Israel’s war on Gaza updates: One dead as settlers rampage in West Bank

“France condemns in the strongest terms the attack launched by Iran against Israel,” Stéphane Séjourné, the country’s foreign minister, says on X.

“By deciding on such an unprecedented action, Iran is taking a new step in its destabilizing actions and taking the risk of a military escalation,” he added, saying that France’s support for Israel is “ironclad”.

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We reported earlier on an Israeli attack that critically injured TRT Arabi camera operator Sami Shehadeh and led to his foot being amputated.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has now called for an independent investigation into that attack.

“CPJ condemns the Israeli attack in Gaza on a group of journalists wearing press insignia that resulted in cameraman Sami Shehadeh, of Turkish broadcaster TRT, having his leg amputated,” said CPJ programme director Carlos Martinez de la Serna in New York.

He added that the Israeli military’s disregard for press insignia, “both after and prior to October 7, endangers the lives of journalists”.

He said, “This incident must be independently investigated, and those responsible for the attack must be held accountable.”

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner-general of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), has called for Israel to allow more aid into the Gaza Strip.

In a post on X, he said, “Convoys [and] humanitarian aid workers should no longer be a target [and] restrictions on UNRWA by Israel to reach the north where famine is imminent must be lifted.”

“Failing to do so will hamper our ability to prevent famine expected to hit in full scale in the coming month,” he said, adding, “With political will, aid can be increased. Political will can also prevent a man made famine.

Abdulhadi al-Tarifi, a medic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS), whom we spoke to earlier about the settler attack on al-Mughayir near Ramallah, said among the most “dangerous” things faced by PRCS teams today was “arbitrary shooting by settlers”.

Before even reaching the vicinity of the village, the Israeli army had set up checkpoints and were “stopping and thoroughly searching” all of the vehicles.

“While we were leaving with some of the wounded, we were once again stopped and searched. Even the companions with those injured were prevented from remaining inside the ambulances, and were all taken out of the vehicles,” he said.

A medic with the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said the group received a “large number of calls” when al-Mughayir was attacked by illegal Israeli settlers earlier today.

Abdulhadi al-Tarifi told Al Jazeera at least nine PRCS vehicles were sent to the area, but all of them were stopped at the western entrance to the village and were prevented from entering.

After looking for alternative routes, a handful of vehicles finally managed to reach some of those who sustained injuries.

“We treated 19 cases, 16 of which were wounds from live bullets, and three were a result of severe beatings,” he said.

“Today was very busy and very difficult,” al-Tarifi said. “Ambulance vehicles were fired upon by settlers. They were closing down streets leading to the main roads, and burning vehicles on these streets, which stopped us from reaching those wounded in a timely manner.”

US Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib has presented Palestinian journalist Motaz Azaiza with a Congressional Record for his “coverage of the Palestinian people and the commitment to telling their stories”.

For 107 days, Azaiza broadcast the death and destruction wrought on the Gaza Strip by Israeli forces to his millions of followers on social media.

Tlaib is the only Palestinian elected member of the US Congress.

Austrian Airlines, the last Western European airline flying to Iran, says it is suspending all flights from Vienna to Tehran until April 18 in response to escalating tensions in the region.

Austria had continued flying for longer than its German parent, Lufthansa, since Vienna’s closer proximity to Tehran meant it could more easily abort flights or be forced to leave staff in Tehran overnight.

Earlier on Friday, Austria’s Foreign Ministry followed Germany in urging its citizens to leave Iran.

“Routes that pass through Iranian airspace will also be modified,” Austrian Airlines said in a statement. “The safety of our passengers and crews have highest priority.”

Hezbollah has claimed responsibility for launching more than 50 rockets towards the northern communities in Israel.

According to Hezbollah’s statement, this comes as a response to the Israeli attacks on Lebanese towns and villages in the south.

The fact is that these rockets were launched towards an Israeli post in the occupied Golan Heights.

This hints at a change in the rules of engagement, though these changes are slow and a bit different from what we are used to in normal war.

The situation is very tense. There’s an anticipation of an Iranian retaliation for the killing of its general in Damascus and what’s going to be the next step.

Everyone is waiting, and people were linking this attack today to what could be an attack from Iran.

Here are some of the things Amin Abu Alia said unfolded during the three-hour settler attack:

• Settlers attacked 20 homes, and set fire to seven of them “either completely, or partially”.
• A total of 20 vehicles, some belonging to local businesses, were also set on fire.
• At least 35 residents were wounded, and 25 of them sustained injuries from live bullets.
• Medics, including Palestine Red Crescent ambulances, were prevented from reaching the area by Israeli forces, who also blocked cars carrying wounded residents from leaving the village.
• The attack was carried out under the protection of Israeli army soldiers.

The Israeli military says they’re counting 40 rockets that came across the border from Lebanon; they say that some were intercepted. Some fell into unpopulated grounds. No injuries are being reported at the moment.

But the Israelis also say that there were a couple of explosive drones that came across from Lebanon earlier on, launched by Hezbollah.

The big question is, is this another example of the kind of tit-for-tat exchanges of fire that we’ve been seeing for months across that Israel-Lebanon border? Or is this the start of something bigger?

That something bigger, everyone is waiting, of course, is some sort of response initiated by Iran.

The Israeli military is trying to give the impression of being prepared for whatever Iran is going to throw at it.

The steps Israel’s military has taken in the last couple of weeks is to cancel all leave for combat units and another is to call up air defence reservists.

A third is to put consulates and embassies around the world on high alert, and a fourth is to jam GPS signals across the country to disrupt drone signals.

We earlier reported that there has been several incidents of violent settler attacks against Palestinians and their belongings in the occupied West Bank, with one incident resulting in the killing of a man in the town of al-Mughayir, northeast of Ramallah.

The head of the al-Mughayir village council, Amin Abu Alia, has spoken to Al Jazeera about the details of the attack.

“This is not the first attack on the village. Our village is constantly exposed to similar attacks from settlers, but this is the largest and most violent one,” Abu Alia said.

According to him, more than 1,500 Israeli settlers gathered near the entrance of the town. About 500 of them, some armed, then proceeded to raid the town for about three hours.

The attack led to the killing of Jihad Abu Alia, who was shot “directly” in the head with live ammunition.

Germany has warned its citizens to leave Iran, saying that there was a risk both of a sudden escalation in Tehran’s existing tensions with Israel and that Germans might be at risk of arbitrary arrest in the country.

“In the current tensions, especially between Israel and Iran, there is a risk of a sudden escalation,” the Foreign Office wrote in a new travel warning issued today. “It cannot be excluded that air, land and sea transport routes could be affected,” it added.

“German citizens are at concrete risk of being arbitrarily arrested and interrogated and being given long prison sentences. Dual citizens with Iranian and German nationality are especially at risk,” the Foreign Office said.

France, India, Russia, Poland and the United Kingdom have warned their citizens against travelling to Israel, the occupied Palestinian territory and, in some cases, the wider region amid threats of an Iranian attack in response to an attack this month on its consulate in Damascus.

Sean Caroll, the president and CEO of Anera, told Al Jazeera that more aid appears to be coming into the Gaza Strip, but not at the rate the Israelis claim.

Prominent British Palestinian surgeon Ghassan Abu Sitta, who volunteered in Gaza hospitals during the first weeks of Israel’s assault on the enclave, said he was denied entry into Germany where he was due to take part in a conference.

Abu Sitta said he arrived at Berlin airport before being stopped at passport control where he was held for several hours and then told he had to return to the UK.

Police at the airport said he was refused entry due to “the safety of the people at the conference and public order,” Abu Sitta told the Associated Press news agency.

In a post on X, Abu Sitta he was “forcibly prevented” from entering the country.

Berlin police said they later pulled the plug on the event, attended by up to 250 people, on its first day, after a livestream was shown of a person who is banned from political activity in Germany.

The gathering, entitled the Palestine Congress, was to discuss a range of topics including German arms shipments to Israel and solidarity with what organisers called the Palestinian struggle.

Germany has traditionally held a staunchly pro-Israel position, and during the assault on Gaza emerged as one of Israel’s fiercest supporters. German authorities have also repeatedly clamped down on displays of support for Palestinians.

US President Joe Biden has told reporters, “We are devoted to the defence of Israel. We will support Israel. We will help defend Israel, and Iran will not succeed.”

Iran has threatened to retaliate for Israel’s April 1 attack on an Iranian consulate in Damascus, Syria, that killed seven members of its Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), including two generals.