Israel's War on Gaza Live: Israel pounds Rafah in overnight strikes

The Israeli army said it struck over 40 targets in Gaza over the past 24 hours including "rocket launchers primed for attacks on Israel," the Times of Israel reports.

The army also said that troops killed several gunmen on the outskirts of the Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza.

Human Rights Watch said in their latest report that the Israeli military either took part in or did not protect Palestinians from violent settler attacks in the West Bank, which have displaced people from 20 communities and have "entirely uprooted at least seven communities since October 7, 2023".

HRW has documented cases of assault, torture and sexual violence against Palestinians at the hands of settlers. The organisation also spoke of the stealing of Palestinians's belongings and livestock, as well as death threats if they do not leave permanently and destructions of homes and schools under the pretext of the ongoing war in Gaza.

"Many Palestinians, including entire communities, have fled their homes and lands," the report said. "The military has not assured displaced residents that it will protect their security or allow them to return, forcing them to live in precarious conditions elsewhere."

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• At least 16 people, including eight children, have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza, the Wafa news agency reports
• An Israeli military bulldozer has been caught in an explosion in Tubas, occupied West Bank, as the Israeli army's raids and clashes in the area remain ongoing
• US says it will impose new sanctions on Iran's missile and drone programme following the weekend attack on Israel and expects its allies to follow suit
• A US House Resolution condemning the chant "from the river to the sea" has been with 377 votes in favour, 44 votes against and one vote present
• The UN Security Council is expected to vote on the State of Palestine's application for full UN membership on Thursday

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Forty six people were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to Gaza's health ministry. This brings the total to 33,843 since the war began on 7 October.

An additional 110 were wounded, bringing the total to 76,575.

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday there had been "no significant change" in the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip. 

Unrwa said in a statement that "181 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza per day" through land crossings from Israel and Egypt so far in April.

It said this "remains well below the operational capacity of both border crossings and the target of 500 trucks per day."

In other developments:

• Low-cost airline EasyJet announced on Tuesday that it would be cancelling scheduled flights to Israel until the end of October, citing the ongoing situation in the country. 
• Iberia Express plans to resume its flights connecting Madrid and Tel Aviv this Wednesday.
• German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was set to travel on Israel on Tuesday, in what Berlin said was a bid to de-escalate tensions and boost support for Israel.
• Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership bear sole responsibility for the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East.
• US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that there has been consistent progress in the amount of aid entering Gaza. However, he emphasised that it has not yet reached the desired level, and Washington is actively working to enhance it. 
• Republican leaders from four US House of Representatives national security committees and one subcommittee released a statement endorsing Speaker Mike Johnson's proposal to advance legislation this week, offering security assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

On Tuesday, Republican leaders from four US House of Representatives national security committees and one subcommittee released a statement endorsing Speaker Mike Johnson's proposal to advance legislation this week, offering security assistance to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan.

"Speaker Johnson has produced a plan that will boost US national security interests in Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific," the leaders of the House Armed Services, Foreign Affairs, Intelligence, Appropriations and Defense Appropriations panels said in a statement.

"We don’t have time to spare when it comes to our national security. We need to pass this aid package this week," they said.

On Tuesday, US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said that there has been consistent progress in the amount of aid entering Gaza. However, he emphasised that it has not yet reached the desired level, and Washington is actively working to enhance it.

During a daily briefing, Miller also mentioned that Washington has not yet received detailed information regarding plans for the forced movement of civilians from Rafah or humanitarian measures preceding a potential Israeli military operation in the southern Gaza city.

On Tuesday, Israel conducted several air strikes on Rafah killing and wounding several Palestinians.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Tuesday that certain EU member states have called for an expansion of sanctions against Iran in light of Tehran's attack on Israel. He mentioned that the bloc's diplomatic service will initiate work on the proposal.

Borrell made these remarks following an emergency video conference of EU foreign ministers convened to address the repercussions of the attack.

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday that Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Israeli leadership bear sole responsibility for the recent escalation of tensions in the Middle East.

"Israel is trying to provoke a regional conflict, and its attack on Iran's embassy in Damascus was the last drop," he told a press conference in Ankara after a cabinet meeting.

He added that the ongoing "cruelty and genocide" in Gaza could potentially lead to new regional conflicts, emphasising the need for all parties to exercise common sense.

Additionally, he criticised the West for condemning Iran's attack while overlooking Israel's strike on Iran's consulate.

On Tuesday, Portugal's foreign ministry summoned the Iranian ambassador to reaffirm its condemnation of the recent attack on Israel and to demand the release of the Portuguese-flagged container ship, the MSC Aries, which was seized by Iran on 13 April.

"The Foreign Ministry will await the results of this formal measure and evaluate any additional steps, depending on those," it said in a statement after the meeting.

Iberia Express plans to resume its flights connecting Madrid and Tel Aviv this Wednesday, a spokesperson from the company confirmed on Tuesday.

Due to escalating tensions in the region, the Spanish airline suspended its flights to Tel Aviv on Sunday.

Iberia Express typically operates four weekly flights to Israel.

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock was set to travel to Israel on Tuesday, in what Berlin said was a bid to de-escalate tensions and boost support for Israel.

“Iran is playing with the fate of all people in the Middle East and has led an entire region to the brink of the abyss. The aim now is to stop Iran without further escalation. Iran’s plan to sow further violence must not work,” Baerbock wrote in a post on social media.

“Israel has our full solidarity and can rely on us. We also do not forget the many dozens of Israeli hostages who are still being held captive in Hamas tunnels. They must finally be released.”

She added that "far too little aid is arriving" in Gaza too.

"We are working hard to ensure that more aid supplies arrive. This is another reason why I am travelling to Israel again today."

The EU naval mission in the Red Sea has not been affected by Iran's recent attack on Israel, the head of the mission said on Tuesday.

Rear Admiral Vasileios Gryparis, commander of the operation dubbed Eunavfor "Aspides", said the mission to combat the Houthis in Yemen was not directly affected, but said there was a need for more ships to cover the "vast area" of the mission.

"So far, there is no evidence that... the situation has worsened," he told Reuters.

Israel is preventing UN investigators from speaking to witnesses and victims of the 7 October Hamas-led attack, former UN rights chief Navi Pillay, who is chairing a three-person probe, said Tuesday.

The unprecedented Commission of Inquiry was established by the UN Human Rights Council in May 2021 to investigate alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

"I deplore the fact that people inside Israel who wish to speak to us are being denied that opportunity, because we cannot get access into Israel," Pillay said.

The investigation briefed diplomats at the UN in Geneva on its work and said that since 7 October, it had focused on the Israeli war on Gaza.

"So far as the government of Israel is concerned, we have faced not merely a lack of cooperation but active obstruction of our efforts to receive evidence from Israeli witnesses and victims to the events that occurred in southern Israel," said Chris Sidoti, one of the three members of the inquiry.

Pillay, 82, a South African former High Court judge, said the commission was investigating alleged crimes during the 7 October attack as well as some allegedly committed by Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank.

Sidoti, speaking via video-link, said the investigation had found it difficult to collect evidence from large numbers of witnesses.

"I use this opportunity to appeal again both to the government of Israel to cooperate, and to victims and witnesses to the events in southern Israel to contact the commission of inquiry so that we can hear what they have experienced," he said.

Sidoti also said the investigators began collecting digital evidence early on 7 October, some of which has since "disappeared from the internet".

"If it had not been collected on that day, it would not have been able to be collected," the former human rights commissioner of Australia said.

Pillay - who served as a judge on the International Criminal Court and presided over the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda - said the commission had shared more than 5,000 documents with the ICC in The Hague, collected between October and December 2023.

The commission is to present its first findings to the Human Rights Council in June.

In response to the briefing, Israel said UN representatives had been to Israel to meet with victims and survivors of the Hamas attack.

In a statement to AFP, the Israeli mission said the victims of the attack "know too well that they will never get any justice or the dignified treatment they deserve from the Commission of Inquiry and its members, who have a track record of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel statements".

Reporting by AFP 

The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Tuesday there had been "no significant change" in the amount of humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip. 

Unrwa said in a statement that "181 aid trucks have crossed into Gaza per day" through land crossings from Israel and Egypt so far in April.

It said this "remains well below the operational capacity of both border crossings and the target of 500 trucks per day."

Last week Israel's defence minister Yoav Gallant told reporters that Israel planned to "flood Gaza with aid" and increase deliveries to 500 truckloads per day.

The Israeli defence ministry body responsible for coordinating Palestinian affairs, Cogat, said 126 trucks entered the northern Gaza Strip overnight, and that 237 trucks entered Gaza on Monday. 

For months, aid groups and foreign governments including top ally the United States have urged Israel to reopen border crossings into northern Gaza, where the humanitarian crisis is reported to be most severe.

Reporting by AFP

Jordan's foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said on Tuesday the international community should stop Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from "stealing" attention away from Gaza by escalating his confrontation with Iran.

In remarks during a press conference with his German counterpart in Berlin, Safadi said Iran had responded to the attack against its consulate and had announced that it did "did not want to escalate further".

"We are against escalating. Netanyahu wants to draw attention away from Gaza and focus on his confrontation with Iran," Safadi added.

Reporting by Reuters