In the West Bank, Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian woman who the Israeli military claims tried to stab soldiers at the Tayasir checkpoint. Israeli forces also shoot and injure 2 Palestinians during a raid in Balata refugee camp. Elsewhere, Israeli forces raid Tulkarm and Tulkarm refugee camp, razing streets and damaging waterlines. Israeli forces also prevent the call for prayer at the Abu Bakr Mosque in Husan. Meanwhile, Israeli forces arrest 25 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Hebron, Tulkarm, Nablus, Ramallah, and Jerusalem. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Maghazi, Dayr al-Balah, Gaza City, Khan Yunis, and Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 32 people, including Maghazi mayor Hatem al-Ghamri. In Baqa al-Gharbiyye, Israeli forces attack Palestinians mourning the death of Walid Daqqa. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb as-Sultaniyah, killing 3 people, including a Hezbollah commander Ali Ahmad Hussein. Israeli forces also bomb Khiam, (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, UNOCHA 4/8; UNOCHA 4/12)
More than 33,207 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 14,520 children and 9,560 women, and around 75,933 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 7,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 449 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 112 children. More than 4,700 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 259 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,559 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. At least 70,000 housing units have been destroyed and 290,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7/2023, constituting over 60% of all housing units. 246 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. (AJ, AJ, WAFA, UNOCHA, UNOCHA 4/8; UNOCHA 4/12)
The Gaza Civil Defense finds 84 bodies in rubble in Khan Yunis after Israeli forces leave the city on 4/7. Doctors Without Borders says many life-saving amputations could have been avoided if the Gaza health system was still functioning. (AJ, MSF 4/8; UNOCHA 4/12)
Crisis Group releases a report saying more than 70% of buildings in northern Gaza have been damaged or destroyed in Israeli airstrikes and demolitions. In the eastern part of Khan Yunis, 54% of buildings have been damaged or destroyed. The report also finds that 33% of Palestinians in Gaza suffer from “catastrophic food insecurity.” Crisis Group calls for a ceasefire and says aid to Gaza must dramatically increase to stave off famine. (CrisisGroup 4/8)
PA prime minister Mohammad Mustafa meets with Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi in Cairo. (WAFA 4/8)
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he has set a date for the Rafah invasion, without naming it. Before the announcement, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir says he will leave the government if it does not launch “an extensive attack on Rafah.” U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller says the U.S. has not been briefed on the date and says the U.S. has “made clear to Israel that we think a full-scale invasion of Rafah would have an enormously harmful effect on those civilians and that it would ultimately hurt Israel security.” AP reports that Israel is buying 40,000 tents in preparation to evacuate Rafah. (AJ, AP, HA 4/8; AJ, REU 4/9)
Religious Zionism MK Limor Son Har-Melech tells Knesset TV that “there is intensive work behind the scenes to advance [Israeli] settlement in the Gaza Strip.” (HA 4/8)
UN Security Council president Vanessa Frazier refers Palestine’s application for full UN membership to the council’s membership committee. (AJ, AJ, AP, REU 4/8)
At the ICJ, Nicaragua presents its case against Germany for allegedly “facilitating the commission of genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza in coordination with Israel by sending military equipment to Israel and defunding UNRWA. (AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, HA, NYT, NYT, REU 4/8)
Turkey says Israel has denied its request to airdrop aid over Gaza, saying it will “take a series of new measures against Israel.” (AJ, HA, REU 4/8)
U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken meets with Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid in Washington D.C. (AJ, HA, NYT, REU 4/8)
Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese says the Israeli explanation for the killing of 7 aid workers on 4/1 is unsatisfactory and appoints a former military official to study the Israeli investigation. (AJ, AP, REU 4/8)
A video of U.S. senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) from 4/5 saying she believes the ICJ will find that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza circulates online. (AJ, HA 4/8; HA 4/9)
The Foreign Press Association calls on Israel to grant international media “expanded and unfettered access to Gaza,” saying the ban on access “raises questions about what Israel does not want international journalists to see.” (HA 4/8)