On April 8, Israeli fighter jets conducted a series of airstrikes targeting central and northern Gaza, according to Al Jazeera correspondent Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Deir el-Balah. One target was the Al-Muttaqin Mosque, near the YMCA building in Gaza City.
The airstrike completely demolished the mosque and tents sheltering hundreds of displaced Palestinians. Correspondent Abu Azzoum said, “The entire area was warned, but people had very little time to take precautions.”
In a separate attack on the Nuseirat refugee camp, Israel killed one Palestinian and wounded at least 20 others. “The attack targeted a group of Palestinians at a busy market,” Abu Azzoum said, citing medical officials. “People are trapped in a spiral of constant fear, dreading further Israeli attacks tonight.”
Earlier, on April 6, Israel’s security cabinet approved a measure allowing the first members of the International Stabilization Force in Gaza to join, part of a U.S.-mediated ceasefire deal that began last October.
Settler violence surges in the West Bank
On the same day in the West Bank, eight Palestinians were forced to leave their homes in Abu Najim, near Bethlehem, after Israeli settlers set the building on fire, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The settlers also torched a car and spray-painted graffiti on walls before setting the fire.
Settler violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank is rising, with mob attacks on homes and public places. According to the Wafa news agency, Israeli authorities are confiscating more Palestinian land in the West Bank, with military orders seizing around 200 dunums (20 hectares) from towns in Jenin governorate.
Tareq Aghbaria, a settlement affairs official in Jenin, said land confiscation orders have increased significantly in the past two days, focusing on southern areas like Arrabeh, Qabatiya and Misilya. The Wall and Resistance Committee reported that 14 of these orders set aside land for building and expanding military roads totaling more than 11.3 km, serving a network of new colonial outposts approved by the Israeli government.
