In the West Bank, Israeli settlers steal 4 gas cylinders and try to steal a vehicle in Ramin. Israeli forces raid Balata refugee camp, shooting and injuring 8 Palestinians, including a child, assaulting and injuring 5 others, injuring 22 with tear gas, evacuating 5 families from their homes, placing Palestinians under a curfew until 4/10, and arresting 5 people. Israeli forces also punitively demolish the family home of Palestinian prisoner Zaid al-Junaidi in Hebron, reportingly bringing al-Junaidi to the demolition site and beating him. Elsewhere, Israeli forces punitively demolish the family home in Deir Ibziq of a Palestinian man killed by Israeli forces on 3/22/2024. Israeli forces also continue raids in Jenin and Jenin refugee camp for the 78th day in a row, demolishing homes and destroying infrastructure. Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue raids in Tulkarm, Tulkarm refugee camp, and Nur Shams refugee camp for the 72nd day in a row, demolishing a home in Nur Shams. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities force a Palestinian family to demolish their own home in Beit Safafa. Israeli forces assault Palestinians and spray skunk water during a raid in Isawiya. Israeli forces also demolish a horse stable in Bayt Hanina. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Gaza City, al-Mawasi, Khan Yunis, and Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 45 Palestinians, including more than 35 in a bombing of the Shuja’iya neighborhood of Gaza City in which dozens of buildings are destroyed and 80 people go missing. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Ramyah. In Yemen, U.S. forces bomb Sanaa and Hodeidah, killing 3 people in Sanaa. Houthi forces say they shot down a MQ-9 Reaper drone. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, NYT, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 4/9; UNOCHA 4/10)
More than 50,846 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 17,881 children and 12,749 women, and around 115,729 have been injured since 10/7/2023. In addition, 14,222 Palestinians who have been missing are presumed dead. 944 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 189 children. More than 6,500 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, 408 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. (AJ, WAFA 4/9)
Hamas head of international relations Mousa Abu Marzouk files a formal legal application on behalf of Hamas to the UK home secretary Yvette Cooper, calling for Hamas to be removed from the UK list of terrorist organizations. The 100-page filing argues that listing Hamas as a terrorist organization violates the UK’s obligation under international law not to be complicit in genocide, is disproportionate, and breaches the group’s right to freedom of speech. The legal team representing Marzouk argues in its own filing that while Hamas’s military actions may fit the definition of terrorism under UK law, so do Israeli, Ukrainian, and UK military actions. (AJ 4/10)
French president Emmanuel Macron says France could recognize the State of Palestine by June. The PA welcomes the announcement. Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar calls the French announcement “a prize for terror.” (AJ, AJ, HA, REU 4/9; AJ, HA, WAFA 4/10)
Haaretz reports that Israel plans to create a permanent buffer zone in the Rafah governorate, a fifth of all of Gaza, and is considering demolishing all buildings in the governorate, which housed more than 200,000 people before Israel’s war on Gaza. (HA 4/9)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with CIA director John Ratcliffe in Israel. (AJ 4/9)
970 Israeli reservists sign a letter calling for an end to the war on Gaza, saying the war is based on political gain rather than safeguarding Israel. Israeli media reports that the signatories will be fired. (AJ, HA 4/9; AJ, AJ, HA, NYT, REU 4/10; AP 4/11)
Turkish foreign minister Hakan Fidan confirms reports that Turkey and Israel are discussing how to deconflict in Syria. (AJ 4/9; HA, HA, NYT 4/10; HA 4/11)
UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres writes on social media that “[a]s the occupying power, Israel has unequivocal obligations under international law – including international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Yet currently no humanitarian supplies can enter Gaza.” (AJ 4/9)
Indonesian president Prabowo Subianto says his country can take in 1,000 wounded, traumatized, or orphaned Palestinians from Gaza, sheltering them until they can safely return. (AP, HA, REU 4/9)
UNESCO’s Executive Board unanimously adopts 2 resolutions calling for an end to Israeli excavation projects and construction activities in East Jerusalem and at the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron. (WAFA 4/9; AJ 4/10)
The U.S. Senate confirms Mike Huckabee as the new ambassador to Israel. Huckabee has previously made anti-Palestinian statements and does not believe that the West Bank is occupied territory. (AJ, AP 4/9)
Canadian prime minister Mark Carney responds to a protester who shouts “there is a genocide in Palestine” at a campaign rally, saying “I am aware. That is why we have an arms embargo.” Carney later says he didn’t hear the word genocide. (AJ, HA 4/10)
U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio writes in a memo to Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem that U.S. green card holder Mahmoud Khalil and another person are deportable due to participation in protests that he has determined were anti-Semitic and fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students. The memo was written ahead of a court hearing in Khalil’s case on 4/11. Separately, the Trump administration announces that U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services will start screening visa applicants for social media activity that expresses support “antisemitic terrorism, violent antisemitic ideologies and antisemitic terrorist organizations such as Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Hezbollah, or Ansar Allah aka: the Houthis.” The Trump administration views criticism of Israel and anti-Zionism as anti-Semitism. (AX, AX 4/10; AP 4/11)