Live: Gaza death toll nears 50,700

Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV is reporting another round of US airstrikes on Yemen, targeting Mount Nabi Shuaib in Sanaa’s Bani Matar district.

The latest strikes follow a wave of US attacks earlier in the day, with at least 15 air raids pounding the northern province of Saada.

The city of Saada and the districts of Majz and Sahar were among the areas hit, according to Al Masirah.

Momodou Taal, who sued the Trump administration to stop the deportation of pro-Palestinian student protesters, has announced he is leaving the US after his visa was revoked.

In a statement on X, the Cornell University student said he no longer believes he can “walk the streets without being abducted.” He also said immigration agents had been sent to his home, and his initial legal challenge to prevent detention was rejected.

Taal, a British-Gambian national, said his lawyers had planned to file a second motion but that he had lost faith in the courts guaranteeing his safety or right to express his views.

Weighing his options, he said, “I took the decision to leave on my own terms.”

He accused US authorities of using the crackdown on Palestinian solidarity as a pretext to silence all dissent. “For every person that has remained silent, just know that you are not safe either,” he warned. “Is the imprisonment of those who speak out against a genocide a reflection of your values?”

Israeli forces have killed Palestinian journalist Mohammed Saleh al-Bardawil, along with his wife and three children, in an attack on their home in Khan Younis, according to Al Jazeera Arabic.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

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

• At least 34 Palestinians killed in relentless Israeli strikes across Gaza on Monday, according to local medics. The dead include women and children, with hospitals overwhelmed by casualties.

• Mass exodus from Rafah: Terrified families are fleeing on foot after Israel ordered a full evacuation of the southern city. Tanks and air strikes have pounded the area, leaving civilians with nowhere safe to go.

• Red Crescent medics targeted: The PRCS buried 15 emergency workers—eight of them paramedics—executed by Israeli forces while rescuing civilians wounded in earlier attacks. "They were clearly marked as medical teams," a spokesperson said.

• Protests erupt in West Jerusalem: Israelis furious at their government’s war policy blocked roads near parliament, chanting "Ceasefire now!" and demanding a return to negotiations.

• Children paying the highest price: Unicef reports 322 children killed and 609 wounded since Israel resumed its assault on March 18. "This is a war on the young," a Unicef official stated bluntly.

• Houthis warn of escalation: Yemen’s rebel administration claim US forces struck Kamaran Island, while Trump threatened "real pain" if Red Sea ship attacks continue.

Our live blog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

- The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said on Monday that 1,001 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel resumed large-scale strikes on March 18.

- The UN children's agency Unicef said that 322 children have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its war on the Strip on 18 March, while 609 other children have been wounded. 

- The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, said that it has resumed direct attacks on Israeli forces, in what appears to be the first such action since Israel resumed its war on Gaza on 18 March.

- Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib joined fellow House Democrat Pramila Jayapal on Monday to introduce four joint resolutions of disapproval (JRD) to block certain offensive weapons sales to Israel that the Trump administration has already authorised. 

- The media committee of Jenin camp says Israeli forces have destroyed more than 3,250 housing units in the occupied West Bank camp. Some were outright destroyed, while others were seized and turned into military barracks.

- The Houthis announced that they have downed an American MQ-9 drone which was "carrying out hostile missions in the airspace," the military spokesperson said. This comes as US air strikes across the country continue for a third week. 

- US President Donald Trump told reporters that his first overseas trip in his second term will be - once again - Saudi Arabia. Trump said he may also stop in Qatar and the UAE while he is in the region.

- US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce dodged a question at Monday's briefing about whether naturalised US citizens of Middle Eastern descent might have their citizenships revoked over pro-Palestine speech.

US President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday that his first overseas trip in his second term will be - once again - Saudi Arabia. 

Trump said he may also stop in Qatar and the UAE while he is in the region.

That trip is expected to take place in in either April or May. 

Yemen's al-Masirah TV is reporting that US air strikes are being heard in Majz and Sahar districts, as well as areas around the city of Saada. This is the third consecutive week of heavy US bombing across Yemen that has killed at least 60 people and wounded more than one hundred others. 

The Houthis earlier on Monday announced that they had downed an American MQ-9 drone which was "carrying out hostile missions in the airspace," the military spokesperson said. 

The Trump administration said on Monday that it was reviewing $9bn in federal contracts and grants given to Harvard University, as part of an ongoing effort to crack down on what it says is "antisemitism" on college campuses. 

The focus on Harvard comes after the Trump administration this month cancelled $400m in federal funding for fellow Ivy League school Columbia University. Columbia has since drastically changed its rules to appease the White House and try to get that funding back. 

Columbia was at the epicentre of student protests in support of Palestinians and Gaza last year, which then erupted on campuses across the country. 

- with reporting from Reuters 

Palestinian-American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib joined fellow House Democrat Pramila Jayapal on Monday to introduce four joint resolutions of disapproval (JRD) to block certain offensive weapons sales to Israel that the Trump administration has already authorised. 

This effort in the lower chamber of Congress is in support of the JRDs being presented by Senator Bernie Sanders in the upper chamber and announced last week. 

If passed, the JRDs would prohibit the sale of:

- 35,529 2,000-pound bombs (MK-84 or BLU-117) 
- Various bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munition (UDAM) guidance kits, and fuses
- 5,000 1-000-pound bombs (MK-83 or BLU-110A/B) and 5,000 JDAMs guidance kits
- D9R and D9T Caterpillar bulldozers, including spare and repair parts 

Like the JRDs attempted late last year in the Senate, the vote will be more of a test to find out which lawmakers are willing to break with tradition on Israel after nearly 18 months of its war on Gaza. 

The House is majority Republican, so the JRDs are not expected to pass. 

The UN children's agency Unicef said on Monday that 322 children have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed its war on the Strip on 18 March, while 609 other children have been wounded. 

This constitutes "a daily average of more than 100 children killed or maimed over the past 10 days," Unicef said in a statement. 

"Most of these children were displaced, sheltering in makeshift tents or damaged homes. These figures include children who were reportedly killed or injured when the surgical department of Al Nasser Hospital, in southern Gaza, was struck in an attack on 23 March."

After nearly 18 months of Israel's war on Gaza, more than 15,000 children have been killed, and more than 34,000 have been injured.

Nearly one million Palestinian children have been repeatedly displaced. 

US State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce dodged a question at Monday's briefing about whether naturalised US citizens of Middle Eastern descent might have their citizenships revoked over pro-Palestine speech. 

"I'm not going to discuss the nature of the diplomatic or strategic conversations that any department in the government's having," she told reporters. 

Asked later about whether she can confirm if pro-Israeli advocacy group Betar has provided the US government with lists of names recommended for deportation, Bruce only said, "Whether it exists or not, I won't confirm," and that the State Department has "broad authority".

In a statement released on Monday, Hamas said the global community has failed Palestinians by failing "to stand up against this catastrophic collapse in the system of international values ​​and laws" caused by Israel and not "compelling it to halt its crimes and blatant violations of international and humanitarian law".

"These massacres are being perpetrated in full view of the world, against unarmed civilians and displaced persons in displacement camps, motivated by revenge and terrorism as part of a policy of genocide and forced displacement, with no regard for the Netanyahu government, which is wanted by the International Criminal Court," Hamas said. 

During the first two days of Eid al-Fitr, Israel killed 80 people in Gaza and left more than 300 wounded, the statement noted.

The health ministry said earlier that more than a thousand Palestinians have been killed since Israel resumed its war on Gaza on 18 March. 

"Anyone who bets on our people and their resistance being defeated by military pressure should reconsider their calculations and pause for a moment before the greatness and determination of this people and its sons in resisting," Hamas said. 

Earlier this month, a special United Nations commission issued a report documenting Israel’s systematic use of sexual, reproductive and gender-based violence in the occupied Palestinian territories since 7 October 2023.

This comes as Israel has renewed its all-out war on Gaza after a few weeks of calm - the first phase of a now-discarded ceasefire agreement. The deal was meant to permanently end the violence, complete the exchange of Israeli and Palestinian captives, and oversee Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza. It has now been derailed.

Crimes involving sexual violence have been just one part of Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has killed tens of thousands of people and decimated more than 80 percent of the territory’s buildings.

A few days before the UN report came out, I watched the American documentary October 8, which cited allegations that Hamas committed sexual violence during its 2023 attack. 

Read more: Access to information about Israeli criminality is filtered in the West by systemic self-censorship

The al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas's armed wing, said on Monday that it has resumed direct attacks on Israeli forces, in what appears to be the first such action since Israel resumed its war on Gaza on 18 March. 

“We detonated a Zionist tank with a pre-prepared explosive device while it was operating near the dividing line and bombarded the area with several mortar shells east of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip, on March 29, 2025," the statement on the Qassam Brigades Telegram account said. 

Democracy and genocide cannot coexist. One must give way to the other.  

Once upon a time, when a diplomat openly called for genocide, demanded the death penalty for children, and even acknowledged that such demands violated UN conventions, he would have been expelled without hesitation.

But in Austria, a country that hosts UN agencies - institutions supposedly dedicated to the principles of human rights and international law - the abnormal has become the norm. 

Read more: Israel’s ambassador to Austria, David Roet calmly advocates for genocide