18 countries including US release letter offering 'immediate and prolonged Gaza ceasefire' in return for hostage release
The White House has issued a joint letter signed by the leaders of 18 countries calling for the release of hostages by Hamas, and offering “an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza” in return.
The letter reads:
We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for over 200 days. They include our own citizens. The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern.
We emphasise that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities. Gazans would be able to return to their homes and their lands with preparations beforehand to ensure shelter and humanitarian provisions.
We strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts in order to bring our people home. We reiterate our call on Hamas to release the hostages, and let us end this crisis so that collectively we can focus our efforts on bringing peace and stability to the region.
As well as the US, the letter is signed by Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, and the UK.
For its part, Israel appears set to launch a planned ground offensive on Rafah in the south of Gaza, with Israeli media reporting that the IDF has told the government it is ready and awaiting orders, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet meeting to discuss the plans.
Hamas and other militant groups took about 250 people hostage on 7 October when they overran towns and kibbutzim next to Gaza. 105 were released as part of a hostage deal last November in exchange for a pause in fighting. It is unclear how many of the remaining hostages are still alive.
The US and 17 other countries including the UK, France and Germany, calling for the release of hostages by Hamas, and saying that there is a deal on the table that offers “an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza” in return. In the letter they write “The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern. We emphasise that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza.”
Briefing the media about the letter, a senior US administration official said Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar had prioritised holding on to the hostages over securing a ceasefire. They said “Hamas is holding hostages, they are releasing videos of the hostages and refusing to let the hostages go back to their families. And if they would do that, this crisis will wind down. It’s just a very clear path.”
Israel appears to be readying to send troops into Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, the only corner of the strip that has not seen fierce ground fighting and where more than half of the Palestinian territory’s population of 2.3 million has sought shelter. Haaretz reported “The Israeli army has informed the government that its forces have completed their preparations for an upcoming operation in Rafah, and that the date for such an operation is to be decided by the cabinet.”
An aid worker who was part of Belgium’s development aid efforts has been killed by an Israeli strike on Gaza, the country’s development minister, Caroline Gennez, said on Thursday. The statement said at least seven people were killed by the strike on a building that housed about 25 people, including displaced people from other parts of the Gaza Strip. “The indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians goes against every international and humanitarian law and the rules of war”, Gennez said. More than 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began.
At least 34,305 Palestinians have been killed and 77,293 wounded in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-led Gaza health ministry said in a statement on Thursday. That number includes 43 deaths in the last 24 hours. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
16-year-old Khaled Raed Arouq was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a raid in Ramallah, reports Palestinian news agency Wafa. A boy has also been injured during an Israeli security force raid in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus.
Both US Centcom and the Greek defence ministry have reported that their forces have intercepted or shot down drones or missiles believed to have been fired at commercial vessels in the Red Sea.
A row has taken place in the House of Lords in London – the unelected second chamber of the British parliament – after a minister refused to answer what they described as a “deeply inappropriate” question about British Jews and Israel.
Journalist and broadcaster Lord Singh of Wimbledon asked:
Would the minister agree that it would enhance the image and security of the wonderful Jewish people if the Jewish people in this country were to issue a strong statement disassociating themselves from the policies of the Netanyahu government, the atrocities that have been committed on the people of Gaza, who are also human?
Instead of that, the Board of Deputies has unfortunately sent a delegation to Tel Aviv, showing solidarity for what the Netanyahu government. Atrocities include the destroying of hospitals and the firing on aid convoys, killing even British people.”
In reply, PA Media reports Home Office minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom replied:
I think that’s a deeply inappropriate question and I’m not going to stoop so low as to answer it.
Conservative peer Baroness Altmann, who is Orthodox Jewish, said later in the debate that the British Jewish community have “no responsibility for the actions of an overseas government”.
The unelected upper chamber were discussing plans to enhance the safety of London’s Jewish community amid a rise in antisemitic abuse.
I think we are just shining the spotlight on the fact that, as awful as this crisis is in so many different dimensions, there’s a core fundamental truth to it that Hamas is holding hostages, they are releasing videos of the hostages and refusing to let the hostages go back to their families. And if they would do that, this crisis will wind down. It’s just a very clear path.
Speaking as the White House issued a joint appeal with 17 other countries for the release of hostages from Gaza, a senior US administration official told the media:
[Hamas leader Yahya] Sinwar has made the decision he’d rather hold [the hostages] rather than securing a ceasefire and that’s just the truth of the situation.
Right now – and I think this is the view of the Egyptians and those who are very deeply involved in this – the answer that came back from inside Gaza was basically totally non-constructive.
Now, I will say since then, we have had signals that “we didn’t mean to reject it” and this is coming from Hamas, and we’re actually ready to sit down again. But whether or not this is just stringing things out, or whether that’s something real, we’re gonna test that proposition here over the coming days.
18 countries including US release letter offering 'immediate and prolonged Gaza ceasefire' in return for hostage release
The White House has issued a joint letter signed by the leaders of 18 countries calling for the release of hostages by Hamas, and offering “an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza” in return.
The letter reads:
We call for the immediate release of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza for over 200 days. They include our own citizens. The fate of the hostages and the civilian population in Gaza, who are protected under international law, is of international concern.
We emphasise that the deal on the table to release the hostages would bring an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza, that would facilitate a surge of additional necessary humanitarian assistance to be delivered throughout Gaza, and lead to the credible end of hostilities. Gazans would be able to return to their homes and their lands with preparations beforehand to ensure shelter and humanitarian provisions.
We strongly support the ongoing mediation efforts in order to bring our people home. We reiterate our call on Hamas to release the hostages, and let us end this crisis so that collectively we can focus our efforts on bringing peace and stability to the region.
As well as the US, the letter is signed by Argentina, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Spain, Thailand, and the UK.
For its part, Israel appears set to launch a planned ground offensive on Rafah in the south of Gaza, with Israeli media reporting that the IDF has told the government it is ready and awaiting orders, and Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet meeting to discuss the plans.
Hamas and other militant groups took about 250 people hostage on 7 October when they overran towns and kibbutzim next to Gaza. 105 were released as part of a hostage deal last November in exchange for a pause in fighting. It is unclear how many of the remaining hostages are still alive.
Here are some pictures sent over the news wires from occupied Hebron, where Jewish settlers under the protection of Israeli security forces have again paraded during the Passover holiday.
Jewish settlers under the protection of Israeli police, walk through occupied Hebron on 25 April. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Jewish settlers in occupied Hebron, West Bank on 25 April. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Israeli forces are seen detaining a young Palestinian as Jewish settlers parade in Bab al-Zawiya, Hebron, 25 April. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Israeli security forces in Bab al-Zawiya, Hebron, in the occupied West Bank on 25 April. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty Images
Palestinian news agency Wafa earlier reported that 16-year-old Khaled Raed Arouq was shot and killed by Israeli forces during a raid in Ramallah. It reported Arouq died after being “shot by Israeli gunfire” early on Thursday morning.
Wafa said Israeli military vehicles stormed the city and “confrontations broke out between citizens and the occupation forces, who fired live bullets and stun grenades”. It said Israeli forces were stationed in several neighbourhoods and raided a house in al-Bireh to the north-east.
AFP is carrying some further detail, reporting that the Palestinian health ministry said Arouq was shot in the chest and “martyred by the occupation’s live bullets”.
Israeli police said “terrorists threw stones at the forces operating in the area, the forces responded with gunfire, and hits were identified”.
The police said they made several arrests and that Israeli forces did not suffer any casualties. The army did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment.
AFP has also spoken to Majed Arqawi, a cousin of Arouq, who told the news agency “He was hit by a bullet in his back, which exited through his chest … they assassinated him in cold blood.”
A funeral for the 16-year-old has taken place in Jenin. Wafa said Arouq’s father was an officer in the Palestinian military intelligence service.
Mourners carry the body of Khaled Raed Arouq, 16, who was killed in an Israeli raid, during his funeral in Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on 25 April. Photograph: Raneen Sawafta/Reuters
The Israeli army has informed the government that its forces have completed their preparations for an upcoming operation in Rafah, and that the date for such an operation is to be decided by the cabinet. The IDF awaits the government’s decision, and when it comes, it will begin evacuating Rafah. According to army estimations, the evacuation of the remaining population of Rafah – about one million people – will take weeks, and forces will enter the territory only after it is completed.
Belgian aid worker and 7-year-old son killed in Gaza by Israeli airstrike on Rafah
An aid worker who was part of Belgium’s development aid efforts has been killed by an Israeli strike on Gaza, the country’s development minister, Caroline Gennez, said on Thursday.
“It is with deep sadness and horror that we learn of the death of our colleague Abdallah Nabhan (33) and his seven-year-old son Jamal, last night, following a bombardment by the Israeli army in the eastern part of the city of Rafah”, Reuters reports the minister said in a statement.
Nabhan worked for the Enabel agency, assisting small businesses.
The statement said at least seven people were killed by the strike on a building that housed about 25 people, including displaced people from other parts of the Gaza Strip.
“The indiscriminate bombing of civilian infrastructure and innocent civilians goes against every international and humanitarian law and the rules of war”, Gennez said.
More than 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza since the war between Israel and Hamas began. On 1 April international outrage was sparked when a series of Israeli drone strikes killed seven World Central Kitchen aid workers after their convoy was targeted. A service to honour the seven was being held in Washington DC today, with senior figures of the Biden administration in attendance.
Ruth Michaelson reports for the Guardian from Jerusalem
The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza have put renewed pressure on Benjamin Netanyahu to restart negotiations for a temporary ceasefire in exchange for the release of their loved ones, as Israeli authorities said they were making progress in preparations for a ground assault on Rafah.
After the release by Hamas of a hostage video of the Israeli-American citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin, police and protesters clashed outside the Israeli prime minister’s Jerusalem home, and demonstrators lit fires, set off fireworks and swarmed the car of the far-right security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir.
Speaking under duress in the proof-of-life video posted on Hamas’s Telegram account, Goldberg-Polin accused Israel’s government of abandoning the people who are being held hostage by Hamas and claimed that 70 captives had been killed in Israel’s bombing campaign.
Rear Adm Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), described the video as “an urgent call for action”, adding that “until Hamas releases our hostages the IDF will continue to pursue Hamas everywhere in Gaza”.
“Despite preparations to enter Rafah, until now we saw lots of military pressure, and my brothers-in-law are still not back home,” said Dalia Cusnir, whose husband’s brothers are being held in Gaza. “This will only come through a deal.”
“It feels from outside that they’re not making every effort,” she said of the Israeli government. “They just don’t understand that time is … not even running out, it has run out.”
A top EU has said it is crucial for the bloc’s mission to the Red Sea to “conserve resources” over the long haul because the threat posed by Houthi attacks “will not disappear”.
Austrian Gen Robert Brieger was speaking after a Greek frigate, part of the EU mission called Aspides, said it had intercepted drones fired this morning.
The chair of the EU’s military committee, Brieger, said “The task given to the military is simply to protect merchant ships and to show the public that the EU is not willing to accept a terrorist organisation will interrupt the freedom of movement at sea,” Brieger said.
Associated Press reports Brieger said that he’s asking EU members to provide the necessary resources. He said that it is the first time that the EU has launched a naval operation in a hostile environment that’s twice the size of the 27-nation bloc, calling it a “litmus test” that the bloc will pass successfully.
