Seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps including two high-ranking generals were killed in an Israeli attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, the Guards said in a statement Monday. Earlier in the day, Israel’s military confirmed it had withdrawn from Gaza’s main hospital, Al Shifa. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said the complex had been left in ruins, and was “completely out of service”. Follow our liveblog for the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war.
Summary:
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Seven members of Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, including two high-ranking generals, were killed in an Israeli attack on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, the Guards said in a statement Monday.
- The Israeli parliament passed a bill Monday giving top ministers the authority to bar from Israel the broadcasts of news channel Al Jazeera – a step premier Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to take.
- The Israeli military on Monday announced the death of a soldier in fighting in the Gaza Strip, bringing the total number of troops killed since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel to 600.
- The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said Monday the Israeli military had withdrawn tanks and vehicles from the complex housing the besieged territory's main hospital, Al Shifa, two weeks after the launch of a major operation on the site. Israel's military confirmed the completion of its operation there.
- At least 32,845 Palestinians have been killed and 75,392 wounded since Israel began its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
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A deadly Israeli air strike hit a tent camp in the courtyard of a hospital in central Gaza on Sunday, killing at least four people and wounding 17, World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said. Israel’s military said the strike targeted an Islamic Jihad “command centre”.
- Pope Francis renewed his calls for the release of Israeli hostages and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza in his Easter message at the Vatican.
- Thousands of Israelis gathered outside the parliament building in Jerusalem on Sunday in the largest anti-government demonstration since the country went to war in October.
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that victory over Palestinian militant group Hamas will require a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where more than one million people are seeking refuge.
- The Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah commander in an air strike on a vehicle in Lebanon on Sunday, identifying him as Ismail Al-Zin, a commander in the anti-tank missile unit of Hezbollah's Radwan Forces.
- Israel launched missile strikes near the Syrian capital Damascus on Sunday, a war monitor said, two days after dozens were killed in strikes that fuelled concerns of a regional conflagration.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
