Israel-Palestine live: Biden urges Egypt, Qatar to press Hamas for hostage deal

Israel's military said it carried out an air strike against a command centre operated by the armed Islamic Jihad group in the courtyard of al-Aqsa hospital in the central Gaza Strip.

"The command centre and terrorists were struck precisely, intended on minimising harm to uninvolved civilians in the area of the hospital," the military said. 

Earlier, Palestinian health officials said the strike hit several tents used by journalists and displaced Palestinians in the vicinity of al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, killing four people and wounding several, including five journalists. 

The Gaza health ministry has updated the death toll in the besieged Strip, stating it has jumped to 32,782.

It adds that 75,298 people have been injured since the war broke out on 7 October.

The toll includes 77 people killed and 108 wounded in the past 24 hours.

Palestinian Christians in occupied East Jerusalem are observing low-scale Easter celebrations.

According to Al Jazeera, the Church of Holy Sepulchre in occupied East Jerusalem was relatively empty, contrary to previous years, when the courtyard would be packed. 

The Christian community is expressing solidarity with the Palestinians in war-torn Gaza, with low attendance for Easter rituals.

 Meanwhile, Pope Francis has renewed his calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. 

"I appeal once again that access to humanitarian aid be ensured to Gaza, and call once more for the prompt release of the hostages seized on last October 7 and for an immediate ceasefire in the Strip," he said to a packed St Peter’s Square in the Vatican City.

The Israeli news website Haaretz reported that aerial warning sirens have sounded in northern Israel, close to the Lebanese border.

It said sirens were activated in Kibbutz Malkia.

The Israeli army and Hezbollah have been trading fire regularly over the border since the war broke out in Gaza nearly six months ago. 

The government media office in Gaza has issued a statement condemning the Israeli forces' targeting of tents used by journalists and displaced Palestinians in the vicinity of al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza.

Journalist Hany Abu Rizq was at the scene and spoke to MEE about the details of the attack.

"They [Israeli forces] suddenly targeted a tent inside the hospital, despite the presence of hundreds of displaced people inside. The shelling resulted in the killing of four Palestinians, and a large number of injuries, including to five journalists," he told MEE.

Al Jazeera Arabic has reported that Israeli forces have killed two Palestinians and injured a number of journalists by targeting their tents.

Several videos have gone viral on platform X, formerly Twitter, showing the scene at al-Aqsa hospital.

Egyptian and Israeli media reported that talks on a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel are to be resumed today in Cairo.

This is the latest attempt to implement a ceasefire after almost six months since the war broke out in Gaza.

On Friday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved sending an Israeli delegation to resume the negotiations on hostage swap and a long-term ceasefire in Gaza.

The Israeli delegation, includes representatives from the intelligence agency Mossad, the internal security agency Shin Bet, and the military intelligence agency Aman, according to the Israeli Channel 12.

Egypt, Qatar and the US have mediated previous rounds of negotiations, but an agreement is still difficult to reach.

Thousands of anti-Netanyahu protesters took to the streets in Tel Aviv last night, calling for the resignation of the Israeli government, demanding early elections and urging the release of Israeli hostages.

Demonstrations also took place in Jerusalem, where hundreds of protesters surrounded Netanyahu's private residence. 

Anti-government protests are also planned today in Jerusalem, and families of captives held in Gaza are expected to be among the protesters.

Israeli Channel 12 reported that the police have raised alert levels in preparation for protests in Jerusalem, including in front of the Knesset building.  It also reported that protests during the week could extend to Ben Gurion airport, outside Tel Aviv.

The protesters in Tel Aviv clashed with the Israeli police, who used water cannons to disperse them. 

Israeli media said at least 16 people were arrested.

A new Palestinian government led by recently appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa will be sworn in today. 

Mustafa, who is Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's  economic adviser, was appointed earlier this month, replacing Mohammed Shtayyeh.

The move came amid US pressure to revitalise the Palestinian Authority as part of the White House's post-war planning for Gaza.

On 28 March, Mustafa presented his cabinet and its new programme to Abbas, who signed a decree on the new government.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• Israeli police said they shot dead a suspect in a knife attack in which two people were wounded on Sunday at the main bus station in the southern city of Beersheva
• Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume today in Cairo, according to Egypt’s Al Qahera News channel 
• Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting to receive aid at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza, in what witnesses describe as a "chaotic" scene
• At least 13 Palestinian citizens were killed over the past hours in a series of Israeli air strikes and artillery shelling on various areas of Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip, according to Wafa news agency
• More protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu erupted in Tel Aviv, calling for Netanyahu's resignation and early elections
• Thousands of pro-Palestine demonstrators have taken to the streets in New York's Times Square, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and urging the US to stop its support for Israel.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers.

Our live coverage of Israel's assault on Gaza will shortly be closing for the evening.

Here are the day's main developments.

At least 82 Palestinians have been killed and 98 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, according to the latest figures from the Gaza health ministry. At least 32,705 Palestinians have been killed and 75,190 injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October.

Truce talks between Israel and Hamas will resume on Sunday in Cairo, Egypt's Al Qahera News TV reported on Saturday, citing a security source.

To mark the 48th anniversary of Land Day on Saturday afternoon, thousands of Palestinians marched through the town of Deir Hanna. On 30 March 1976, six Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces as thousands of Palestinians in Israel's northern Galilee region rose up against the Israeli expropriation and occupation of Palestinian lands. The event became known as Land Day and a symbol of the national struggle that unites Palestinians around the world.

According to a statement issued by the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission (CWRC), Israel has seized 27 sq km of land in the occupied West Bank since 7 October.

World Health Organisation director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said around 9,000 patients urgently needed to be evacuated from Gaza for lifesaving treatment abroad. These patients had suffered wounds in Israeli bombing, or needed cancer treatment, kidney dialysis or treatment for other chronic conditions, Tedros wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter.

Other key developments included:

• The British government has received advice from its own lawyers stating that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza but has failed to make it public, according to a leaked recording obtained by the UK's Observer newspaper.
   
• At least five people were killed and dozens injured by gunfire during an aid delivery in Gaza. The incident happened after thousands of people gathered in the Kuwait roundabout in northern Gaza, awaiting the arrival of 15 food aid trucks.
   
• Al Jazeera Arabic reported that Israel had intensified its shelling on the eastern parts of the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis. The air strikes targeted al-Mughraqa in the north of Khan Younis.
   
• UN peacekeeping mission Unifil confirmed that four of its personnel were injured in an explosion in the southern Lebanese border town of Rmeish.
   
• A group of around 20 relatives of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip on Saturday called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resignation, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
   
• Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Saturday that the "famine" in Gaza could be dealt with in a short time if Israel opened the land crossings for aid to enter.

A US politician has reportedly suggested that nuclear weapons should be dropped on Gaza.

“It should be like Nagasaki and Hiroshima. Get it over quick,” Michigan Representative Tim Walberg said in a video circulating on X (formerly Twitter), referencing the Japanese cities the US dropped atomic bombs on at the end of the Second World War.

Walberg, a Republican, is also heard in the video speaking out against humanitarian aid for those in the Gaza Strip, which is on the brink of famine after more than five months of Israel's war against Hamas.

“We shouldn’t be spending a dime on humanitarian aid," Walberg said.

The British government has received advice from its own lawyers stating that Israel has breached international humanitarian law in Gaza but has failed to make it public, according to advice received from its own lawyers, according to a leaked recording obtained by the UK's Observer newspaper.

The comments were made by the Conservative chair of the House of Commons select committee on foreign affairs, Alicia Kearns, at a Tory fundraising event on 13 March, according to the Observer report, and are at odds with repeated ministerial denials and evasion on the issue.

On Saturday night, Kearns, a former Foreign Office official, who has repeatedly pressed ministers, including Foreign Secretary David Cameron, on the legal advice they have received, stood by her comments and called for transparency from the government.

“I remain convinced the government has completed its updated assessment on whether Israel is demonstrating a commitment to international humanitarian law, and that it has concluded that Israel is not demonstrating this commitment, which is the legal determination it has to make,” she said. “Transparency at this point is paramount, not least to uphold the international rules-based order.”

The revelation will place Cameron and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak under intense pressure because any such legal advice would mean the UK had to immediately cease all arms sales to Israel.

Not doing so could risk putting the UK in breach of international law, as it would be seen as aiding and abetting war crimes by a country it was exporting arms to.

“The Foreign Office has received official legal advice that Israel has broken international humanitarian law but the government has not announced it," Kearns said at the fundraiser in north London, according to the Observer.

“They have not said it, they haven’t stopped arms exports.”

Truce talks between Israel and Hamas will resume on Sunday in Cairo, Egypt's Al Qahera News TV reported on Saturday, citing a security source.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Saturday that "famine" in Gaza could be dealt with in a short time if Israel opened the land crossings for aid to enter.

Safadi made the comments at a press conference with his Egyptian and French counterparts in Cairo.

A group of around 20 relatives of Israeli captives held in the Gaza Strip on Saturday called for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's resignation, the Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

The families urged Israeli lawmakers and cabinet members Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot to support their efforts to replace Netanyahu "immediately".

"After you [Netanyahu] have abandoned our families on October 7 and after 176 days during which you haven't struck a deal and are constantly busy foiling a deal, we realised you are the obstacle," Einav Zangauker, the father of one of the captives still held in Gaza, was quoted as saying by Haaretz.

"You are the obstacle preventing a deal knowingly and on purpose. We are forced to do all in our power to remove the obstacle that is you, and are forced to start a new phase in our fight. From now on we will act for your immediate replacement," he said in a speech outside of Tel Aviv's military headquarters.