Middle East Latest: Israel Frees a Gaza Medic Detained since Troops Killed 15 Rescue Workers

Yomiuri Shimbun

30-04-2025

The Associated Press
Asaad Al-Nsasrah, a paramedic with the Red Crescent whose colleagues were killed by Israeli army in southern Gaza, arrives at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, after being released from an Israeli prison.
Israel released a Palestinian medic who has been held prisoner since soldiers killed 15 of his colleagues last month and buried them in a mass grave in southern Gaza. He's one of 10 detainees released back to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Prisoners released by Israel have said they were ordered by Israel not to speak to the media and fear for their safety.
South Africa, a staunch critic of Israel, presents its arguments to the United Nation's International Court of Justice on Tuesday for a second day of hearings about Israel's legal responsibilities to ensure humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where the aid system is nearing collapse. Israel's total blockade of Gaza — now in its second month — has cut off all food, fuel, medicine or any other supplies.
Israel is marking its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of militant attacks. Fifty-nine hostages are still inside Gaza, of which around two dozen hostages are still believed to be alive. Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry.
Here's the latest:
Israel says it intercepted a drone fired 'from the east'
The Israeli military didn't specify where the drone might have come from, saying only that it was intercepted before entering the country's airspace and that no air raid sirens were activated.
Since Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza last month, a handful of rockets have been fired from the Palestinian territory as well as long-range missiles from Yemen.
Palestinian detainees from Gaza react to being freed by Israel
Among the Palestinians released Tuesday is Mohammad al-Sharif who was taken from Rafah. He said it felt like he had been given a 'new date of birth' because he can finally see his family again.
'While I was in captivity, I thought that I would not find any of my family members and relatives' if he returned to Gaza, he said.
The 10 Palestinians released by Israel arrived at Aqsa Hospital in a Red Cross vehicle on Tuesday, where they were examined by doctors. Some of them said they had been held for around five or six months.
Hundreds of people gather for a joint Israel-Palestinian memorial ceremony
The ceremony, held annually since 2006 and occasionally drawing right-wing protesters, was down from 15,000 attendees two years ago, according to Ayelet Harel, the Israeli director of the Parents Circle Families Forum, a group of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families, one of two sponsoring organizations.
Liat Atzili, who was held in captivity by Hamas for 54 days, addressed the ceremony and spoke about her husband, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023 on Kibbutz Nir Oz. She described how he loved tractors and the wildflowers that bloomed in the western Negev. She also spoke of things that gave her hope during her time in captivity.
'In this situation, where I have no control over anything, I still have the opportunity to decide the type of person I want to be,' she said. Atzili said she wanted to focus on the shared humanity, even with those holding her hostage.
Israel police said three protesters were arrested after a brawl outside a screening of the ceremony in Raanana, a town north of Tel Aviv. According to Israeli media, dozens of right-wing protesters gathered outside of a synagogue where a live screening of the ceremony was held and yelled at attendees. Four police officers were lightly injured.
An activist originally from central Gaza, whose testimony was read by a Palestinian activist to protect her identity, spoke about losing many members of her family during multiple wars in Gaza. She wrote that their stories are 'not just about heartbreak, but about steadfastness, and also about hope that rises from the rubble.'
Only two Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank were able to secure permits to attend the ceremony in Israel, Harel said, though around 200 attended a joint screening in Beit Jala, a Palestinian town near Jerusalem, and at several spots around Israel.
Israel's ceremonial president calls for unity on Memorial Day
President Isaac Herzog called on Israel to rise above political wrangling, especially during the national Memorial Day, at a candle-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem.
'At this pure national moment, I call: remove the IDF from political disputes,' he said, referring to Israel's military. 'Place the Shin Bet, the Mossad, the police, and all security services above all disputes.'
Hours earlier, the Israeli cabinet voted to cancel a government decision to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, part of a political dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Shin Bet.
Thousands of people attended a ceremony for fallen soldiers and victims of attacks at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, one of the holiest sites where Jews can pray.
UN rights chief urges international action over Gaza's humanitarian crisis
Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said the world must act together to prevent the collapse of humanitarian aid operations in Gaza, which he said are plunging toward 'a new unseen level.'
Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies since March 2.
'Any use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime, and so do all forms of collective punishment,' Türk said in a statement Tuesday. Israel says the blockade is a pressure tactic on Hamas to release the hostages.
Palestinian organizers cancel the annual march in northern Israel commemorating the Nakba
The organizers said they canceled this year's march because of heavy restrictions imposed by Israeli police on the event.
The Nakba, Arabic for 'catastrophe,' refers to the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what today is Israel before and during the war surrounding its creation in 1948. Israelis will celebrate independence day beginning Wednesday evening, as Palestinians mark the Nakba on Thursday.
Mohammed Barakeh, a former lawmaker and head of the High Follow Up Committee for Arab Citizens, said that police imposed a ban on waving the Palestinian flag and said no more than 700 protesters could take part in the march, which has previously drawn thousands.
Instead, he said that organizers would plan gatherings in Palestinian villages that were depopulated during the Nakba.
Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of attacks
Israel's Memorial Day, which lasts from sunset to sunset, began Tuesday evening with an official ceremony in Jerusalem.
'We all have one home. We all have one country. We all have one fate. We all have one future,' Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. 'Everyone understands who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting about,' he said.
Protesters yelled from a distance but did not interrupt the ceremony. Later in the ceremony, a bereaved father shouted at Knesset speaker Amir Ohana as he was about to read a prayer written by his son, a soldier who was killed in Gaza. Ohana later went to comfort the father.
The ceremony is the first of many official ceremonies and smaller events at military cemeteries and memorials across the country. The solemnity is then abruptly interrupted by the fanfare of Independence Day, which begins Wednesday evening.
After Israel's embattled security chief says he'll quit, the government backtracks on firing him
The cancellation means that Israel's Supreme Court is unlikely to rule on whether his removal — which came amid a rising confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — was politically motivated.
The Cabinet voted by telephone on Tuesday afternoon to cancel a government decision to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service. He announced on Monday he would resign on June 15.
Netanyahu moved to fire Bar last month over what he said was a crisis of confidence surrounding Hamas' attack. But the step sparked an uproar in Israel because the agency is investigating ties between the Israeli leader's office and Qatar — a key mediator between Hamas and Israel over the war in Gaza.
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners who brought the case against Netanyahu to protest Bar's firing, called the cancellation a 'cynical and transparent exercise designed to prevent a ruling.' They said they will appeal to the Supreme Court to demand the hearing continue.
Gaza markets are nearly bare, and Palestinian families are left struggling to feed their children
Among the tents for the displaced near Khan Younis, children sent by their parents mobbed the Rafah Charity Kitchen, holding out empty pots. Workers ladled out portions of boiled lentils in each.
Hani Abu Qasim, at the Rafah Charity Kitchen, said his staff used to serve meat and chicken but now can only give lentils, plain pasta or rice. They reduced portions to stretch out their stocks.
Thousands of people come to the kitchen every day.
After hours of waiting at the kitchen, Yahya Abu Shaar and his children returned to the family tent with two small pots of lentil soup. His wife Abeer Abu Shaar added some bread into it to thicken it, then set it on the ground in their tent for their nine children to eat.
She worries that the children have no variety in their diet, with no proteins, dairy or fruit available to them.
'They are getting problems. It's having an effect on their speech and their minds,' she said. 'It's not healthy.'
Doctors in Gaza warn that poor nutrition will cause long-term damage to children's health
Malnutrition among kids in the Gaza Strip is already surging. The U.N. said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before.
Dr. Ayman Abu Teir, head of the Therapeutic Feeding Department at Khan Younis' Nasser Hospital, said the number of malnutrition cases coming in has increased substantially.
Dr Ziyad Majaida, a pediatrician in Khan Younis said children need '1 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram per day,' for growth from foods such as meat, eggs, fish and dairy. 'Of course, these things are unfortunately unavailable due to the closure of the crossings for more than two months,' he said.
Israel imposed the blockade on March 2, then shattered a two-month ceasefire by resuming military operations on March 18. It said both steps aim to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages. Rights groups call the blockade a 'starvation tactic' endangering the entire population and a potential war crime.
Palestinians grieve over bodies of lost loved ones following overnight Israeli strikes on Gaza Strip
At least six Palestinians including three children and one woman were killed in two Israeli overnight strikes in Gaza Strip, medics said. The strikes hit a house in Khan Younis and a tent in Mawasi area.
Mourners gathered around the bodies of their loved ones at the Nasser Hospital ahead of funeral prayers.
'What can I say? And who will listen?' one grieving woman, Sabah Fojo, tearfully told The Associated Press. 'They don't feel anything for us — no one feels anything. Let's just keep our feelings to ourselves.'
Israel releases a Gaza medic detained since troops killed 15 rescue workers
The Palestinian Red Crescent aid group said one of its medics, Asaad al-Nsasrah, was released by Israel on Tuesday alongside nine other detainees from Gaza.
Prisoners released by Israel have said they were ordered by Israel not to speak to the media and fear for their safety.
The medic had been detained since Israeli forces killed several of his colleagues on March 23 — eight medics with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, six members of the Hamas government's Civil Defense rescue group, and a United Nations staffer. Israeli troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later.
Gaza's Health Ministry says 51 dead and 113 wounded arrived at hospitals over the last 24 hours
The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 2,273 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed the war last month. In total, Israel has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count.
Since Israel ended the ceasefire last month, its forces have seized more than half of the coastal territory. The Israeli military has been striking homes, shelters and public areas daily, saying it is targeting Hamas militants.
The war in Gaza started when the Palestinian militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.
Israeli police fire tear gas at a Palestinian schoolyard full of children in east Jerusalem
Israeli police in riot gear fired tear gas into a schoolyard in east Jerusalem on Tuesday, sending Palestinian children who were playing soccer fleeing into the building as they coughed and covered their eyes.
Three AP reporters visiting the school in the Shuafat refugee camp witnessed the episode. It was the latest Israeli incursion to impact the school, which is run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, for boys in grades 1-9.
The tear gas spewed through the school's open windows and filtered into the hallways as students ran for cover. Pupils donned facemasks while worried teachers ferried them into classrooms.
An Israeli police spokesperson said police forces in Shuafat camp had rocks and bottles thrown at them and 'they had to reply.' But the spokesperson denied police deliberately targeted the school.
Forces had entered the Shuafat camp, a hardscrabble district in east Jerusalem surrounded by a concrete wall, earlier that morning, said UNRWA officials. Such incursions are common but gas entering the school is rare, said teacher Duaa Zorba.
Families of deceased Israeli hostages plead for the return of bodies held by Hamas in Gaza
Israeli authorities say Hamas is holding 24 living hostages in Gaza and the remains of roughly 35 more. The families of the dead say their plight is urgent because they fear their loved ones won't return home for proper burial, which they see as a measure of closure to their ordeal.
'Every moment that passes decreases the chance that we can bring back the missing,' said Meital Weiss, whose father, Ilan Weiss, was killed during Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack and his body taken into Gaza.
The plea was made hours before Israel begins marking its national Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of militant attacks.
Since the war in Gaza resumed last month, there has been little recent progress to bring about a new ceasefire that would free more hostages. Deceased hostages are expected to be the last to be returned.