Wednesday, April 10, 2024

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers shoot and injure 4 Palestinians, including a child, and set fire to a barn during a raid in Burqa. Israeli settlers also steal 3 residential tents in Arab al-Milehat. Israeli forces raid Beita, causing a fire in a home after firing a tear-gas canister into it. Israeli forces also arrest 10 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Tulkarm, Idhna, and Beit Amrin. In East Jerusalem, Israeli forces arrest 4 Palestinians, including 3 minors. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Shati’ refugee camp, Khan Yunis, Gaza City, and Jabalia refugee camp, killing at least 122 people, including 3 children and 4 grandchildren of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh. A UNICEF vehicle is hit by live ammunition while waiting to enter northern Gaza; a UNICEF spokesperson indicates that Israel is responsible. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Naqoura, Yarin, Ayta ash Shab, Adissa, Kafr Kila, Blida, and Khiam. Hezbollah forces attack Israeli positions in Kafrchouba and Shebaa farms. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, NYT, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 4/10; AJ, AP, NYT 4/11; UNOCHA 4/12)

More than 33,482 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 14,520 children and 9,560 women, and around 76,049 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. 141 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. (AJ, HA, WAFA 4/10; UNOCHA 4/12)

Israeli Army Radio reports that Israel has given up on opening the Beit Hanun (Erez) crossing, fearing it will be blocked by protesters and instead are creating a new border crossing. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant later confirms the report. (AJ, NYT, REU 4/10; AP 4/11)

World Central Kitchen (WCK) says a Palestinian staff member, who was off duty at the time, was severely injured 15 minutes prior to the Israeli airstrikes that killed 7 WCK members delivering aid on 4/1. (AJ, AP 4/11)

In response to the Israeli assassination of his 3 children and 4 grandchildren, Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh says he and Hamas will not be deterred, adding that he has lost around 60 members of his family to Israeli airstrikes since 10/7/2023. Haniyeh says “[t]he blood of my children is not more valuable than the blood of the children of Palestinian people …. All the martyrs of Palestine are my children.” Hamas says Haniyeh received condolence calls from Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani, and PA president Mahmoud Abbas. A Hamas official says Hamas does not have 40 living captives that meet the criteria for an exchange as part of a ceasefire proposal. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, NYT, NYT, REU 4/10; HA, HA, NYT, REU 4/11; HA 4/12)

President Abbas speaks with Jordanian king Abdullah II, Qatari emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Arab League secretary-general Ahmed Aboul Gheit in separate phone calls. (AJ, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 4/10)

Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez addresses the Spanish parliament, saying the “international community cannot help the Palestinian state if it does not recognize its existence.” Sanchez also tells the parliament that Israel’s actions in Gaza are “absolutely disproportionate” and have “overturned decades of humanitarian law and threatened to destabilize the Middle East and, as a consequence, the whole world.” (AJ, WAFA 4/10)

U.S. president Joe Biden says during a press conference with Japanese prime minister Fumio Kishida that the U.S. “commitment to Israel’s security against these threats from Iran and its proxies is ironclad.” National Security Council Coordinator for the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk reportedly asks the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and Iraq to mediate with Iran to lower tensions. The 4 foreign ministers speak with Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian according to the Iranian foreign ministry. (AJ, HA, NYT 4/10; AJ, AP, HA, REU 4/11)

Balkan Insight reports that the state-owned Serbian arms trader Yugoimport-SDPR exported $15.2 worth of weapons to Israel in March. Serbia is also reported to have sold arms to Israel in February 2024 and October 2023. (AJ, BI 4/10)

Bloomberg News reports that U.S. officials believe an Iranian strike on Israel is imminent. (BB, HA 4/10; AJ 4/11)