Although Israeli public opinion polls show a decline in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's popularity since the beginning of 2023, and a rise in the popularity of the Zionist opposition parties, Netanyahu's government is currently very stable. Protests against the government's "judicial reform" plan to weaken the judiciary have subsided, as have protests against the government's policy of refusing to reach a prisoner exchange agreement and a ceasefire in Gaza.

It is noteworthy that the decline in the coalition bloc of parties in the polls is due to a decline in the popularity of Netanyahu's Likud party, which has lost between 8 and 12 seats in the Knesset, while the popularity of the remaining coalition parties remains relatively stable. If it becomes clear on the eve of the next election that the Religious Zionism party, headed by Bezalel Smotrich, will not pass the electoral threshold, it is expected that it will run on a single list with the relatively popular Otzma Yehudit party, headed by Itamar Ben-Gvir, and that they will separate after the election, as happened after the last election.

There is broad consensus within Netanyahu's government on almost all issues, particularly those related to the "judicial reform" plan and the dismissal of "threshold guardians," such as the attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet. However, there is a deep disagreement between Smotrich's and Ben-Gvir's parties and the ultra-Orthodox parties over whether to enact a law exempting or requiring ultra-Orthodox men from military conscription.

In general, disagreements between the coalition and the opposition are primarily over domestic issues, such as "judicial reform" and the conscription of ultra-Orthodox Jews. There is little disagreement between the two sides over foreign issues, especially if they relate to the war on Gaza, a major attack on Iran, or the occupation of Arab lands, as is the case in Syria and Lebanon.

While opposition party leaders, such as Yair Lapid, may have called for a continued prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas, they do not call for an end to the war of extermination in Gaza in any form. Last Tuesday, Yisrael Beiteinu party leader Avigdor Lieberman opposed the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, claiming, "While our kidnapped soldiers are being starved in the tunnels and residents of the south are running to shelters on Passover, the Israeli government is once again surrendering and intending to transfer more humanitarian aid to Gaza. This must not be allowed to happen."

Regarding Netanyahu's continued threats to attack Iran, National Camp party leader Benny Gantz stated in a post on the X platform yesterday that "the Iranian regime is an expert at stalling. Israel must and can attack Iran. We must enlist the United States and change the face of the Middle East."

Opposition leader Lapid said yesterday, "I proposed attacking Iranian oil fields in October.

Destroying Iran's oil industry would destroy its economy and ultimately bring down the regime. Netanyahu got scared and stopped it."

This means that in Israel, in general, there is a "trance of power" toward the outside world through the threat of continuous wars, and in the Netanyahu government, in particular, there is a "trance of power" toward the inside world through the continuation of its policies, without the opposition having any ability to obstruct them or obstruct any part of them.

Criticism of Zamir from within the security services

Israel's internal political disputes have seeped into the Israeli military over the past week, with petitions signed by thousands of reserve officers and soldiers demanding a prisoner exchange "even if it means stopping the war." Netanyahu and IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir considered these petitions to be a practical call to refuse military service, but the signatories emphasized that the petitions do not call for refusal from service. It is noteworthy that a large number of reserve personnel, particularly in the air force, had previously declared their refusal to serve in protest against the "judicial reform" plan.

The reservists' petitions were a protest against Israel's resumption of the war on Gaza without the return of its prisoners held in the Gaza Strip. In other words, they were a protest against government policy. However, Zamir decided to dismiss the petitioners from military service and declared that he would not allow the "politicization" of the army. In the Israeli military sense, reservists are citizens who volunteer for military service.

Israel resumed the war on Gaza two weeks after Zamir took office. He drew up the war plans and declared that the goal was to eliminate Hamas and return the Israeli prisoners—two goals Israel failed to achieve in the year and a half before the ceasefire on January 19. Zamir believed that the resumption of the war did not pose a threat to the Israeli prisoners. However, he informed the political-security cabinet that there was a severe shortage of soldiers and that the recruitment rate for combat units was low.

Israeli security officers and officials have been highly critical of Zamir, accusing him of "supporting the government in a way that goes against purely military considerations," saying "it's not clear to us where this war is heading," and that "not everyone in the security establishment and the army supports this military operation," according to what Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Wednesday.

In response to Zamir's accusations, officers in the Israeli Southern Command, in a briefing to military correspondents, described the resumption of the war as "military pressure" aimed at forcing Hamas to agree to a prisoner exchange deal—that is, to give up its negotiating positions, particularly the refusal to condition the exchange on guarantees for a ceasefire. In Israel, too, Hamas is not expected to give up this condition.

To counter the accusation that Zamir supports the government, the officers said that discussions are underway with the political echelon regarding the introduction of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, despite widespread opposition to this within the government, which has the final say on the matter.

Trump prevents an Israeli attack on Iran?

Israel rejects any country in the region possessing nuclear weapons. This rejection is openly known as the "Begin Doctrine," named after former Prime Minister Menachem Begin, who decided to attack and destroy Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981. Under this doctrine, Israel destroyed a nuclear reactor under construction in Syria in 2007, following a decision by then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

It is no secret that the Israeli military has conducted and continues to conduct training to attack the Iranian nuclear program, a program far larger and more extensive than those of Iraq and Syria. Its facilities are spread across numerous sites in Iran, some of them underground. At the beginning of the last decade, Netanyahu, with the support of then-Defense Minister Ehud Barak, issued an order to attack the Iranian program. However, the leaders of the Israeli security services—Chief of Staff Gabi Ashkenazi, Mossad Director Meir Dagan, and Shin Bet Director Yuval Diskin—prevented the attack after they called on Israeli President Shimon Peres to intervene and persuade Netanyahu and Barak to reverse their decision.

Yesterday, the New York Times published a report, citing informed sources, stating that US President Donald Trump urgently asked Netanyahu to come to the White House early last week to inform him that he was prohibiting Israel from implementing a ready-made plan to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, which could be implemented next month. This came after officials in Netanyahu's government informed the Trump administration of this plan, which calls for an airstrike and a ground incursion by special forces. Israeli reports and comments suggest that Netanyahu, through his aides, was the one who leaked the information to the American newspaper.

If this is true, Netanyahu has an interest in this leak. He wants to claim that he sought to attack Iran but was prevented by the US president, because Trump announced during a meeting with him last week that he would enter into direct negotiations with Iran on a new nuclear agreement. Furthermore, there are reports circulating about Trump's desire to avoid igniting new wars in which the United States would be involved. An Israeli attack on Iran would require US intervention to repel a subsequent Iranian missile attack, which Israel alone cannot repel, as was demonstrated during such an Iranian attack at the end of last April, when the US and British militaries intercepted Iranian missiles heading towards Israel.

Perhaps the most important aspect of this issue, and its public exposure, is what Netanyahu received from Trump in exchange for preventing an attack on Iran and Netanyahu's acquiescence. It is likely that Trump pledged to Netanyahu that he would not exert serious pressure on him to stop the war on Gaza. Continuing the war is in Netanyahu's personal interest, as it ensures that his government is not destabilized, and stopping the war would permanently remove him from power.

The same security officials, speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth on Wednesday, indicated that "Trump's thwarting of Israeli plans to attack Iran could lead Netanyahu to order a deeper military operation in Gaza."

Khalil al-Hayya, Hamas's leader in Gaza and head of the movement's negotiating delegation, said that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the mediators' proposal with a proposal that contained impossible conditions and would not lead to a ceasefire or a withdrawal from the Gaza Strip. He indicated a readiness to immediately enter negotiations on the "comprehensive package."

He began his remarks by saying, "The leadership of the Hamas movement and the resistance factions were keen to stop the barbaric aggression and war of extermination against the Gaza Strip. We worked for more than a year and a half of arduous negotiations to achieve this goal until we reached the January 17th agreement with its three stages."

He added, "The Palestinian movement and factions fulfilled all their obligations under this agreement, but Netanyahu and his government reneged on the agreement before the first phase was completed, and resumed committing the most heinous crimes and forms of genocide through killing, destruction, and starvation."

Al-Hayya said, "The mediators have returned to contact us to find a way out of the crisis created by Netanyahu and his government. We agreed to their proposal at the end of Ramadan, despite our conviction that Netanyahu is insisting on continuing the war and aggression to protect his political future. This was confirmed after Netanyahu rejected the mediators' proposal, which we had agreed to."

He explained, "In light of this clear position on the occupation, we affirm the movement's readiness to immediately begin negotiations on a comprehensive package, whereby all prisoners held by the resistance and an agreed-upon number of Palestinian prisoners in occupation prisons are released, in exchange for a complete cessation of the war against our people, a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the start of reconstruction, and an end to the blockade."

He pointed out that "the partial agreements are being used by Netanyahu and his government as a cover for his political agenda based on continuing the war of extermination and starvation, even if it means sacrificing all of his prisoners. We will not be part of implementing this policy."

Al-Hayya stated that "resistance and its weapons are linked to the existence of the occupation, and are a natural right of our people and all peoples under occupation." He added, "We welcome the position of Adam Boehler, the special envoy of US President Trump, to end the issue of prisoners and the war together, which intersects with the war position in the willingness to reach a comprehensive agreement on a prisoner exchange as a single package, in exchange for a cessation of the war, the occupation's withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and reconstruction."

He concluded by saying, "Finally, and regardless of the course and outcome of the negotiations, the international community is called upon to intervene immediately and exert the necessary pressure to end the unjust siege on our people in the Gaza Strip, where more than two million people are being subjected to genocide by starvation, and all the necessities of human life are considered a legitimate right guaranteed under international law and international humanitarian law, without any restrictions or conditions."

Dozens of civilians, including children and women, were killed and injured in ongoing Israeli airstrikes targeting sites in the central and northern Gaza Strip on Friday.

The Israeli army killed 10 members of one family, including five children, when it bombed a house in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip. Two people were also killed and six others were injured when an Israeli bombardment targeted their tent in the Al-Tawam area, also north of the Strip.

Gaza's Civil Defense announced on Friday that 15 people, including 10 members of one family, were killed in two Israeli airstrikes overnight. The Civil Defense reported that its crews "found the bodies of 10 martyrs, in addition to several wounded, in the Baraka family home and surrounding houses targeted by Israeli occupation forces in Bani Suhaila, east of Khan Yunis."

He said that civil defense teams found the bodies of "five dead including two children and a woman, and 18 wounded, as a result of an Israeli bombardment of a house in the Tel al-Zaatar neighborhood in Jabalia camp." He added that "five other missing persons are still under the rubble, and we are unable to reach them due to the lack of equipment and devices available to our crews."

This brings the total death toll from the ongoing Israeli aggression since October 7, 2023, to 51,065 dead and 116,505 wounded, amid escalating aerial and ground bombardment and continued targeting of residential neighborhoods and shelters.

Since the resumption of the large-scale offensive on March 18, 2025, the Ministry of Health has recorded 1,691 deaths and 4,464 injuries, the majority of whom are women and children, amid deteriorating humanitarian conditions and a severe shortage of medical services.

The International Committee of the Red Cross announced on Thursday that one of its headquarters in the Gaza Strip was directly hit by an Israeli tank shell, for the second time in three weeks.

"The ICRC is deeply outraged that one of its headquarters in Gaza was hit by an explosive device on Wednesday, April 16, causing damage," it said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The committee noted that "this incident is the second of its kind within three weeks, as another headquarters in the area was hit by a tank shell on March 24."

She stressed that "the two incidents occurred despite the presence of clear distinguishing marks on the buildings and the regular notification of them to all parties."

She warned that the recurrence of such incidents contributes to the shrinking space for humanitarian action and impacts its ability to provide protection and assistance to thousands of people who need help to survive.

A young man was shot with live ammunition Thursday evening during an Israeli occupation forces raid on the town of Osarin, south of Nablus.

The director of the Red Crescent's emergency and ambulance center in Nablus, Amid Ahmed, reported that ambulance crews dealt with a 20-year-old man who was shot in the knee by the occupation forces.

The occupation forces stormed Osarin amid heavy live ammunition, and clashes erupted in the area.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported on Thursday that nine American transport planes loaded with bunker-busting bombs landed at the Nevatim Air Base near Tel Aviv in central Israel over the past 24 hours.

The official authority said that "nine American transport planes loaded with bunker-busting bombs and other defensive weapons landed at the Nevatim Air Base near Tel Aviv."

She added, "This came in anticipation of a potential US-Israeli strike, should the nuclear negotiations between Washington and Tehran fail."

There was no immediate comment from the US side regarding what was reported by the Israeli Broadcasting Authority until 18:50 GMT.

According to the agency, these bombs are used to enable Israel and the United States to target Iranian nuclear program facilities if negotiations with Tehran fail.

The authority described the landing of the nine planes in Israel as an unprecedented airlift between Washington and Tel Aviv.

She noted that Washington continues to transfer ammunition to Israel from US bases in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East, despite its veto of an Israeli attack on Iran last May.

On Sunday, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation reported that dozens of American cargo planes had landed in Israel in recent days, carrying heavy MK84 bombs and interceptor missiles for the American THAAD air defense system deployed in Israel late last year.

Meanwhile, Washington has recently begun strengthening its forces and naval fleet in the Middle East amid escalating tensions with the Houthis. Last week, it dispatched a second aircraft carrier.

Media reports indicate that the White House has already begun reviewing potential targets for an attack on Iran, including nuclear facilities and ballistic missile and drone production centers.

This military alert comes as Washington and Tehran are holding talks regarding Iran's nuclear program. Both the United States and Israel are seeking to completely dismantle it following the strikes Iran has suffered in the region. Iran, however, rejects this and maintains that its program is for peaceful purposes.

On April 12, the Sultanate of Oman hosted the first round of Iranian-American talks, and it was agreed to hold a second round next Saturday in the Italian capital, Rome.

The first round was a "test of intent" and a "test of the waters" due to the state of mistrust between the two sides caused by President Donald Trump's unilateral withdrawal from the nuclear agreement signed between Iran and major powers, as well as Trump's recent threats, according to observers.

On the eve of the first round of negotiations, the White House warned of "expensive American options" if a new agreement on Iran's nuclear program failed, stressing that President Trump prefers to resolve the issue through direct talks with Tehran.

Trump's announcement of these negotiations came as a surprise to Tel Aviv, which had long urged the US administration to support military action against Iranian nuclear facilities, according to Hebrew media.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said Thursday evening that no aid has entered the Gaza Strip since March 2.

UNRWA indicated, in tweets on the "X" platform, that this period is three times longer than the one imposed at the beginning of the aggression.

She noted that approximately 69% of the Gaza Strip is subject to displacement orders following the issuance of at least 20 such orders by the Israeli occupation army. She explained that UN estimates indicate that approximately 420,000 citizens have been displaced again since the resumption of the aggression on Gaza.

She stressed that the resumption of bombing and the lack of access to humanitarian supplies are impacting the ability of humanitarian agencies to meet the needs of Gaza's citizens, including food, water, sanitation, shelter, and other needs.

Earlier this month, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) reported that 1.9 million people had been forcibly displaced amidst bombing, fear, and loss in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli Channel 10 reported that a security meeting held Thursday to discuss allowing humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip via civil society organizations was held without the participation of the head of the Shin Bet security service.

The channel noted that security assessments indicate that Hamas will respond negatively to the new Israeli proposal, with expectations that the movement will submit substantial amendments to it.

In a related development, Agence France-Presse quoted two informed Palestinian sources—one of whom is from Hamas—as saying that the movement's consultations on the ceasefire proposal presented by the Israeli occupation are "nearing completion," amid anticipation of the announcement of a final response.

The two sources confirmed that the response will be sent to the mediators immediately after the consultations conclude, possibly as soon as later on Thursday, opening the door to a crucial phase in the ceasefire negotiations.

A citizen was shot by a settler this evening, Thursday, in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron.

According to local sources, a settler wearing an Israeli army uniform fired live bullets at Hajj Saeed Muhammad Rabaa Al-Amur (60 years old) while he was on his land in the Al-Rakeez area in Masafer Yatta, injuring him in the foot.

Local sources added that Hajj Al-Amour survived several attempts to kill him by settlers, who repeatedly threatened to kill him if he did not leave his land.

Vania Agrawal, the Microsoft employee fired for protesting the company's support for Israeli crimes in Palestine, said that Microsoft has played a role in the genocide committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023.

"Over the past year and a half, we have begun to learn more clearly how these relationships are formed and how Microsoft services enable and accelerate the genocide in Gaza," Agrawal told Anadolu Agency.

With full American support, Israel has been committing genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 167,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.

The employee explained that internal warnings about Microsoft's cooperation with Israel were "systematically" suppressed.

She added, "They refused to comment on the questions, evaded questions raised internally, and deleted employee comments requesting clarification."

She noted that despite the company's attempts to silence them, many employees at Microsoft offices around the world showed "quiet solidarity."

She explained that some joined the protest for Gaza, while others expressed their reactions by changing their status messages.

"We were condemned to silence, silenced, persecuted, and pressured every time," she stressed.

During the first week of this month, employees boycotted a speech by Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman at the company's 50th anniversary celebration in protest of Microsoft's dealings with Israel.

At the same event, while Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, former CEO Steve Ballmer, and CEO Satya Nadella were on stage, Vania Agrawal shouted, "Shame on you all. You are all hypocrites. Shame on you all for celebrating over their blood. Cut ties with Israel."

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Thursday that his government will not allow Iran to possess nuclear weapons, amid diplomatic efforts led by Washington to revive negotiations on Tehran's nuclear program.

"As the prime minister has repeatedly stated, Israel will not allow Iran to possess a nuclear weapon," Netanyahu's office said in an official statement, noting that Netanyahu has led a series of operations, some overt and some covert, over the past years aimed at disrupting Iran's nuclear program.

Read also: Tehran: Uranium enrichment is "non-negotiable," and Iran is committed to its nuclear rights.

The statement added, "These operations contributed to delaying Iran's nuclear project for nearly a decade, and without them, Iran would have a nuclear arsenal today."

Netanyahu's remarks coincide with US-led diplomatic efforts. US Special Envoy Steve Witkoff is scheduled to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi in Rome on Saturday as part of a new round of nuclear negotiations. This comes a week after talks described as the highest-level between the two sides since the collapse of the 2015 nuclear agreement.

Israeli occupation forces arrested two young men from the Employees' Housing neighborhood in the Aktaba suburb east of Tulkarm on Thursday, following extensive house raids in the neighborhood.

According to local sources, a military infantry force stormed the neighborhood and deployed heavily throughout the area. They raided several homes, conducted thorough searches, vandalized property, and checked citizens' identities, subjecting them to field investigations.

The sources added that during this campaign, the occupation forces arrested the two young men, Hani Samir Ahmed Khrioush (18 years old) and Rashad Omar Ahmed Khrioush (28 years old), and they were handcuffed and taken towards Nour Shams camp.

In recent days, the employee housing district has witnessed repeated raids by infantry forces, particularly in areas opposite Nour Shams Camp. These forces have been subjected to extensive combing and search operations inside homes and buildings, amid heavy firing of live ammunition and sound bombs at civilians.

In a related development, the occupation forces deployed new military reinforcements, including vehicles and bulldozers, toward the Tulkarm and Nur Shams refugee camps, passing through the Dhnaba suburb, as the aggression against the city and its refugee camps continues for the 81st consecutive day.

Infantry units were also deployed in the alleys and lanes of the two camps, and continued raiding homes and forcing residents to evacuate, particularly in the Jabal al-Nasr and Jabal al-Salihin areas of Nour Shams camp.

The Israeli occupation army and the General Security Service (Shin Bet) announced in a joint statement on Thursday that they had carried out a series of airstrikes in various areas of the Gaza Strip, which they claimed resulted in the assassination of two prominent leaders of the Hamas and Islamic Jihad movements, during attacks targeting the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.

The statement explained that Israeli warplanes targeted Yahya Fathi Abdel Qader Abu Shaar last Tuesday, describing him as responsible for Hamas's arms smuggling infrastructure. The statement claimed that he played a pivotal role in recent years in smuggling weapons and military equipment used in the October 7 operation.

It added that the army and Shin Bet security service carried out a raid last week targeting Mazen Ibrahim Mahfouz Farra, allegedly a prominent Islamic Jihad operative, on the grounds that he had directed attacks against targets inside the occupied territories, particularly over the past two years.

The statement claimed that the occupation took "measures to reduce harm to civilians," through the use of precision munitions, aerial surveillance, and intelligence information.

The statement also indicated that the Israeli Air Force had bombed approximately 110 targets across the Gaza Strip over the past two days, including military sites, armed cells, and infrastructure, it claimed.

He added that the bombing targeted a military building belonging to Hamas's naval forces in the Nuseirat refugee camp, claiming that it was being used to plan naval operations.

In a separate statement, the Israeli military announced that it had carried out another raid, in cooperation with the Shin Bet security service, targeting a person it described as a "terrorist" inside a Hamas command and control complex in the Jabalia area in the northern Gaza Strip. The military claimed the individual was involved in carrying out attacks against Israeli forces and settlers.

Six civilians were killed and others injured when Israeli warplanes and drones bombed various areas of the Gaza Strip, with the focus being on the southern city of Khan Yunis.

According to local sources, a citizen was killed and others, including a child, were injured after an Israeli drone fired bullets into the Al-Masalaba area of the Al-Zeitoun neighborhood in Gaza City, in the central Gaza Strip.

Two citizens were also killed after being targeted by the Israeli occupation forces in the Al-Manara neighborhood, south of Khan Yunis, and were transferred to the European Hospital.

The occupation aircraft bombed a farm in the aforementioned neighborhood, resulting in the martyrdom of three farmers: Adham Jamal Muhammad al-Najjar, Muhammad Abdullah Muhammad Qwaider, and Muhammad Khader Ashour.

Medical sources reported that 27 citizens were killed in Israeli raids on the Gaza Strip since dawn today, including 21 in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip.

Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government's request to overturn the decision to freeze the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar.

The official Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that the Supreme Court rejected the government's request to overturn the decision to freeze Bar's dismissal.

According to the Supreme Court's ruling, "Ronen Bar will continue to perform his duties without prejudice to his powers, and no action will be taken to terminate his term."

The commission noted on Wednesday that the government had filed a petition with the Supreme Court requesting that the temporary freeze order be overturned, arguing that the court ruling "poses a threat to the principle of separation of powers."

The petition stated that "the ultimate authority to manage state security affairs rests with the government," warning that "Supreme Court decisions that strip it of this authority create a dangerous situation."

The government also considered that "imposing the continued tenure of a failed and untrustworthy security chief solely on the basis of a temporary court order constitutes a serious institutional flaw."

The authority indicated that the court "rejected the government's petition today, Thursday."

"The Supreme Court rejected the government's request to lift the temporary injunction currently preventing the dismissal of Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar," she said.

The court judges were quoted as saying in their ruling: "There is no basis for the allegation of a violation of the government's powers in the security sector," noting that the government "is responsible for making political and security decisions."

They added that "the existence of a judicial review of the appointment, regardless of the rank, does not detract from this in the slightest, as was made clear during the session," which examined petitions opposing the dismissal decision.

Relations between the Supreme Court and the Israeli government have been highly tense following the government's attempts to limit the powers of the Israeli judiciary, particularly following the court's decision to freeze Bar's dismissal.

On March 20, the government unanimously approved Netanyahu's proposal to dismiss Bar, the first such decision in Israel's history, despite thousands of protests.

Hours after the government's decision, the Supreme Court froze Barr's dismissal pending appeals from opposition parties, and government officials indicated they planned not to respect the court's ruling.

Later, on April 8, the Israeli Supreme Court decided to prevent the government from implementing the decision to dismiss Shin Bet Director Ronen Bar, which was scheduled to take effect on April 10, or announcing a replacement for him, pending the conclusion of the case.

Netanyahu justified his decision to dismiss Bar as a "failure," but Bar attributed the decisions to disagreements with Netanyahu and the Shin Bet investigation into officials in the Israeli president's office on charges of contact with a foreign government.

Hundreds of settlers stormed the Solomon's Pools archaeological site south of Bethlehem on Thursday afternoon.

According to local sources, hundreds of settlers, under the protection of occupation forces, stormed the archaeological site of Solomon's Pools, spread out along the three pools, and performed biblical rituals.

The sources added that the occupation forces completely closed off the area, preventing citizens from approaching, and preventing vehicle traffic from reaching the village of Artas and the city of Bethlehem.

Rami Igra, the former head of the Mossad's Prisoners and Missing Persons Department, described the Israeli prisoner exchange proposal with Hamas as "the most difficult proposal ever presented to Hamas," and that Hamas would not accept it.

"The biggest question, and perhaps from it we will understand where we stand, is why the State of Israel proposed this proposal, which clearly no one will agree to," Igra told 103FM radio on Wednesday. "They included disarmament and the day after, while it was clear that Hamas was working from the beginning for its survival and would not agree to this matter."

He added that Israel made this proposal "because Netanyahu knows that time is running out—not for the detainees, but for him. Trump made it clear, during the press conference in which Netanyahu was quelled, that the war must end, and it will end quickly."

He added, "It's important to consider the background to the fact that Trump will soon visit Saudi Arabia, which is proposing $1.3 trillion in investments in the US, and is demanding a Palestinian state solution to normalize relations with Israel."

"Against the backdrop of all these matters, it is clear to Netanyahu that just as they forced him to implement the first phase (of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement), they will force him to implement the second phase, which will include the Egyptian solution, which includes the rule of a 'cultural committee' in Gaza," Igra continued.

"We've lost the battle and we have no choice," the former Mossad official said, adding, "The story is quickly heading toward Iran, and there Netanyahu is throwing around phrases like 'dismantle like in Libya,' while the Americans don't listen. We must realize that Netanyahu brought us here with no alternative to Hamas rule. He wasted a year and a half because he was afraid of this solution because of his political partners."

"Only the Americans are in this corner, and they are the ones who decide," Igra noted. "Trump is busy with a hundred things in various fields, and he ultimately wants to win the Nobel Peace Prize and reach normalization with Saudi Arabia. Netanyahu wants to continue in power, and that will be difficult for him. He will have to agree to the second stage. Think about how he left Hungary on his way to Trump, and how he left there like a slapped-down Trump child."

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit stressed that the Palestinian cause is facing the most serious threat in its history, in light of the Israeli occupation's war of extermination, amid a shameful and disgraceful international silence.

According to a statement issued by the League on Thursday, Aboul Gheit stressed, in his speech before the 57th session of the Higher Coordination Committee for Joint Arab Action, held at the headquarters of the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) in Tunisia, the absolute Arab, Islamic and international rejection of the displacement of Palestinians, noting that the time has come to stop this massacre, in order to immediately begin reconstruction and recovery efforts, and pave the way for a just solution acceptable to Palestinians, Arabs and internationally, namely the two-state solution.

He emphasized that the Palestinian presence on the ground is the most important means of struggle, emphasizing the need to work to strengthen this presence and stand firm in the face of the blind brutality that is unprecedented in our modern era.

Aboul Gheit referred to the contents of the Economic and Social Council's resolution at its 113th regular session regarding the preparation of an emergency response plan to address the negative economic and social repercussions of the Israeli aggression against the State of Palestine, which was followed by the Committee's resolution at its previous session (the 56th session), in addition to the resolution of the Bahrain Summit held on May 16, 2024, which adopted this plan.

The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned, on Thursday, the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by members of the Israeli Knesset, coinciding with the provocative actions carried out by extremists during their incursions, which are carried out under the protection of the Israeli occupation police. The Ministry considered the incident a dangerous and unacceptable escalation, a rejected provocation, and a violation of the sanctity of Al-Aqsa Mosque and the historical and legal status quo there.

The official spokesman for the Ministry, Sufian Al-Qudah, affirmed the Kingdom's absolute rejection and strong condemnation of the repeated incursions by members of the Israeli Knesset and large numbers of extremists into Al-Aqsa Mosque. He said that this represents an exacerbation of the dangerous situation in the occupied Palestinian territories, a violation of Israel's obligations, the occupying power, in occupied Jerusalem, and an attempt to impose temporal and spatial division. He stressed that Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied city of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.

The judges called for a firm international stance obligating Israel, as the occupying power, to cease its ongoing violations and illegal practices against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, and its violations of the sanctity of holy sites.

He reiterated that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its entire area of 144 dunams, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and that the Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs and Holy Places, is the legal entity with exclusive jurisdiction to administer the affairs of the Noble Sanctuary and regulate entry to it.

Kazem Abu Khalaf: There are shocking figures that reflect the extent of the humanitarian tragedy experienced by children in the Gaza Strip after 18 months of ongoing Israeli warfare.

Khaled Qazmar: The number of children killed in one year of the war on Gaza exceeds the number of victims of wars around the world in an entire decade.

Dr. Abdul Majeed Suwailem: Israeli crimes in Gaza, especially against children, represent a dangerous manifestation of the principles of "genocide, ethnic cleansing, barbarism, revenge, and sadism."

Dr. Suhail Diab: Israel is waging its last demographic war after exhausting all options, while the world is witnessing an unprecedented moral collapse.

Yasser Manna: The open massacre of Palestinian children is a clear declaration of the world's failure in its most important moral and humanitarian test.

In the midst of one of the most horrific humanitarian tragedies of modern times, the children of the Gaza Strip are facing a merciless Israeli war of extermination, reaping their lives, destroying their futures, and uprooting them from their families and psychological roots. More than 18,000 children have been killed in this war, and tens of thousands more have been left without parents, or even a safe shelter.

Shocking numbers speak of mass tragedies in a small geographical area that has become a place of death, where there is no safe place and no life resembling life.

International officials, writers, and human rights activists, speaking separately to Al-Quds, say this comes amid a near-total collapse of the health and education systems, while tens of thousands of children find themselves amid the rubble of their schools and homes, wounded in body and soul, deprived of their most basic rights to treatment, education, and safety. Stories are no longer told of heroic steadfastness or childhood dreams, but of amputated limbs, screams rising above the rubble, and mothers searching the rubble for their children.

They assert that amidst this open hell, the global conscience has yet to awaken. Condemnations are timid, international positions are selective, humanitarian aid is being used as a bargaining chip, and killers are granted political and legal immunity. This is a declared genocide, occurring daily. Children are reduced to mere numbers in field reports, a scene that exposes the moral and humanitarian failure of the international system.

Gaza's children live in a "maze of death"

UNICEF spokesperson Kazem Abu Khalaf says shocking figures reflect the scale of the humanitarian tragedy facing children in the Gaza Strip after 18 months of ongoing Israeli warfare. He describes their suffering as "a reality without parallel" in the world, despite the presence of other conflicts, such as in Sudan.

Abu Khalaf explains that the number of children who have lost their families in Gaza has reached approximately 39,000, 37,000 of whom have lost one parent (father or mother), while 2,000 have lost both parents. What's even more alarming, however, is the presence of 17,000 "unaccompanied" children—those separated from their families with no known fate—of whom only about 300 have been reunited to date.

"Children in Gaza are paying a heavy price for such a small geographical area," Abu Khalaf said. "The number of child victims in the last 18 months exceeds any other place in the world, relative to the population."

Abu Khalaf points out that, according to specialized statistical reports, approximately 16,500 people are in dire need of exiting the Gaza Strip for medical treatment, including more than 4,000 children. Fewer than 2,000 of those in need of treatment have been able to leave since October 2023, including 632 children, due to Israeli restrictions.

The suffering of wounded and amputated children

Abu Khalaf speaks about the suffering of wounded children, particularly those with amputated limbs, who are suffering from a lack of medicine and medical care following the destruction of the health system.

Abu Khalaf points to the prevalence of psychological crises among children due to daily trauma, saying, "All children in Gaza, who constitute half of the Gazan population, need urgent psychological support."

Abu Khalaf confirms that children in Gaza have lost two consecutive years of school, with most schools destroyed and some converted into shelters.

Abu Khalaf criticizes the transformation of humanitarian aid into a political "bargaining tool," despite international law requiring it to be delivered unconditionally. All of this is taking place amid international silence and inaction.

Abu Khalaf points out that the ongoing bombardment, displacement, and ongoing war have transformed children's lives into a "death maze," with no safe place to be. Meanwhile, many are suffering from cold, hunger, and thirst due to the ban on the entry of essential supplies for more than a month and a half.

Abu Khalaf criticizes the international community for its "inaction" and limiting itself to "condemnations," while using aid as a "pressure card."

Abu Khalaf says, "Gaza has become a model for the humanitarian disaster taking place before the eyes of the world. Children are dying of hunger or bombing, and no one is taking action."

Abu Khalaf warns that the continuation of the war would mean the destruction of an entire generation, calling for the immediate opening of the crossings, an end to the blockade, and the prosecution of all those involved in these crimes.

Gaza has become a "children's graveyard"

For his part, Khaled Quzmar, General Director of Defense for Children International - Palestine, described the suffering of children in the Gaza Strip as an "unprecedented crime" in modern history, asserting that the number of children killed in a single year of war exceeds the number of victims of wars around the world in an entire decade. He noted that Gaza has "become a graveyard for children," as the UN Secretary-General put it.

Qazmar asserts that the figures documenting the occupation's crimes against children in Gaza are "shameful" to humanity in modern history, noting that the number of child martyrs has exceeded 18,000 since the beginning of the war, while the names of many of them remain unknown due to the magnitude of the disaster and the inability to fully document them.

"In the 2014 war, we recorded 555 child martyrs, and we had details for every case. Today, we have 18,000 martyrs, and we don't even know everyone's names," Qazmar says.

Qazmar addresses the broader human tragedy, where more than 39,000 children have lost their familial support, either through the loss of one or both parents, leaving lifelong psychological and physical scars.

Qazmar points out that there are more than 11,000 missing persons, 40% of whom are children, in addition to thousands of cases of limb amputation among children, which constitute permanent disabilities in light of the collapse of the health system.

"Starvation" as a tool of war

Qazmar asserts that the occupation has not limited itself to direct killing, but has also practiced a policy of "starvation" as a tool of war. He explains that at least 52 children have been documented as having died of starvation, while hundreds of thousands more are suffering from severe malnutrition and a lack of drinking water.

“Diseases are spreading at an unprecedented rate, and hospitals are no longer able to function after being systematically destroyed,” Qazmar says.

Qazmar points out that the destruction of Gaza's healthcare infrastructure is "a dangerous precedent in the history of conflict," as hospitals were bombed by aircraft and tanks, depriving the Strip of its ability to provide basic medical services.

Qazmar tells the story of a girl who was being treated for an amputated leg and dreamed of recovering and becoming a doctor, before Israel bombed the hospital she was staying in, leading to her martyrdom. Her dream was never fulfilled.

Qazmar asserts that more than 700,000 children have been deprived of their right to education following the destruction of schools and universities, warning that missing two consecutive years of schooling will produce a wounded generation with no future. He emphasizes that this violation clearly contravenes international law, which guarantees education as a fundamental right.

Qazmar points out that the percentage of children among casualties in Gaza has increased from 20% in previous wars to approximately 40% currently, a reason attributed to the high population density in the Strip, where children constitute 47% of the population.

Occupation soldiers boast about filming their crimes.

"Israel commits its crimes in full view of the world," Qazmar says. "In fact, its soldiers boast about filming their crimes." He cites cases recorded by Israeli soldiers who blew up Palestinian homes and sent them as "gifts" to their relatives.

Qazmar criticizes the international community, particularly the United States and Western countries, describing them as "partners in genocide" due to their military and political support for Israel and their protection of it in international forums.

Qazmar also criticizes the inaction of the International Criminal Court, which has only taken action against a limited number of Israeli leaders, despite extensive evidence of their crimes.

Qazmar asserts that the International Court of Justice's decisions, which deemed Israel's actions "genocide," have not been implemented due to what he describes as "international hypocrisy," where legal standards are applied selectively.

"The West claims to defend human rights, while they are burning them in Gaza. The global conscience is dead," Qazmar says.

Qazmar calls for an immediate ceasefire, the delivery of humanitarian aid, and the accountability of all those responsible for these crimes, believing that international silence only encourages Israel to proceed with its genocide.

"We cannot count the martyrs daily while the world watches," Qazmar says. "Every child killed is a crime that burns the conscience of humanity."

A shocking case of human incompetence towards killing

In turn, writer and political analyst Dr. Abdul Majeed Sweilem says that the killing, destruction, and human suffering being inflicted on Gaza's children should galvanize the conscience of humanity as a whole. However, the international response remains below the desired level, reflecting a shocking state of human inadequacy in the face of "deliberate killing and sadistic revenge."

Suwailem explains that this failure in the humanitarian response to the Israeli crimes against the people of the Gaza Strip, especially children, is due to the absence of a genuine organization of human consciences, which, while present in their hearts, have not translated into pressure lobbies capable of halting this genocide.

Suwailem asserts that the Israeli crimes committed in Gaza, particularly against children, represent a dangerous manifestation of the principles of "genocide, ethnic cleansing, barbarism, revenge, and sadism," traits that are prevalent in the Israeli mentality, which, in light of the absolute political and military support of the United States, is liberated from any moral or legal constraints.

The West will pay the price for its complicity with Israeli brutality.

Suwailem points out that responsibility does not fall solely on the occupation and its supporters, but also includes the Western political establishment, which has so far failed to take a clear moral and humanitarian stance. He warns that history will condemn this silence, and the West will pay a heavy price for its complicity in Israeli brutality.

Suwailem criticizes the official Arab and Islamic regimes for not taking any action, except for a few demonstrations and emotional stances, which he describes as incapable of forming a real pressure group to stop the massacres.

Suwailem emphasizes that the movement within Israeli society demanding an end to the war in Gaza does not stem from humanitarian motives or a rejection of brutality, but rather is limited to a demand for the release of Israeli prisoners, while the killing of Palestinian children in any way preoccupies them.

Suwailem says: "Anyone who believes that Israeli society can be driven by humanitarian motives, as has happened with other peoples after their countries committed crimes throughout history, is delusional. This is a society driven solely by its hateful racist motives, and is completely removed from any civilized or humanitarian values."

Israel returns to the "1948 Nakba Square"

For his part, Dr. Suhail Diab, a professor of political science and expert on Israeli affairs, asserts that targeting children in Gaza is part of a systematic Israeli strategy for a "demographic solution" as an alternative to the failure of the Zionist project to achieve its goals through other means. He points out that it is returning Israel to the "1948 Nakba" after the collapse of its political and military narratives.

Diab explains that the first angle lies in the Israeli realization that the "demographic solution" is the only option after other means have failed. Geographical nibbling failed after the formal annexation of the territories stalled, and international legitimacy collapsed with the exposure of the falsity of Israeli democratic claims, leading to a return to the 1948 model of genocide and population displacement, as occurred during the Nakba.

"Killing children is not a random act, but rather part of a mathematical equation to ensure Jewish demographic superiority," Diab says.

The second angle, according to Diab, is Israel's resounding moral decline, as it has reached a stage of "indifference to international institutions or humanitarian pressures," while the third angle shows international impotence divided into three axes: the United States, which is actively participating in the crime through military and political support; the international community, which is torn between rejecting the crimes and not confronting Israel for fear of supporting Hamas; and the Arab world, where some Arab regimes see the war as a means to weaken both Israel and the resistance, which represents the Iranian axis.

A true test of human conscience

Diab addresses the historical and ideological reasons that fuel Israeli violence and the pursuit of killing and exterminating the Palestinian people, especially children, pointing to three main factors: the Talmudic doctrine that legitimizes the "preemptive killing" of anyone deemed a threat, citing the book by Israeli journalist Bergman (2018), which documented 2,780 political assassinations since the 1940s based on this doctrine.

The second factor, according to Diab, is the Zionist security vision based on the idea of “a people without a land for a land without a people,” which has caused ethnic cleansing since 1948, leading to massacres such as Kafr Qasim (1956).

Diab points to the third factor: the persecution complex even among secular Jews, who experience a "collective paranoia" that forces them to seek a permanent enemy to strengthen internal unity.

Diab warns that the current situation represents a unique moment, as Israel is waging its last demographic war after exhausting all other options, and the world is witnessing an unprecedented moral collapse in dealing with crimes. Diab asserts that history will not forgive the accomplices, especially since the evidence of genocide has become "public."

"What's happening in Gaza is not just a war, but a true test of humanity's conscience, and children are the indicator that shows everyone's failure," Diab says.

A damning testimony to the collapse of the international value system

Writer and expert on Israeli affairs, Yasser Manna, says that what Gaza's children are being subjected to cannot be considered merely an emotional depiction of a tragic humanitarian situation, but rather "a damning testimony to the collapse of the international value system." He points out that "the open massacre of Palestinian children is a clear declaration of the world's failure in the most important moral and humanitarian test: the protection of children."

Manaa believes that the statements of some UN officials, who described what happened as "unprecedented in modern history," indirectly confirm that international institutions have become content to watch without taking any real action. In his opinion, this reflects a double failure: an inability to stop the crimes and an inability to enforce international law, which has appeared selective in its treatment of Palestinian blood.

Killing children based on a deep-rooted ideology

Manaa asserts that the targeting of children is not the result of military errors or what is known as "collateral damage," but rather the result of a deeply rooted ideological background within certain factions within the Israeli security and political establishment, which views Palestinian children as a "postponed enemy," believing that "killing the seed" is the guarantee of continued control in the future.

Manaa asserts that this approach reflects a clear Israeli desire to "psychologically destroy Palestinian society" by striking at its weakest link: childhood.

"Revenge against children is not only a military weapon, but also a psychological weapon intended to instill despair in people and kill any hope for the future," Manaa says.

Manaa believes that the most dangerous aspect of these crimes is the "international silence," which sends an implicit message that "Palestinian blood is permissible to be shed, and that impunity has become the norm."

Five civilians were killed and others wounded on Thursday when the Israeli occupation forces bombed a school housing displaced persons in Jabalia camp, north of the Gaza Strip.

Local sources reported that Israeli aircraft bombed the UNRWA-affiliated Al-Ayyoubiya School in Jabalia camp, killing at least three civilians and wounding others.

The death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 51,065, and the number of injuries to 116,505, since the start of the aggression on October 7, 2023.

Dr. Ahmad Tibi: The Israeli police are capable of confronting criminal organizations, as they did in Netanya, Nahariya, and Tel Aviv, but they do not do so in Arab towns.

Dr. Yousef Jabareen: Police collusion with criminal elements is in line with the racist and supremacist policies of Ben-Gvir, who openly expresses his hostility toward Arabs.

Sawsan Sarour: Over the years, trust in law enforcement has been shaken by the police's treatment of the Arab community as a hostile entity.

Amir Makhoul: What is happening is part of an Israeli strategic project whose ultimate goal is the "voluntary displacement" of Palestinians inside Israel.

Wadih Awawdeh: We are facing a catastrophic threat unprecedented since 1948, and I see it as the most dangerous strategic threat facing all Arabs at home.

Arab society in the 1948 territories is being subjected to a fierce, silent war, claiming the lives of many Arab citizens. The official Israeli establishment, with its various branches and ministries, especially the police, has not lifted a finger to put an end to this bloodshed, which has deprived them of peace and security and has begun to threaten the cohesion and existence of Arabs in their cities and villages.

Daily or near-daily killings have claimed the lives of dozens since the beginning of the year. Many of these attacks occurred in broad daylight, without warning, and without any clear motive. Young men, women, and girls are victims, with no common link between the victims, making them appear to be murders for the sake of murder. What's striking, however, is that the Israeli police are treating these crimes with a suspicious degree of indifference, as if they don't occur within their jurisdiction. Most of the crimes are recorded as unknown, even though they deal with them differently and with great effectiveness when crimes occur within the Jewish community.

Writers, analysts, human rights activists, and politicians who spoke to Al-Quds emphasized that the Israeli police are capable of confronting criminal organizations, as they did in Netanya, Nahariya, and Tel Aviv, but they fail to do so in Arab towns. They noted that the police's collusion with criminal elements aligns with the racist and supremacist policies of Ben-Gvir, who openly expresses his hostility toward Arabs.

They said that what is happening is part of an Israeli strategic project whose ultimate goal is the "voluntary displacement" of Palestinians inside Israel. They added: We are facing a catastrophic threat unprecedented since 1948, and it is the most serious strategic threat facing all Arabs inside Israel.

Unprecedented crime in Arab society inside the country

MK Dr. Ahmad Tibi, head of the Arab Movement for Change, said, "What has recently been happening in Arab society is unprecedented and dangerous, and poses a direct threat to the personal security of Palestinians inside Palestine."

He pointed out that criminal organizations have taken control of the situation, with the police indifferent, describing them as complicit and incompetent at best.

Tibi explained that 11 people were killed in just a few days, while the police commissioner declared that he was not counting the bodies, reflecting a disregard for the value of humanity and the pain and loss felt in Arab society.

He pointed out that weapons are widely available among criminal organizations, and that there are two types of crime: the first is organized crime led by gangs and mafias, which is the responsibility of the state and the police, not the head of a local authority, a member of Knesset, a cleric, or a teacher; the second is community violence resulting from disputes between neighbors, in playgrounds, or within families, which is a societal responsibility requiring everyone's intervention.

Excluding peace disclosure committees from the law

Tibi criticized the Israeli establishment's exclusion of peace-disclosure committees from the law, believing that National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's statements about his success in office implicitly imply that Arabs killing each other is a success in his view.

He emphasized that the Israeli police are capable of confronting criminal organizations, as they have done in cities such as Netanya, Nahariya, and Tel Aviv, but they do not do so in Arab towns, indicating that this is a government policy extending from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Ben-Gvir and the police leadership.

Al-Tayyibi stressed the need to re-educate young people and monitor their behavior, especially if they show signs of sudden wealth. He called for continued reform efforts and the prevention of bloodshed in the absence of a real police role.

The failure of government ministries responsible for addressing violence

For his part, human rights activist and former Joint List MK Dr. Yousef Jabareen said, "The escalation of violence and crime in our society did not come out of nowhere. Rather, it is primarily the result of the failure of responsible government ministries to address the issue and fulfill their role, both in terms of enforcing the rule of law and in terms of the budgets and resources that should be allocated to education, social services, and youth."

Jabareen believes that this dangerous escalation is primarily linked to police policies toward Arab citizens. The Israeli police view Arab citizens as part of the "enemy" based on their national affiliation. Therefore, the police are complicit in the policies of oppression and racism against our people and youth inside Israel. This police collusion with criminal elements is naturally in line with the racist and supremacist policies of current Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who openly promotes his agenda hostile to Arab citizens.

He added, "We accuse the police of being primarily responsible for the escalating crime in our towns. They are responsible for the proliferation of weapons, the failure to collect weapons, the failure to prosecute weapon users, and the failure to enforce the law when matters relate to the Arab criminal arena. We accuse the police of being concerned with the continuation of this crime in our society because crime preoccupies us and prevents us from devoting ourselves to the issues of discrimination and racism practiced by state institutions, as well as the issues of occupation and war."

Systematic public pressure on the police is required.

"We must intensify systematic popular and public pressure on the police and law enforcement authorities so that they can carry out their role in collecting weapons and combating violence and criminal elements in a decisive and deterrent manner," Jabareen said. "In every society, the tools for enforcing the law and deterring crime are in the hands of those authorized by law: the police and the responsible government ministries."

However, he pointed out that responsibility does not rest solely with the police. The Ministry of Education, for example, is failing to allocate educational and guidance programs and materials in Arabic to combat the phenomenon of violence and crime, and is failing to provide the necessary professional educational and guidance programs. The Ministry of Social Welfare, meanwhile, is failing to allocate social workers and financial resources to enable Arab local authorities to confront the phenomenon. This is in addition to the strangulation of our Arab towns in general, depriving them of urban and economic development.

He said: "Therefore, we are struggling to allocate urgently needed budgets to our local authorities to address the issues of youth in distress and poverty, and to establish the community and sports facilities that our towns lack."

Human rights activist Jabareen emphasized that given the escalating crime rate in our society, comparable to global standards in crime-ridden countries like Mexico and Colombia, internationalizing the issue of violence and crime has also become an urgent need.

He explained that it is ironic that the escalation of this crime to such a serious extent will allow us to present its dangers to international forums and pressure them to intervene with the Israeli government and pressure it to take action on the issue. He noted that these forums include the United Nations, the European Union, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Bank, and other influential institutions.

A racist scheme threatens Palestinian society inside the country.

He said that when an Arab citizen loses his basic right to security and safety due to the complicity of government authorities, and also loses his right to life, it is not an "internal issue," but rather a racist scheme that threatens Palestinian society within Israel, necessitating the international community's mobilization to confront and counter it.

At the internal societal level, Jabareen emphasized that we must take the initiative to launch a systematic public educational campaign that engages specifically with youth, and aims to promote a discourse of dialogue and mutual respect, and to reject the mentality of revenge and domination and replace it with a mentality of tolerance and community solidarity. In parallel, we must implement a public awareness campaign calling for not resorting to weapons or owning them.

Jabareen concluded his remarks to Al-Quds by saying: "Success in confronting violence and crime requires strengthening and reinforcing the alternative national unity project: the project of belonging to a single people suffering from discrimination and oppression, the project of national unity struggle to achieve rights and for a dignified and secure life."

11 victims killed in five days!

In turn, journalist Sawsan Surur, an observer and critic of the political scene in Israel, said, “Eleven people were killed in just five days, and seventy-six people were killed since the beginning of the year, a third of them in nine murders, in several towns, from the north through the center to the south. The victims are not only the dead, but also dozens of wounded, and tens of thousands who have lost their security and safety. We are not talking only about numbers, but about a political, social, economic and humanitarian reality related to the approximately two million Palestinians living inside the State of Israel.”

She added, "We are not talking about violence in the Palestinian Arab community in Israel, but rather the control of criminal gangs over parts of the State of Israel, without restraint or deterrence, and with them about half a million unlicensed weapons, most of which come from the Israeli army, according to various reports."

Sarour emphasized that the Israeli police force monitors various issues related to law enforcement and the criminal underworld in Jewish society, while the Shin Bet, which is supposed to focus on issues that pose a security threat with a nationalist background, is the one that monitors the affairs of Arab society. This means that the state views Arabs as a purely security problem.

Criminal gangs fill the void in their own way.

Sarour noted that with the absence of police and the decline of their role in Arab towns, criminal gangs have arrived to fill the void, but with their own criminal methods and conditions, circulated among the various and scattered gang leaders, and based on their size and influence at various levels, even within the institution.

She explained that over the past two decades, crime rates within the Palestinian Arab community in Israel have risen significantly and alarmingly.

Sarura noted that the crime rate in Arab society has always been higher than in Jewish society in Israel, but it is striking that this rate has increased rapidly over the past decade, from nearly doubling to tripling, then more than quadrupling from 2016 to the present day.

She said: If we go back to the beginning, the Or Commission - the official commission of inquiry that investigated the Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa uprising, the events of October 2000 in which thirteen young men from several towns were martyred - addressed in its 2004 report the causes of crime in Arab society, and showed, among other things, that the systematic discrimination practiced for decades in education, social welfare, employment and all other areas of civil life, and the creation of deep gaps between Arab and Jewish towns, is the path to the cycle of crime and violence.

Significant economic and material factors

Sarour added: "In fact, in addition to political and social factors, the phenomenon of violence and crime is also influenced by significant economic-material factors. The vast majority of Arab towns occupy the lowest rung of the socio-economic ladder, and 40% of Arab youth between the ages of 18 and 22 are neither employed nor educated (according to data from the Israel Democracy Institute). Forty-three percent of Arab youth between the ages of 18 and 24 live in poverty—twice the poverty rate among Jewish youth (according to a Ministry of Social Equality report, 2020)."

Surur revealed that many Arab towns suffer from poor development, high unemployment rates, weak educational and healthcare systems, and deteriorating physical infrastructure—all of which create fertile ground for the spread of crime and violence in Arab society.

She said: "The leadership of the Palestinian masses in Israel has used various means of protest against the state's failure to address the problem of the escalating crime in Arab towns, including marches, demonstrations, days of mourning, and even strikes. Some heads have even threatened to resign from their local authority positions, but all of this has been to no avail.

"Shin Bet collaborators" enjoy immunity

She noted that over the years, trust in law enforcement has been undermined by the police's treatment of the Arab community as a hostile entity, as if members of the Arab community were not citizens to be protected. This is a result of the police's failure to confront the phenomenon of violence and crime. Added to this is the lack of trust stemming from the cooperation of the General Security Service (Shin Bet) with criminal elements in the Arab community. A senior police official was previously quoted as claiming that "the source of serious crime in the Arab community is 'Shin Bet collaborators' who enjoy immunity, and therefore 'the police's hands are tied.'"

Surur described the country's general political landscape as extremely complex, particularly in light of the ongoing war on Gaza and the accompanying rifts and disintegration of the security, political, and social structures, as well as the deteriorating economic situation. This has placed addressing crime in Arab society on the margins, rather than at the top of the priorities of this far-right government.

She said: "Perhaps Government Resolution No. 549 of the change government (Lapid-Bennett), with the support of an Arab party, was a pioneering and innovative decision. It did not view crime in Arab society within the narrow context of law enforcement, but rather addressed it within its broader context of treatment and prevention. However, the current government froze it without benefiting from its positive transformations on the ground."

Journalist Surour concluded her statement to Al-Quds by saying: “The Palestinian masses have no choice but to struggle and not remain in the background. They must intensify demonstrations and protests against crime in Arab towns, and even resort to civil disobedience, if necessary, until they reach the ballot box. They must participate forcefully and effectively to change the face of the political map in the State of Israel and its priorities.”

Systematic destruction of all sense of security

Writer and politician Amir Makhoul stressed that there is a growing phenomenon sweeping across Palestinian society inside the country, threatening its very existence.

He explained that the issue is not just about the spread of gangs, murders, and shootings, but rather that what is happening is the work of organized gangs that possess what resemble armies, consisting of thousands of individuals, whether from within the Green Line (Palestinians of 1948) or from the West Bank, and they are the ones who carry out these acts.

Makhoul pointed out that the majority of weapons used in these crimes are of Israeli origin, including ammunition smuggled from military bases and sold on the Israeli market. He added that there is a systematic destruction of any sense of security within Palestinian society inside Israel, whether in cities or villages, even those once known for their tranquility.

He pointed out that what is taking place represents organized control, not just in the form of "thugs," but rather an integrated system that constitutes an economic project, with the crime generating billions of shekels through the collection of "protection money," controlling tenders from local authorities, businesses, and other activities.

People's willingness to emigrate and society disintegrates

Makhoul considered all of this to be part of an Israeli strategic project whose ultimate goal is the so-called "voluntary displacement" of Palestinians inside Israel. He emphasized that this policy is not limited to Gaza or the West Bank, but is practiced systematically against the Palestinians of 1948.

He pointed out that this displacement is already underway, particularly among young people, particularly those educated and specialized in fields such as medicine and technology.

He pointed to unfamiliar phenomena beginning to emerge, such as people's willingness to emigrate and the disintegration of society, including internal migration to major cities such as Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jaffa, Nazareth, and Nof HaGalil, which was established to Judaize the Galilee but has been transformed into mixed towns due to economic conditions and rampant crime.

He explained that every Palestinian inside Israel today feels threatened daily, complemented by a policy of repression and political persecution of all political forces. Police budgets are allocated under the banner of "fighting crime," while they are actually used to suppress those who oppose them.

What is happening goes beyond criminality to become a state project.

He cited the example of the "Peace Disclosure" committee, which was outlawed and banned weeks ago, despite its active role in the Higher Follow-Up Committee. Administrative detention orders were also issued against political leaders, including Raja Agbarbeh, head of the Sons of the Country Movement, who was placed under administrative detention.

Makhoul stressed that dozens are being subjected to political persecution, and that all these measures fall within a single framework: the elimination of the Palestinian entity within Israel.

He added that the goals of these policies include imposing a form of political engineering aimed at disengaging Palestinians from the interior from public issues, including political and national activism, and even abstaining from voting.

At the end of his statement to Al-Quds, Makhoul stressed that the Israeli right, led by Netanyahu, is systematically planning to drive Palestinians inside Israel into despair and hopelessness, as they constitute an electoral bloc that threatens his political survival. Although not a ruling bloc, they are capable of preventing him from forming any governing coalition. Accordingly, what is happening goes beyond the realm of criminality to become a state project.

Demolishing the castle from the inside after the failure of the subjugation

For his part, Israeli affairs expert Wadih Awawdeh pointed out the need to distinguish between violence and organized crime.

He said that criminal gangs, which began to emerge more than twenty years ago, are completely different from the violence that occurs between neighbors, families, or individuals, noting that organized crime is far more dangerous.

He explained that 70 to 80 percent of murders in recent years were carried out by organized criminal gangs, and the majority of victims are members of these same gangs. He indicated that there are approximately six or seven criminal gangs active in Arab society, spread throughout all regions.

Awawdeh based his findings on a study conducted at the University of Haifa, which indicated that the number of murders before 2000 was limited, similar to the situation in other Palestinian communities. However, the real explosion began after 2000.

He pointed out that many nationalist forces inside Israel accuse the Israeli authorities of deliberately allowing the crime to escalate after Palestinians inside Israel participated in the Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa uprising (the Second Intifada), with the aim of demolishing the fortress from within, after external pressures failed to subdue them.

He added that Palestinians inside Israel were, and still are, trying to preserve their national identity, their connection to their people, and their rejection of Israelization, and therefore the hands of crime and criminals were given a free hand.

90% of weapons come from the military

He pointed out that 90% of the weapons in the hands of individuals and gangs originate from the Israeli army and are smuggled from military bases, according to official Israeli reports.

He pointed out that 80 to 90 percent of murders in recent years have remained unsolved, with no deterrent or arrests, exacerbating the problem. He added that the number of solved crimes is very small, at a time when we are witnessing a dangerous escalation in the form of mass murders, in which several people are killed at once, as occurred in Yarka, Yafia an-Naseriyeh, and Nazareth itself more than once.

He spoke about a crime that occurred two years ago, when criminals disguised as police officers broke into a house and claimed to be from the Israeli police so they could carry out their crime.

He pointed out that such crimes rarely reach the Jewish community, as happened a few days ago in Afula, when a shootout broke out between two Arab criminals, who were arrested within an hour. This incident received widespread attention, while crimes in Arab society go unpunished.

Despair, frustration and weakness of popular action

Awawdeh spoke about a massive demonstration organized in Majd al-Krum in 2018, in which tens of thousands participated in protest against the crime. However, he noted that protests have declined in recent years due to despair, frustration, and a lack of popular action. Most people are now content to just accuse the government and the police, a justifiable accusation, without any systematic and effective protest action to expose and confront these policies, both locally and internationally.

He added that the Arab community made a grave mistake when it belittled the statements of Itamar Ben-Gvir and other far-right figures, who demonstrated clear hostility toward Arabs.

He concluded by saying: We are facing a catastrophic threat unprecedented since 1948. I see it as the most serious strategic threat facing all Arabs internally, threatening their gains, their status, and their political and collective action.

Awawdeh added: "I do not hesitate to say that there is a real phenomenon of migration among young Arabs inside the country, who are leaving the country in search of safety and emigrating to countries such as Greece, the UAE, Turkey, and others, in light of the blocked horizon and the predicament we are experiencing."

The New York Times revealed on Wednesday that Israel had been planning to strike Iranian nuclear sites as soon as next month, but US President Donald Trump backed off in recent weeks in favor of negotiating a deal with Tehran to limit its nuclear program, according to administration officials and others familiar with the discussions.

Trump made his decision after months of internal debate over whether to pursue diplomacy or support Israel in its quest to curb Iran's ability to build a nuclear bomb, at a time when Iran was weakened militarily and economically.

The debate highlighted fault lines between US government officials, who have historically been hawkish, and other aides who are more skeptical that a military attack on Iran could destroy its nuclear ambitions and avert a larger war. This has resulted in a general consensus, for now, against military action, with Iran signaling its willingness to negotiate.

Israeli officials had recently drawn up plans to attack Iranian nuclear sites in May. They were prepared to carry them out and were at times optimistic that the United States would agree. The goal of the proposals, according to officials familiar with them, was to delay Tehran's ability to develop a nuclear weapon for a year or more.

According to the newspaper, almost all of the plans required US assistance not only to defend Israel from an Iranian response, but also to ensure the success of any Israeli attack, making the United States an essential part of the attack itself.

For now, Trump has chosen diplomacy over military action. In his first term, he tore up the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration. But in his second term, eager to avoid being dragged into another war in the Middle East, he opened negotiations with Tehran, giving it only a few months to negotiate an agreement on its nuclear program.

Earlier this month (April 7), Trump informed Israel of his decision that the United States would not support any attack. He discussed the matter with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu when Netanyahu visited Washington last week, where he used an Oval Office meeting to announce the start of US talks with Iran. In a statement delivered in Hebrew after the meeting, Netanyahu said that any agreement with Iran would only succeed if its signatories were allowed to "enter the facilities, blow them up, and dismantle all the equipment, under American supervision and American implementation."

The newspaper cited conversations with several officials familiar with Israel's secret military plans and confidential discussions within the Trump administration. "Most of the people interviewed spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military planning."

Israel has long planned to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, practicing bombing operations and calculating the extent of the damage it could inflict with or without American assistance.

But support within the Israeli government for a strike grew after Iran suffered a series of setbacks last year.

According to American and Israeli reports, in the attacks on Israel on April 13, most of Iran's ballistic missiles failed to penetrate American and Israeli defenses. Hezbollah, Iran's main ally, was destroyed in an Israeli military campaign last year. The subsequent fall of President Bashar al-Assad's government in Syria eliminated an ally of Hezbollah and Tehran and cut off a major arms smuggling route from Iran.

Air defense systems in Iran and Syria were also destroyed, along with facilities used by Iran to produce missile fuel, crippling the country's ability to produce new missiles for a time. Initially, at Netanyahu's request, senior Israeli officials briefed their American counterparts on a plan that would have combined an Israeli commando raid on underground nuclear sites with a bombing campaign, an effort the Israelis hoped would be participated in, or entirely led by, American aircraft.

The newspaper says: "At a meeting this month—one of several discussions about the Israeli plan—Tulsi Gabbard, the director of national intelligence, presented a new intelligence assessment that the U.S. arms buildup could ignite a broader conflict with Iran that the United States does not want."

Several officials expressed Gabbard's concerns in various meetings. White House Chief of Staff Suzi Wiles, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, and Vice President J.D. Vance also expressed doubts about the attack.

Even National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, often considered one of the most hawkish voices on Iran, was skeptical that Israel's plan could succeed without significant American assistance.

The recent meetings came shortly after the Iranians announced their openness to indirect talks—that is, through an intermediary. In March, Trump sent a letter offering direct talks with Iran, an initiative that Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader, appeared to reject. But on March 28, a senior Iranian official sent a letter indicating his openness to indirect talks.

There is still considerable debate within President Trump's team about the type of agreement acceptable to Iran. The Trump administration has sent mixed signals about the type of agreement it seeks and the consequences for Iran if it does not agree.

In one discussion, Vice President Vance, supported by others, argued that Trump had a unique opportunity to strike a deal. Vance said (according to the newspaper) that if the talks failed, Trump might support an Israeli attack, according to administration officials.

During a visit to Israel earlier this month, General Kurilla, commander of US Central Command in the Middle East, told officials there that the White House wanted to suspend the plan to attack the nuclear facility.

Netanyahu called President Trump on April 3. According to Israeli officials, Trump told Netanyahu he did not want to discuss Iran's plans over the phone. But he invited Netanyahu to the White House. Netanyahu arrived in Washington on April 7. While the trip was presented as an opportunity for him to oppose Trump's tariffs, the most important discussion for the Israelis was their planned attack on Iran.

But while Netanyahu was still in the White House, Trump publicly announced talks with Iran.

In private discussions, Trump made clear to Mr. Netanyahu that he would not provide American support for an Israeli attack in May while negotiations were underway, according to officials familiar with the discussions.

The next day, Trump indicated that an Israeli military strike against Iran remained an option. Trump said, "If military intervention is required, we will resort to military intervention. And obviously, Israel will be the leader in that."

Following Netanyahu's visit to the White House, Trump assigned CIA Director John Ratcliffe to travel to Israel. Ratcliffe met last Wednesday (April 9) with Netanyahu and David Barnea, head of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency, to discuss various options for dealing with Iran. In addition to talks and strikes, other options were discussed, including covert Israeli operations with US support and the implementation of tougher sanctions, according to a person familiar with Ratcliffe's visit. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes stated that the administration's "entire national security leadership team" is committed to Trump's Iran policy and his efforts "to ensure peace and stability in the Middle East."

"President Trump has been clear: Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon, and all options remain on the table," Hughes told reporters at the White House. "The president has authorized direct and indirect discussions with Iran to make that point. But he has also made clear that this cannot continue indefinitely."

By pressuring Trump to join the attack, Netanyahu was reviving a debate he has had with American presidents for nearly two decades.

After being thwarted by the Americans, Netanyahu instead focused on covert sabotage operations against specific facilities and the assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists. While these efforts may have slowed the program, Iran is now closer than ever to being able to produce six or more nuclear weapons within months or a year, according to American and Israeli claims. American officials have long stated that Israel, on its own, cannot significantly damage Iran's nuclear sites with an air campaign alone. Israel has long sought the largest American conventional bomb—a 30,000-pound bunker-buster, which could inflict significant damage on Iran's main nuclear sites deep beneath the mountains.

Israel studied various options for a possible May strike, and discussed many of them with American officials, according to the newspaper.

Netanyahu initially pushed for an option combining airstrikes and commando raids. The plan would have been a much more ambitious version of an operation Israel carried out last September, when Israeli forces flew by helicopter into Syria to destroy an underground bunker used to manufacture missiles for Hezbollah.

In that operation, Israel used airstrikes to destroy guard posts and air defense positions. Commandos then rappelled to the ground. Teams of fighters, armed with explosives and small arms, infiltrated the underground facility and planted explosives to destroy key weapons-making equipment.

But American officials were concerned that only key Iranian facilities could be targeted by the commandos. Iran's highly enriched uranium, close to bomb-grade, is stored in multiple locations around the country. To ensure the operation's success, Israeli officials wanted American aircraft to carry out airstrikes to protect the commando teams on the ground.

But even if American assistance were forthcoming, Israeli military leaders said planning for such an operation would take months. This posed some problems. With General Kurilla's tenure expected to end in the next few months, Israeli and American officials wanted to develop a plan that could be implemented while he remained in command.

After shelving the commando idea, Israeli and American officials began discussing a plan for a large-scale bombing campaign that would have begun in early May and lasted for more than a week. An Israeli airstrike last year had already destroyed Iran's Russian-made S-300 air defense systems. The bombing campaign was supposed to begin by hitting the remaining air defense systems, giving Israeli fighters a clearer path to strike the nuclear sites. Any Israeli attack on the nuclear sites would prompt Iran to launch a new missile attack on Israel, which would require American assistance to repel.

Senior Iranian officials, from the president to the commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the foreign minister, have stated that Iran will defend itself if attacked by Israel or the United States.

Brigadier General Mohammad Bagheri, commander of the Iranian armed forces, said in a speech on April 6 that Iran does not want war and wants to resolve the crisis with the United States through diplomacy. However, he warned, "Our response to any attack on the sovereignty of the Islamic Republic will be decisive and clear."

The Ministry of Health said that 180 hemophilia patients in the Gaza Strip, out of a total of 550 patients in Palestine, are suffering from a severe shortage of essential medicines.

In a statement issued Thursday on the occasion of World Hemophilia Day, the ministry explained that the lack of medication for these patients increases the risk of serious complications such as internal bleeding in the joints and muscles, which could lead to permanent physical disabilities. The ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip has exacerbated the need to provide the necessary medications and treatments to ensure a dignified life for them and enable them to lead their daily lives safely.

She pointed out that more than a year and a half after the aggression, its repercussions continue to affect thousands of sick people among our people, including hemophilia patients who face unprecedented challenges in obtaining the necessary healthcare.

Hemophilia is a bleeding disorder that prevents blood from clotting properly. People with hemophilia bleed longer than normal people because their blood doesn't contain enough clotting factors. Clotting factors are proteins in the blood that help control bleeding. It's a rare genetic disorder that affects 1 in 10,000 people worldwide.

The Ministry noted that through projects funded by donors and the World Federation of Hemophilia, patients are provided with the necessary medications, access to comprehensive treatment and care is improved, and services are being enhanced with a focus on home and preventative treatment to control and prevent recurrent bleeding episodes, thus preventing joint disabilities.

She added that the Palestine Future Foundation, a partner of the Ministry of Health in this field, provides health, social, and educational services to hemophilia patients and has been able to provide support to patients in Gaza through its funding partners. The foundation has also succeeded in securing large quantities of medicines through donations from the World Federation of Hemophilia in Canada, of which Palestine is an official member, in addition to valuable contributions from the Italian Society of Hematology, a long-standing partner in supporting healthcare projects.

It's worth noting that the Ministry of Health is working this year to establish five specialized centers for the treatment of hemophilia patients, with the aim of institutionalizing treatment for them. These centers will be distributed throughout the northern and southern governorates of the country, operating within the concept of comprehensive healthcare and localizing medical services.

Pens are in pain and suffer the agonies of pain. Like newspapers, they are souls affected by what is happening around them, whether happy or sad. They stop and pause, cry and make others cry, scream, raise their voices and raise them to the heavens whenever the pain intensifies, or anger overwhelms them, and they lose the ability to change the reality in which calamities and tribulations are crowded like pieces of a dark night.

I held my pen down for several days, under the pressure of symptoms of a "pen stroke" that struck me from the excessive amount of repressed shock I suffered from the scenes of bleeding blood and the scattered remains of the children of Gaza, who had become a target bank for criminal killers, their tender bodies being thrown into the blazing fire.

I am shocked and pained by the bleakness of the scene and the terrible outcome. Wherever you turn, you see nothing but blood, dismembered bodies, and piles of rubble, while children die of hunger in the queues at the "hungry" hospices, and thirst around the "thirsty" water wells.

Despite all that is unfolding before our anxious eyes, from the horizon blocked by columns of smoke and gunpowder and mounds of rubble, our hearts remain full of faith, certainty and beautiful patience.

China and Malaysia expressed their rejection of forced displacement and called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the two-state solution.

China and Malaysia affirmed in a joint statement issued Thursday at the conclusion of Chinese President Xi Jinping's official visit to Malaysia, published by Xinhua News Agency, that Gaza belongs to the Palestinian people and is an integral part of the Palestinian territories.

Both sides stressed the need to adhere to the principle of "Palestinians govern Palestine" in the post-war administration of Gaza, and expressed their rejection of the forced displacement of Gaza's residents.

The two sides also called for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state based on the two-state solution and the need for Palestine to obtain full membership in the United Nations.

The Commission of Prisoners' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners' Club announced the death of prisoner Musab Hassan Adili (20 years old) from the town of Hawara, south of Nablus, in Soroka Hospital last night.

The Commission and the Prisoners' Club clarified in a joint statement on Thursday that the martyr Adili had been detained since March 22, 2024, and was sentenced to one year and one month in prison. He was scheduled to be released three days later.

The statement noted that Adili's martyrdom adds to the list of martyrs of the prisoner movement, who have been killed as a result of the organized crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupation prison system in an unprecedented manner since the beginning of the ongoing genocide.

He pointed out that with the death of the prisoner Adili, the number of martyrs among the prisoners and detainees since the genocide has risen to (64), and they are the only ones whose identities are known in light of the continuation of the crime of enforced disappearance, among them at least (40) from Gaza, so that this stage in the history of the prisoner movement and our people is the bloodiest, and thus the number of martyrs of the prisoner movement whose identities are known since 1967 has reached (301) to date, while the number of martyr prisoners whose bodies are being held has reached (73), among them (62) since the genocide.

The Commission and the Club added that the martyrdom of prisoner Adili on Palestinian Prisoners' Day constitutes a new crime in the record of the brutal Israeli regime, which has practiced all forms of crimes with the aim of killing prisoners. These crimes constitute another aspect of the ongoing genocide.

T

Ten civilians were killed and others injured tonight when the Israeli occupation forces bombed a tent housing displaced persons west of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

WAFA reported that Israeli warplanes bombed a tent housing displaced persons in the Al-Mawasi area west of Khan Yunis, killing 10 civilians and wounding others. The agency noted that the bodies of the martyrs were charred as a result of the fire that broke out in the tent.

The wounded and the bodies of the martyrs were transferred to Nasser Hospital in the city.

In the central Gaza Strip, a citizen was killed and others were injured when the occupation forces bombed a gathering of civilians west of Deir al-Balah.

On Wednesday evening, four civilians were killed and dozens injured as a result of the Israeli occupation's bombing of the cities of Deir al-Balah and Khan Yunis.

WAFA reported that Israeli warplanes targeted a group of civilians in the Al-Baraka area of Deir al-Balah, killing two of them and wounding others.

He added that Israeli drones bombed a group of civilians west of Khan Yunis camp, killing two and wounding others.

A number of civilians were also injured when Israeli drones bombed civilians in the Al-Amal neighborhood, west of Khan Yunis, while Israeli warplanes launched two raids on the vicinity of the Qudaih neighborhood, east of the town of Abasan al-Kabira, east of the city.

A number of citizens were killed and others were injured, most of them seriously, when the Israeli occupation forces targeted the Al-Tuffah neighborhood east of Gaza City.

Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation has been committing genocidal crimes in the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 167,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.

The Arab Parliament and the Russian Duma stressed the need to halt the Israeli aggression on Gaza.

A statement issued by the Arab Parliament on Wednesday said that its Speaker, Mohammed bin Ahmed Al-Yamahi, and Deputy Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Alexander Babakov, stressed during their meeting in Cairo the need to reach final political settlements to crises in the region, free from any foreign interference and in a manner that preserves the security, sovereignty, safety, and territorial integrity of Arab countries.

The Deputy Speaker of the Russian Duma affirmed his country's full support for the Arab states' positions on the need for an immediate halt to the Israeli aggression.

For his part, Al Yamahi affirmed the Arab Parliament's commitment to strengthening parliamentary relations with the Russian Federation at all levels, its support for the establishment of the Arab-Russian Parliamentary Forum as soon as possible, and its support for the Arab Parliament's accession to the BRICS Plus Parliamentary Forum.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) confirmed on Wednesday that the severe shortage of medicines and medical supplies in the Gaza Strip poses a serious threat to the lives of patients.

The agency said in a statement on its official website that the entire healthcare system in Gaza has been under attack since the beginning of the aggression, calling for the lifting of the ongoing blockade imposed by the Israeli occupation forces on Gaza and a renewal of the ceasefire.

In the same context, Doctors Without Borders said in a report published Wednesday that "the Gaza Strip has become a mass grave for Palestinians and those who help them."

The organization added, "Deliberately blocking access to essential aid is once again systematically destroying the lives of Palestinians," calling for "the immediate lifting of the blockade on Gaza, the protection of the lives of Palestinians and humanitarian and medical workers, and the restoration and maintenance of the ceasefire."