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The Cradle is an online news magazine covering West Asian geopolitics from within.
❗️The nine people who were killed in Beit Lahia, north Gaza, have been identified. They are people associated with the Al-Kheir Foundation, an international NGO based in the UK and Turkiye. Their names and occupations are:
• Bilal Abu Matar – Media
• Mohammed al-Ghafir – Civilian
• Mahmoud al-Saraj – Photographer
• Bilal Akila – Photographer
• Abu Hazem Sardah – Driver
• Abu Suhaib al-Najjar – Spokesperson
• Mahmoud Aslim – Drone Photographer
• Mahmoud al-Basus – Drone Photographer
❗️The United States is said to have turned down a proposal from the Iraqi government last month regarding the release of Israeli-Russian 'researcher' Elizabeth Tsurkov, who wemt missing in March 2023.
The offer reportedly included a $500-200 million payment and the release of prisoners "loyal to Iran in Iraq and Lebanon" according to Asharq al-Awsat.
An Iraqi official informed Asharq al-Awsat that the government is continuing its efforts to free Tsurkov as soon as possible by negotiating with "friendly mediators" while staying within the bounds of the law.
This follows earlier statements from January, when Iraqi Foreign Minister Fuad Hussein told Axios that Tsurkov is still alive and that the Iraqi prime minister is actively working to secure her release.
A video of Tsurkov admitting to working for the Mossad and CIA surfaced in November 2023. She is believed to have entered Iraq on a Russian passport.
For the 54th consecutive day, Israeli occupation forces continue to set fire to homes in the Jenin camp, converting them into military barracks and forcibly displacing residents at gunpoint.
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❗️Press Statement Issued by the Media Office of the Resistance Committees in Palestine:
○ “We mourn the nine martyrs who were killed in the Zionist enemy’s bombing of Al-Khair Foundation’s vehicle in the Beit Lahia area."
○ “The crime of killing these nine martyrs in the Al-Khair Foundation’s vehicle is yet another Zionist crime added to the enemy’s ongoing aggression against all areas of the Gaza Strip, constituting a new violation of the ceasefire agreement that the fascist enemy has failed to uphold."
○ “The targeting of journalists and humanitarian organization workers has become a recurring scene, carried out by the Zionist enemy in a systematic and deliberate policy aimed at silencing the truth and obstructing humanitarian efforts, ultimately leading to the killing of innocent people."
○ “We call on the mediators to fulfill their role in overseeing the ceasefire agreement and to pressure the Zionist entity to comply with its obligations."
○ “The blood of the martyrs will not be shed in vain, and the Zionist enemy will pay the price for all its crimes, which will never break the will of our people."
UPDATE | The death toll has risen to 8, in the latest Israeli massacre in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.
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❗️Lebanese Civil Defense:
"Two martyrs in an Israeli raid on a car in the [southern Lebanese] town of Burj al-Muluk."
BREAKING | An Israeli drone kills five people, including journalist Mahmoud Musallam, in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip.
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US President Donald Trump on Truth Social:
"Today the fugitive leader of ISIS in Iraq was killed. He was relentlessly hunted down by our intrepid warfighters. His miserable life was terminated, along with another member of ISIS, in coordination with the Iraqi Government and the Kurdish Regional Government. PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH!"
WATCH | Israeli army spokesman Avichay Adraee is posting blatant Israeli propaganda of what he refers to as a "Ramadan series."
The first episode talks about a young Palestinian man called Mohammad who accepts to deliver a box that was given to him in a mosque for 200 shekels, after he is told that he is a capable man.
Apparently Mohammad does not know what is in the box, and when his friends confront him about it, tell him that "Palestinians don't have room for more problems," and ask him if he saw what happened to Gaza, Mohammad backs down on delivering the box and says that they are men and not to worry.
Eventually, the young men confront a group of Israeli forces that detain them, then the Israeli forces proceed to storm a mosque supposedly full of resistance fighters.
At the end, the video says:
"These days, don't trust anybody. Money comes and goes, but your life and future can not be replaced. Remember, who sells you for a shilling, will sell someone else for free tomorrow."
❗️Statement from the Media Committee in Tulkarem, occupied West Bank:
○ “The Israeli occupation forces continue their assault on the city and camp of Tulkarem for the 48th consecutive day and on Nour Shams Camp for the 35th consecutive day."
○ “The number of displaced residents from Nour Shams and Tulkarem camps has risen to over 24,000, with more homes and neighborhoods being forcibly evacuated. Many of the displaced remain in shelters or nearby towns."
○ “In the early hours of Saturday morning, explosions were heard near the wooded areas of Nour Shams Camp, coinciding with a heavy deployment of occupation soldiers. Flames and smoke were seen rising from the site, causing damage to vehicles and home windows. Meanwhile, occupation forces opened fire on an ambulance that was evacuating a patient from the camp."
○ “The occupation forces continue to forcibly remove residents from Tulkarem Camp, ordering families in the Al-Marbaa neighborhood to leave their homes at gunpoint. They also raided the Abu al-Foul and Qaqoun neighborhoods, breaking down doors, vandalizing homes, and converting them into military outposts."
○ “The Israeli forces detonated one of the gates of Al-Nasr Mosque in Nour Shams Camp and conducted searches in the Al-Mahjar neighborhood while firing intensively. Additionally, they set fire to the home of Yasser Moqbel in the Al-Manshiya neighborhood."
○ “During a raid in the Al-Muqataa neighborhood of Tulkarem Camp, Israeli soldiers brutally assaulted several residents, severely beating a man and his son before detaining them for over 12 hours before their release."
○ “The occupation has deployed further military reinforcements in the city and its camps, increasing the presence of heavy machinery and bulldozers, particularly around buildings it has seized on Nablus Street, which have been turned into military bases. Mobile checkpoints have also been set up to restrict civilian movement."
○ “The ongoing assault on the city and camps has resulted in the killing of 13 Palestinians, including a child and two women—one of whom was eight months pregnant. Dozens have been wounded and arrested, while over 12,000 residents have been forcibly displaced from Nour Shams Camp and another 12,000 from Tulkarem Camp."
Syrian FM urges Iraq to reopen border in first visit since armed coup
Relations have been tense between the two countries since the former Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria took power in December
❗️The US Central Command published a video showing the assassination of the second-in-command of ISIS and the operations leader, Abdullah Maki Musleh al-Rifai, known as Abu Khadija.
The US command stated on X: “On March 13, U.S. Central Command forces, in cooperation with Iraqi Intelligence and Security Forces, conducted a precision airstrike in Al Anbar Province, Iraq, that killed the Global ISIS #2 leader, Chief of Global Operations and the Delegated Committee Emir – Abdallah Makki Muslih al-Rifai, alias ‘Abu Khadijah’, and one other ISIS operative.”
❗️Hamas spokesman Dr. Abdul Latif al-Qanou:
“Our delegation in Cairo is following up on proposals to consolidate the ceasefire.”
❗️The Palestinian youth, Omar Abdel Hakim Ishtia (21), was shot dead by Israeli occupation forces in the town of Salem, east of Nablus.
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❗️Palestinian journalist Alaa Hashem has passed away after spending months in a coma resulting from an Israeli airstrike on Gaza City earlier this year.
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❗️Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem:
○ “The occupation forces committed a horrific massacre in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, by targeting a group of journalists and humanitarian workers, in a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement."
○ “The deliberate targeting of aid workers by the occupation aims to deepen the humanitarian crisis and cause famine after tightening the blockade on the crossings and preventing the entry of all humanitarian supplies."
○ “The continued targeting of journalists by the occupation is meant to prevent the truth about the Zionist crimes against our people from being conveyed and to cover up its horrific violations of all human rights laws and norms."
❗️Gaza Ministry of Health:
○ “19 martyrs (12 recovered martyrs, 7 new martyrs) and 26 injuries arrived at Gaza Strip hospitals over the past 48 hours."
○ “A number of victims remain under the rubble and on the roads, unable to be reached by ambulance and civil defense crews."
○ “The death toll from the Israeli aggression has risen to 48,543 martyrs and 111,981 injuries since 7 October 2023."
❗️Israeli Channel 12, citing political sources:
"A possible decision today to launch limited military operations in Gaza to pressure Hamas."
UPDATE | The Ministry of Health in Gaza announces that "nine martyrs and several injuries, including critical cases, arrived at the Indonesian Hospital in northern Gaza a short while ago," as a result of the latest Israeli massacre in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza.
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❗️Israeli occupation troops force residents in the Abu al-Foul neighborhood to evacuate their homes in Tulkarem Camp, occupied West Bank.
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BREAKING | An Israeli drone targets and destroys a vehicle in the town of Burj al-Muluk, southern Lebanon.
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❗️The Trump administration is considering imposing extensive travel restrictions on citizens from dozens of countries as part of a new ban, according to sources familiar with the matter and an internal memo reviewed by Reuters.
A US official, speaking anonymously, noted that the list of affected countries could still change and that the proposal had yet to receive final approval from the administration, including US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
The internal memo categorizes 41 countries into three groups:
Full Visa Suspension:
Afghanistan
Cuba
Iran
Libya
North Korea
Somalia
Sudan
Syria
Venezuela
Yemen
Partial Visa Suspension (Affecting Tourist, Student, and Some Other Visas):
Eritrea
Haiti
Laos
Myanmar
South Sudan
Countries Recommended for Partial Suspension if Deficiencies Are Not Addressed:
Angola
Antigua and Barbuda
Belarus
Benin
Bhutan
Burkina Faso
Cabo Verde
Cambodia
Cameroon
Chad
Democratic Republic of the Congo
Dominica
Equatorial Guinea
Gambia
Liberia
Malawi
Mauritania
Pakistan
Republic of the Congo
Saint Kitts and Nevis
Saint Lucia
São Tomé and Príncipe
Sierra Leone
East Timor
Turkmenistan
Vanuatu
❗️Israeli settlers attack Palestinian farmers while they were grazing their sheep in Khirbet al-Ratoubah, south of Hebron, occupied West Bank, injuring one of the farmers.
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❗️The Gaza Media Office and Hamas on Friday condemned a joint European-American decision to ban Al-Aqsa TV from satellite broadcasting.
The move included a warning that any satellite provider airing the channel would face sanctions and legal action.
The Government Media Office described the decision as "a blatant assault on public freedoms, freedom of opinion and expression, and a systematic suppression of the Palestinian narrative."
It stated that the ban demonstrates "a clear alignment with the open war waged by the occupation (Israel) against Palestinian media" and amounts to "a reward for the occupation's crimes against journalists."
The media office called for the decision to be reversed, arguing that it "violates international laws and resolutions."
Hamas denounced the measure as “a direct targeting of free Palestinian media, which conveys the suffering of the Palestinian people and the crimes of the occupation to the world."
⭕️ Israel is set to enforce extensive new visa and registration regulations for international aid organizations operating in Palestine, imposing restrictions that humanitarian groups warn will politicize their work, endanger both local and international staff, and disrupt relief operations in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.
Under the new rules announced this week, Israeli authorities will have the authority to legally deny the registration of NGOs assisting Palestinians based on broad criteria. Among the factors considered are whether an organization or its employees have previously advocated for a boycott of Israel, rejected its identity “as a Jewish and democratic state,” or supported legal action against Israeli soldiers for committing war crimes.
Aid organizations are particularly alarmed by a requirement to provide the names, contact details, and identification numbers of Palestinian staff. Given the high toll on humanitarian workers in Gaza—where more than 300 have been killed, most of them Palestinian—aid groups view the demand to share names with one side of the conflict as “highly problematic,” according to a Jerusalem-based relief worker to The Washington Post.
❗️When asked about Gaza, US President Donald Trump comments about the microphone that accidentally touched his face instead.
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❗️Local sources in Gaza report that Israeli gunboats fired into the sea off the central Gaza Strip, which coincided with intense gunfire east of the town of Juhr al-Dik.
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❗️Government Media Office in Gaza:
○ “There are no alternatives to compensate for the depletion of food supplies, fuel, and water.”
○ “The continued closure of the crossings will lead to certain famine in the Gaza Strip.”
○ “There is no alternative but to end the blockade and ensure the smooth flow of aid.”
○ “We are on the verge of famine if the blockade on the Gaza Strip continues.”
Part of the massive destruction caused by the Israeli occupation forces in the Jenin camp, as part of the army's attempt to make the area uninhabitable and displace the local population.
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⭕️ About 130,000 worshippers performed the Isha and Tarawih prayers in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque on the 14th day of Ramadan.
According to the Islamic Endowments Department, this is considered the largest number of worshippers attending Al-Aqsa since the beginning of Ramadan.