In the West Bank, Israeli settlers shoot and kill 2 Palestinians and injure another during a raid in Aqraba. Israeli settlers also throw stones at Palestinians working their land in Kafr Malik and Jit. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers vandalize Palestinian homes and other property during a raid in Bruqin. Israeli settlers also throw stones at Palestinian vehicles near Bethlehem, causing damage. Meanwhile, Israeli settlers set fire to a Palestinian-owned vehicle during a raid in Shaab al-Butum in the Masafer Yatta area. Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian child and injure 3 others during a raid in Nablus. Israeli forces also shoot and injure a Palestinian man during a raid in Burqa. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shoot and injure a Palestinian man near the separation wall in Qalqilya. Israeli forces also assault 2 people and seize a vehicle in Khallet al-Farra in the Masafer Yatta area. Separately, Israeli forces violently disperse Palestinians protesting a raid in Beit Umar, causing tear-gas related injuries. Israeli forces also arrest 8 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Kafr Ni’ma and Tulkarm. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Nuseirat refugee camp and Khan Yunis, killing at least 68 people. Israeli forces also open fire at Palestinian seeking to return north on al-Rashid Street, injuring at least 2. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Houla, Naqoura, Dhayra, Seddikine, and Majdal Zoun, injuring 10 people. Hezbollah forces fire missiles at an Israeli military base in Kafrchouba. 4 Israeli soldiers are injured in an explosion inside Lebanon. (AJ, AJ, HA, HA, NYT, REU, REU, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 4/15; HA 4/16; UNOCHA 4/17)
More than 33,797 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 14,520 children and 10,000 women, and around 76,465 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 7,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 456 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 114 children. More than 4,800 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 1,571 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. 204 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. Al-Amal Hospital partially reopens after it ceased functioning on 3/26. The UN Satellite Center says 90% of the 4,042 buildings in the planned Israeli buffer zone along the Gaza fence have been destroyed or damaged. The buffer zone stretches 0.6 miles into Gaza along the Gaza fence. (AJ, HA, UNOCHA, WAFA 4/15; UNOCHA, UNOCHA 4/17)
Palestinian doctors find a mass grave with 10 bodies near al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City and the Civil Defense finds another mass grave in Beit Lahiya containing 20 bodies. Israel releases 150 Palestinians who had been taken from Gaza into Israeli detention, including 2 Palestinian Red Crescent members who are released from Israeli detention to Gaza after 50 days of captivity, and a child. (AJ 4/15; UNOCHA 4/17)
The Jerusalem Magistrate Court orders the eviction of 20 members of 3 Palestinian families from their home in Sheikh Jarrah by 7/17 and orders them to pay $21,000 to the settler organization Nahalat Shimon. (AP, WAFA 4/15; HA, HA, PCN, PCN 4/16)
PA prime minister Mohammad Mustafa urges the international community to help end Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank during a meeting with more than 50 diplomats in Ramallah. (AJ, WAFA 4/15)
Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to fire Defense Minister Yoav Gallant over the dismantling of a settlement outpost. (AJ, HA 4/15)
The Arab League condemns the surge in Israeli settler attacks in the West Bank. (WAFA 4/15)
U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says reports that Iran meant to fail in its attack on Israel are “categorically false,” calling the Iranian attack a “spectacular and embarrassing failure.” The State Department issues a statement condemning the killing of an Israeli child on 4/13 and expressing concern over the growing settler violence in the West Bank. (AJ, HA, REU, REU 4/15)
The Intercept reports that an internal New York Times memo instructs reporters not to use the words “genocide” and “ethnic cleansing” to describe Israel’s attacks on Gaza and to avoid using the descriptor “occupied territory” when referring to Palestinian lands. (INT 4/15)
Portuguese prime minister Luis Montenegro says his country will not recognize the State of Palestine without EU consensus during a press conference with Spanish prime minister Pedro Sanchez. Sanchez has been leading efforts to have European countries recognize Palestine. (AJ 4/15)
Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) encourages Americans to “take matters into your own hands” after pro-Palestinian protesters shut down several highways and bridges across the U.S. (NYT 4/16)
