Deir Al-Balah: Hospital staff said Israeli air strikes across Gaza were killed in at least 25 people, including children, when the new U.S. ambassador to Israel made its first public appearance in Jerusalem.
Nasser Hospital said the dead included 15 people died in the southern city of Khan Younis. According to the Indonesian hospital leading the body, ten people died in Jabaliya, including eight.
The strike took place on the day after more than 20 people died in Gaza when Israel continued its attack, forcing Hamas to disarm and return to the hostages seized in October 2023.
Ambassador Arrived Jerusalem U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee visited the Western Wall on Friday, the most sacred Jewish prayer site in the Old Town of Jerusalem. He inserted the prayer into the wall, which he said was handwritten by U.S. President Donald Trump. “These are his initials, DT,” Huckaby said while presenting notes to the media.
Huckabee said in his first act as ambassador that Trump told him to pray for peace in Jerusalem. Huckaby also said he was doing his best to bring home the remaining hostages held by Hamas. Huckabee was a presidential hope that recognized his past support for Israel’s rights to annex the West Bank and include its Palestinian population in Israel, but said it was not his “privilege”.
During his first term, Trump acknowledged Jerusalem as the capital of Israel’s opposition to Palestine and moved the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv. The Palestinians sought the east of the city, captive by Israel during the 1967 Middle East War as its future capital.
Huckabee’s arrival comes at a critical time in the 18-month war, with international mediators including the United States trying to get a damaged ceasefire back on track.
Israel demanded that Hamas release more hostages at the start of any new ceasefire and eventually agree to disarm and leave the territory. Israel said it plans to occupy a large “safety zone” inside Gaza.
Khalil al-Hayya, head of the Hamas negotiating delegation, said on Thursday that the group rejected Israel’s latest proposal. He reiterated Hamas’ position that it would return to hostages in exchange for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, the entire Israeli withdrawal and a lasting truce, as required by the now-extinct ceasefire agreement in January.
Hamas currently has 59 hostages, 24 of whom are considered alive.
Friday’s air strikes came a day after a day after aid groups raised alarms on Israel’s blockade against Gaza, where all food and other goods were banned from entering for more than six weeks. The United Nations says thousands of children are already malnourished and most people hardly eat a meal a day because stocks are down.
Israel’s defense minister said the lockdown was one of the “central pressure strategies” against Hamas. Aid workers denied that there was a large amount of transfers of aid and said they did not monitor the distribution closely. Rights groups call it a “hunger strategy.”
Christians in Gaza mark Good Friday, and Israel continues its offensive Palestinian Christians gather in the Church of St. Polfirios, Greek Orthodox Church in Gaza to commemorate the Good Friday holiday. The worshippers in black bowed and prayed, lit the candles of devotion in honor of Jesus’ crucified.
Shortly after the war began in October 2023, a building in the San Porfilios compound was attacked, killing more than a dozen people to take refuge there. Since then, Friday’s holiday has been the second Good Friday celebrated in Gaza. According to the World Church Council, San Porfilios is believed to be the third oldest church in the world.
According to the U.S. State Department, Gaza had about 1,300 Christians before the war began.
The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on October 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped 251 people. Since then, most hostages have been released in a ceasefire agreement or other transactions.
Since then, the Israeli attack has killed more than 51,000 Palestinians, mainly women and children, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, which has not distinguished between civilians and combatants. The war destroyed much of Gaza and most of its food production capacity. The war has been displaced, accounting for 90% of the population, and thousands of people live in tent camps and bombed buildings.
