Unarmed Palestinians killed, buried by bulldozer
- Footage obtained by Al Jazeera shows unarmed Palestinian men – one repeatedly waving a piece of white cloth in a sign of surrender – before Israeli troops shoot them dead and then bury their bodies with a bulldozer near Gaza City.
- Hamas condemns the killings, saying it is “further evidence of the scale of fascism and criminality that governs Zionist behaviour”.
It’s getting very difficult to keep up with the ongoing atrocities in Gaza. The past 24 hours were very difficult here in Rafah, with more mass killings and destruction of residential homes and agricultural land.
Israeli forces have continued their attacks in and around al-Shifa Hospital. They are not only causing a great deal of damage to the medical complex but systematically destroying homes in the area.
We are looking at an entire residential neighbourhood near the hospital that has been destroyed, rendered beyond recognition. It appears to be a systematic attempt to clear out the area.
Israel accused of ‘executing’ 13 children near al-Shifa in one week
The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor has accused Israeli forces of directly shooting at and executing 13 children in and near al-Shifa Hospital in just one week.
The monitoring group, citing its teams on the ground, said some of the fatal shootings occurred as victims’ families were inside their homes amid Israel’s continuing raid on al-Shifa, and others while the victims were attempting to escape via routes designated as safe.
In one testimony, Islam Ali Salouha told Euro-Med that Israeli forces on Sunday shot at and killed his sons – nine-year-old Ali and six-year-old Saeed Muhammad Sheikha – on a corpse-strewn street near al-Shifa that the Israeli army had designated for travel. The Israeli forces targeted the two children in particular, he said.
Salouha said he, his sons and neighbours only left the building because Israeli forces had told them to evacuate or face having their building bombed.
Manhunt under way for school bus attacker in occupied West Bank
We now bring you more on the highway shooting near al-Auja in the occupied West Bank.
Earlier this morning, a masked gunman opened fire on vehicles, including a school bus, on Route 90 which passes through the Jordan Valley.
Israeli forces have now sealed off the highway’s southbound lanes and announced a manhunt for the attacker, who is suspected of fleeing on foot into a nearby village, reports Israeli news outlet Arutz Sheva.
At least three people, including one 13-year-old, have been injured from the attack.
Israeli military hoping media attention will focus elsewhere after killings
Just a few hours ago, we sent the Israeli military the video of the shooting of two unarmed Palestinian men in Gaza and asked them for their response.
They’ve said that it has been edited and doesn’t show the context of the incident, and a thorough and professional examination is required in order to assess the details. They also said that upon receiving a report of the incident, it was transferred to the relevant professional bodies for review.
That’s a pretty standard answer from the army when journalists ask questions about what’s going on, whether it’s in the occupied West Bank or Gaza. They say we’re going to investigate and then they leave it, hoping that something else will happen and media attention will go elsewhere.
It’s also worth remembering that Israel doesn’t prosecute soldiers for potential war crimes, whether it’s in the occupied West Bank or Gaza.
Israeli forces kill Palestinian journalist in al-Shifa Hospital
Local media is reporting that Israeli forces have shot and killed Palestinian journalist Muhammad Abu Sakhil at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
Abu Sakhil, a reporter with Palestinian outlet Sawt al-Quds Radio, joins the almost 100 Palestinian journalists killed by Israeli attacks since October 7.
Israeli forces stormed al-Shifa Hospital with tanks and heavy gunfire on March 18 and have been laying siege to it since. The military says it’s targeting “terrorists” sheltering inside the medical facility, claiming it has killed some 175 Palestinian fighters and arrested 500 more during the siege.
Scores of civilians have also been killed, however, with witnesses saying Israeli forces have carried out “execution-style” killings.
Hamas calls Israel’s killing of unarmed Palestinians a ‘heinous crime’
Israeli forces’ shooting of two unarmed Palestinian men in Gaza before bulldozing their bodies is a “heinous crime”, Hamas said in a statement.
As we previously reported, the two Palestinian men, shot at close range near the Nabulsi Roundabout southwest of Gaza City, were trying to return to their homes in the north. They were shot despite holding up pieces of white cloth as they walked – the international sign of surrender – according to footage obtained by Al Jazeera.
“It is further evidence of the scale of fascism and criminality that governs Zionist behavior, in the context of the brutal war of extermination against our people in the Gaza Strip,” the statement added.
Hamas appealed to the UN and the International Criminal Court to “take urgent action to stop the systematic killing of our people” and hold accountable the “war criminals” responsible for crimes against “defenseless civilians”.
German bank freezes account of anti-Zionist Jewish group
The Jewish Voice for a Just Peace in the Middle East, a German campaign group, says the Berliner Sparkasse bank has frozen its accounts without explanation and asked it to submit a list of its members with their full names and addresses.
“Why should this information be important to the Berliner Sparkasse? It sounds more like a question that might be asked by an intelligence service or the police, who have been politically persecuting us as a Jewish organisation for some time,” the group said in a statement.
The Jewish Voice – which describes Israel’s war on Gaza as genocide – said its previous account with the Bank for Social Economy was closed in 2019 because of its support for the BDS Movement.
“We are taking legal action against the arbitrary, politically motivated freezing of our account, which is unacceptable in a democracy,” the group added.
