Al Mayadeen – April 9, 2025
Israeli airstrikes kill 45 in Gaza, dozens in one massacre
Israeli warplanes launched midday strikes targeting a residential block consisting of eight adjacent homes in Al-Shuja'iya.
At least 45 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on Gaza since dawn Wednesday, according to an Al Mayadeen correspondent, with 35 of the fatalities recorded in the al-Shuja'iya neighborhood in eastern Gaza following a horrific massacre committed by Israeli forces.
According to reports, Israeli warplanes launched midday strikes targeting a residential block consisting of eight adjacent homes in al-Shuja'iya, resulting in dozens of martyrs and wounded, most of them women and children. Several people remain missing under the rubble.
In a separate attack in the same neighborhood, five people were killed and several others wounded when Israeli aircraft bombed the Abu Ghoneima family home near the Tariq Bin Ziyad Mosque.
Elsewhere in Gaza City, one Palestinian was killed when Israeli warplanes targeted a group of people near the al-Mahatta Mosque in the al-Tuffah neighborhood northeast of the city.
Airstrikes target southern Gaza
In central Gaza, Israeli aircraft opened fire on residential homes near the government clinic east of the al-Maghazi refugee camp, causing injuries among civilians.
In southern Gaza, one person was martyred in an Israeli airstrike on the Qizan Abu Rashwan area in southern Khan Younis, while another was killed in a separate strike on a home in the city. In Khuza'a, also in southern Gaza, Israeli warplanes dropped a bomb that caused multiple civilian injuries.
Israeli assaults on Gaza have continued unabated since the renewed aggression began on March 18, 2025, resulting so far in around 1,400 martyrs and over 3,000 wounded.
Meanwhile, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported on Wednesday that the Israeli military is preparing to turn Rafah city and its surrounding neighborhoods—making up about one-fifth of the Gaza Strip’s area—into part of a newly expanded buffer zone.
Experts say Israeli policies 'more extreme'
Amid the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Strip, a group of United Nations experts underlined on Tuesday that Israeli policies are "more extreme" than anything experienced since October 7, 2023, urging governments around the world to meet their obligations to ensure the occupation's compliance with international law.
The group of experts includes Francesca Albanese and former Greek Foreign Minister George Katrougalos, among others.
The experts said that this round of the Israeli war in Gaza, specifically after the regime broke the ceasefire in mid-March, is "more aggressive than ever." They noted the killings of thousands of civilians, including journalists and health workers.
Furthermore, the experts said that the UN can no longer guarantee the safety of its teams in the Gaza Strip, pointing to an Israeli tank attack on a UN compound in Deir al-Balah. Among the underlined incidents was the Israeli occupation forces' killing of eight members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society. The emergency workers came under heavy fire from ground troops and were later buried near the site of the ambush.
On that note, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned on Tuesday that Gaza has become a "killing field", accusing "Israel" of obstructing supplies and failing to meet its "unequivocal obligations" toward the needs of the Palestinian territory's residents.
Palestinian Information Center – April 9, 2025
Hamas calls on normalizing countries to close Israeli embassies
Hamas demanded that countries still maintaining relations with the “criminal Zionist occupation” cut those ties and close the embassies of the “Nazi entity,” in support of the Palestinian people who are facing a “brutal Zionist genocide.”
In a statement on Wednesday, Hamas said that the terrorist occupation army committed a bloody massacre this morning in one of the most heinous acts of genocide, by bombing a residential area crowded with civilians and displaced persons in the Shujaiya neighborhood east of Gaza City, resulting in the death of 29 martyrs, most of whom were women and children, and injuring more than 50 others, while the search continues for dozens missing under the rubble.
Hamas added that the ongoing massacres against “our defenseless people, with full support from the U.S. administration complicit in the aggression, represent a stain of shame on the international community, which stands helpless and silent in the face of the most horrific chapters of mass murder and organized genocide.”
It pointed out that these brutal crimes, committed in front of the world’s eyes against innocent civilians, with the intent of extermination and sadistic revenge, will not go unaccounted for, and will not be forgotten over time. “History will hold accountable all those who remained silent and colluded with the Zionist war criminals.”
Hamas emphasized that it is no longer acceptable for Arab and Islamic positions to remain captive to timid statements and condemnations, while the Zionist killing machine escalates with cold blood under the world’s watch. “It is also unreasonable to leave our Palestinian people alone in this fateful confrontation without real support commensurate with the magnitude of the challenge and the crime,” Hamas said.
The statement continued, “Leaders of Arab and Islamic countries must bear their historical and humanitarian responsibilities and take urgent action to use pressure tools against the occupation and its supporters in Washington, to immediately stop the aggression, lift the siege, and hold the Zionist war criminals accountable for their crimes.”
Hamas called on the masses of the Arab and Islamic nations and the free people of the world to continue their solidarity and support for Gaza, to escalate and intensify it, and to rise against oppression and genocide, applying pressure by all means until the brutal extermination in the Gaza Strip is halted.
https://english.palinfo.com/?p=337031
Israel bombs several civilian houses in southern Lebanon
Israeli forces escalated attacks on southern Lebanon Wednesday, striking a home in Yater with missiles after threat calls, hitting prefabricated rooms in Ramia via drone, and maintaining constant aerial surveillance.
The Israeli Occupation forces attacked a house in southern Lebanon on Wednesday, in yet another blatant violation of Lebanon's sovereignty and the ceasefire agreement.
Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported Wednesday evening that an Israeli helicopter attacked a house in Yater, southern Lebanon, with two missiles after residents of three homes in the town received threatening calls from "Israel" warning of imminent bombardment.
Meanwhile, an Israeli drone struck prefabricated rooms in the southern town of Ramia in the western sector, according to our correspondent.
Throughout Wednesday afternoon, Israeli occupation warplanes and reconnaissance aircraft conducted persistent flights over various southern region.
"Israel" has been regularly attacking southern Lebanon, most recently injuring a civilian after Israeli Occupation Forces troops opened fire on a gathering of civilians in Mays al Jabal near the border.
'Israel' strikes South Lebanon, kills two right after Ortagus visit
Al Mayadeen’s correspondent reported that two Lebanese citizens were killed in an Israeli airstrike targeting a bulldozer in the southern Lebanese town of Zebqin on Sunday afternoon, with the initial civilian death toll of one later rising to two after a critically wounded individual succumbed to his wounds.
The latest Israeli attacks follow the visit of US Deputy Envoy to the Middle East, Morgan Ortagus, to Lebanon on April 5, during which she held discussions with the three top Lebanese leaders on several issues, including the situation in southern Lebanon and the borders with occupied Palestine and Syria.
A couple of days ago, Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam emphasized the importance of applying "maximum pressure on Israel to stop its ongoing attacks on various areas, especially residential ones," calling for a complete halt to the Israeli attacks.
In response to an aggression that targeted the southern Lebanese city of Saida and killed three people, Salam stressed that any Israeli assault on Lebanon "is a direct assault on Lebanese sovereignty and a blatant violation of Resolution 1701 and the security arrangements established to end hostilities."
The Israeli occupation forces have continued their violations of the ceasefire agreement with Lebanon since November 27, 2024, with more than 2,000 violations recorded, including attacks on areas in the South, the Bekaa Valley, and the Southern Suburb of Beirut.
Yemeni Armed Forces shoot down US MQ-9 drone, 3rd in 1 week
The spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces announced that Yemeni air defenses successfully targeted and downed the American drone.
The Yemeni Armed Forces have documented the wreckage of a US MQ-9 drone that was shot down over Al-Jawf province on Wednesday, according to footage released by the Yemeni Military Media.
The Military Media also shared updated figures regarding US drones of this type that have been downed across various provinces, revealing that Yemeni forces have brought down 22 MQ-9 drones in total. Of these, 18 were downed during the "Promised Conquest and Sacred Jihad" campaign in support of Gaza.
Earlier today, the spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, Brigadier General Yahya Saree, announced that Yemeni air defenses successfully targeted and downed the American drone, with footage of the wreckage later made public.
Saree stated that this marks the third US MQ-9 drone shot down within the past 10 days. He stressed that the ongoing operations come in direct response to continuous US aggression against Yemen and reaffirmed that Yemeni forces remain committed to supporting Gaza through their military operations.
US airstrikes kill, injure scores of civilians
The US-led aggression on Yemen targeted several locations with airstrikes on Tuesday, killing several people as rescue missions continue to extract people from under the rubble.
A US airstrike on a residential area in the al-Hawak district in Hodeidah killed four people and injured 16 others, according to a preliminary toll, with the Yemeni Ministry of Health stating that some casualties are still trapped under the rubble as rescue operations are underway.
Local sources told Al Mayadeen that four families are still under the rubble and debris of the US-led aggression on the residential neighborhood in al-Hawak District.
Continuous efforts are underway to recover and rescue victims of the airstrikes on the Amin Muqbil residential neighborhood in al-Hawak District, the sources added, highlighting the civil defense teams' search and rescue efforts.
Earlier on Tuesday morning, US forces carried out over 20 airstrikes across Yemen, targeting the capital, Sanaa, as well as the cities of Hodeidah and Marib.
Despite the intensified aggression and waves of airstrikes targeting Yemen, reports indicate that Ansar Allah's arsenal remains safe, with military operations costing the US billions of dollars without any clear achievements.
US spending billions on Yemen strikes with limited impact
Although US President Donald Trump has described Ansar Allah as “decimated” by what the Pentagon has dubbed Operation Rough Rider, launched on March 15, military and intelligence officials speaking to Congress and allies in private briefings admit that most of the Yemenis' vast underground arsenal of missiles and drones remains intact.
CNN revealed that the military offensive against Sanaa has cost the US nearly $1 billion in less than three weeks, despite the limited impact the strikes have had on Yemeni capabilities.
The Yemeni Armed Forces recently conducted two major military operations: One targeting Tel Aviv with a Yaffa-type drone and the other targeting two US Navy warships with several cruise missiles and drones, according to an announcement by the spokesperson for the YAF Brig. Gen. Yehya Saree on April 7.
In his announcement, General Saree affirmed that the US crimes against the people of Yemen and the targeting of civilian facilities "confirm the enemy's failure to achieve its objectives," highlighting that "these crimes will only increase the Yemenis' steadfastness and adherence to their unwavering position in support of the Palestinian people."
Trump announces 90-day pause on tariffs but raises China levies to 125%
US President Donald Trump has declared a 90-day pause on tariffs, but notably excluded China from the delay.
The announcement was made via his Truth Social platform. It outlined a temporary reciprocal tariff of 10% for most countries during the pause.
However, tariffs on Chinese goods were sharply increased to 125%, also effective immediately.
In his post, Trump justified the move against China by citing its “lack of respect” for global markets.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reinforced this stance. “When you punch at the United States of America, President Trump is going to punch back harder.”
She said the US remains open to tailored negotiations and aims to reduce tariffs universally to 10% during discussions.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said countries refraining from retaliatory measures against US tariffs would be “rewarded.”
He said Mexico and Canada are included in the 10% baseline tariff rate and highlighted that the hike in Chinese tariffs stemmed from Beijing’s “insistence on escalation.”
The heightened tariffs on China signal an intensification of trade tensions between the two economic giants.
On April 2, Trump announced his trade war strategy by imposing tariffs on trading partners and various countries worldwide.
As part of that move, the White House declared a 34% tariff on Chinese imports. In response, Beijing announced a reciprocal 34% tariff on US imports.
China criticized the Trump administration’s tariff policies, stating that they harm the stability of global production and supply chains while seriously impacting the world’s economic recovery.
The escalating trade war between Washington and Beijing continues to raise concerns about its broader implications for global markets and economic stability.
