Israeli air strikes kill dozens of Palestinians in overnight assault
Israel attacks Lebanon, kills high-ranking Al-Fajr commander
Protest erupts at Columbia University over student freedom
Israel blocks all humanitarian aid into Gaza: UN
For our live updates from Monday, April 21, click here
An Israeli blockade on the entry of polio vaccines into Gaza leaves the lives of over 600,000 Palestinian children at risk, the Health Ministry has said.
“The blocking of the entry of vaccines is hampering efforts to implement the fourth phase of a campaign to enhance polio prevention,” the ministry said in a statement.
"More than 602,000 children face the risk of permanent paralysis and chronic disabilities unless vaccines are allowed immediately," it appealed.
The ministry said that Gaza’s children confront “unprecedented and severe health complications due to the complete absence of proper nutrition and safe drinking water."
An Israeli blockade on the entry of essentials has worsened humanitarian conditions in Gaza and is slowly killing more than two million people in the enclave, local authorities have warned.
“Around 2.4 million Palestinians are suffering from severe and catastrophic food insecurity,” Ismail Thawabteh, director of Gaza’s government media office, told Anadolu.
He said over 90 percent of Gaza’s population depends entirely on food assistance.
“Food aid is no longer arriving due to Israel’s closure of Gaza’s crossings and the prevention of the entry of aid,” he added.
At least 26 more Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes in Gaza over the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll from Israel’s genocidal war since October 2023 to 51,266, the Health Ministry has said.
A ministry statement said that 60 more injured people were also transferred to hospitals, taking the number of injuries to 116,991 since the start of the Israeli onslaught.
The Israeli army shelled a municipal building and heavy machinery used to remove rubble in northern Gaza, in the latest attack on Palestinian humanitarian infrastructure in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
“Israeli warplanes bombed the Nazlat Jabalia Municipality headquarters and the equipment inside, burning everything at the site,” a municipal employee told Anadolu on condition of anonymity.
“Israel prevented ambulance and civil defence crews from reaching the site to extinguish a fire caused by the attack, forcing them to attempt to control the raging flames using primitive and manual equipment.”
The United Nations has warned that Gaza was facing deepening hunger 50 days into a total Israeli blockade on all aid entering the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
"Gaza has become a land of desperation," Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA, said on X.
"Hunger is spreading and deepening, deliberate and manmade."
Lebanon's Health Ministry has said a new Israeli strike killed one person, hours after a deadly raid elsewhere in the country, despite a ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah.
"The strike launched by the Israeli enemy" in south Lebanon's Tyre district "killed one person", the ministry statement said.
The Israeli military claimed that it had killed Hussein Atawi, a "key figure in the Jama'a Islamiya with ties to Hamas."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has appeared once again before the Tel Aviv District Court to defend himself against corruption charges.
It marked the 24th time for Netanyahu to appear before the court since Dec. 10, 2024, according to the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
The court convenes twice a week to hear the Israeli premier’s responses to the charges brought against him.
According to a court statement, Netanyahu's hearing sessions on his corruption trial will end by May 7.
Palestinian patients in Gaza face death amid Israel’s ongoing blockade due severe shortages of essential medicines and medical supplies, the chief of a hospital in the Israel-besieged enclave has said.
Alaa Hilles, director of the Hospital Pharmacy Department in Gaza's Health Ministry, told Anadolu Agency that over 37 percent of vital medicines and 59 percent of medical disposables are unavailable.
"This shortage directly affects all medical services, including those for treating cancers and blood diseases," Hilles said, noting that 54 percent of the medicines needed to treat these illnesses are unavailable.
Hilles also noted that dialysis services are critically affected, with 24 percent of the required drugs missing.
Gaza has notified international bodies, including the Red Cross and the World Health Organization, about the crisis.
An Israeli drone strike killed Hussein Atoui, a military leader of Jamaa Islamiya’s Al-Fajr Forces, near Damour, 20 km south of Beirut, a Lebanese security official told AFP.
Atoui’s group has claimed attacks on Israel amid over a year of cross-border violence.
The Lebanese army recently arrested several suspects, linked to March rocket attacks.
Gaza's civil defence agency has said that a spate of Israeli air strikes since dawn killed at least 25 people across the besieged enclave.
Israel resumed an intense air and ground offensive on Gaza on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire that had largely halted the fighting in the besieged Palestinian territory.
"The total number of Palestinians killed in Israeli air strikes since dawn today has risen to 25," Mohammad Mughayyir, a senior official with the civil defence agency told AFP.