Updates: Israeli attacks kill 21 in Gaza; hospitals overwhelmed

You can read our story about Mohsen Mahdawi, a Palestinian man detained in the US as he attended a citizenship interview, here.

Learn more about Harvard University’s challenge to the Trump administration over cracking down on student activists here.

You can keep up to date with all our latest coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.

We will be closing this live page soon. Here are some of today’s developments.

• Israeli air strikes across Gaza have killed at least 21 Palestinians since dawn as a total blockade maintained for more than seven weeks is starving the enclave.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was accompanied by his defence minister and the army chief in a visit to besieged northern Gaza, where he promised that Hamas would receive “blow after blow”.
• The armed wing of Hamas said it has lost contact with the team guarding US-Israeli captive Edan Alexander after Israeli air strikes and released a video warning the Israeli government’s choices could mean that captives come back in coffins.
• The UN said at least 71 civilians, including 14 women and nine children, were killed by Israeli forces in Lebanon after the agreed-upon ceasefire with Hezbollah in November.
• Hundreds more Israeli settlers, backed by armed soldiers and far-right Knesset members, performed Talmudic rituals and celebrated Passover at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound for a third day.
• The Maldives announced it is banning all Israeli nationals from the luxury tourist archipelago, a decision Hamas welcomed as a “brave step”.

Israeli warplanes carried out three consecutive raids targeting Wadi Mazlam on the outskirts of the town of Ramya in southern Lebanon’s Nabatieh, according to the country’s National News Agency (NNA).

An Israeli drone was also reported to fly at low altitudes over Tyre and its surroundings, also located in southern Lebanon.

As we reported earlier, the Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah commander when it targeted an area near Aitaroun in the south.

The UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) reports that armed individuals on small boats opened fire on a vessel some 100 nautical miles (185km) off the coast of the Yemeni city of Aden, but there were no casualties.

Yemen’s Houthis, who have vowed to keep launching attacks to thwart Israel and the US in Gaza and across the region, have not yet commented on the incident.

20250415_UKMTO_WARNING_INCIDENT 009-25https://t.co/yo0ifPJbtT#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/gXW7xPMVrm

— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) April 15, 2025

A Palestinian man and his child were injured by shrapnel from Israeli bullets fired during a raid on Qabatiya town, south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, sources told Al Jazeera.

Israeli special forces infiltrated the town and opened fire on the man’s car as he drove with his children, the Wafa news agency reports, adding that Israeli reinforcements were called in as well. The man and his child were transferred to the hospital for treatment.

During raids in the Tulkarem area that we reported on earlier, Israeli soldiers set up checkpoints and carried out field interrogations after hitting several towns, but no further arrests have been reported so far.

Israeli bulldozers accompanied soldiers in a raid on the eastern part of the city of Nablus.

من اقتحام مدرعات الاحتلال لبلدة كفر اللبد شرق طولكرم قبل قليل pic.twitter.com/IYbOX82xCf

— المركز الفلسطيني للإعلام (@PalinfoAr) April 15, 2025

Translation: From the storming of the occupation armoured vehicles into the town of Kafr al-Labad, east of Tulkarem, a short while ago.

At least 21 people have been killed in Israeli air strikes across the Gaza Strip since dawn today, medical sources told Al Jazeera.

As we reported earlier, at least two people were killed after an Israeli air strike on the al-Mawasi area northwest of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Steven Cook, a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, argues that Trump and his predecessor, former President Barack Obama, want the same things in the Middle East: “disentangling the US from its foreign adventures.”

Al Jazeera’s The Bottom Line spoke to Cook, who said Trump wants a deal with Iran and might be pressuring Israel to end its war on Gaza before his proposed trip to the Gulf region next month.

Watch the discussion below:

The US Mission to the United Nations has “strongly denounced” the tenure of Francesca Albanese, the UN’s special rapporteur on human rights in Palestine.

In a statement, the mission said the Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) support for Albanese was another “example of why President [Donald] Trump ordered the United States to cease all participation in the HRC”.

“Ms. Albanese’s actions also make clear the United Nations tolerates antisemitic hatred, bias against Israel, and the legitimization of terrorism,” the statement added.

Shortly after Trump took office in January, he cut funding to three UN bodies: the UNHRC, UNESCO and the agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA.

An executive order the president signed outlined that the agencies had acted “contrary to the interests of the United States while attacking our allies and propagating antisemitism”.

You can follow our live coverage of Trump’s presidency here.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority reports that dozens of flights with military transport planes loaded with ammunition have landed in recent days at the Nevatim Airbase in Israel.

Today, six planes loaded with MK-84 bombs, cluster munitions, and other combat supplies for Gaza landed in Israel.

The ammunition that arrived in Israel comes as part of the preparations for more attacks on Gaza, as well as for potential attacks on Iran if negotiations fail, Israeli media reported.

This comes shortly after the US Department of State approved the sale of engines used on military vehicles to Israel in a deal worth $180m.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has accelerated weapons transfers to Israel despite the mounting toll in Gaza, including a limited number of offensive arms exports halted by Trump’s predecessor, Joe Biden.

At least two people have been killed and several others wounded after an Israeli air strike on the al-Mawasi area northwest of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Wafa reported that those killed were Fathi Abdel Qader Abu Shaar, 56, and Yahya Fathi Abu Shaar, 33, after Israeli forces targeted a tent sheltering displaced residents in the area.

Since the war began in October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed at least 51,000 people, with more than 116,343 others injured, the Health Ministry reported.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres says “70 percent of Gaza” is under Israeli forced evacuation orders or is within a military-determined “no-go zone”.

“I’m very concerned as aid continues to be blocked, with devastating consequences. Civilians must be respected & protected at all times, and they must have the basic necessities to survive,” Guterres wrote on X.

He added that the Israeli captives held in Gaza must be released “immediately & unconditionally” and a ceasefire must be restored “without delay”.

Since the beginning of March, aid deliveries have been blocked from entering Gaza in what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said was a move to put pressure on Hamas to agree to an Israeli extension of phase one of the ceasefire deal.

The Israeli army says munitions that were dropped from a fighter jet during a raid on Gaza have fallen into an open area in the Nir Yitzhak area due to a technical malfunction.

The army said there were no injuries due to the malfunction and the incident is being investigated.

At least 15 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza since dawn.

As we reported earlier, at least one medic was killed, and nine people were injured in an Israeli attack on the Kuwaiti Field Hospital in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

Hamas has expressed its appreciation after the Maldives banned the entry of all Israelis into its archipelago, known for its luxury tourist destinations.

The Palestinian group described the ban as a “brave step in the right direction”.

“We urge all countries of the world to follow the example of the Maldives and other countries that have sided with the values of justice,” Hamas said, calling on world leaders to “isolate the Zionist entity and make it pay for its crimes”.

As we reported earlier, the office of Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu said the ban was in response to “continuing atrocities and ongoing acts of genocide committed by Israel against the Palestinian people”.