Gaza

• The Israeli Defense Forces conducted sustained airstrikes across Gaza Friday night, striking targets in Khan Younis and Rafah; Palestinian health authorities reported 34 deaths and 89 injured, though casualty figures remain disputed. • The UN Security Council's humanitarian affairs office announced plans for an emergency session Monday to address escalating civilian casualties and requested immediate access for international inspection teams to assess damage. • Aid organizations warned that the latest military operations have severed critical supply routes, leaving approximately 1.2 million Palestinians facing acute food shortages and limited access to medical facilities.

Residents waking to find line has moved overnight and they are now in free-fire zone as army takes more territoryIsraeli forces have been moving an agreed truce line in Gaza westwards over the six months since the ceasefire, expanding their zone of control and making the state of limbo ever more dangerous for Palestinians.The “yellow line” agreed in the US-brokered ceasefire in October was supposed to be temporary pending further Israeli withdrawals, but the partially observed truce has stalled after its first phase amid disagreements over the disarming of Hamas, and continued Israeli bombardment of Gaza. Continue reading...

• Israeli and Egyptian officials held talks in Cairo on April 18 to discuss a potential ceasefire agreement brokered by Qatari mediators, marking the first substantive negotiation in three weeks following escalated border tensions. • Gaza's health ministry reports 1.8 million people face acute food insecurity, with humanitarian organizations warning of disease outbreaks; the UN humanitarian coordinator called the situation "the worst in two years." • Both sides remain divided over prisoner exchanges and Israeli military withdrawal timelines, though preliminary frameworks for a phased 90-day truce have been proposed.

Exclusive: Move comes after Guardian Australia revealed Gemma Seymour was facing potential suspension over video criticising RMIT’s ties to weapons companiesRMIT University has dropped a misconduct case against a student who accused the institution of being “complicit in genocide” in Gaza, because of its defence and aerospace research centre’s ties to weapons companies.Guardian Australia this week revealed the student, Gemma Seymour, faced potential suspension over a social media video calling for the university’s Sir Lawrence Wackett Defence and Aerospace Centre to be shut down. Continue reading...

Campaigning in Newcastle before next month’s local elections shows the rise of the far right, the climate and cost of living are concerning voters as much as the Middle EastMohammed Suleman, a self-described “straight-talking Geordie”, doesn’t love politics. The taxi driver and businessman prefers to focus on community initiatives. But when the time came, he voted Labour as the lesser of two evils.Then came the war in Gaza. Continue reading...

• The US vetoed a UN Security Council resolution on April 8, 2026, demanding immediate end to Israel's Gaza aid blockade, citing 'security concerns.' • 12 members voted yes, with UK abstaining; blockade has left 80% of Gaza's 2.3 million residents without reliable food access per UNRWA. • Veto draws criticism from humanitarian groups, with Amnesty International calling it 'complicity in starvation'; Israel defends measure against Hamas smuggling.