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

The legal expert for the Nicaraguan delegation took the floor in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), as Nicaragua presents its case against Germany before the World Court in the Hague.

“My task this morning is to set out some of the facts underlying the dispute between Nicaragua and the Federal Republic [of Germany] brought before the court,” said the legal expert Daniel Muller on behalf of the Nicaraguan delegation.

He said Germany has not stopped supporting Israel with aid and weapons even after the ICJ's ruling, in response to South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, in which it ordered Israel to prevent genocide and provide the needed humanitarian aid to the Strip.

Nicaragua has demanded that the ICJ order provisional measures calling upon Germany to immediately stop its military aid to Israel and resume its UNRWA funding.

"Germany is responsible for breaching international law and its international duties related to the situation in Gaza," Muller says.

Muller mentioned a statement by German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on 24 March, in which the situation in Gaza was described as "hell," saying that aid delivery has to be resumed.

In a 43-page submission to the court, Nicaragua argues that Berlin has breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.

Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that his country is not afraid of a ground operation in Lebanon in order to fight Hezbollah.

"Hezbollah must be deterred, and we are not afraid of a ground operation, and the army is ready," he said.

Iran's foreign minister, Hossein Amirabdollahian, has left Oman and is on his way to Damascus, Syria, one week after a reported Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, including two top commanders.

The visit comes as part of a regional tour amid Israeli fears of an Iranian retaliation for the consulate attack.

Three people were killed in an Israeli air strike on al-Sultaniya, south Lebanon earlier today as rescue workers search for other survivors under the rubble.

Security sources told Reuters that one of the killed was a field commander in Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces.

Pro-Hezbollah channel Al-Mayadeen cited an anonymous official from Palestinian factions saying there is "no progress in the negotiations."

"All attempts and efforts made by the mediators to achieve an agreement and a [hostage] exchange deal were met by the occupation with intransigence," the official said.

On the Israeli side, senior officials were quoted by Israeli's Channel 12 and Yedioth Ahronoth saying they "don’t see a deal on the horizon."

"The distance [between the sides] is still great and there has been nothing dramatic so far," one of the sources told Yedioth Ahronoth.

These statements come after reports from Egyptian media said that progress was made in the ceasefire and hostage exchange talks in Cairo, with consultations set to continue in the next 48 hours.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said they found the body of nurse Mohammed Abed, who was shot by Israeli forces two weeks ago during the evacuation of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis
• Clashes have been reported across the occupied West Bank with around 23 people arrested by Israeli forces in the Hebron Governorate
• The UN Security Council is set to consider Palestine's UN membership today, with the session beginning at midday New York time, or 5pm in London
• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is set to begin two days of public hearings on Germany's military aid and support for Israel, in a case brought forward by Nicaragua
• Al Jazeera reports that northern Gaza has not been given access to the 322 aid trucks that entered the Gaza Strip through Rafah yesterday
• Reports emerging from Cairo say that progress has been made in the ceasefire talks, claiming that Hamas and Qatar's delegations will return to the city in two days to agree on the terms of the final agreement

Good evening, Middle East Eye readers.

As the time approaches 00:30 in Gaza, our live coverage of Israel's assault on the besieged enclave will shortly be closing for the evening.

As the conflict passed the six-month mark, here were the day's key developments:

The Palestinian Health Ministry announced on Sunday that Israel had killed at least 33,175 people in Gaza since the start of the war. Local health officials said the death toll included 34 recorded deaths in the last 24 hours. 

Since the start of the fighting, Israel has killed more than 14,000 children and 9,220 women. 

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, a statement from Hamas said. Hamas reiterated demands the group issued in a 14 March proposal prior to a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that was passed on 25 March.

Al-Jazeera reported that Mossad head David Barnea would be involved in the Cairo negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no ceasefire in Gaza without the release of all hostages. He added that Israel was “one step” away from victory in Gaza. 

Israel said on Sunday that it had withdrawn all its troops from southern Gaza, except for one brigade. An Israeli brigade typically consists of a few thousand troops. The army did not clarify whether the withdrawal would delay a possible incursion into Rafah, where more than a million have sought refuge.

White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the Israeli army's troop reduction in Gaza appeared to be a "rest and refit" and not necessarily indicative of any new operations.

Over major developments on Sunday included:

• Israel said it launched air strikes on eastern Lebanon and hit Hezbollah infrastructure after the militia took down an Israeli drone. The strikes came after Hezbollah downed an Israeli-made Hermes-900 drone. 
• Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was ready to respond to any threat posed by Iran after an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed 11 people. 
• US forces destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in a Houthi-controlled territory of Yemen on 6 April, the US Central Command (Centcom) said on Sunday.
• The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had completed another stage in preparing for possible war on its northern front with Lebanon and Syria.
• Long-term Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa has died aged 62 in Israel's Assaf Harofeh Hospital. Daqqa, who had been detained since 1986, had been diagnosed with a rare type of bone marrow cancer last year. Israeli authorities denied his early release despite his terminal diagnosis.
• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated Britain’s support for Israel as pressure mounted on the UK to end arms sales to Israel after Israeli forces killed three British aid workers.

A Hamas delegation has arrived in Cairo to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, a statement from Hamas said on Sunday.

Hamas reiterated demands the group issued in a 14 March proposal prior to a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that was passed on 25 March.

The demands include a permanent ceasefire, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, a return of the displaced, and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages being held in Gaza, the statement said.

The statement also demanded relief for the Palestinian people and to begin reconstruction of the besieged Strip.

Oman's foreign minister on Sunday called for de-escalation during a visit by his Iranian counterpart who started a regional tour in Muscat where he met a spokesman for Yemen's Houthi rebels. 

The visit by Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian came almost a week after an air strike in Damascus levelled the Iranian embassy's consular annexe and further raised regional tensions.

The attack, which Tehran blamed on Israel, killed seven Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps members including two generals. Iranian leaders have called for retaliation.

"Oman supports efforts to reduce escalation in the region, address various issues and conflicts, and for the voice of wisdom to prevail," Foreign Minister Sayyid Badr al-Busaidi said in a statement carried by the official Oman News Agency.

Oman has long been a mediator between Tehran and the West.

"The Palestinian issue is the main issue that we are working to overcome," the minister said.

Iraq agreed on Sunday to send 10m litres of fuel to the Gaza Strip in support of the Palestinian people, Prime Minister Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said.

Iraq also agreed to receive wounded Palestinians from Gaza and provide them treatment in government and private hospitals, the prime minister added in a statement.

The lack of fuel has crippled hospitals, water systems, bakeries and relief operations in the besieged Strip.

Long-term Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa has died aged 62 in Israel's Assaf Harofeh Hospital, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Daqqa, who had been detained since 1986, had been diagnosed with a rare type of bone marrow cancer last year. Israeli authorities denied his early release despite his terminal diagnosis.

Daqqa was originally due to be released from prison last year after completing his life sentence.

However, in 2018, an Israeli court sentenced him to additional years on charges of smuggling cellphones inside the prison. His release date was set to be in 2025.

Like other Palestinian prisoners, Daqqa, who had also been diagnosed with leukaemia in 2015, had suffered from medical negligence during his time, which had worsened his health.

According to Sana Salama, Daqqa's wife, he had previously undergone a lung resection operation due to severe pneumonia and was hospitalised for over a month at the Barzilai Hospital in Israel.

"He also suffers from severe kidney failure and low blood pressure. After the surgery, he was unable to speak, but he's been unable to move or walk unassisted," Salama told Middle East Eye last year. 

In the course of his imprisonment, Daqqa had written books and studies on various subjects, and cultivated a reputation of being a thinker.

Israel's military can handle any Iranian threat, its chief said on Sunday.

"The IDF (Israel Defence Forces) can handle Iran," Chief of General Staff Herzi Halevi said in a televised statement.

"We can act forcefully against Iran in places near and far. We are cooperating with the United States and with strategic partners in the region," he said.

Houthi forces in Yemen said on Sunday they had launched rockets and drones at British, US and Israeli ships, the latest in a campaign of attacks on shipping in support of Palestinians in the Gaza war.

The Iran-aligned group said it had targeted a British ship and several US frigates in the Red Sea, while in the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean it had attacked two Israeli vessels heading to Israeli ports.

The operations took place during the last 72 hours, Houthi military spokesperson Yahya Saree said in a televised statement, without providing further details of the attacks.

The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had completed another stage in preparing for possible war on its northern front with Lebanon and Syria.

"Over the past few days, another phase of the Northern Command's readiness for war was completed, centring on operational emergency storages for a broad mobilisation of IDF troops when required," the military said in a statement.

"The commanders of the regular and reserve units are prepared to summon and equip all the required soldiers in just a few hours and transport them to the front line for defensive and offensive missions."

US forces destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in a Houthi-controlled territory of Yemen on 6 April, the US Central Command (Centcom) said on Sunday.

US forces also shot down one unmanned aerial vehicle over the Red Sea, its statement said, adding that a coalition vessel also detected, engaged and destroyed one inbound anti-ship missile. No injuries or damage were reported.