within the hospital…
The World Health Organization has said 21 patients have died in al-Shifa in the past two weeks, and said yesterday that over 100 patients requiring care needed to urgently be moved to safety amid unsanitary conditions.
“Among the patients are 4 children and 28 critical patients lacking necessary means of care – no diapers, urine bags, water to clean wounds. Many have infected wounds and are dehydrated,” the WHO’s head, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, wrote on X on Sunday.
“Since yesterday only one bottle of water remains for every 15 people. Contagious diseases are spreading due to extremely unsanitary conditions, and a lack of water.”
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