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The Israel Defense Forces on April 2 said it was launching an independent probe into the attack that killed aid workers with World Central Kitchen in Gaza. (Video: Israeli Army Handout)

Middle East conflict live updates Aid group says Israeli strike killed 7; Netanyahu says civilians hit ‘unintentionally’

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israeli forces “unintentionally hit innocent people” in a “tragic incident” after World Central Kitchen said seven of its aid workers were killed in a strike in Gaza. The food aid nonprofit blamed the Israel Defense Forces and said it was immediately pausing its operations in the region, saying Tuesday’s victims included a dual citizen of the United States and Canada, nationals from Australia, Poland and the United Kingdom, and at least one Palestinian worker. Israel also announced an independent investigation.

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An airstrike near Iran’s embassy in Damascus, Syria, killed a senior Iranian commander and several Iranian diplomats Monday, according to Iranian state media, which said it was an Israeli attack. The strike killed a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Iranian news reports.
The United Nations is planning a mission to Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital as soon as it can gain access, Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for the U.N. secretary general, said Monday. The Israel Defense Forces said it has pulled back from the hospital after a roughly two-week-long siege that left the sprawling medical campus in ruins.
Israeli lawmakers voted in favor of a bill that, if enacted, would allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network from operating in Israel.
A fresh round of cease-fire talks is expected this week in Cairo, according to the Egyptian state-run television channel Al Qahera. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, confirmed that working-level talks are to take place in the Egyptian capital this week.
At least 32,845 people have been killed and 75,392 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 256 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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An airstrike near Iran’s embassy in Damascus, Syria, killed a senior Iranian commander and several Iranian diplomats Monday, according to Iranian state media, which said it was an Israeli attack. The strike killed a senior commander in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, according to Iranian news reports.
The United Nations is planning a mission to Gaza’s al-Shifa Hospital as soon as it can gain access, Stéphane Dujarric, a spokesman for the U.N. secretary general, said Monday. The Israel Defense Forces said it has pulled back from the hospital after a roughly two-week-long siege that left the sprawling medical campus in ruins.
Israeli lawmakers voted in favor of a bill that, if enacted, would allow Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ban the Qatar-based Al Jazeera news network from operating in Israel.
A fresh round of cease-fire talks is expected this week in Cairo, according to the Egyptian state-run television channel Al Qahera. An Israeli official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the negotiations, confirmed that working-level talks are to take place in the Egyptian capital this week.
At least 32,845 people have been killed and 75,392 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 256 soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza.
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Israel-Gaza war

Israel-Gaza war: Seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen were killed in an airstrike in Gaza, the nonprofit said Tuesday, blaming the Israel Defense Forces. Meanwhile, an airstrike near Iran’s embassy in Syria’s capital killed a senior Iranian commander and several Iranian diplomats, according to Tehran’s state media, which said it was an Israeli attack.

Middle East conflict: Tensions in the region continue to rise. As Israeli troops aim to take control of the Gaza-Egypt border crossing, officials in Cairo warn that the move would undermine the 1979 peace treaty. Meanwhile, there’s a diplomatic scramble to avert full-scale war between Israel and Lebanon.

U.S. involvement: U.S. airstrikes in Iraq and Syria killed dozens of Iranian-linked militants, according to Iraqi officials. The strikes were the first round of retaliatory action by the Biden administration for an attack in Jordan that killed three U.S. service members.