Updates: Israel closes 6 UNRWA schools in occupied East Jerusalem

Thank you for joining us.

To learn more about the Israeli raids on six UN schools in occupied East Jerusalem, go here.

Find out more about the latest warnings by UN chief Antonio Guterres about the dire situation in the besieged Gaza Strip here.

And you can follow our full coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza, here.

• UN chief Guterres said Gaza is “a killing field” as relentless Israeli air strikes killed dozens of Palestinians today, including in attacks on Deir el-Balah, al-Mawasi and Gaza City.
• US warplanes killed several more people in strikes across Yemen, including an apartment building in an area of Hodeidah.
• Israel also bombed an area in Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley and Baalbek to the east, claiming it was targeting Hezbollah fighters and an arms depot.
• Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that Netanyahu cannot sack Shin Bet chief Roner Bar for at least another 10 days.
• Netanyahu returned to Israel after being hosted by Trump in the White House, where the two discussed the forced expulsion of Palestinians from Gaza and other issues including Iran.
• Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi hosted French counterpart Emmanuel Macron and Jordan’s King Abdullah in Cairo, where they agreed that the Palestinian Authority must head a post-war Gaza and called for an immediate ceasefire.
• Hundreds of Israeli army reservists, including Air Force soldiers, reportedly signed a letter to oppose continued fighting in Gaza due to its perceived political nature.

Israeli media outlets are reporting that Itamar Ben-Gvir, Israel’s far-right national security minister, will travel to the United States after the Jewish holiday of Passover, which ends on April 20.

Israeli news outlet Haaretz reported that Ben-Gvir is expected to meet US Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem.

The trip will be Ben-Gvir’s first to the US in his capacity as minister.

The far-right politician – an Israeli settler who has a history of racist statements and incitement against Palestinians – had faced some criticism from the administration of former US President Joe Biden.

Some US reports suggested that Biden had considered issuing sanctions against Ben Gvir. The US Department of State had also condemned Ben Gvir’s attendance at an event commemorating Meir Kahane – a far-right Israeli-American convicted of “terrorism” – as “repugnant”.

Check out the video report by Al Jazeera’s Step Vaessen below.

We reported earlier how UN chief Guterres used strong words to attract global attention to catastrophic conditions in Gaza under Israeli siege.

His spokesman, Stephane Dujarric, has told Al Jazeera that the situation in Gaza “has reached a critical stage” after Israel has blocked food and all aid from entering the enclave for nearly 40 days.

“Israel, as an occupying power, is obligated to allow aid into Gaza,” he said.

“We must work towards real solutions to allow aid access, such as a ceasefire,” Dujarric said, adding that UN agencies will continue to work in Gaza and talk to Israel about allowing in some humanitarian aid.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society reports that two young Palestinian men were wounded by Israeli bullets in the village of Shuqba, northwest of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, and transferred to hospital.

Israeli soldiers first detained the two and prevented ambulances from reaching them before eventually allowing their transport, Wafa news agency said.

Another Israeli raid was reported in the town of Nilin, located west of Ramallah, which ended without arrests. But two more Palestinians were detained at a military checkpoint northeast of Ramallah and later released.

Local sources also reported that a number of masked Israeli settlers attacked a Bedouin community northwest of Jericho.

Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that a number of Palestinians have been wounded by an Israeli air strike on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) reports that its chief Michael Kurilla spent the past few days holding high-level meetings with counterparts from Israel, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Pentagon said US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth discussed in a phone call with his Egyptian counterpart the importance of Red Sea security and the “reckless” actions of Yemen’s Houthis.

The meetings come as Israel’s blockade on Gaza shows no signs of stopping, as the US military bombs areas across Yemen to devastating effect, and while the US and Israel continue to threaten to bomb Iran if it fails to agree a deal on its nuclear programme and regional influence.

France’s President Emmanuel Macron says the entry of assistance for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip is a “top priority”.

“The situation today is intolerable,” Macron said in the Egyptian city of el-Arish, a key transit point for supplies to Gaza, where he called for the “resumption of humanitarian aid as quickly as possible”.

In a clip later shared on X from his visit, Macron also threw cold water on the Trump administration’s idea of forcing Palestinians to leave Gaza in order to turn the enclave into “the Riviera of the Middle East”.

“After months and months of bombardment and a terrible war, tens of thousands of people have been killed. There are tens of thousands of children who are mutilated and without families,” Macron said. “That’s what we’re talking about when we talk about Gaza. It’s not a real estate project.”

Netanyahu’s office says the Supreme Court decision to in effect postpone the sacking of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar is surprising.

Netanyahu, who is now on his way back to Israel from the US after meeting Trump, will continue to look for suitable candidates to replace Bar, the office said in a statement.

Opposition leaders, including Benny Gantz and Yair Golan, said the government is obligated to obey the ruling. Boycotting the Shin Bet director would be “playing with lives”, National Unity alliance chief Gantz said.

Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak said on social media that the court’s decision is “necessary” because “the attempt to collapse Israel as a democracy” has not yet stopped.

Oren Marmorstein has accused Antonio Guterres of “spreading slander against Israel” after the UN secretary-general condemned the Israeli government’s blockade on humanitarian assistance for people in Gaza.

“There is no shortage of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip – over 25,000 aid trucks have entered the Gaza Strip in the 42 days of the cease fire,” the Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman claimed on X.

But Palestinians in Gaza, along with top UN officials and humanitarian groups, have reported that no aid has entered the coastal enclave since early March.

The UN has denounced Israel’s blockade, which has led to dire shortages of food, water, medicine and other much-needed humanitarian supplies.

Doctors Without Borders (known by its French acronym MSF) says nine people were rushed to the clinic in al-Mawasi in southern Gaza after an attack 300 metres (985 feet) from the facility.

“Two were dead on arrival, including a two-year-old boy, the seven others were wounded,” the group said in a statement shared on X.

Mohammed Shaath, an MSF emergency physician, said the medical team was “in a state of shock”. He and two nurses were the only staff members at the clinic when the attack took place.

“Honestly, I can’t describe the scene and the injuries. In the stomach, head and chest. Absolute horror,” said Shaath.

MSF added that a “lack of adequate security provisions and protection from Israeli military strikes put humanitarian workers and our teams at imminent risk”.

The Gaza government media office says it “firmly” and “categorically” rejects Israeli proposals for a new aid delivery mechanism in Gaza.

“These proposals include having Israeli occupation soldiers or private companies affiliated with the occupation directly distribute aid to Palestinian families,” the office said in a statement. “We consider it a blatant attempt to falsely legitimise its illegal occupation and to evade its responsibilities as an occupying power.”

Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), the Israeli military agency that coordinates aid, last week met with United Nations agencies and international aid groups and said it proposed “a structured monitoring and aid entry mechanism” for Gaza.

“The mechanism is designed to support aid organizations, enhance oversight and accountability, and ensure that assistance reaches the civilian population in need, rather than being diverted and stolen by Hamas,” COGAT posted on X on Sunday.

As we reported earlier, UN chief Antonio Guterres said the world body “will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles” of humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality.

The Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs has outlined a handful of cases of medical neglect at Israel’s Ayalon and Ofer prisons.

In a post on Telegram, the commission said the administration at Ayalon Prison in Ramla, Israel, has subjected 28-year-old Palestinian detainee Ibrahim Shalboub to “the worst forms of psychological torture”, including regular death threats.

At Ofer Prison near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, 27-year-old Fares Farouq was subjected to beatings last month, the commission reported.

During a visit with his lawyer, Farouq said armed forces “threw gas canisters into the [prison] section before storming in, tied all of us face-down on the ground, beat us, stripped us naked, and hurled insults at us”, the commission said.

Rights groups have long denounced Israel’s abuse of Palestinian detainees, but they said conditions have deteriorated since the Gaza war began.

Israeli group B’Tselem said Israel’s prisons, “in which every inmate is deliberately subjected to harsh, relentless pain and suffering, operate as de-facto torture camps”.

State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce was asked whether the Trump administration is calling on Israel to investigate the killing of a Palestinian-American teenager by Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank.

As we’ve been reporting, 14-year-old Omar Mohammad Rabea was fatally shot on Monday near the West Bank town of Turmus Aya.

“We are certainly aware of that dynamic,” Bruce told reporters, without directly answering whether Washington had called on Israel to investigate.

“We sent condolences to the families involved; these were teenagers. There is an investigation that is going on. We are aware of the reports from the [Israeli army] that this was a counter-terrorism act,” she said during a briefing.

“We need to learn more about the nature of what happened on the ground, but we’re aware of that, yes.”

A group of Israeli reservist soldiers have been trying to organise an effort to express their rejection of continued fighting in the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli media.

The reservists are arguing that renewed fighting in the besieged enclave is for “political reasons”, Kan national broadcaster, Times of Israel and other media reported.

Hundreds of air force reservists have reportedly been planning to issue a public letter calling to stop serving, but Israeli Air Force chief Tomer Bar and army chief Eyal Zamir have been trying to stop it from being published. The text of the letter has not been publicised.

When PM Netanyahu was originally trying to push his judicial overhauls, many reservists, especially those in the air force, were among those who refused to serve.

US President Donald Trump hosted Netanyahu for the second time since returning to office in January. Iran and Gaza were the main topics discussed.

Why did the meeting take place and what does it signal?

Listen to our discussion below:

Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it hopes “the talks will lead to a sustainable agreement that enhances security, stability and peace in the region and opens new horizons for regional cooperation and dialogue”.

It also expressed its “appreciation for the Omani diplomatic efforts aimed at bridging the viewpoints between the two parties”.

Oman has long acted as a channel for communication between the US and Iran.

The Gulf country also played a key role in the signing of the 2015 nuclear agreement that saw Tehran agree to curb its nuclear programme in exchange for the lifting of international sanctions against its economy.

US President Donald Trump unilaterally withdrew from that deal in 2018.