[🇧🇩] Israel and Hamas war in Gaza-----Can Bangladesh be a peace broker?

[Saif]

Israeli strikes kill 19 in Gaza

Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Tuesday that Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 19 people across the Palestinian territory, where Israel has resumed its offensive against Hamas...

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Israeli strikes kill 19 in Gaza
Agence France-Presse . Gaza City 09 April, 2025, 00:33

A girl sits by the rubble outside the Sabah family building that was hit by Israeli air strikes in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday. | AFP photo

Gaza’s civil defence agency said on Tuesday that Israeli strikes overnight killed at least 19 people across the Palestinian territory, where Israel has resumed its offensive against Hamas.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called on Hamas to stop giving Israel ‘excuses’ to keep up its devastating offensive in Gaza.

In a statement, the Ramallah-based Palestinian presidency called on Hamas to ‘cease making any irresponsible decisions to spare our people the consequences of (the Israeli) aggression’.

The statement pointed to the Israeli hostages still held in Gaza. ‘Stop giving the occupation any excuses to continue its genocide,’ it said.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said that ‘19 civilians including several children were martyred’ and dozens more wounded in the latest Israeli raids.

Five children and four adults were killed in a strike that hit a home in the central city of Deir el-Balah, while two separate pre-dawn attacks on Gaza City and Beit Lahia in the north left a total of 10 people dead, Bassal said.

Separately, a media outlet affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement, a Hamas ally, announced the death on Monday of an employee named Ahmed Mansur in an Israeli strike on a tent used by journalists in the Khan Yunis area.

The Hamas government media office had on Monday reported the death of journalist Hilmi al-Faqaawi, who worked for a local news agency, in the same strike, which also wounded another nine.

The Israeli military meanwhile said the strike had targeted ‘Hamas terrorist Hassan Abdel Fattah Mohammed Aslih’, claiming that he operated ‘under the guise of a journalist and owns a press company.’

It said Aslih had ‘infiltrated Israeli territory and participated in the murderous massacre carried out by the Hamas terrorist organisation’ on October 7, 2023.

Israel resumed intense strikes on the Gaza Strip on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas. Efforts to restore the truce have so far failed.

According to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory, at least 1,391 Palestinians have been killed in the renewed Israeli operations, taking the overall death toll since the start of the war to 50,752.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel that triggered the war resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.​

 

[Saif]

Bangladesh should intervene fast in the Gaza genocide case

Bangladesh made written and/or oral submissions in the four advisory opinions related to Palestine.

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Bangladesh should intervene fast in the Gaza genocide case

Palestinians shop in an open-air market among the ruins of houses and buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes during the conflict, amid a temporary truce between Hamas and Israel, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip November 30, 2023. Reuters file photo.

The renewed official condemnation by the Government of Bangladesh on April 7, 2025, of the "mass killing and gross violations of human rights in the Gaza Strip," has brought to light one of its dormant promises regarding international justice. It relates to Bangladesh's pledge to intervene in the Gaza genocide case between South Africa and Israel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ). It is worth mentioning that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bangladesh expressed its intention to intervene in the case by issuing a press statement on January 14, 2024, just 16 days after South Africa filed the case against Israel under the Genocide Convention. Though 13 countries have already approached the ICJ with their intervention applications, Bangladesh has yet to make any concrete measures reflecting the prior commitment.

It is worth mentioning that Bangladesh has a constitutional obligation to support the Palestinian cause as per Article 25 of our constitution. As a long-time supporter of the Palestinian cause, Bangladesh has endorsed it at international forums, both individually and collectively with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC). Earlier, on November 17, 2023, Bangladesh, along with South Africa, Bolivia, and Djibouti, referred the Palestine situation to the International Criminal Court (ICC). As regards the ICJ, Bangladesh made written and/or oral submissions in the four advisory opinions related to Palestine. Hence, it is incomprehensible why Bangladesh is still silent on its commitment to intervene.

Bangladesh has never intervened in an ICJ contentious case before, even though it had the opportunity to do so in the Rohingya genocide case. This calls for an assessment of its potential intervention within the ICJ's legal framework and relevant practices.

Under the ICJ statute, a state may intervene in two ways. First, under Article 62 of the ICJ statute, a state may intervene if it has an interest of a legal nature that may be affected by the court's decision. Second, under Article 63, a state may intervene when the interpretation of a multilateral treaty is in question, and it is a party to the treaty. From the language of the press statement of Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it can be safely presumed that Bangladesh intends to intervene under Article 63. The nature of the Genocide Convention, which is a multilateral treaty, also confirms the nature of Bangladesh's potential intervention. Most of the interventions in the Genocide Convention-related cases are under Article 63.

At this stage, Bangladesh's potential intervention is complicated by its reservation on Article IX of the Genocide Convention, which states "Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in article III, shall be submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute." The US faced a similar complication when it sought to intervene in the Ukrainian genocide allegation case. Russia objected to the US intervention, and the ICJ, in its Order of June 5, 2023, declared it inadmissible due to the US reservation to Article IX.

It is important to note that the US intervention was specifically focused on Article IX and was made at the preliminary objections stage. The court's position was based on two key considerations. First, the US reservation to Article IX meant it had excluded the provision from the Convention as it applied to the US. Therefore, the court ruled that "the United States may not intervene in relation to the construction of Article IX of the Convention while it is not bound by that provision" (order of June 5, 2023). Second, at the preliminary objections stage, the ICJ primarily deals with jurisdictional and admissibility issues, so it was logical for the court to limit its ruling to Article IX while leaving open the possibility of a future US intervention at the merits stage (order of June 5, 2023).

The ICJ, in its order of April 5, 2024, set October 28, 2024, as the deadline for South Africa's memorial submission, i.e., a brief outlining their case and legal reasoning in the dispute. The deadline was met. Meanwhile, July 28, 2025, is the deadline for Israel's counter-memorial submission. Additionally, Israel had until January 28, 2025, to file its preliminary objections. While there is no publicly available information about Israel's preliminary objections, it has likely done so.
If Israel has indeed raised such objections, Bangladesh cannot intervene at this stage due to its reservation to Article IX. In that case, the fate of Bangladesh's intervention will depend on the judgment on preliminary objections. However, the ICJ has already found that it has prima facie jurisdiction over this case in its Provisional Measures Orders. Given its similarity to the Rohingya genocide case, it is unlikely that the court will rule otherwise in the preliminary objections judgment. If the case proceeds beyond this stage, Bangladesh will get at least two additional years to submit its intervention. However, given the political implications of the intervention on the case and the dispute, Bangladesh should consider intervening at its earliest opportunity.

At the same time, Bangladesh must carefully determine the scope of its intervention. South Africa's claims in the case are expected to focus on Articles I-VI of the Genocide Convention. Once the memorial and other case documents become available, Bangladesh will gain a clearer understanding of potential areas for intervention. Given that many states are expected to intervene, Bangladesh should strategically determine its scope to maximise the impact of its intervention on the proceedings.

Bangladesh should submit its declaration of intervention at the earliest opportunity, regardless of the preliminary objections issue. Typically, the ICJ scrutinises a state's declaration of intervention, but recent cases indicate that Article 63 interventions are generally permitted. Since 13 states have already submitted their declarations of intervention and/or applications for permission to intervene, Bangladesh should not wait for the preliminary objection's outcome. The interim government of Bangladesh should reaffirm the relevance of the previous government's declaration and set a timeline for submitting its intervention request.

Quazi Omar Foysal is lecturer at American International University-Bangladesh (AIUB) and advocate at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh.​

 

[Saif]

Gaza transformed into killing field: UN

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that Gaza had become ‘a killing field’ because Israel has continued to block aid, an accusation an Israeli official quickly denied, saying there was ‘no shortage’ of aid...

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Gaza transformed into killing field: UN
Agence France-Presse . United Nations 09 April, 2025, 22:13

Palestinian rescuers work at the site of an Israeli strike on a residential area in Gaza City’s Shujaiyya neighbourhood, on Wednesday. The Israeli military said it targeted a senior Hamas militant, in a strike that Gaza’s civil defence agency said hit a residential building in Gaza City, killing at least 20 people. | AFP photo

United Nations secretary-general Antonio Guterres said Tuesday that Gaza had become ‘a killing field’ because Israel has continued to block aid, an accusation an Israeli official quickly denied, saying there was ‘no shortage’ of aid.

‘More than an entire month has passed without a drop of aid into Gaza. No food. No fuel. No medicine. No commercial supplies. As aid has dried up, the floodgates of horror have re-opened,’ Guterres said in remarks to journalists.

Pointing to the Geneva Conventions governing the treatment of people in war, Guterres emphasised the obligation of the ‘occupying power’ to ensure the provision of food and medical supplies to the population.

‘None of that is happening today. No humanitarian supplies can enter Gaza,’ Guterres said.

Israeli ministry of foreign affairs spokesperson Oren Marmorstein rejected the allegations, saying there was ‘no shortage of humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip.’

Marmorstein further alleged that Hamas has used recent aid to Gaza to ‘rebuild its war machine.’

Guterres also referenced recent Israeli proposals over controlling aid into Gaza, which a UN source said included monitoring calories to prevent misuse by Hamas.

‘The Israeli authorities newly proposed ‘authorisation mechanisms’ for aid delivery risk further controlling and callously limiting aid down to the last calorie and grain of flour,’ he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York.

‘Let me be clear — we will not participate in any arrangement that does not fully respect the humanitarian principles — humanity, impartiality, independence and neutrality,’ Guterres said, demanding guarantees for the unhindered entry of aid to the coastal territory.

Guterres also raised the alarm about the situation in the West Bank.

‘The current path is a dead end — totally intolerable in the eyes of international law and history,’ he said.

‘And the risk of the occupied West Bank transforming into another Gaza makes it even worse.

‘It is time to end the dehumanisation, protect civilians, release the hostages, ensure lifesaving aid, and renew the ceasefire.’​

 

[Saif]

France could recognise Palestinian state 'in June': Macron

France plans to recognise a Palestinian state within months and could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June on settling the Israel-Palestinian conflict, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview broadcast Wednesday, reports BSS citing AFP. "We must move towards recognitio

thefinancialexpress.com.bd

France could recognise Palestinian state 'in June': Macron
FE ONLINE DESK
Published :
Apr 10, 2025 13:00
Updated :
Apr 10, 2025 13:00

France plans to recognise a Palestinian state within months and could make the move at a UN conference in New York in June on settling the Israel-Palestinian conflict, President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview broadcast Wednesday, reports BSS citing AFP.

"We must move towards recognition, and we will do so in the coming months," Macron, who this week visited Egypt, told France 5 television.

"Our aim is to chair this conference with Saudi Arabia in June, where we could finalise this movement of mutual recognition by several parties," he added.

"I will do it because I believe that at some point it will be right and because I also want to participate in a collective dynamic, which must also allow all those who defend Palestine to recognise Israel in turn, which many of them do not do," he added.

Such recognition would allow France "to be clear in our fight against those who deny Israel's right to exist -- which is the case with Iran -- and to commit ourselves to collective security in the region," he added.

France has long championed a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict, including after the October 7, 2023 attack by Palestinian Hamas on Israel.

But formal recognition by Paris of a Palestinian state would mark a major policy switch and risk antagonising Israel which insists such moves by foreign states are premature.

- 'No one will invest a cent' -

France's recognition of Palestinian statehood "would be a step in the right direction in line with safeguarding the rights of the Palestinian people and the two state solution," Palestinian minister of state for foreign affairs Varsen Aghabekian Shahin told AFP.

Nearly 150 countries recognise a Palestinian state. In May 2024, Ireland, Norway and Spain announced recognition, followed by Slovenia in June, in moves partly fuelled by condemnation of Israel's bombing of Gaza that followed the October 7 attacks.

But France would be the most significant European power to recognise a Palestinian state, a move the United States has also long resisted.

In Egypt, Macron held summit talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Jordan's King Abdullah II and also made clear he was strongly opposed to any displacement or annexation in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

US President Donald Trump has suggested turning Gaza into the "Riviera of the Middle East" with the Palestinians moving elsewhere -- a suggestion that has sparked bitter condemnation.

Macron responded that the Gaza Strip was "not a real estate project."

"Simplistic thinking sometimes doesn't help," he added, and, in a message to Trump said: "Perhaps it would be wonderful if one day it developed in an extraordinary way, but our responsibility is to save lives, restore peace, and negotiate a political framework."

"If all this doesn't exist, no one will invest. Today, no one will invest a cent in Gaza," he said.​

 

[Saif]

BNP takes out massive rally against Gaza massacre

The programme condemned the mass killings, atrocities, and persecution inflicted upon the Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces.

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BNP takes out massive rally against Gaza massacre
UNB
Published: 10 Apr 2025, 18: 26

BNP leaders at a rally in the capital's Naya Paltan area on 10 April, 2025. UNB

BNP brought out a massive rally in the capital today, Thursday, expressing solidarity with the persecuted people of Gaza and Rafah in Palestine.

The programme also condemned the mass killings, atrocities, and persecution inflicted upon the Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces.

The activities of the rally formally began at 4:00 pm with a recitation from the verses of the Holy Quran.

Following brief addresses by senior leaders, BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas inaugurated the rally around 5pm.

In his speech, Abbas said the gathering was unusual due to the large participation of ordinary people as their sentiments were hurt by the Israeli brutality.

He condemned the mass killings and repression of innocent Palestinians, including women and children, by Israeli forces amid the silence of global Muslim leaders.

The BNP leader said had Muslim countries remained united and raised their voices collectively against the ongoing barbarism and genocide, Israel would not have dared to continue its actions.

BNP standing committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, and Salahuddin Ahmed also spoke at the event, strongly denouncing the mass killings and brutality inflicted on the people of Palestine by Israeli occupation forces.

Later, thousands of leaders and activists of the BNP and its associate bodies took out the rally.

Amid the scorching heat, party leaders and followers from different parts of the city had been arriving in Nayapaltan in processions since early afternoon noon.

Streets and alleys from Kakrail crossing to Fakirerpool and adjoining areas were packed with BNP supporters, causing traffic disruptions in the area.

Carrying national flags, as well as the flags of the BNP and Palestine, along with banners, festoons, and placards inscribed with slogans against Israeli mass killings and oppression, they also chanted anti-Israeli slogans.

From Nayapaltan, the rally proceeded through Kakrail, Shantinagar, Malibagh and Moghbazar, before concluding at Bangla Motor.

Earlier on Wednesday, the party announced plans to hold protest and solidarity rallies in the capital Dhaka and all major cities on Thursday.

Similar rallies were also held in major cities across the country on the day.​

 

[Saif]

March For Gaza: No parade to Manik Mia Avenue, rally at Suhrawardy Udyan

Little-known platform Palestine Solidarity Movement, Bangladesh opened a Facebook event ‘March For Gaza’

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March For Gaza: No parade to Manik Mia Avenue, rally at Suhrawardy Udyan
Staff CorrespondentDhaka
Published: 11 Apr 2025, 23: 16

Facebook/March For Gaza:

The March For Gaza will not parade to the capital’s Manik Mia Avenue from Shahbagh. Rather it will hold a mass rally at Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday, organisers said.

Various political parties including National Citizen Party (NCP) Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazet-e-Islam Bangladesh and AB Party, as well as renowned people from various professions, including Islamic speakers, have organised the March For Gaza programme, which was scheduled to parade from the capital’s Shahbagh to Manik Mia Avenue around 3:30 pm.

Little-known platform Palestine Solidarity Movement, Bangladesh opened a Facebook event ‘March For Gaza’.

As of 10:30 pm Friday, over 80,400 people responded to the call with 6,400 said going and 73,900 interested.

Organisers said they changed the programme schedules considering the movement of guests of the investment summit and the admission tests.

Baitul Mukarram National Mosque khatib Mufti Muhammad Abdul Malek will preside over the gathering.

Palestine Solidarity Movement, Bangladesh media coordinator Sheikh Fazlul Karim Maruf said the march would begin from five different points in Dhaka – Bangla Motor, Kakrail, Zero Point, Bakshibazar and Nilkhet – at 2:00 pm, which will be followed the gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan at 3:00 pm.

TSC metro rail station would remain open and roads would be open exclusively for all examinees, organisers said in a press release.

Participants have been requested to bring flags of Bangladesh and Palestine and no placards with political symbols, as well to cooperate with law enforcement agencies and volunteers.

Fazlul Karim told Prothom Alo a declaration in Bangla, English and Arabic would come from the rally expressing solidarity for Palestine. An oath would be taken to boycott various issues related to the interest of Israel, and the event would end with offering doa, he added.

Meanwhile, renowned politicians, scholars and celebrities expressed solidarity by posting video messages on the Facebook page of the Palestine solidarity movement 'March For Gaza'.

As of Friday afternoon, politicians including Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Mia Golam Parwar, Islami Andolan Bangladesh's senior nayeb-e-ameer Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim and senior joint secretary general Maulana Gazi Ataur Rahman, AB Party chairman Mujibur Rahman aka Manju, Khelafat Majlis secretary general Ahmed Abdul Quader, Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis ameer Maulana Mamunul Haque, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP) chairman Andaleeve Rahman Partho, Islami Oikya Jote secretary general Maulana Sakhawat Hossain Razi, Gono Odhikar Parishad president Nurul Haque and general secretary Md Rashed Khan, UP Bangladesh main organiser Ali Ahsan Zonaed, and National Citizen Party (NCP) southern region chief organiser Hasnat Abdullah, among others, posted video messages.

Islamic speaker Mizanur Rahman Azhari, As-Sunnah Foundation chairman Shaykh Ahmadullah, Ad-Din Foundation executive director Sheikh Mohiuddin, National Ulama Mashayekh Aimma Parishad general secretary Rezaul Karim Abrar, Daily Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman, National cricket team members Mahmudullah Riyad, Mehidy Hasan Miraj, Nahid Rana and Taijul Islam, BUET lecturer and popular YouTuber Enayet Chowdhury, Daffodil International University professor Moktar Ahmed, Jahangir Kabir, Islamic speaker Abdul Hai Muhammad Saifullah, Pir Saheb Allama Khalilur Rahman Nesarabadi of Jhalakati Nesarabad Darbar Sharif, presenter RJ Kibria, entrepreneur Mahmudul Hasan Sohag, actor Tamim Mridha, and 10 Minute School founder Ayman Sadiq’s video messages were also seen.

Islami Chhatra Shibir president Zahidul Islam, publication secretary Md Abu Shadik Kayem and Dhaka University president SM Farhad also posted video messages supporting the 'March For Gaza'.​

 

[Saif]

Israel threatens Gaza’s survival says UN

The United Nations warned on Friday that the cumulative impact of Israel’s actions in Gaza threatened ‘the future viability of Palestinians as a group’ in the war-torn territory.

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Israel threatens Gaza’s survival says UN
Agence France-Presse . Geneva, Switzerland 11 April, 2025, 22:46

The United Nations warned on Friday that the cumulative impact of Israel’s actions in Gaza threatened ‘the future viability of Palestinians as a group’ in the war-torn territory.

UN rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani highlighted ‘the death, the destruction, the displacement, the denial of access to basic necessities within Gaza and the repeated suggestion that Gazans should leave the territory entirely’.

Taken together, those factors ‘raise real concerns as to the future viability of Palestinians as a group in Gaza’, she told reporters in Geneva.

The ‘cumulative effect of what is happening in Gaza today... takes our concerns to a new level’, she said.

Shamdasani in particular pointed to the dire impact Israel’s ongoing airstrikes were having on civilians, lamenting that ‘a large percentage of fatalities are children and women’.

She told reporters that Israel had launched around 224 strikes on residential buildings and tents housing displaced people between March 18 and April 9.

‘In some 36 strikes about which the UN Human Rights Office corroborated information, the fatalities recorded so far were only women and children,’ she said.

Shamdasani cited an April 6 strike on a residential building in Deir el-Balah belonging to the Abu Issa family, which reportedly killed one girl, four women and a four-year-old boy.

Even the areas where Palestinians were being instructed to go in the expanding number of Israeli ‘evacuation orders’ were also being subjected to attacks, the rights office spokeswoman said.

The strikes across Gaza were ‘leaving nowhere safe’, she said.

As an example, Shamdasani took the Israel army’s order for civilians to move to the Al Mawasi area of the southern city of Khan Yunis.

Despite this ‘strikes continued on tents in that area housing displaced people, with at least 23 such incidents recorded by the office since 18 March’, she said.

Shamdasani referred to a March 31 order by the Israeli military covering all of Rafah, the southernmost governorate in Gaza, followed by a large-scale ground operation.

Israel has said its troops are seizing ‘large areas’ in Gaza and incorporating them into buffer zones cleared of their inhabitants.

‘Large areas are being seized and added to Israel’s security zones, leaving Gaza smaller and more isolated,’ Israel’s Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday.

‘Let us be clear, these so-called evacuation orders are actually displacement orders, leading to displacement of the population of Gaza into ever-shrinking spaces,’ Shamdasani said.

‘Permanently displacing the civilian population within occupied territories amounts to forcible transfer... and it is a crime against humanity.’​

 

[Saif]

Israeli strike kills family of 10 in Gaza

Dozens of Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed ‘only women and children’ after a ceasefire collapsed, the UN said, as an Israeli attack in the territory’s south on Friday killed a family of 10.

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Israeli strike kills family of 10 in Gaza
Agence France-Presse . Gaza City, Palestinian Territories 12 April, 2025, 03:31

Dozens of Israeli air strikes on Gaza have killed ‘only women and children’ after a ceasefire collapsed, the UN said, as an Israeli attack in the territory’s south on Friday killed a family of 10.

A UN rights office report also warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders were resulting in the ‘forcible transfer’ of people into ever-shrinking areas, raising ‘real concern as to the future viability of Palestinians as a group in Gaza’.

Israel’s military said it was looking into the attack that killed members of the same family in Khan Yunis, adding separately that it had struck approximately 40 ‘terror targets’ across the territory over the past day.

Israel resumed its Gaza strikes on March 18, ending a two-month ceasefire with Hamas.

Since then, more than 1,500 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory to which Israel cut off aid more than a month ago.

‘Ten people, including seven children, were brought to the hospital as martyrs following an Israeli air strike that targeted the Farra family home in central Khan Yunis,’ civil defence spokesperson Mahmud Bassal told AFP.

AFP footage of the aftermath showed several bodies wrapped in white shrouds and blankets, and the house mangled concrete slabs and twisted metal.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan denounced Israel, saying: ‘If this is not barbarism, I ask you, what is it?’

The Israeli military issued evacuation warnings to residents in several areas ahead of new offensives.

‘I left everything behind. I only left with my children,’ Umm Tawfiq told AFP as she fled from her home in Gaza City.

The UN decried the impact of the ongoing Israeli strikes, finding that ‘a large percentage of fatalities are children and women’.

‘Between 18 March and 9 April 2025, there were some 224 incidents of Israeli strikes on residential buildings and tents for internally displaced people,’ the UN human rights office said in Geneva.

‘In some 36 strikes about which the UN Human Rights Office corroborated information, the fatalities recorded so far were only women and children.’

Israel’s military has repeatedly said Palestinian militants often hide among civilians, a charge Hamas denies.

UN rights office spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani also raised concerns over ‘the denial of access to basic necessities within Gaza and the repeated suggestion that Gazans should leave the territory entirely’.​

 

[Saif]

BNP joins ‘March for Gaza’ expressing solidarity with oppressed Palestinians

BNP on Saturday participated in the "March for Gaza" programme to protest against the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza and Rafah in Palestine. A BNP delegation, led by its Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed, joined the march. The BNP delegation started the march from Baitul Mukarram point

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BNP joins ‘March for Gaza’ expressing solidarity with oppressed Palestinians
UNB
Published :
Apr 12, 2025 18:42
Updated :
Apr 12, 2025 18:42

BNP on Saturday participated in the "March for Gaza" programme to protest against the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza and Rafah in Palestine.

A BNP delegation, led by its Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed, joined the march.

The BNP delegation started the march from Baitul Mukarram point after Zohr prayers and later gathered at Suhrawardy Udyan.

The rally has been organised by the Palestine Solidarity Movement Bangladesh.

Thousands of people have already started gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka to attend the programme, although it is scheduled to begin at 3:00 pm.

Sheikh Fazlul Karim Maruf, media coordinator of the Palestine Solidarity Movement, said the march will begin at 2:00 pm from five points and culminate in the mass gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan at 3:00 pm.

Organisers said the purpose of the rally is to raise a united voice against Israeli aggression and demonstrate unwavering support for the innocent civilians of Palestine.

The organisers also announced that Muhammad Abdul Malek, the Khatib of the National Mosque Baitul Mukarram, will preside over the gathering.

Earlier on Thursday, the BNP brought out a massive rally in the capital, expressing solidarity with the persecuted people of Gaza and Rafah in Palestine.

The programme also aimed to condemn the mass killings, atrocities, and persecution inflicted upon the Palestinians by Israeli occupation forces.

Thousands of leaders and activists of the BNP and its associate bodies took out the rally from in front of its Nayapaltan central office.

Carrying national flags, as well as the flags of the BNP and Palestine, along with banners, festoons, and placards inscribed with slogans against Israeli mass killings and oppression, they also chanted anti-Israeli slogans.

From Nayapaltan, the rally proceeded through Kakrail, Shantinagar, Malibagh, and Moghbazar, before concluding at Bangla Motor.

Similar rallies were also held in major cities across the country on the same day at the initiative of the party.​

 

[Saif]

People of Bangladesh stand in support of Palestine

As-Sunnah Foundation’s chairman Shaikh Ahmadullah has said people of Bangladesh irrespective of party and views stand beside the oppressed people of Palestine and Gaza.

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People of Bangladesh stand in support of Palestine
Staff Correspondent Dhaka
Published: 12 Apr 2025, 19: 52

'March For Gaza' programme in city's Suhrawardy Udyan on 12 April Prothom Alo

As-Sunnah Foundation’s chairman Shaikh Ahmadullah has said people of Bangladesh irrespective of party and views stand beside the oppressed people of Palestine and Gaza.

“We want to stand in unison and let the people of the world see that we may have many differences of thoughts and opinions but people of Bangladesh irrespective of religion and creed are united in support of freedom of oppressed people of Palestine. We express our solidarity with them,” said Ahmadullah while addressing a mammoth rally titled ‘March For Gaza’ in city’s Suhrawardy Uddyan today, Saturday.

Palestine Solidarity Movement organised the march demanding a free Palestine and stop of Israeli genocide in Gaza.

Popular Islamic speaker Mizanur Rahman Azhari said, “We might be far away from Palestine geographically but this human sea bears testimony that Palestine, Gaza and Al Quds live in the hearts of all of us.”

He said the huge gathering of people proves how much the people of Bangladesh love Palestine and Al Aqsa.

National mosque Baitul Mukarram’s khatib maulana Abdul Malek led a prayer for the oppressed people of Palestine. The speakers demanded Israel immediately stops genocide in Palestine. The rally demanded freedom of Palestine and trial of the ongoing genocide of Palestinian people in the international court.​

 

[Saif]

‘March For Gaza’ came to an end with reading of declaration, presence of huge crowd

The ‘March of Gaza’ mass gathering in Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka has concluded with the reading of the declaration. The event commenced shortly after 3:00 pm today, Saturday and ended slightly after 4:00 pm with the reading of the official declaration.

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‘March For Gaza’ came to an end with reading of declaration, presence of huge crowd
Staff Correspondent Dhaka
Published: 12 Apr 2025, 18: 17

A large number of people joined the ‘March For Gaza’ mass gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on 12 April 2025. Prothom Alo

The ‘March For Gaza’ mass gathering in Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka has concluded with the reading of the declaration.

The event commenced shortly after 3:00 pm today, Saturday and ended slightly after 4:00 pm with the reading of the official declaration.

A large number of people were observed at the gathering. Attendees chanted slogans such as “Free, Free Palestine.”

Leaders from various political parties were present on stage to express their solidarity with the programme. Mahmudur Rahman, Editor of Amar Desh newspaper, read out the declaration and delivered a speech.

Leaders of different parties on the stage of 'March For Gaza' mass gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on 12 April 2025. Prothom Alo

A Facebook event page titled 'March For Gaza' was created by the Palestine Solidarity Movement, Bangladesh.

Leaders from various political parties, including the BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, National Citizen Party (NCP) and Hefazat-e-Islam along with representatives from different organisations, Islamic speakers and prominent individuals from various professional backgrounds, have already expressed solidarity with the programme titled March For Gaza.

From early morning, large numbers of people from different parts of Dhaka began moving towards Suhrawardy Udyan to join the mass gathering. Vehicular movement came to a halt around Shahbagh and its surrounding areas.

A large number of people carry out a procession from Shahbagh to the 'March For Gaza' mass gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka on 12 April 2025. Prothom Alo

In the afternoon, processions in groups were observed heading towards Suhrawardy Udyan from areas such as Mirpur, Kazipara, Shewrapara, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Banglamotor and Shahbagh. Youths were seen riding on pickup vans, chanting slogans as they proceeded towards the venue.

A significant number of people were also seen arriving by travelling on the roofs of trains from areas including Tejgaon and Khilgaon to participate in the March For Gaza programme.​

 

[Saif]

Israel takes control of key corridor in southern Gaza

Israel announced on Saturday that its military had completed the takeover of a new corridor in southern Gaza, advancing its efforts to seize large parts of the war-battered Palestinian territory.

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Israel takes control of key corridor in southern Gaza
Agence France-Presse . Gaza 13 April, 2025, 01:15

File photo

Israel announced on Saturday that its military had completed the takeover of a new corridor in southern Gaza, advancing its efforts to seize large parts of the war-battered Palestinian territory.

The announcement from defence minister Israel Katz came as Hamas expected ‘real progress’ towards a ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, with senior leaders from the Palestinian movement scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Saturday.

‘The IDF [military] has now completed its takeover of the Morag axis, which crosses Gaza between Rafah and Khan Yunis, turning the entire area between the Philadelphi Route [along the border with Egypt] and Morag into part of the Israeli security zone,’ Katz said in a statement addressed to residents of Gaza.

‘Soon, IDF [military] operations will intensify and expand to other areas throughout most of Gaza, and you will need to evacuate the combat zones.

‘In northern Gaza as well — in Beit Hanoun and other neighbourhoods — residents are evacuating, the area is being taken over and the security zone is being expanded, including in the Netzarim corridor,’ he added.

Since a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas collapsed in mid-March, Israel’s renewed offensive in Gaza has displaced hundreds of thousands of people while the military has seized large areas of the war-battered territory.

Top Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have repeatedly said that the ongoing assault aims to pressure Hamas into freeing the remaining hostages held in Gaza.

Hamas on Saturday said that the offensive not only ‘kills defenceless civilians but also makes the fate of the occupation’s prisoners [hostages] uncertain’.

Katz’s announcements came ahead of a meeting between Hamas and Egyptian mediators in Cairo on Saturday.

The scheduled talks also came days after US President Donald Trump suggested an agreement to secure the release of hostages was close to being finalised.

A Hamas official told AFP that the group anticipated the meeting in Cairo would yield significant progress.

‘We hope the meeting will achieve real progress towards reaching an agreement to end the war, halt the aggression and ensure the full withdrawal of occupation forces from Gaza,’ the official familiar with the ceasefire negotiations said on condition of anonymity, as he was not authorised to speak publicly on the matter.

According to the official, Hamas has not yet received any new ceasefire proposals, despite Israeli media reports suggesting that Israel and Egypt had exchanged draft documents outlining a potential ceasefire and hostage release agreement.

‘However, contacts and discussions with mediators are ongoing,’ he added, accusing Israel of ‘continuing its aggression’ in Gaza.

The Times of Israel reported that Egypt’s proposal would involve the release of eight living hostages and eight bodies, in exchange for a truce lasting between 40 and 70 days and a substantial release of Palestinian prisoners.

President Trump said during a cabinet meeting this week that ‘we’re getting close to getting them [hostages in Gaza] back’.

Trump’s Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff was also quoted in an Israeli media report as saying ‘a very serious deal is taking shape, it’s a matter of days’.

Since Israel resumed its Gaza strikes, more than 1,500 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory to which Israel cut off aid more than a month ago.

Dozens of these strikes have killed ‘only women and children,’ according to a report by UN human rights office.

The report also warned that expanding Israeli evacuation orders were resulting in the ‘forcible transfer’ of people into ever-shrinking areas, raising ‘real concern as to the future viability of Palestinians as a group in Gaza’.

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported an Israeli air strike on a house in Gaza City on Saturday morning.

AFP footage of the aftermath of the strike showed the bodies of four men, wrapped in white shrouds, at a local hospital, while several individuals gathered to offer prayers before the funeral.

The Israeli military, meanwhile, said its air force intercepted three projectiles that were identified as crossing into Israeli territory from southern Gaza on Saturday.​