UN calls for international probe into reports of mass graves at Gaza hospitals

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Summary:

• Hezbollah announced two of its members had been killed by Israeli fire Tuesday, with the Israeli army saying it eliminated "two significant" members of the Iran-backed group in south Lebanon.

• UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that he was "horrified" by the destruction of the Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza and reports of mass graves discovered there.

• The head of Israeli military intelligence, Major General Aharon Haliva, has resigned and will leave once a successor is appointed, the military said in a statement on Monday. Haliva is the first senior figure to step down over Hamas's attack on October 7. 
• At least 34,183 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 77,143 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks that sparked the war and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.

10:22pm: Head of UN agency for Palestinians urges probe into staff killings

The director of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees Philippe Lazzarini hit back at Israel Tuesday, calling for a Security Council probe into the "blatant disregard" for UN operations in Gaza after some 180 staffers were killed.

As of Tuesday, 180 UNRWA staff have been killed in the war, 160 premises have been damaged or destroyed, and at least 400 people have been killed while seeking the protection of the UN flag, Lazzarini said.

Lazzarini said that he recently "called on the members of the Security Council for an independent investigation and accountability for the blatant disregard of UN premises, UN staff, and UN operations in the Gaza Strip".

UNRWA was established in 1949 to serve Palestinians who lost their homes in the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, as well as their descendants. There are now 5.9 million registered Palestinian refugees.

10:02pm: Lebanon's Hezbollah says it has launched 'dozens' of rockets at Israel after civilian deaths

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said it launched dozens of rockets at northern Israel Tuesday in response to the killing of two civilians in a strike blamed on Israel in Lebanon's south.

Hezbollah fighters fired "dozens of Katyusha rockets" at northern Israel "as part of the response to the Israeli enemy's attacks on ... civilian homes, specifically the horrific massacre in Hanin and the killing and injuring of civilians," the group said in a statement.

8:25pm: US says reports on mass graves in Gaza are troubling

The US State Department said on Tuesday that reports on mass graves in Gaza were troubling.

Palestinian authorities reported finding hundreds of bodies in mass graves at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis this week after it was abandoned by Israeli troops. Bodies were also reported at the Al Shifa medical site following an Israeli special forces operation.

8:02pm: White House wants 'real progress' before restoring UNRWA funding

The White House said Tuesday it would "have to see real progress" before restoring its funding to the UN agency for Palestinians, the main aid agency operating in war-torn Gaza.

The comments from National Security Council spokesman John Kirby came after the US froze aid to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency following accusations by Israel that its staff may have participated in the October 7, 2023, Hamas attacks.

A UN probe is looking into those accusations. 

A separate independent review into UNRWA found that although the agency had some "neutrality-related issues", Israel had yet to provide evidence for incendiary allegations that staff were members of terrorist organisations.

7:33pm: Risk of famine 'very high' in Gaza, US official says

The risk of famine throughout Gaza, especially in the north, is "very high", Washington's special regional envoy for humanitarian issues said on Tuesday.

David Satterfield told reporters that Israel must do everything possible to facilitate efforts to avert a famine and called for more to be done to get aid to those in need, particularly in the north.

7:31pm: Rescuers say Israeli strike kills two Lebanese civilians, including child

Local rescuers and official media said an Israeli strike killed a woman and a girl from the same family on Tuesday in Lebanon's south, where the Iran-backed Hezbollah group and Israel have exchanged regular fire.

The strike comes as Hezbollah said it launched drone attacks on north Israel bases earlier in the day, in retaliation for the killing of a fighter Israel described as "significant".

A civil defence source told AFP that "a woman in her 50s and a 12-year-old girl have been killed" in an Israeli strike while several injured people from the same family were taken to hospital.

Lebanon's National News Agency (NNA) confirmed a woman and a child had been killed, adding that "six others were wounded in an enemy air strike on a house in Hanin", near the Israeli border.

"Enemy warplanes carried out a raid on a two-storey house, firing two air-to-surface missiles and completely destroying it," the NNA said, adding that the building housed "a family that had not left ... since Israeli attacks started".

6:22pm: Israeli forces kill Palestinian man during West Bank raid

Israeli forces killed a Palestinian man and wounded two people including a child during raids in the occupied West Bank city of Jericho and adjacent refugee camps, Palestinian health authorities said on Tuesday.

The dead man, identified as 44-year-old Shadi Issa Galaita, had been standing outside his house in Jericho city, watching troops as they carried out a raid but had not been involved in the events, his uncle, Shafiq Jalayta, said.

"He was standing at the door, watching. My son asked him to go inside but he told him that he is far from what's happening," he told Reuters. "A sniper shot him from above, in his chest, they shot three bullets but only one hit him, and he died on the spot, he didn't do anything, nothing."

The Palestinian news agency WAFA said the two wounded, including a child, were hit by bullets during a separate incident in the Aqabat Jabr refugee camp, just outside Jericho, where local residents said youths threw stones at the soldiers and there was a limited exchange of fire.

5:29pm: More than 130 people arrested overnight at NYU pro-Palestinian protests

More than 130 people were arrested overnight during pro-Palestinian protests at the New York University campus as student demonstrations gather pace in the United States over the Israel-Hamas war. 

The New York Police Department said 133 people had been arrested and released after being issued with court summons, as protests also intensify at Yale, Columbia University and other campuses.

Read morePolice arrest more than 130 people at New York University Gaza demonstrations

4:57pm: Israel intensifies strikes across Gaza

Israeli strikes intensified across Gaza on Tuesday in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, residents said, and the army ordered fresh evacuations in the north of the strip, warning civilians they were in a "dangerous combat zone".

Strikes by air and shelling from tanks on the ground were also reported in central and southern areas in what residents said were almost non-stop bombardments.

In a post on social media platform X, Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee urged residents of four zones in Beit Lahiya on Gaza's northern edge to move to shelter in two designated areas.

The renewed shelling and bombing of northern Gaza comes almost four months after the Israeli army announced it was drawing down its troops there, saying Hamas no longer controlled those areas.

4:26pm: Hamas armed wing al-Qassam Brigades calls for escalation across all fronts

A spokesperson for Hamas's armed al-Qassam Brigades, Abu Ubaida, called on Tuesday for an escalation across all fronts in a televised speech marking 200 days since the start of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza on October 7.

4:06pm: US takes aim at Israel's ultra-Orthodox military unit

For the first time, the United States is expected to impose sanctions on an Israeli military unit. The Netzah Yehuda Battalion, initially set up to accommodate Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jews but which quickly expanded to become a popular unit for radical right-wing settlers, has over the years been accused of a series of human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank. 

Read more'An Israeli-style Wagner Group': The Israeli ultra-Orthodox military unit in Washington’s crosshairs

3:52pm: Israel orders new evacuations in northern Gaza

Israel has ordered new evacuations in the Beit Lahia area of northern Gaza, describing it as a "dangerous combat zone", Israel's army spokesperson said on Tuesday.

2:30pm: Israeli military says bodies at Gaza hospital were examined in search for hostages 

Israel's military rejected on Tuesday Palestinian allegations of mass burials and possible executions at a Gaza hospital, and said it had exhumed corpses to try to find hostages taken by Hamas in October.

"The claim that the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) buried Palestinian bodies is baseless and unfounded," the military said in a statement, adding that its forces returned bodies to where they had been buried, after they were examined.

"The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages. The examination was carried out respectfully while maintaining the dignity of the deceased."

Gaza's Civil Defence agency said Monday that about 200 bodies were uncovered of people killed and buried by Israeli forces at the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis.

1:56pm: UN calls for international probe into deaths at Gaza hospitals

The UN called on Tuesday for an international investigation into reports of mass graves at two Gaza hospitals destroyed in Israeli sieges, saying war crimes may have been committed.

The United Nations rights office said it was "horrified" by the destruction of Gaza's biggest hospital, Al-Shifa in Gaza City, and its second largest, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Yunis.

On Monday, the Palestinian territory's Civil Defence agency said health workers had uncovered more than 200 bodies of people killed and buried at Nasser hospital, which was besieged by Israeli troops last month. 

In early April the World Health Organization said Al-Shifa had been destroyed by an Israeli siege, leaving an "empty shell" containing many bodies.

The UN rights office on Tuesday demanded "independent, effective and transparent investigations into the deaths".

1:46pm: Lebanon's Hezbollah launches deepest attack into Israel since Gaza war

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah group said on Tuesday it had launched a drone attack targeting Israeli military bases north of the city of Acre, in its deepest attack into Israeli territory since the Gaza war began.

12:59pm: Israel military strikes northern Gaza in heaviest shelling in weeks

Israel bombarded northern Gaza overnight in some of the heaviest shelling in weeks, panicking residents and flattening neighbourhoods in an area where the Israeli army had previously drawn down its troops, residents said on Tuesday.

Tanks made a new incursion east of Beit Hanoun on the northern edge of the Gaza Strip, though they did not penetrate far into the city, residents and Hamas media said. Gunfire reached some schools where displaced residents were sheltering.

12:49pm: Qatar says there is no justification to end Hamas office in Doha

Qatar said on Tuesday there was no justification to end the presence of an office for Palestinian militant group Hamas in Doha while its mediation efforts continued in the Gaza war.

Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al-Ansari added in a press conference that Qatar remained committed to mediation but was reassessing its role in "frustration with attacks" on its efforts.

12:42pm: Israeli strikes kill two Hezbollah members

Hezbollah announced two of its members had been killed by Israeli fire Tuesday, with the Israeli army saying it eliminated "two significant" members of the Iran-backed group in south Lebanon.

Since Hamas's unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel triggered war in Gaza, there have been near-daily cross-border exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and the Israeli army.

On Tuesday morning, a source close to the group told AFP an Israeli drone strike deep into Lebanon killed an engineer working for Hezbollah's air defence forces as he was travelling in a vehicle.

Hezbollah said two of its fighters had been killed, one of them overnight.

The Israeli army said it had killed "two significant terrorists in Hezbollah's aerial unit" on Tuesday morning and overnight.

Since October 7, at least 378 people have been killed in Lebanon, mostly Hezbollah fighters but also 70 civilians, according to an AFP tally.

11:12am: Erdogan says he does not believe Hamas will leave Qatar, according to media

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was quoted by media as saying on Tuesday that he does not believe the Palestinian militant group Hamas will leave Qatar, where it is based, adding he had seen no such signs from Doha either.

Speaking to reporters on a return flight from Iraq, Erdogan also said the full capture of Gaza by Israel would "open the door" for further invasions of Palestinian territories, according to broadcaster Haberturk and other media outlets.

11:10am: Aid workers are worried over looming Rafah invasion

An expected Israeli assault on Rafah has aid groups scrambling for ways to help the 1.5 million civilians sheltering in the south Gaza city, but the uncertain timeline poses a logistical nightmare.

"We always are prepared with plans to upscale or downscale but, really, we don't know what to expect," said Bushra Khalidi, head of advocacy at Oxfam.

Oxfam joined 12 other aid groups in a joint call for a ceasefire on April 3, stressing that more than a million civilians, including at least 610,000 children, were "in direct line of fire" in Rafah.

11:06am: UN rights chief 'horrified' by mass grave reports at Gaza hospital

UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Tuesday that he was "horrified" by the destruction of the Nasser and Al Shifa medical facilities in Gaza and reports of mass graves discovered there. Turk, addressing a UN briefing via a spokesperson, also decried Israeli strikes on Gaza in recent days, which he said have killed mostly women and children.

He also repeated a warning against a full-scale incursion on Rafah, saying this could lead to "further atrocity crimes".

8:42am: Israeli anti-government protests continue as UNRWA report says agency is ‘irreplaceable’

Israeli protesters burnt a symbolic Passover table outside Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's house at the start of the Jewish holiday on Monday, accusing him of failing hostages in Gaza. “It was a bitter Passover in many homes across the country,” says FRANCE 24’s Jerusalem correspondent Irris Makler. “Many people had an empty chair for the hostages.”

This came as an independent review on UNRWA found some “neutrality-related issues” but noted that the agency is “irreplaceable”. In reaction, Israel called the report “a whitewash, saying it didn’t go far enough”, according to Makler.

The review also said Israel has yet to provide evidence for its allegations that a significant number of UNRWA staff were members of terrorist organisations.

Watch Makler’s full report from Jerusalem below:

03:22

6:00am: US Senate to vote on wartime aid package 

The Senate is returning to Washington on Tuesday to vote on $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, taking the final steps in Congress to send the legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk after months of delays and contentious internal debate over how involved the United States should be abroad.

The legislation would send $26 billion in wartime assistance to Israel and humanitarian relief to citizens of Gaza, and $8 billion to counter China in Taiwan and the Indo-Pacific.

Yesterday's key developments:

• Palestinian militant group Hamas has "moved the goal post" and changed its demands in the hostage negotiations with Israel mediated by Egypt and Qatar, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Monday.
• Gaza's Civil Defence agency said Monday that health workers had uncovered around 200 bodies over the past three days of people killed and buried by Israeli forces at a hospital in Khan Younis. 
• Hezbollah fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel on Monday, drawing retaliatory strikes. The Israeli military said 35 projectiles were launched at one of its bases, striking the sources of the rocket fire, without causing any casualties.
• An independent review group on UNRWA found some "neutrality-related issues", its much-anticipated report said Monday, but noted Israel had yet to provide evidence for incendiary allegations that staff were members of terrorist organisations.
• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday said that the United States is looking into allegations of human rights abuses by Israel in its operations against Hamas.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)