Israel Extends Closure of West Bank, Gaza

Palestinians cross the Qalandia checkpoint to attend Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque (AP)
Palestinians cross the Qalandia checkpoint to attend Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque (AP)
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Israel Extends Closure of West Bank, Gaza

Palestinians cross the Qalandia checkpoint to attend Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque (AP)
Palestinians cross the Qalandia checkpoint to attend Friday prayer at Al-Aqsa Mosque (AP)

The Israeli army on Sunday announced that all crossing points of the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip would remain closed until Wednesday for security reasons.

Meanwhile, Muslims prayed at Al-Aqsa Mosque compound while Jewish worshippers gathered for Passover’s "Priestly Blessing" at the Western Wall without incident on Sunday, after days of tension at the flashpoint Jerusalem site which led to cross-border exchanges of fire.

Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a Tweet that upon "the directives of Israel's Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and an operational situation assessment, the closure at the West Bank and Gaza would continue to midnight on Wednesday, April 12."

Gallant had recently ordered the tightening of security measures along all roads and residential communities in Israel, following an attack in the West Bank and security tensions on several fronts.

Meanwhile, Reuters said Ramadan prayers and Jewish Passover visits at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound passed without incident on Sunday.

Last week, the Al-Aqsa compound – sacred to Muslims and Jews – was at the center of a security crisis set off when Israeli police raided the mosque to dislodge what they said were youths barricaded inside armed with rocks and fireworks.

Footage of the raid, showing police beating worshippers, triggered a furious reaction across the Arab world, sparking rocket attacks on Israel by Palestinian factions that were met with Israeli strikes on sites in Gaza, south Lebanon and Syria.

There were no reports of casualties.

Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, met with Palestinian Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh in Lebanon, the group said on Sunday, and discussed the situation at Al-Aqsa.

Israeli security experts have said that Iran-backed Hezbollah likely gave its permission to Hamas to fire the rockets from Lebanon.

"Our enemies were wrong when they thought that Israel’s citizens were not united in support for the IDF (Israel Defense Forces)," Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu –who is facing unprecedented protests at home against judicial changes – said in a statement.

In Gaza, Hazem Qassem, a Hamas spokesperson urged "all fronts to unite and confront the escalation by the arrogant (Israeli) occupation."



Hamas Armed Wing Says It Lost Contact with Group Holding Israeli-US Hostage Alexander

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Gaza. (Reuters)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Gaza. (Reuters)
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Hamas Armed Wing Says It Lost Contact with Group Holding Israeli-US Hostage Alexander

Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Gaza. (Reuters)
Smoke billows after an Israeli strike on Gaza. (Reuters)

The armed wing of Hamas said on Tuesday it had lost contact with a group of fighters holding Israeli-American hostage Edan Alexander in the Gaza Strip.

Abu Ubaida, the armed wing's spokesperson, said on the Telegram that it lost contact after the Israeli army attacked the place where the fighters were holding Alexander, who is a New Jersey native and a 21-year-old soldier in the Israeli army.

Abu Ubaida did not say where in Gaza Alexander was purportedly held. The armed wing later released a video warning hostages families that their "children will return in black coffins with their bodies torn apart from shrapnel from your army".

Hamas has previously blamed Israel for the deaths of hostages held in Gaza, including as a direct result of military operations, while also acknowledging on at least one occasion that a hostage was killed by a guard. It said the guard had acted against instructions.

There was no immediate response from the Israeli military to a request for comment on the Hamas statement about Alexander.

President Donald Trump's special envoy Steve Witkoff told reporters at the White House in March that gaining the release of Alexander, believed to be the last living American hostage held by Hamas in Gaza, was a "top priority for us".

The Tikva Forum, a group representing some family members of those held in Gaza, had said earlier on Tuesday that Alexander was among up to 10 hostages who could be released by Hamas if a new ceasefire was reached, citing a conversation a day earlier between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the mother of another hostage. There was no immediate comment on that from Netanyahu's office.

On Saturday Hamas released a video purportedly showing Alexander, who has been held in Gaza since he was captured by Palestinian gunmen on October 7, 2023.

The release of Alexander was at the center of earlier talks held between Hamas leaders and US hostage negotiator Adam Boehler last month.

Hamas released 38 hostages under a ceasefire that began on January 19. In March, Israel's military resumed its ground and aerial offensive on Gaza, abandoning the ceasefire after Hamas rejected proposals to extend the truce without ending the war.

Israeli officials say that offensive will continue until the remaining 59 hostages are freed and Gaza is demilitarized. Hamas insists it will free hostages only as part of a deal to end the war and has rejected demands to lay down its arms.