Live: Lawyers present genocide risk case against Israel at ICJ

The United States has announced sanctions on Yemen’s International Bank of Yemen (IBY), alleging that the financial institution is enabling the Houthi group’s access to global finance.

The US Treasury alleged that IBY plays a crucial role in helping the Houthis, which Washington describes as part of “the Iran threat network”, secure international funding.

“Financial institutions like IBY are critical to the Houthis’ efforts to access the international financial system and threaten both the region and international commerce,” said Deputy Treasury Secretary Michael Faulkender in a statement on Thursday.

He added that Washington is working closely with Yemen’s internationally recognised government to “disrupt the Houthis’ ability to secure funds and procure key components for their destabilising attacks.”

Alongside the bank, several individuals tied to IBY were also sanctioned.

The head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, Khalil al-Hayya, has said in a statement on Thursday that the group is prepared to begin negotiations on a “comprehensive package” to end the war, accusing Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of torpedoing a previous agreement.

Here are some other comments al-Hayya made:

• “We worked for more than a year and a half of arduous negotiations and fulfilled all our obligations,” al-Hayya said in a statement.

• “Netanyahu and his government reversed the ceasefire agreement before the first phase was completed.”

• He confirmed that Hamas accepted a proposal from mediators at the end of Ramadan, despite knowing Netanyahu was “insisting on continuing the war to protect his political future”.

• Al-Hayya said the Israeli leader responded with “impossible conditions” that blocked any chance of a ceasefire or withdrawal.

• “We affirm our readiness to immediately begin negotiations on the comprehensive package,” he said, adding that such talks would involve the full release of Palestinian prisoners in exchange for hostages held by Hamas, along with a total end to the war and Israel’s complete withdrawal from Gaza.

• Al-Hayya also reiterated the group’s position on armed struggle: “Resistance and its weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation and are a natural right of our people.”

US President Donald Trump on Thursday acknowledged reports that he blocked Israeli plans to strike Iran’s nuclear sites, saying he chose not to rush into conflict.

Speaking from the Oval Office, Trump said: “I wouldn’t say ‘waved off’ [the strikes],” in reference to The New York Times report. “I’m not in a rush to do it because I think Iran has a chance to be a great country.”

He said military action remains a last resort: “If there’s a second option, I think it’d be very bad for Iran, and I think Iran is wanting to talk.”

Trump also defended his decision to withdraw from the 2015 nuclear agreement: “The deal with Obama would have expired already… It was a terrible deal and would’ve given them a clear path to a nuclear weapon. That’s why I terminated the deal.”

Israeli air strikes on a residential building in Jabalia, northern Gaza, on Thursday killed four civilians and left several others wounded, according to local sources.

In a separate attack, Israeli forces opened fire in the Qizan Raswan area, south of Khan Younis, killing one person.

Israeli media said on Thursday that the United States has ramped up military support by sending hundreds of bombs to Israel in what they describe as the largest airlift of its kind in years.

According to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority, nine American military cargo planes landed at Nevatim Airbase within 24 hours, unloading large quantities of munitions.

The report claims the bombs are meant to prepare Israel for possible strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites if ongoing diplomatic efforts collapse.

Amazon refused to host an event celebrating Arab American culture at the eleventh hour, prompting fears that the move was “discriminatory” and part of a broader systemic effort to suppress Arab American voices and visibility.

The National Arab American Heritage Month Commemoration was scheduled to take place on 9 April at Amazon East Coast headquarters in Arlington, Virginia (known as HQ2), to honour the achievements of people from the Arab-American community.

Organisers had been planning the event for six months and began working with Amazon’s employee resource group, Arabs at Amazon, in mid-February to coordinate logistics. The group has 4,000 members worldwide.

Then, on 7 April, 48 hours before the event was due to take place, Amazon announced that it was "postponing" the event.

One of the key organisers of the event was Warren David, co-founder of the Arab America Foundation (AAF). He established National Arab American Heritage Month in 2017, commemorating Arab American heritage and culture each April. 

Read more: 'Discrimination': Arab American event moved from Amazon headquarters

UK Foreign Secretary David Lammy has informed Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar that a legal request seeking his arrest was dismissed by the British Attorney General’s Office.

The pro-Palestinian Hind Rajab Foundation had filed the request, urging authorities to issue a warrant for Saar’s arrest during his current visit to the UK. The foundation regularly pursues legal action against Israeli officials accused of committing war crimes.

A statement by the Hind Rajab Foundation said that: “Sa’ar is deeply implicated in the collective decisions that led to mass civilian death and suffering following October 7, 2023. His central role in shaping and defending the government’s military policy makes him a key figure in the leadership responsible for a campaign the International Court of Justice has found plausibly genocidal.”

The attempt to secure his arrest comes amid growing legal efforts around the world targeting Israeli officials over the war in Gaza.

On Tuesday, Saaar met with his British counterpart, Lammy.

Israeli air raids have killed at least 32 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip since dawn, medical sources told Al Jazeera on Thursday.

Most of the victims, 23 in total, were killed in the north, where strikes have intensified in recent days.

The death toll is expected to rise as emergency crews continue to pull people from the rubble.

Lawyers representing Hamas have accused former minister Robert Jenrick of endangering their staff after claiming they show "sympathy for terrorists" by representing the Palestinian group.

Riverway Law, the firm handling a legal application to deproscribe Hamas in the UK, has written to Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood urging her to condemn Jenrick’s remarks.

In the letter, solicitor Fahad Ansari argued that the former immigration minister's comments were not only inflammatory but could also put him and other lawyers representing Hamas in danger.

"Mr Jenrick has had recent form for attacking not just lawyers, but independent judges as well," Ansari wrote.

"His comments are not only reckless and libellous but amount to incitement against our staff members."

Read more: Lawyers accuse Robert Jenrick of endangering staff over Hamas case remarks

Palestinians are marking Prisoners’ Day on Thursday, drawing attention to the plight of thousands held in Israeli detention centres - many without charge or a trial.

Former detainees have described brutal conditions behind bars, describing systematic torture, starvation, and physical abuse at the hands of Israeli prison staff.

Addameer, a Palestinian prisoners’ rights group, says nearly 10,000 Palestinians are currently imprisoned, including around 400 children and 27 women.

It estimates that roughly 40 percent of all Palestinian men have been detained at some point by Israel in their lifetime.

The group also reports that 3,500 people are being held under administrative detention - imprisoned without formal charges or access to legal proceedings.

Since October 2023, Israel has barred all humanitarian organisations from visiting prisons, making it increasingly difficult to monitor detainees’ treatment or verify current figures.

Calls for international accountability are growing, but there is still no sign of oversight returning to Israel’s detention system.

As hundreds of Jewish Israelis flocked in and out of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Wednesday, the Temple Mount Administration, the body responsible for the entry of Jewish worshippers to the holy site, took to X to celebrate what it called “an amazing surge”.

According to the Temple Mount Administration, named after the Jewish term for the raised plateau Al-Aqsa Mosque stands on, 4,209 Jews entered the courtyards to pray since the Passover holiday began on Saturday. That’s more than all the Jewish worshippers that visited during holidays last year.

Aouni Bazbaz, director of international affairs at the Islamic Waqf, the organisation that administers Al-Aqsa Mosque, confirmed to Middle East Eye that there has indeed been a surge in controversial Jewish religious visits.

The Chief Rabbinate of Jerusalem has long declared Jewish worship on Temple Mount forbidden unless worshippers are "ritually pure", which is believed impossible under modern conditions.

Read more: Huge surge of Jewish worshippers at Al-Aqsa Mosque as Muslims locked out

Unrwa says nearly 70 percent of Gaza is now under Israeli "evacuation orders", with humanitarian operations crippled by a complete aid blockade that has lasted since 2 March.

In a grim update, the UN agency confirmed that no humanitarian supplies have entered the besieged enclave for weeks - marking the longest sustained halt in aid since the war began in October 2023.

"Approximately 69 percent of the Gaza Strip is subject to evacuation orders," Unrwa reported, adding that around 420,000 people have been newly displaced since fighting resumed.

The agency said that ongoing bombardments and a collapse in supply lines have made it nearly impossible to deliver lifesaving assistance to civilians.

Humanitarian groups say the situation is deteriorating by the hour, as food, clean water, and medical care remain out of reach for much of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents.

Israeli air strikes have killed at least 29 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip since dawn, according to medical sources speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic on Thursday.

The majority of the casualties - 21 people - were reported in the northern areas of the enclave, where bombardment has intensified in recent days.

Rescue teams are still working to retrieve bodies from under the rubble, with hospitals struggling to cope as casualties pour in.

Around 40 activists rallied outside of British Petroleum’s (BP) headquarters in London on Wednesday evening to protest the company’s role in the climate crisis and complicity in Israel’s war on Gaza.

The protests came ahead of the company’s annual general meeting (AGM), which is expected to bring together executives and shareholders to assess BP’s 2024 performance, as well as set out its future goals. 

Organisers included Fossil Free London, Energy Embargo for Palestine, and the Free West Papua Campaign. 

Campaigners told Middle East Eye that they have been actively protesting BP since the start of the war on Gaza and that the Wednesday rally was specifically held on the eve of the company’s AGM, as it was “the most important event on their financial calendar”.

Leila, a spokesperson for Energy Embargo for Palestine, who did not want to give her surname, condemned the upcoming meeting as a celebration of “another year of profiteering from genocide and climate breakdown.” 

Read more: Climate and Palestine protesters target BP ahead of annual general meeting

Israeli forces claim to have killed a member of Hamas who headed the movement’s “weapons smuggling network” in a strike in Khan Younis, according to Israeli reports.

There was no immediate confirmation from Hamas on the Israeli claim.