Live: Lawyers present genocide risk case against Israel at ICJ

Mossad chief David Barnea visited Qatar last week to "shake up the talks" for a ceasefire and captive release deal, Haaretz reported, citing a senior Israeli official.

The official said Barnea’s involvement, despite being removed from the team, showed all sides were "turning over every stone" to advance the deal.

Another source said there had been "no significant progress" so far.

Barnea’s trip revealed an additional Israeli channel working alongside Minister Ron Dermer’s team, which negotiates with US envoy Steve Witkoff, the report said.

Officials said Dermer is "not interested" in direct talks with Qatar, while Barnea has a close relationship with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al Thani.

Hundreds of Israelis holding photos of children killed in Gaza marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, demanding Israel halt its war on the enclave.

Hundreds of Israelis walking in Tel Aviv tonight with photos of children killed in Gaza demanding to stop the attacks now. pic.twitter.com/XjDA9o6EIe

— Breaking the Silence (@BtSIsrael) April 26, 2025

The Israeli military said a 19-year-old border police officer and a 21-year-old army captain were killed on Friday in the Shujaiyeh neighbourhood, east of Gaza City, in northern Gaza, according to The Times of Israel.

According to the report, the border police officer was killed after his position was exposed during an ambush, while the army captain was killed by anti-tank fire and small arms fire.

At least 10 Palestinians were killed and several others wounded on Saturday evening in Israeli air strikes targeting central Gaza, Wafa reported, citing local sources and medical officials.

Five people were killed and others injured when Israeli forces bombed a group of civilians near the Shomer factory, north of Al-Maghazi refugee camp, the report said.

In a separate incident, one Palestinian was killed in an Israeli strike in the Al-Zahraa area, northwest of the Nuseirat refugee camp. Four more Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in drone strikes carried out by Israeli forces in the town of Al-Zawaida, also in central Gaza.

Medical sources said the total number of Palestinians killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since early Saturday had risen to 36.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas appointed a close aide as the first ever vice president of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) on Saturday, according to a member of the organisation's executive committee.

"Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas appointed Hussein al-Sheikh as a deputy (vice president) of the PLO leadership," Wasel Abu Yousef said, in a move that positions Sheikh as a potential successor to veteran leader Abbas.

Abbas, 89, created the vice presidency position during a convention held in Ramallah this week

It follows years of international pressure to reform the PLO and comes as Arab and Western powers envision an expanded role for Abbas's Palestinian Authority (PA) in the post-war governance of the Gaza Strip.

Founded in 1964, the PLO is empowered to negotiate and sign international treaties on behalf of the Palestinian people, while the PA is responsible for governance in parts of the Palestinian territories.

Reporting by AFP

Israeli settlers opened fire in the occupied West Bank village of Kaubar in northern Hebron, attacked homes and "kidnapped" two young residents, Adnan Amriya and Muhammad Amriya, according to media reports.

A security official confirmed that the settlers opened fire in the village, according to Ynet news.

A footage circulated on social media showed the two young residents blindfolded, with at least one of them with their hands tied up.

♦️ מתנחלים חוסמים את הכביש עם אבנים וסלעים בוואדי סעיר בצפון חברון. pic.twitter.com/jXIAvmFXnl

— Asslan Khalil (@KhalilAsslan) April 26, 2025

Prominent Palestinian prisoner Abdullah Barghouti has endured ongoing severe physical abuse at the hands of Israeli prison guards, according to his family.

Barghouti, who also holds Jordanian citizenship, has been detained since 2003 and has faced harsh conditions throughout his incarceration. 

However, his family reports that the abuse has intensified since the onset of the Israeli war on Gaza in October 2023.

Barghouti, a member of Hamas' armed wing, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, is serving the longest prison sentence in Israeli custody, having been sentenced to 67 life terms for masterminding bombings that resulted in the deaths of dozens of Israelis.

He has remained one of the key figures Israel has refused to release in prisoner exchange talks with Hamas.

Read more: Israeli guards torturing Palestinian prisoner Abdullah Barghouti, family says

Israel's military said on Saturday it had intercepted a missile fired from Yemen, where Houthi rebels have launched attacks throughout the war on Gaza, as well as a drone approaching "from the east".

"Following the sirens that sounded recently in several areas in Israel, a missile that was launched from Yemen was intercepted" before "crossing into Israeli territory", a military statement said.

The Houthis announced a "military operation" targeting the Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel, claiming that "the missile reached its target".

In a separate incident, the Israeli military said a drone "that was on its way to Israeli territory from the east was intercepted" by the air force.

Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree later said the rebels fired two drones at Israel and more at the US Navy's USS Harry S Truman aircraft carrier battle group.

Israel’s genocide in Gaza, now into its 19th month, aims to destroy all life and dismantle the very foundations of survival in the besieged territory.

People in Gaza may die by missile strikes, disease, starvation or the collapsed healthcare system, as anguish weakens the body until illness overtakes it.

Every path leads to death in Gaza. Death has become so frequent and familiar that Palestinians might simultaneously face multiple types of demise, as with the queues forming outside charity kitchens in an effort to stave off starvation, only to be bombed by Israeli aircraft while they wait.

This happened most recently in the southern al-Mawasi area, where one volunteer recalled to Middle East Eye: “I was busy distributing food to the children … and in the blink of an eye, everything turned upside down. Blood filled the place, screams and cries of children and women rose, the food-filled pots were scattered, and the kitchen turned into a ball of fire.” 

Read more: All those who have stood by as Israel exterminates Gaza are guilty Opinion by Ahmed Abu Artema

Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 51,495 Palestinians since 7 October 2023, the Palestinian health ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

At least 2,062 Palestinians have been killed and 5,375 wounded since Israel broke the ceasefire on 18 March, the ministry said.

Ali Baraka, the head of Hamas' national relations department, has confirmed to the Lebanese channel Al Mayadeen that the Palestinian group wants an agreement in which all remaining Israeli captives will be released at once, in exchange for a "five-year ceasefire".

He said Hamas would not accept a ceasefire agreement similar to the one made in January, which Israel violated.

An Israeli air strike on a three-storey house in a western Gaza neighbourhood on Saturday morning killed 10 people, the Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said.

The attack brings the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes in Gaza over the past day to 49. 

A Hamas official has reportedly said the Palestinian group is open to an agreement that would involve the release of all remaining Israeli captives and a five-year cessation of hostilities.

Speaking anonymously to AFP, the official said: "Hamas is ready for an exchange of prisoners in a single batch and a truce for five years."

This comes after Hamas said on Friday that it would not accept any proposals that require its disarmament. 

"The weapons of the resistance are not negotiable, and will remain in our hands as long as the occupation persists," the group insisted in a statement.

Hamas representatives are set to meet mediators in Cairo later on Saturday.

The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has warned that its food stocks in Gaza are completely "depleted", saying it has delivered its "last remaining food stocks" to local kitchens.

The WFP cautioned that Gaza would run out of food "in the coming days", with more than 400,000 people in the besieged enclave relying on its aid.

Israel's ongoing humanitarian blockade of Gaza, which began on 2 March, has forced residents to survive on food supplies stored during the ceasefire earlier this year.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers. 

Here are the key developments overnight:

• The Israeli military said that Houthi rebels fired a ballistic missile from Yemen towards Israel, but it was intercepted before it could enter its airspace.
• The UN World Food Programme warned that food stocks in Gaza are now fully depleted due to Israel's ongoing blockade of the besieged enclave.
• Israeli forces killed four people in northern Gaza's Sabra neighbourhood after bombing a residential home. Thirty people are reportedly trapped under the rubble.
• Israeli soldiers shot and wounded a Palestinian teenager south of Bethlehem.