Live: Lawyers present genocide risk case against Israel at ICJ

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are some of the latest updates on Israel’s war on Gaza and the occupied West Bank:

• Around 360 Israeli medical professionals, half of them doctors, have signed a letter demanding an investigation and prosecution of Israeli troops involved in the killing of 15 Palestinian emergency workers in Gaza, according to Haaretz.

• US Vice President JD Vance said the Trump administration is “hopeful” about the chances of Israel and Hamas reaching a deal as he met with several captive families at the White House on Wednesday.

• Israeli forces arrested a well-known Palestinian reporter, Samer Khuwaira, in the early hours of Thursday morning amid the military's major raid and forced expulsions in the nearby Balata refugee camp in the occupied West Bank.

• Israeli police have arrested seven demonstrators protesting against Israel’s war on Gaza and demanding a ceasefire near Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem, according to The Times of Israel.

• Israeli forces have stormed eastern neighbourhoods in the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarem and forced families to leave their homes, according to Al Jazeera Arabic. The military also raided several locations around East Jerusalem, Ramallah and Nablus in the occupied West Bank over recent hours, the report said.

• Israeli fighter jets have bombed Gaza's Khan Younis, killing at least two people and injuring others, The Quds News Network reported, as Israeli forces began shelling the northern areas of Rafah in southern Gaza.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers, 

Our live blog will soon be closing for the day. Here is what happened today: 

• Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said that his country will keep controlling the buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, including the Philadelphi Corridor, even if a deal is reached to end the war
• French President Emmanuel Macron said his country might recognise Palestine as a state next June, during a conference that is due to be held in New York and co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. He made his statements during an interview with France 5 programme
• Israeli forces surrounded the Balata camp in Nablus after having raided it at dawn. The director of the ambulance at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Nablus was quoted as saying that many people have been wounded from the shooting and beatings during the raids
• Israeli troops blew up a Palestinian home in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm, located in the occupied West Bank
• Israeli jets struck a block of homes in Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood, killing over 35 people and leaving dozens more wounded and trapped under the rubble. This marks one of the deadliest attacks in recent days, targeting multiple adjacent homes in the war-torn area
• At least 60,000 children in Gaza are “at risk of serious health complications due to malnutrition,” as aid deliveries continue to be disallowed by Israel, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said that France’s recognition of a Palestinian state would distance “peace, security and stability in our region”.

Saar’s remarks were posted on X in response to French President Emmanuel Macron’s statements that his country would recognise Palestine as a state next June during a conference that is due to be held in New York and co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia.

He added that the "unilateral recognition of an imaginary Palestinian state by any country, given the situation we are all familiar with, will only reward terrorism and strengthen Hamas".

Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that his country will keep controlling the buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, including the Philadelphi Corridor, even if a deal is reached to end the war.

Katz made the statements during a visit to the new "Morag Corridor" between the southern Gaza cities of Rafah and Khan Younis.

“Large areas are being seized and added to Israel’s security zones, leaving Gaza smaller and more isolated,” said Katz.

He threatened that the military would “move to more intense fighting throughout Gaza until the hostages are freed and Hamas is defeated”.

The US Senate confirmed on Wednesday that former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee will be the Trump administration’s next ambassador to Israel.

The move came after a vote of 53 to 46.

Huckabee is a staunch supporter of Israel and of illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. In 2017, he told CNN that “there is no such thing as the West Bank”.

“It’s Judea and Samaria,” Huckabee said, referring to the territory’s biblical name, which is used by Israeli settlers. “There’s no such thing as a settlement. They’re communities, they’re neighbourhoods, they’re cities. There’s no such thing as an occupation.”

Many US rights groups have denounced Huckabee’s nomination because of his “extreme anti-Palestinian views”.

French President Emmanuel Macron said his country might recognise Palestine as a state next June.

He made his statements during an interview with France 5 programme on Wednesday.

Macron said he wants to move toward "recognising" the Palestinian state, adding: "I won't do it... to please one person or another, but because it would be just and because I want to participate in a political dynamic".

In June, Saudi Arabia and France will co-chair an international conference in New York. The conference aims to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and advance a two-state solution.

Al Jazeera is reporting on Wednesday that Israeli forces are surrounding the Balata camp in Nablus after having raided it at dawn.

It quotes the director of the ambulance at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Nablus as saying that many people have been wounded from the shooting and beatings during the raids.

The director also told Al Jazeera that Palestinians "are forced to flee the camp", and that they are coordinating with the Red Cross to get sick cases out.

 Meanwhile, three sick children are out of the camp, with efforts exerted to move out more numbers.

Two decades ago, Russian American anthropologist Alexei Yurchak coined the term “hypernormalisation” to describe the absurd and surreal reality of the Soviet Union during its final two decades. 

In that era, both citizens and officials knew the Soviet system was dysfunctional and no longer reflected reality - yet everyone continued as if nothing was wrong. 

Few could have imagined that the Berlin Wall would collapse, or that the mighty Soviet Union would disintegrate into 15 independent states, with Russia relying on US wheat imports in the 1990s.

Looking back, it’s easy to identify the broken parts of that system and understand just how surreal and unsustainable - what Yurchak framed as hypernormalised - it truly was. 

Now, consider this: 15 medics and rescue workers were recently executed by the Israeli army in Gaza, and after one captured the moment on video - refuting the Israeli army’s official narrative - the world is asking questions. 

Read more: Israel has become like the Soviet Union in its dying days

Al-Jazeera is reporting on Wednesday that at least one Palestinian has been killed in an Israeli attack on a group of civilians in Gaza's al-Tuffah neighbourhood.

Israeli troops on Wednesday blew up a Palestinian home in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm, located in the occupied West Bank, according to the Wafa news agency.

Wafa, quoting local sources, said the house was in al-Manshiyya neighbourhood.

Several homes were also demolished in Jenin refugee camp in the northern West Bank.

Since January, Israel has launched a military operation in the occupied West Bank, in which it has destroyed around 600 homes in Jenin refugee camp and nearly 400 houses in the Tulkarm and Nur Sham refugee camps.

Israeli violence has also risen against Palestinians, forcing thousands out of their homes.

Israeli jets struck a block of homes in Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood on Wednesday, killing over 35 people and leaving dozens more wounded and trapped under the rubble.

This marks one of the deadliest attacks in recent days, targeting multiple adjacent homes in the war-torn area.

Rescue teams are concerned that many individuals are buried beneath the debris of at least 10 destroyed buildings, while hospitals and medical personnel are overwhelmed with the wounded.

Other areas across the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, Khan Younis, Deir al-Balah, and Beit Hanoun, were also hit on Wednesday.

According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the majority of victims in these attack have been women and children.

Read more: Israeli attack on Shujaiya homes kills 30 with more feared under rubble

At least 60,000 children in Gaza are “at risk of serious health complications due to malnutrition,” as aid deliveries continue to be disallowed by Israel, the Palestinian health ministry said on Wednesday.

It warned that “the lack of adequate nutrition and drinking water will compound health challenges, with the continued ban on vaccinations for children, especially polio vaccinations”.

The ministry’s statements follow remarks by the United Nations chief, Antonio Guterres, in which he rejected on Tuesday Israel’s newly proposed mechanisms to control aid deliveries to Gaza. Guterres described Gaza as a “killing field”, which has been left without a drop of aid for months.

Since 2 March, no food or medical supplies have passed through to the enclave, where around 2.3 million people live. Israel has continued its aid blockade by sealing border crossings, forcing the closure of 21 nutrition centres and the discontinuation of medical treatment for about 350 severely malnourished children, as per UN figures.

“All basic supplies are running out,” said Juliette Touma from Unrwa, the UN agency for Palestinian aid. “It means babies, children are going to bed hungry. Every day without these basic supplies, Gaza inches closer towards very, very deep hunger.”

Avichay Adraee, the Israeli army's Arabic-language spokesperson, shared on X what he said was evidence of Hezbollah rebuilding its infrastructure in the southern suburbs of Beirut.

His post shows heavy equipment allegedly disappearing and reappearing according to Israeli aerial shots, which Adraee said are used to rebuild the Lebanese group's underground infrastructure.

Adraee did not provide further evidence, but said his country will act against any perceived threats.

Heavy reconstruction efforts have been ongoing across Lebanon's civilian areas following the two-months war with Israel, which saw relentless bombing and widespread destruction.

#عاجل هكذا يحاول حزب الله اعمار موقع إنتاج في الضاحية الجنوبية ويُخفي نشاطه عن آلية الرقابة ويكذب على اللبنانيين: خلال تفتيش مفاجئ اختفت الآليات الهندسية، وعادت إلى العمل بعد انتهائه خلافًا لاتفاق وقف إطلاق النار

🔸يكشف جيش الدفاع أن حزب الله يحاول خلال الأشهر الأخيرة إعادة… pic.twitter.com/kdv9PoDog0

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) April 9, 2025

The French government has been accused of a “serious violation” of its legal obligations by allowing indicted Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plane to pass over its airspace - for the third time in two months.

Netanyahu, who was issued an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant last year for war crimes in Gaza, travelled from Hungary to the United States last weekend, flying over Croatian, Italian and French airspace en route. 

Similarly, in February, a plane carrying Netanyahu from Israel to the US flew over Greece, Italy and France. The return flight is reported to have taken a similar reverse route.  

A French diplomatic source told Middle East Eye that the 2 February flight had been “authorised” to use French airspace, which they said was “in full compliance with France’s rights and obligations under international law”. 

READ MORE: France criticised for allowing Netanyahu's plane to use its airspace

An Israeli strike on Gaza's Mawasi "safe zone" killed three people: a man, a woman and a little girl.