JERUSALEM: Dozens of Israeli peace activists gathered on Thursday to show solidarity with Palestinians ahead of annual rallies marking Israel&#39;s capture of East Jerusalem, with the thousands-strong marches known for descending into nationalist anti-Palestinian violence. Jerusalem Day, as the occasion is known, commemorates Israeli forces taking East Jerusalem during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. Israel considers all of Jerusalem, including the annexed Palestinian-majority east, to be its indivisible capital. The international community, however, does not recognize this. Every year, thousands of Israeli nationalists, many of them religious Jews, march through Jerusalem and its annexed Old City, including in predominantly Palestinian neighborhoods, waving Israeli flags, dancing and sometimes accosting residents. Under the blazing morning sun on Thursday, dozens of Israeli peace activists wearing white T-shirts and carrying colorful flowers descended the stone steps towards the Old City&#39;s Damascus Gate. One elderly woman stood handing out yellow flowers to Palestinians crossing through the gate, while another greeted them with &quot;good morning&quot; in Arabic. Clutching white flowers in his hands, 52-year-old Ilan Perez said he wanted to &quot;show my sympathy and love with flowers&quot;. &quot;It was important for me to come in order to show some solidarity with the local community and say that as a Jew, as a Zionist, as someone who wants a Jewish state here, I want them to be part of it and be part of the nation with equal rights,&quot; said Perez, who works in the tech industry and had come from the city of Raanana, near Tel Aviv. Palestinian shops shuttered&nbsp;Inside the Damascus Gate, a Palestinian man was busily cellotaping a padlock shut on his storefront in anticipation of the violence expected to erupt later in the afternoon. Shops along the march&#39;s route were shuttered, and Israeli police stood stationed behind metal barriers. Authorities sometimes order Palestinian shops in the Old City to shut for the march, which ends at the Western Wall -- the last remnant of the Second Temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD, the holiest site where Jews are allowed to pray. Near the city&#39;s Via Dolorosa, a handful of activists from the Israeli-Palestinian grassroots movement Standing Together were preparing to perform so-called protective presence, a tactic normally used to deter Israeli settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. &quot;This day, thousands of basically settlers and right-wing fascist young and older people will be roaming the streets chanting very racist things, trying to destroy places owned by Palestinians and just terrorizing the whole place,&quot; said Rula Daoud, co-director of Standing Together. &quot;Our presence is to just protect people from being attacked, places from being vandalized. And we try to de-escalate this day. So we are not here to protest,&quot; she said, adding that Standing Together had around 300 activists stationed in the Old City, alongside others from different peace organizations. Daoud said the march was becoming more violent every year, particularly after Hamas&#39;s October 7 attacks on Israel, and accused the police of not intervening to curb the violence. Around midday, a group of dozens of revelers waving large Israeli flags and wearing stickers with the slogan &quot;Israel is forever&quot; streamed through Damascus Gate singing and playing loud music.

Middle East

Israeli peace groups hand flowers to Palestinians near Damascus Gate as shops closed and police deployed ahead of Jerusalem Day marches, often marked by racist chants and violence.

Peace activists gather ahead of Jerusalem Day rallies known for violence

BRUSSELS: European Union foreign ministers on Monday agreed on new sanctions on Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians, as a change of government in Hungary ended months of blockage. &quot;It was high time we move from deadlock to delivery,&quot; EU top diplomat Kaja Kallas said in announcing the green light. &quot;Extremisms and violence carry consequences.&quot; French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said the EU was &quot;sanctioning the main Israeli organisations guilty of supporting the extremist and violent colonisation of the West Bank, as well as their leaders&quot;. &quot;These most serious and intolerable acts must cease without delay,&quot; he wrote on social media. The move in response to rising violence and settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank had been stalled by Hungary&#39;s former prime minister Viktor Orban. But the ouster of the nationalist leader and Israel ally by Peter Magyar now appears to have paved the way for the veto to be lifted. EU officials said seven settlers or settler organizations would be blacklisted.&nbsp; Israel condemned the new sanctions. &quot;As Israel and the US are &#39;doing Europe&#39;s dirty work&#39; by fighting for civilization against jihadist lunatics in Iran and elsewhere, the European Union exposed its moral bankruptcy by drawing a false symmetry between Israeli citizens and Hamas terrorists,&quot; Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu&#39;s office said on its official X account. Israel&#39;s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir denounced the European Union as &quot;antisemitic&quot;, saying the EU was &quot;trying to tie the hands of those who defend themselves&quot;. &quot;The European Union has chosen, in an arbitrary and political manner, to impose sanctions on Israeli citizens and entities because of their political views and without any basis,&quot; Foreign Minister Gideon Saar posted on X. &nbsp;Proposals&nbsp;The occupied West Bank has been gripped by almost daily violence involving Israeli troops and settlers since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023. There has been a surge in deadly West Bank attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the Iran war on Feb 28, Palestinian officials and the United Nations have said. While the EU is moving ahead with the sanctions on Israeli settlers, there remains no consensus yet among member states to take further steps against Israel, such as curbing trade ties. Foreign ministers meeting in Brussels discussed calls to ban products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank. Italy&#39;s Antonio Tajani said that the EU&#39;s executive would now make a proposal on the move, and then the bloc would see if it had enough backing from member states. &quot;This is an issue that has been discussed, but no decision has been taken, pending the proposals that will come,&quot; he said. Excluding East Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in the occupied West Bank in settlements that are illegal under international law, among some three million Palestinians. In 2025, the expansion of Israeli settlements reached its highest level since at least 2017, when the United Nations began tracking data, according to a UN report.

FILE: Palestinian farmers speak with Israeli soldiers after being attacked by Israeli settlers while farming their land in Salem village east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank on November 28, 2024 [Zain Jaafar/AFP]

Europe

European Union foreign ministers on Monday agreed on new sanctions on Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians, as a change of government in Hungary ended months of blockage.

EU agrees long-stalled sanctions on Israeli settlers

BRUSSELS: The European Union was expected Monday to agree new sanctions on Israeli settlers over violence against Palestinians, the bloc&#39;s top diplomat said, as a change of government in Hungary ends months of blockage.. &quot;I expect political agreement on the sanctions on violent settlers, hopefully we will get there,&quot; EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said ahead of a meeting of the bloc&#39;s foreign ministers. The move in response to rising violence and settlement expansion in the Israeli-occupied West Bank had been stalled by former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban. But nationalist leader and Israel ally&#39;s ouster by rival Peter Magyar now appears to have paved the way for the veto to be lifted. EU officials said seven settlers or settler organisations were set to be blacklisted. The bloc was also set to sanction representatives from Palestinian militant group Hamas. The occupied West Bank has been gripped by almost daily violence since the start of the Gaza war in October 2023, involving both Israeli troops and settlers. There has been a surge in deadly attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank since the start of the Iran war on February 28, Palestinian officials and the United Nations have said. While the EU is moving ahead with the sanctions on Israeli settlers, there remains no consensus among the bloc&#39;s member states to take further steps against Israel such as curbing trade ties.

EU foreign ministers are expected to approve sanctions on violent Israeli settlers and Hamas figures, after Hungary’s new government lifted its veto amid escalating West Bank violence and settlement expansion

EU expected to agree long-stalled sanctions on Israeli settlers: Kallas

BEIRUT: More than half of Lebanon&#39;s population depends on humanitarian aid, a European Union official said on Friday, as Israel continues its attacks on the country despite a ceasefire in the two-month-long war with militant group Hezbollah. &quot;At present, more than three million people, meaning more than half of the population here in Lebanon, depend on humanitarian aid to survive,&quot; EU crisis management chief Hadja Lahbib told reporters after meeting Lebanese President Joseph Aoun in Beirut. Lahbib said that since the start of the war on March 2 the 27-member bloc has provided 100 million euros in aid and sent six planes carrying humanitarian aid, with a seventh expected on Saturday. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,700 people and displaced over one million since early March, according to authorities. The UN launched an emergency appeal in March for $308 million in humanitarian aid for Lebanon, but in two months it has raised just $126 million, according to UN agencies. Lahbib, who said that the ceasefire has opened &quot;a narrow window of hope&quot;, called for Hezbollah &quot;to cease its attacks and be disarmed&quot; and said that &quot;Israel must put an end to its bombardments&quot;. &quot;For a ceasefire to lead to peace, courage is needed -- political courage to address the root causes of this conflict.&quot; Israel and Lebanon are set to hold a third round of talks in Washington next week to end the war, despite Hezbollah&#39;s opposition to direct negotiations.

More than half of Lebanon’s population depends on humanitarian aid, the EU said, as Israeli strikes continue despite a ceasefire and Washington talks seek to end the war.

More than half of Lebanon population depends on aid: EU official

WASHINGTON:&nbsp;Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of peace talks on May 14-15 in Washington, a US official said Thursday, despite a new Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut. The attack late Wednesday killed a senior commander of Hezbollah, with Israel saying it will keep targeting the Iranian-backed group despite a ceasefire in place in Lebanon. Next week&#39;s talks will be the third between Israel and Lebanon, which had not spoken directly for decades and have no diplomatic relations. &quot;There will be talks between Lebanon and Israel Thursday and Friday next week in Washington,&quot; a State Department official said on condition of anonymity. Israeli strikes in Lebanon have killed more than 2,700 people since March 2, including dozens since a ceasefire was declared, according to Lebanese authorities. At the last talks on April 23, the two sides met in the White House with President Donald Trump, who announced a three-week extension of the ceasefire. He also said that he expected a historic meeting within the ceasefire period between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun. But Aoun said Monday that the timing was not yet right for a meeting, saying that first the two countries must reach a security agreement. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, at a news conference on Tuesday, said that &quot;there&#39;s no problem between the Lebanese government and the Israeli government&quot; and that Hezbollah was the issue. &quot;By and large, I think a peace deal between Lebanon and Israel is eminently achievable and should be,&quot; Rubio said. Israel has carried out heavy bombings of Lebanon as well as a ground invasion of southern Lebanon. It was responding to rocket fire by Hezbollah at the start of the war on Iran launched by Trump and Netanyahu on February 28. An Israeli strike on Wednesday also killed four people in the eastern Bekaa Valley, with Israel saying it was targeting Hezbollah. The two previous rounds of talks in Washington were held between the Israeli and Lebanese ambassadors to the United States.&nbsp;

Lebanon and Israel will hold a new round of peace talks on May 14-15 in Washington, a US official said Thursday, despite a new Israeli strike in the heart of Beirut.

Lebanon, Israel to hold new talks in Washington May 14-15: US

GENEVA: Doctors Without Borders on Thursday accused Israel of having deliberately restricted food and aid in Gaza, creating a &quot;manufactured malnutrition crisis&quot; with particularly devastating impacts on infants and pregnant and breastfeeding women. The report also examined what it said was the harm done by the US- and Israeli-backed private organization set up last year to largely replace UN distribution of aid in Gaza. The medical charity, known by its French acronym MSF, based its case on an analysis of the situation between late 2024 and early 2026 at four health facilities it supports in the Gaza Strip. That analysis showed significantly higher levels of prematurity and mortality among infants born to malnourished mothers, and spikes in miscarriages, it said. MSF linked these outcomes with Israel&#39;s blockade of essential goods and attacks on civilian infrastructure, including medical facilities. &quot;Insecurity, displacement, restrictions on aid, and limited access to food and medical care have had devastating consequences for maternal and newborn health,&quot; the charity said in a statement. The situation remained &quot;extremely fragile&quot;, despite a ceasefire in place since last October after two years of devastating conflict, it warned. MSF called on the Israeli authorities to allow the unhindered entry of assistance and supplies into Gaza immediately. &quot;The malnutrition crisis is entirely manufactured,&quot; Merce Rocaspana, MSF&#39;s medical referent for emergencies, said in the statement. Before the war in the Palestinian territory erupted following Hamas&#39;s unprecedented attack inside Israel on October 7, 2023, &quot;malnutrition in Gaza was almost non-existent&quot;, she said. Malnourished women giving birth&nbsp;MSF said it had collected data from more than 200 mothers and newborns receiving treatment in neonatal intensive care units at hospitals in Khan Yunis and Gaza City between last June and January. Its analysis found that more than half of the women were affected by malnutrition at some point during their pregnancy. A quarter of them were still malnourished during delivery. The impact was clear: 90% of the babies born to malnourished mothers were born prematurely and 84% had low birth weight, the analysis found. &quot;Neonatal mortality was twice as high among infants born to mothers affected by malnutrition compared with those born to mothers without malnutrition,&quot; MSF said. The medical charity also examined data from 513 infants under six months of age admitted to outpatient therapeutic feeding programs in Khan Yunis between Oct. 2024 and Dec. 2025. Of them, &quot;91% were at risk of poor growth and development&quot;, it said. By last December, 200 of the infants were no longer in the program, but fewer than half had been cured, it found. Seven percent of them had died, it added. &nbsp;&#39;Militarized and deadly&#39; Infants are not the only ones going hungry. Between January 2024, when the first cases of child malnutrition were reported in Gaza, and February 2026, MSF said it had admitted 4,176 children under 15 years old -- 97 percent of them younger than five for acute malnutrition programs. During the same period, 3,336 pregnant and breastfeeding women were enrolled in ambulatory programs, it said. Thursday&#39;s analysis also highlighted the impact of the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation a US and Israeli-backed private organization set up last year to largely replace UN distribution of aid in Gaza. MSF pointed out that by late May 2025, food distribution points in Gaza had dropped from around 400 to four under GHF, which disbanded last November. The food distribution points were &quot;militarized and deadly&quot;, warned Jose Mas, head of the MSF emergency unit. During the period GHF was functioning, MSF said that facilities it supported in Gaza had seen &quot;a sharp increase in patients seeking care due to violence perpetrated at food distribution points and malnutrition linked to deprivation of food&quot;. MSF teams had also observed a high number of miscarriages during this period, it said.

Displaced children carry food packets being distributed by Palestinian sisters Lina Zeid and Aya Zeid as a charity in the Al-Tuam area, west of Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on May 6, 2026.

Doctors Without Borders says Israel’s aid restrictions in Gaza created a 'manufactured malnutrition crisis,' causing severe harm to infants, pregnant women, and civilians seeking food aid.

MSF says Israel has 'manufactured malnutrition crisis' in Gaza

Geneva: The United Nations on Wednesday called on Israel to immediately release two activists taken from a Gaza-bound flotilla, and demanded an investigation into &quot;disturbing accounts&quot; they had been severely mistreated. Spanish national Saif Abu Keshek and Brazilian Thiago Avila, who are held in a prison in Ashkelon, were among dozens of activists on a Gaza-bound flotilla intercepted by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Greece last Thursday. &quot;Israel must immediately and unconditionally release Global Sumud Flotilla members Saif Abu Keshek and Thiago Avila, who were detained in international waters and brought to Israel where they continue to be held without charge,&quot; UN rights office spokesman Thameen Al-Kheetan said in a statement. &quot;It is not a crime to show solidarity and attempt to bring humanitarian aid to the Palestinian population in Gaza, who are in dire need of it,&quot; he insisted. The flotilla&#39;s vessels set sail from France, Spain and Italy with the aim of breaking Israel&#39;s blockade of Gaza and delivering humanitarian aid to the war-ravaged Palestinian territory. Representatives for Avila and Abu Keshek have accused Israeli authorities of abusing the two men, who have been on hunger strike for the past six days. Kheetan decried the &quot;disturbing accounts of severe mistreatment&quot;, calling for an investigation and insisting &quot;those responsible must be brought to justice&quot;. &quot;We call for an end to Israel&#39;s use of arbitrary detention and of broadly and vaguely defined terrorism legislation, inconsistent with international human rights law,&quot; he said. &quot;Israel must also end its blockade on Gaza, and allow and facilitate the entry of humanitarian assistance to the besieged Palestinian strip, in sufficient amounts,&quot; the spokesman said.

The UN urged Israel to release two Gaza flotilla activists held without charge, investigate alleged mistreatment, end arbitrary detention practices and allow humanitarian aid into Gaza.

UN demands Israel 'immediately' release Gaza flotilla activists

JERUSALEM:&nbsp;<span style="font-style: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; white-space: normal; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-color: initial; float: none; display: inline !important;" id="isPasted">Gaza flotilla organizers say 211 activists &#39;kidnapped&#39; by Israel&nbsp;reported on Thursday.&nbsp; Earlier, Israel&#39;s foreign ministry said on Thursday, that Israeli forces had arrested about 175 activists aboard 20 ships from an aid-laden flotilla bound for Gaza. &quot;Approximately 175 activists from more than 20 boats are now making their way peacefully to Israel,&quot; the ministry said in a statement, including a video of the activists aboard an Israeli navy ship.<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; line-height: 2;"> </div>Meanwhile, Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur, in her reaction posted on X, that the reported action amounted to an alarming extension of Israeli enforcement beyond its recognized jurisdiction.&nbsp;</div> In her post, she described the episode as evidence of what she characterized as &ldquo;apartheid without borders,&rdquo; warning that such incidents should &ldquo;send shock waves across Europe.&rdquo;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-2" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-2&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2049729807038996657&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Farticles%2F4092%2F&sessionId=16b0b7e09c183bfef549ae29ecdbc84b983d7faf&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 538px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>Israel controls all entry points to Gaza, and has been accused by the United Nations and foreign NGOs of strangling the flow of goods into the territory, causing shortages since the start of the war in Oct. 2023. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Turkiye released a statement on X, that Israel has violated humanitarian principles and international law by targeting the Global Sumud Flotilla who was purposed to draw attention to the humanitarian catastrophe faced by the innocent people of Gaza.&nbsp;<div class="fr-embed"><div class="twitter-tweet twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display: flex; max-width: 550px; width: 100%; margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;"><iframe id="twitter-widget-0" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="true" title="X Post" src="https://platform.twitter.com/embed/Tweet.html?dnt=false&embedId=twitter-widget-0&features=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%3D%3D&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=2049717794925617591&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fmain.d1wrm1qseko1cp.amplifyapp.com%2Fmedia-library%2F&sessionId=90b40ae75d27f633c09d9b376c6760e6d4d01f57&theme=light&widgetsVersion=2615f7e52b7e0%3A1702314776716&width=550px" style="position: static; visibility: visible; width: 550px; height: 777px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;">&nbsp;&nbsp;</iframe></div></div>

175 activists aboard 20 ships from an aid-laden flotilla bound for Gaza (File Photo: BSS)

Israeli forces reportedly intercepted a Gaza-bound aid flotilla and detained about 175 activists from more than 20 ships, as Israel maintains a blockade that has drawn criticism over restricted humanitarian access to Gaza.

Gaza flotilla organizers say 211 activists 'kidnapped' by Israel

TEL AVIV: Around 240 Indians claiming descent from a biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday, as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a blue-and-white balloon arch, the colours of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first &quot;Bnei Menashe&quot; (&quot;Sons of Manasseh&quot;) to arrive in Israel since the government decided in November to fund the immigration of around 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from Manasseh, the forefather of one of the biblical &quot;lost tribes&quot; of Israel exiled in 720 BC by Assyrian conquerors. Dagan Zolat, who has lived in Israel for 20 years, was at the airport to meet a man whom he described as his brother. &quot;We were neighbors and among the only Jews in our village,&quot; he told AFP, adding that it had been nine years since he had seen his friend. &quot;When my son was little (in India), my friend often carried him in his arms,&quot; he said. The Shavei Israel organization, which seeks to trace the descendants of the lost tribes, said that some 4,000 Bnei Menashe have already immigrated to Israel since the 1990s, with around 7,000 others still living in India. In India, they were converted to Christianity by 19th-century missionaries. The 250 Bnei Menashe who arrived on Thursday are to settle in northern Israel, according to the Ministry of Integration. They will need to convert to Judaism in order to become Israeli citizens. Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer, who welcomed the newcomers at the airport, told AFP that their arrival marked a &quot;historic moment&quot;. &quot;This is the beginning of an operation that will allow the entire community to immigrate, 1,200 per year,&quot; he said. Manipur has seen periodic clashes for nearly three years between the predominantly Hindu Meitei majority and the mainly Christian Kuki community, which have killed more than 250 people. Since April 2025, more than 18,000 Jews have immigrated to Israel, down 18% on the previous year.

Members of the Bnei Menashe (Sons of Manasseh) community in India arrive at Ben Gurion Airport in Lod, near Tel Aviv, on April 23, 2026, as part of Operation Wings of Dawn. (AFP)

India

They were the first "Bnei Menashe" ("Sons of Manasseh") to arrive in Israel since the government decided in November to fund the immigration of around 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India.



Around 240 Indians claiming descent from biblical tribe land in Israel

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ISLAMABAD: An investigation by Israeli newspaper Haaretz has revealed confessions from Israeli soldiers describing the killing of unarmed civilians in Gaza and what they portray as a broader pattern of normalized violence during the war. The report, published on April 17, cites multiple testimonies from soldiers who said they returned from Gaza suffering from what they described as &ldquo;moral injury,&rdquo; a form of psychological distress linked to actions that violated their ethical boundaries. Several soldiers admitted to participating in or witnessing the killing of civilians, while others described an environment in which such actions were tolerated or even encouraged. One soldier told Haaretz he was welcomed home as a hero but internally &ldquo;felt like a monster.&rdquo; Another, quoted by digital outlet AJ+ citing the Haaretz investigation, said: &ldquo;There&rsquo;s no forgiving what I&rsquo;ve done. No atonement.&rdquo; The findings form part of a growing body of testimony suggesting systematic abuses during Israel&rsquo;s military campaign in Gaza. The Israeli veterans&rsquo; group Breaking the Silence said it has collected hundreds of accounts from soldiers, pointing to practices such as the demolition of civilian homes and the creation of so-called &ldquo;kill zones,&rdquo; where anyone crossing an unmarked boundary was reportedly shot dead, regardless of whether they were armed. <img src="https://paktv-assets-7d41fab8.s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/d0e9ebcc-49b2-462f-bfe5-3120cacfe3b6.png" style="width: 527px;" class="fr-fic fr-dib">UN (OCHA): Reported impact snapshot: Gaza Strip According to Anadolu Agency, citing earlier Haaretz reporting, soldiers described the Netzarim Corridor, a strip of land cutting through Gaza, as &ldquo;the line of dead bodies,&rdquo; where corpses were left unrecovered. &ldquo;One of these missions was to create a &lsquo;buffer zone&rsquo; inside the Gaza Strip, which in practice meant razing the area to the ground&hellip; Through widespread, deliberate destruction, the military laid the groundwork for future Israeli control of the area,&rdquo; one soldier said. Separate reporting by Al Jazeera said Israeli forces and settlers killed at least 11 Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied West Bank in recent incidents, underscoring continuing violence on the ground. Palestinian state news agency WAFA said Israeli media reports, while exposing some abuses, offer &ldquo;only a glimpse into the extensive crimes committed by the occupation.&rdquo; The revelations come amid mounting international scrutiny of Israel&rsquo;s war in Gaza, where more than 70,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 170,000 injured as of April 2026, according to the United Nations citing the Gaza Ministry of Health. Together, the testimonies and casualty figures are intensifying criticism of Israel&rsquo;s conduct in the war, raising fresh questions about accountability and the human cost of a conflict that continues to expand across the region.

The Israeli military confirms the withdrawal of troops from southern Gaza but says that one brigade remains on the ground [File: Israeli Army/AFP]

In an investigation by Haaretz, Israeli soldiers describe killing unarmed civilians and witnessing widespread abuses in Gaza, as testimonies point to normalized violence and mounting evidence of systematic misconduct during ongoing military operations.

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