Israel’s polio vaccine ban targets children – Gaza war Day 548

Compilation of news reports – IAK staff

At least 36 Palestinians were killed and several others wounded in a series of Israeli airstrikes on Sunday across the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, medics said.

In one of the strikes in eastern Gaza City, 11 people were killed, including nine children. In footage published on social media, several children are seen being evacuated in a cart to a nearby hospital.

Israeli forces have killed 490 Palestinian children in the Gaza Strip over the past 20 days, according to a statement released Sunday by the Gaza media office. The total number of martyrs during this period is 1,350.

Another deadly Israeli attack has struck southern Lebanon, with at least two people killed, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry.

Gaza’s Health Ministry warns of ‘health disaster’ amid Israeli ban on polio vaccines

Gaza’s Health Ministry warned Sunday of a “health disaster” over Israel’s ban on the entry of polio vaccines into the Palestinian enclave.

“The Israeli ban on the entry of polio vaccines into Gaza is a ‘time bomb’ that threatens to spread the epidemic,” the ministry said in a statement.

“(This policy) is an insistence on indirectly targeting children in the Gaza Strip,” it added.

The ministry warned that refusal to allow polio vaccines into Gaza risks undermining efforts over the past months to combat the disease in the territory.

“Over 602,000 children in Gaza are at risk of permanent paralysis and chronic disabilities if the ban on vaccines continues,” it said.

UNICEF: 21 malnutrition treatment centers close in Gaza due to Israeli aggression

UNICEF spokesperson Kazem Abu Khalaf announced the closure of approximately 21 malnutrition treatment centres in Gaza due to the resumption of Israeli military aggression and the issuance of evacuation orders in operational areas.

In a press statement, Abu Khalaf explained that UNICEF is awaiting a report from the special body tasked with assessing food security in Gaza to present the findings.

He further emphasised that Israel continues to impose a blockade on Gaza, preventing the entry of humanitarian aid, medical supplies, nutritional supplements, and other essential materials for the 35th consecutive day.

UNICEF reported on Saturday that more than one million children in the Gaza Strip have been deprived of life-saving assistance for more than a month, warning that “the continued denial of aid entry into Gaza constitutes a violation of international humanitarian law and has dire consequences for children.”

90% of Rafah’s residential neighborhoods destroyed by Israel, Gaza authorities say

The Israeli army has destroyed 90% of residential neighborhoods in the southern Gaza city of Rafah since October 2023, local authorities said on Sunday.

Gaza’s government media office said that the Israeli army had razed a 12,000-square-meter area in Rafah, turning the city into what it called “one of the most horrific examples of genocide and ethnic cleansing in modern times.”

The office said 85% of the city’s sewage network has been destroyed, creating conditions ripe for disease outbreaks.

All 12 medical centers in Rafah are now out of service, including Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital, which Israeli forces detonated using an explosive robot in the course of its deadly offensive on Gaza, it added.

Israeli strikes have also destroyed eight schools and educational institutions and severely damaged the other remaining facilities in Rafah, the media office said.

More than 100 mosques have also been either destroyed or badly damaged in Rafah, it added.

Rafah spans roughly 60 square kilometers and is home to around 300,000 people. It accounts for around 16% of Gaza’s total area.

The media office said 22 of Rafah’s 24 water wells have been destroyed, leaving tens of thousands without clean drinking water.

The destruction included 320 kilometers (199 miles) of roads in Rafah, it said, warning that the city has become “contaminated and unlivable.”

A source close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has claimed that Israeli forces have seized 40 percent of Gaza’s territory and are making significant progress.

Red Crescent releases video showing Israeli murder of first responders

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has published mobile phone footage taken by a slain Palestinian paramedic refuting Israel’s account of why its soldiers opened fire on a convoy of ambulances and a fire truck on 23 March, killing 15 rescue workers.

The video shows the vehicles moving in the dark with their headlights and emergency flashing lights switched on. Israeli forces then opened fire on the vehicles for several minutes.

The Israeli military initially denied the vehicles had their headlights or emergency signals on when its forces opened fire on them.

(Continue reading here, or see yesterday’s IAK daily update for more detail.)

Palestinian-American Child Shot Dead, Two Others Shot and Wounded by Israeli Forces in Occupied West Bank

Omar Mohammad Rabea, a 14-year-old Palestinian with U.S. citizenship, was shot and killed on Sunday by Israeli forces near the West Bank town of Turmus Ayya, northeast of Ramallah.

Two other Palestinian-American boys, aged 14 and 15, were also shot and wounded—one in the abdomen, the other in the thigh. Both were taken to a nearby clinic in the village of Abu Falah, PRCS told reporters.

The Israeli military acknowledged that its forces opened fire on three children who were standing near a road adjacent to the town. A video released by the military shows the teenagers appearing to throw an object.

In a statement, the military claimed it had “identified three terrorists* who were throwing rocks at a highway with civilian vehicles,” and that Israeli “fighters fired at the terrorists, killing one and wounding the other two.”

The military reportedly seized Omar’s body from the hospital and is still withholding it. WAFA also reports that Israeli forces delayed ambulance crews from reaching the scene.

The killing comes amid a sharp rise in settler and military violence across the West Bank. While the Biden administration had previously sanctioned a handful of violent settlers, those sanctions were rescinded by the Trump administration, which also recently approved the sale of over 20,000 U.S.-made assault rifles to Israel—a $24 million deal previously delayed over concerns the weapons could be used by extremist settlers.

During her visit to the hospital where the two injured children were being treated, Ramallah and Al-Bireh Governor Laila Ghannam condemned the targeting of three children, all of whom hold American citizenship, by Israeli occupation forces.

Ghannam described the incident as part of a “continuous pattern of state-organized terrorism,” exposing what she referred to as the “true face” of Israeli occupation policies aimed at killing Palestinian children and eradicating the Palestinian population. She asserted that these actions constitute fully-fledged war crimes.

The governor highlighted that this attack occurred during the Palestinian commemoration of Children’s Day, a day marking the hardships faced by Palestinian children who endure violence, imprisonment, and deprivation—whether in devastated Gaza or in cities and towns across the occupied West Bank.

Ghannam further emphasized that the ongoing assaults against the Palestinian people and their children underscore the systematic disregard by the Israeli government for basic human rights, as well as international laws and conventions designed to protect children.

More than 200 children have been killed in the West Bank since October 2023. And in Gaza, Israel has killed more than 500 children in 20 days since resuming its genocidal assault on March 18, 2025.

*NOTE: The use of the word “terrorist” for individuals or a group that resists occupation and oppression is a political, not fact-based choice. In reality, international law supports resistance against an occupying power, the UN extending that right to the point of armed resistance. 

Israel has reportedly detained 1,200 Palestinian children from the occupied West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023.

More than 500 illegal Israeli settlers forced their way into the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied Jerusalem on Sunday, Palestinian authorities said.

The Jerusalem Governorate said in a statement that the settlers entered the flashpoint site under heavy protection from Israeli forces.

Witnesses said that Israeli police personnel were seen stationed inside the compound during the settler intrusion.

Illegal Israeli settlers intensified their intrusions into the Al-Aqsa complex ahead of the week-long Jewish holiday of Passover, which starts on April 12.

According to the Palestinian Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs, illegal settlers raided the mosque 21 times last month, when Muslims celebrated the holy month of Ramadan.

Figures released by the Jerusalem governor showed that 13,064 illegal settlers had stormed the mosque in the first quarter of 2025.

US fails to weaken Yemeni military despite burning through nearly $1bn in three weeks: CNN

The US military’s bombing campaign in Yemen has cost nearly $1 billion in under three weeks, according to sources speaking with CNN, who said the campaign had caused a limited impact on the Ansarallah-led Yemeni Armed Forces’ (YAF) capabilities.

Launched on 15 March, the offensive has relied on costly precision munitions like Tomahawk missiles, JASSMs, JSOWs, B-2 bombers from Diego Garcia, and additional aircraft carriers and fighter jets. Despite this, the YAF continues to launch ballistic and cruise missiles and drones, including downing at least 17 US MQ-9 advanced drones – each carrying a price tag of $30 million.

Pentagon officials acknowledge that while some of the Yemeni leadership and military sites have been targeted, the nation retains significant weapons stockpiles and fortified bunkers. One source noted Yemen’s continued ability to strike Red Sea shipping and evade damage (continue reading here).

RELATED: Washington deploys second THAAD system to Israel as US-Iran tensions grow: Report

Nomination of Mike Huckabee as US ambassador to Israel moves forward

US President Donald Trump’s nomination of Mike Huckabee for US ambassador to Israel has advanced to the next step, while a new nomination for United Nations ambassador has not yet been named.

Following a high-profile senate confirmation hearing last month, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have advanced the nomination of Huckabee to one of the country’s most important diplomatic positions.

However, the vote will likely be along narrow party lines, with Democrats (with the possible exception of John Fetterman) generally seeing Huckabee as too extreme to represent the US on the world stage.

Among his more controversial positions on Israel and Palestine, Huckabee, an openly religious evangelical Christian, has opposed a two-state solution, voiced support for Israeli annexation of the occupied West Bank, referred to the area as Judea and Samaria, and he has denied the existence of Palestinians.

“Huckabee’s positions are not the words of a thoughtful diplomat—they are the words of a provocateur whose views are far outside international consensus and contrary to the core bipartisan principles of American diplomacy,” said Congressman Jerry Nadler of New York in a public statement prior to the senate hearing (continue reading here).

RELATED: Mike Huckabee uses Christianity to justify ethnic cleansing

Thousands of people from across the United States gathered in Washington, DC, on Saturday to demand an end to Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza and the Trump administration’s intensifying crackdown on pro-Palestinian students and activists, Anadolu Agency reports.

The rally dew support from more than 300 organizations and saw demonstrators convene at the intersection of 3rd Street NW and Pennsylvania Avenue NW. Participants then marched to key sites, including the headquarters of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), calling for the release of detained pro-Palestinian students and academics such as Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and Turkish student Rumeysa Ozturk.

The protest was co-sponsored by several advocacy groups, including the Palestinian Youth Movement, The People’s Forum, Jewish Voice for Peace and the ANSWER Coalition.

France allows Netanyahu’s plane through airspace despite ICC warrant