By WAFAA SHURAFA and NATALIE MELZER
DEIR AL BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — Israeli airstrikes killed at the least 100 Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip on Thursday, together with at the least 27 sheltering at a faculty within the north, in accordance with Palestinian medical authorities, in a stepped-up offensive that Israel’s navy mentioned is meant to place new strain on Hamas and finally expel the group.
The our bodies of 14 youngsters and 5 girls had been recovered from the college within the Tuffah neighborhood of Gaza Metropolis, and the demise toll might nonetheless rise as a result of a few of the 70 wounded had crucial accidents, mentioned Well being Ministry spokesman Zaher al-Wahidi. Greater than 30 different Gaza residents had been killed in strikes on houses in a close-by neighborhood of Shijaiyah, he mentioned, citing data at Ahli Hospital.
The Israeli navy on Thursday ordered extra residents in components of northern Gaza to maneuver to shelters within the western aspect of Gaza Metropolis, warning that it deliberate to “work with excessive power in your space.” Various the Palestinians leaving the focused space did so on foot, with some carrying their belongings on their backs and others utilizing donkey carts.
“My spouse and I’ve been strolling for 3 hours protecting just one kilometer,” mentioned Mohammad Ermana, 72. The couple, clasping fingers, every walked with a cane. “I’m trying to find shelters each hour now, not on daily basis,” he mentioned.
Israel has issued sweeping evacuation orders for components of northern Gaza forward of anticipated floor operations, which the U.N. says have forcibly displaced round 280,000 Palestinians for the reason that ceasefire broke down final month.
The recent evacuation orders got here a day after senior authorities officers mentioned Israel mentioned it might seize giant components of the Palestinian territory and set up a brand new safety hall throughout it. Israel has imposed a month-long halt on all imports of meals, gasoline and humanitarian support that has left civilians going through acute shortages as provides dwindle.
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Palestinians who had been injured in an Israeli airstrike, are introduced for a therapy on the Baptist Hospital in Gaza Metropolis, on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photograph/Jehad Alshrafi)
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Palestinians who had been injured in an Israeli airstrike, are introduced for a therapy on the Baptist Hospital in Gaza Metropolis, on Thursday, April 3, 2025. (AP Photograph/Jehad Alshrafi)
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One other lethal day in Gaza
In a single day strikes by Israel killed at the least 55 individuals within the Gaza Strip, hospital officers mentioned Thursday.
Officers in Khan Younis, within the southern a part of the strip, mentioned the our bodies of 14 individuals had been taken to Nasser Hospital – 9 of them from the identical household. The useless included 5 youngsters and 4 girls. The our bodies of one other 19 individuals, together with 5 youngsters aged between 1 and seven years and a pregnant girl, had been taken to the European hospital close to Khan Younis, hospital officers mentioned. In Gaza Metropolis, 21 our bodies had been taken to Ahli hospital, together with these of seven youngsters.
The assaults got here because the Israeli navy promised an unbiased investigation of a March 23 operation by which its forces opened hearth on ambulances in Gaza. U.N. officers say 15 Palestinian medics and emergency responders had been killed and their our bodies and ambulances buried by Israeli troopers in a mass grave.
The navy initially mentioned the ambulances had been working suspiciously and that 9 fighters had been killed. The navy mentioned the probe can be led by an skilled fact-finding physique “accountable for inspecting distinctive incidents” in the course of the warfare. Rights teams say such investigations are sometimes missing and that troopers are not often punished.
On Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu introduced Israel was establishing a brand new safety hall throughout Gaza to strain Hamas, suggesting it might minimize off the southern metropolis of Rafah, which Israel has ordered evacuated, from the remainder of the Palestinian territory. Hamas has been designated as a terrorist group by the USA, Canada and the European Union.
Israel has additionally reasserted management over the Netzarim hall, which separates the northern third of Gaza from the remainder of the slender strip. Each that and one other hall, alongside Gaza’s southern perimeter, run from the Israeli border to the Mediterranean Sea.
Hamas has mentioned it’ll solely launch the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in alternate for the discharge of extra Palestinian prisoners, an enduring ceasefire and an Israeli pullout. The group has rejected calls for that it lay down its arms or go away the territory.
Netanyahu visits Hungary
Netanyahu arrived in Hungary early Thursday on his second international journey for the reason that world’s high warfare crimes court docket issued an arrest warrant in opposition to him in November over Israel’s warfare in Gaza.
Primarily based in The Hague, Netherlands, the the Worldwide Prison Court docket has mentioned there was cause to consider Netanyahu and former Israeli Protection Minister Yoav Gallant used “hunger as a technique of warfare” by limiting humanitarian support to the Gaza Strip, and deliberately focused civilians in Israel’s marketing campaign in opposition to Hamas — expenses that Israeli officers deny.
ICC member nations, reminiscent of Hungary, are required to arrest suspects going through a warrant in the event that they set foot on their soil, however the court docket has no technique to implement that and depends on states to conform. As Netanyahu arrived in Budapest, Hungary mentioned it’ll start the process of withdrawing from the ICC.
Plans for Gaza
On Sunday, Netanyahu mentioned Israel plans to take care of total safety management of Gaza after the warfare and implement U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle a lot of its inhabitants elsewhere via what the Israeli chief known as “voluntary emigration.”
Palestinians have rejected the plan, viewing it as expulsion from their homeland after Israel’s offensive left a lot of it uninhabitable, and human rights consultants say implementing the plan would doubtless violate worldwide regulation.
The warfare started when Hamas-led terrorists attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing round 1,200 individuals, principally civilians, and taking 251 hostages, most of whom have since been launched in ceasefire agreements and different offers. Israel rescued eight residing hostages and has recovered dozens of our bodies.
Israel’s offensive has killed greater than 50,000 Palestinians, in accordance with Gaza’s Well being Ministry, which doesn’t say whether or not these killed are civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed round 20,000 fighters, with out offering proof.
The warfare has left huge areas of Gaza in ruins and at its top displaced round 90% of the inhabitants.
Israeli strikes on Syria
Individually, Israeli strikes killed at the least 9 individuals in southwestern Syria, Syrian state media reported Thursday.
SANA mentioned the 9 had been civilians, with out giving particulars. Britain-based warfare monitor The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights mentioned they had been native gunmen from the Daraa province, pissed off with Israeli navy encroachment and assaults in current months.
Israel has seized components of southwestern Syria and created a buffer-zone there, which it says is to safe Israel’s security from armed teams. However critics say the navy operation has created tensions in Syria and prevents any long-term stability and reconstruction for the war-torn nation.
Israel additionally struck 5 cities in Syria late Wednesday, together with over a dozen strikes close to a strategic airbase within the metropolis of Hama. Israeli authorities spokesman David Mencer mentioned Thursday that the strikes had been supposed to forestall Syrian forces and armed teams from sustaining a presence in border areas.
Melzer reported from Nahariya, Israel.
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