In the West Bank, Israeli settlers shoot and injure a Palestinian man, assault and injure 7 others, and set fire to homes and farmland during a raid in Bardala. Israeli settlers also set fire to Palestinian homes and trees in Sinjil. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers set up an outpost in Shaab al-Butum in the Masafer Yatta area. Israeli forces shoot and kill a 12-year-old Palestinian boy in al-Yamun. Israeli forces also shoot and injure 2 Palestinians during a raid in Ein al-Beida. Elsewhere, Israeli forces assault and injure Palestinians, including a child, during a raid in Beit Fajjar. Israeli forces also continue raids in Jenin and Jenin refugee camp for the 93rd day in a row, demolishing homes and placing 2 iron gates at the entrance to the camp. Meanwhile, Israeli forces level farmland between Kafl Haris and Haris. Israeli forces also pour concrete into water wells and demolish water tanks in Tarqumiyah. Separately, Israeli forces continue raids in Tulkarm, Tulkarm refugee camp, and Nur Shams refugee camp for the 87th day in a row. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces demolish a home in Silwan. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Gaza City and Dayr al-Balah, killing at least 39 Palestinians, including 23 at the Jaffa school in Gaza City and al-Aqsa radio journalist Saeed Abu Hassanien in Dayr al-Balah. In Yemen, U.S. forces bomb the Hodeidah, Marib, and Saada governorates. Houthi forces fire a missile at northern Israel; no damage is reported. (AJ, AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 4/23; AJ, HA, UNOCHA, WAFA 4/24)
More than 51,305 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 17,881 children and 12,749 women, and around 117,096 have been injured since 10/7/2023. In addition, 14,222 Palestinians who have been missing are presumed dead. 952 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 191 children. More than 8,000 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 409 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 2,584 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. 92% of all housing units in Gaza have been destroyed or severely damaged since 10/7/2023. More than 1,928 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since 3/18. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 400 dialysis patients, 40% of dialysis cases in Gaza, have died since 10/7/2023 due to lack of available treatment. (AJ, AP, UNOCHA, WAFA 4/23)
PA president Mahmoud Abbas calls on Hamas to release the Israeli captives, saying during a Palestinian Central Council meeting that holding them provides Israel with “excuses” to attack Gaza. Abbas says “I am the one paying the price, our people are paying the price, not Israel. My brother, just hand them over.” Abbas also calls Hamas “sons of dogs.” Hamas strongly condemns the offensive statements made by Abbas, saying the PA “criminalizes the resistance and absolves the occupation of its ongoing crimes against our people for decades.” Hamas also calls on Abbas to apologize. (AJ, HA, HA, REU, WAFA 4/23; AJ 4/24)
Jordan bans the Muslim Brotherhood and seizes its assets, claiming the group is linked to a plot threatening Jordanian national security. (AJ, HA, NYT, NYT, REU, REU 4/23)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu gives a speech at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum for Holocaust Remembrance Day, saying “Hamas is exactly like the Nazis. Like Hitler.” Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu says in an interview that the lesson from the Holocaust is that “Amalek must be wiped out,” a biblical reference widely understood to mean the destruction of the civilian population. (HA 4/23; HA 4/24)
The ICJ says it will hold public hearings next week on Israeli obligations to allow the UN and neutral state activity to operate in Gaza and the West Bank. (HA 4/23; AJ 4/24)
France, Germany, and the UK issue a joint statement saying “Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change. Israel is bound under international law to allow the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid.” The countries also call the blockade of Gaza “intolerable.” (AJ, AP, HA, REU 4/23)
Yale University students protest a visit by Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir to a Jewish society group that says it is “based at Yale University.” The university strips the student group Yalies4Palestine of their official status for sending out calls to join the protest. The group says that it is not affiliated with the protest against Ben-Gvir. Ben-Gvir says in a social media post that “senior Republican Party officials” he met at U.S. president Donald Trump’s home Mar-a-Lago support bombing “food and aid depots” in Gaza. U.S. representative Tom Emmer (R-MN) reportedly met with Ben-Gvir at Mar-a-Lago. (HA 4/22; AJ, HA 4/23; AJ, AJ, AP, NYT, WAFA 4/24)