After more than two years of war, Kiryat Shmona's commercial areas are almost completely shuttered due to a lack of customers. The latest round of fighting in March and April has caused some new damage, but the holes in residents' lives and in the local economy will take much longer to fix. The recovery in Israelâs north remains uneven. Some areas are slowly recovering, while others are still struggling.
New maps of the Gaza Strip were issued by Israel a little more than a month ago. The restricted area, marked on the maps with an orange line, makes up an estimated 11% of Gazaâs territory beyond the âYellow Lineâ demarcating the part of Gaza occupied by Israeli troops since an October ceasefire. The expanded zone has stirred fears from displaced Palestinians living there that they could be deemed targets by Israel. Israel has previously moved blocks deeper into Hamas-controlled territory.
There is a ban on foreign journalists from being able to independently enter and report from Gaza. The ban has been in place since the warâs start in 2023 and continues even though there is a ceasefire in place. The Foreign Press Association has been waiting for a decision from the Israeli Supreme Court on a petition for independent access to Gaza.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail earlier this month from Barcelona to break Israel's maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid. Israeli forces intercepted the flotilla near Crete overnight Wednesday into Thursday, detaining the crews. Israel and Egypt have imposed varying degrees of a blockade on Gaza since Hamas seized power in 2007.
Mohammed Salah Qashta, Abdul Raouf Shaat and Anas Ghneim were killed in an Israeli air strike in the Al-Zahra area southwest of Gaza City on Wednesday. Shaat was a freelancer who regularly contributed for AFP. Since October 10, a fragile US-sponsored truce in Gaza has halted the large-scale fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas. At least 466 Palestinians have been killed since the ceasefire took effect.
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Israel is destroying towns and villages in southern Lebanon to create a "buffer zone" along its border with Hezbollah. The controlled demolitions are considered to be a violation of international law and a potential war crime. Some 62,000 homes have been damaged or destroyed since the beginning of March.
April is Caesarean Awareness Month. Conditions in Gaza can lead to risks for mothers who undergo the procedure. Duha Abu Yousef, 24, had a baby by emergency C-section. She suffered from malnutrition and anemia throughout her pregnancy. The number of caesareans has increased by 2% since before the war.