Listen to a reading of this article (reading by Tim Foley):

<article data-history-node-id="421791" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-airstrikes-kill-27-palestinians-gaza-local-health-officials-say" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-airstrikes-kill-27-palestinians-gaza-local-health-officials-say" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israeli air strikes kill 27 Palestinians in Gaza, local health officials say</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Israeli air strikes on Gaza overnight into Monday have left at least 27 Palestinians dead, according to local health officials.</p> <p data-end="596" data-start="296">Since ending its ceasefire with Hamas last month, Israel has carried out daily air strikes on Gaza. The country has also imposed a blockade, halting all imports to Gaza, including food and medicine, since the start of March.</p> </div> </div> </article>

<article data-history-node-id="421795" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israels-army-flattens-rafah-amid-fears-mass-confinement-gaza" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israels-army-flattens-rafah-amid-fears-mass-confinement-gaza" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israel’s army flattens Rafah, amid fears of mass confinement in Gaza</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p data-end="82" data-start="0">Palestinians residents report that Israel's army is demolishing the remaining ruins of Rafah, located on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip.</p> <p data-end="82" data-start="0">There are growing fears that this is part of a broader plan to force the population into a large confinement camp on barren land.</p> <p data-end="580" data-start="365">Since Israel imposed its longest-ever total blockade on Gaza nearly two months ago, no food or medical supplies have reached the territory's 2.3 million residents.</p> <p data-end="810" data-start="582">Israel broke the ceasefire in mid-March and resumed bombing Gaza, seizing large areas of land and forcing residents from so-called "buffer zones" around Gaza's borders, including all of Rafah, which constitutes around 20 percent of the Strip.</p> <p data-end="1062" data-start="812">Israeli public broadcaster Kan reported on Saturday that the military is establishing a new "humanitarian zone" in Rafah, where civilians will be relocated after security checks to exclude Hamas fighters.</p> </div> </div> </article>

<article data-history-node-id="421370" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/photo-boy-gaza-wins-world-press-photo-2025" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/photo-boy-gaza-wins-world-press-photo-2025" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Photo of boy from Gaza wins World Press Photo of 2025</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>A portrait of a young amputee from Gaza has won the World Press Photo award for the year 2025.&nbsp;</p> <p>The portrait, taken by Doha-based Palestinian photojournalist Samar Abu Elouf for the New York Times s titled 'Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine'.&nbsp;</p> <p>Elouf, who evacuated from Gaza to Qatar in December 2023 took the picture of Mahmoud Ajjour on 28 June 2024, when Ajjar was receiving medical treatment in Doha after losing both his arms in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City in March 2024.&nbsp;</p> <p>This year’s contest received at least 59,000 submissions from photographers in 141 countries. The winner and two finalists were announced on Thursday, during the press opening of the World Press Photo Exhibition in Amsterdam.&nbsp;</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">The <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/WPPh2025?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#WPPh2025</a> Photo of the Year is ‘Mahmoud Ajjour, Aged Nine’ by <a href="https://twitter.com/samarabuelouf?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@samarabuelouf</a>, for <a href="https://twitter.com/nytimes?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@nytimes</a>. The jury was moved by this portrait of a Palestinian boy which speaks to the devastating long-term costs of war on civilians. Read more: <a href="https://t.co/KHmkUjt2Rj">https://t.co/KHmkUjt2Rj</a> <a href="https://t.co/QP3lqEBWaR">pic.twitter.com/QP3lqEBWaR</a></p> — World Press Photo (@WorldPressPhoto) <a href="https://twitter.com/WorldPressPhoto/status/1912793430226325739?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 17, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div> </div> </article>

Assad al-Nassasra, who has been missing since the deadly Israeli attack that killed 15 emergency workers in March, is being detained by the Israeli authorities

The army says that it completed the so-called Morag corridor, claiming the city as part of its ‘security zone’.

Abductions, deportations and fear define campus life for many foreign students in Trump’s America.

<article data-history-node-id="421152" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-army-announce-expulsion-orders-khan-younis-threatening-residents" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-army-announce-expulsion-orders-khan-younis-threatening-residents" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israeli army announce expulsion orders in Khan Younis, threatening residents </span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>The Arabic spokesperson for the Israeli army,&nbsp;Avichay Adraee, has threatened civilians in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, after the Israeli army announced that rockets were launched from the area.&nbsp;</p> <p>Residents in several neighbourhoods were ordered to head towards al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis, an Israeli-designated "safe zone".&nbsp;&nbsp;Israeli forces have repeatedly targeted the area throughout the war.</p> <p>"This is a final advance warning before the attack!" Adraee wrote in a post on X.&nbsp;</p> <p>"We will attack with great force every area from which rockets are launched... Terrorist organizations, primarily Hamas, bear full responsibility for the displacement and suffering of civilians."</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="rtl" lang="ar"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%84?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#عاجل</a> ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في مناطق خان يونس وفي الأحياء: قيزان النجار، قيزان ابو رشوان، السلام، المنارة، القرين، معن، البطن السمين، جورت اللوت، الفخاري وأحياء بني سهيلا الجنوبية<br> 🔴هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل الهجوم!🔴<br> ⭕️سنهاجم بقوة شديدة كل منطقة يتم إطلاق قذائف… <a href="https://t.co/350ljlC0Wr">pic.twitter.com/350ljlC0Wr</a></p> — افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) <a href="https://twitter.com/AvichayAdraee/status/1911018130651873443?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 12, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> </div> </div> </article>

Homeland Security said such activity would be grounds to deny visa and green-card applications, alarming free-speech and immigration experts.

<article data-history-node-id="421043" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/evening-recap-418" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/evening-recap-418" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Evening recap</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p style="margin-bottom:11px">Good evening Middle East Eye readers,&nbsp;</p> <p style="margin-bottom:11px">Our live blog will soon be closing for the day. Here is what happened today:&nbsp;</p> <ul> <li>Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz&nbsp;said that his country will keep controlling the buffer zone between Gaza and Egypt, including the Philadelphi Corridor, even if a deal is reached to end the war</li> <li>French President Emmanuel Macron said his country might recognise Palestine as a state next June, during a conference that is due to be held in New York and co-hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. He made his statements during an <a href="https://x.com/AlertesInfos/status/1910034633552519578">interview </a>with France 5 programme</li> <li>Israeli forces surrounded the Balata camp in Nablus after having raided it at dawn. The director of the ambulance at the Palestinian Red Crescent Society in Nablus was quoted as saying that many people have been wounded from the shooting and beatings during the raids</li> <li>Israeli troops blew up a Palestinian home in the Nur Shams refugee camp near Tulkarm, located in the occupied West Bank</li> <li><a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/countries/israel" target="_blank">Israeli</a>&nbsp;jets struck a block of homes in Gaza City's Shujaiya neighbourhood, killing over 35 people and leaving dozens more wounded and trapped under the rubble. This marks one of the deadliest attacks in recent days, targeting multiple adjacent homes in the war-torn area</li> <li>At least 60,000 children in Gaza are “at risk of serious health complications due to malnutrition,” as aid deliveries continue to be disallowed by Israel, according to the Palestinian health ministry.</li> </ul> </div> </div> </article>

Eight people in South Sudan, including five children, died on a three-hour walk to seek medical treatment for cholera after U.S. aid cuts forced local health services to close, the UK-based charity Save the Children said on Wednesday.

<article data-history-node-id="421016" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-army-announces-expansion-west-bank-operations" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israeli-army-announces-expansion-west-bank-operations" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Israeli army announces expansion of West Bank operations</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>The Israeli army has announced new operations in the Nablus area of the occupied West Bank.</p> <p>The military has been attacking Palestinians in the northern West Bank since 21 January, mainly focusing on the Jenin and Tulkarm areas.</p> </div> </div> </article>

The decision comes as political tensions mount in South Sudan, causing fears of a renewed civil war.

<article data-history-node-id="420829" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/days-death-toll-rises-27-six-more-killed-israeli-attack-khan-younis" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/days-death-toll-rises-27-six-more-killed-israeli-attack-khan-younis" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Day's death toll rises to 27 as six more killed in Israeli attack on Khan Younis</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>Six Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli attack&nbsp;in the Qizan Abu Rashwan neighbourhood in southern Gaza’s Khan Younis.</p> <p>The deaths bring the death toll since dawn to 27, according to medical sources.</p> </div> </div> </article>

<article data-history-node-id="420824" about="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/father-and-son-killed-israeli-attack-central-gazas-deir-al-balah" class="live-blog-update default clearfix"> <h2> <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/father-and-son-killed-israeli-attack-central-gazas-deir-al-balah" rel="bookmark"> <span class="field field-title">Father and son killed in Israeli attack in central Gaza's Deir al-Balah</span> </a> </h2> <div class="content"> <div class="field field-field-text"><p>A father and his son were killed in an Israeli air strike targeting civilians in central Gaza's&nbsp;Deir al-Balah, Wafa news agency is reporting, citing local sources.</p> <p>According to the sources, Salman Mahmoud Abed and his son Mahmoud Salman Abed were killed when&nbsp;Israeli forces bombed a group of civilians at the entrance&nbsp;of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah.</p> </div> </div> </article>