Middle East latest: Israel frees a Gaza medic detained since troops killed 15 rescue workers

Israel released a Palestinian medic who has been held prisoner since soldiers killed 15 of his colleagues last month and buried them in a mass grave in southern Gaza. He's one of 10 detainees released back to the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. Prisoners released by Israel have said they were ordered by Israel not to speak to the media and fear for their safety.

South Africa, a staunch critic of Israel, presents its arguments to the United Nation’s International Court of Justice on Tuesday for a second day of hearings about Israel’s legal responsibilities to ensure humanitarian aid to Palestinians in Gaza, where the aid system is nearing collapse. Israel’s total blockade of Gaza — now in its second month — has cut off all food, fuel, medicine or any other supplies.

Israel is marking its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of militant attacks. Fifty-nine hostages are still inside Gaza, of which around two dozen hostages are still believed to be alive. Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, according to the territory's Health Ministry.

Here's the latest:

The Israeli military didn't specify where the drone might have come from, saying only that it was intercepted before entering the country's airspace and that no air raid sirens were activated.

Since Israel broke the ceasefire in Gaza last month, a handful of rockets have been fired from the Palestinian territory as well as long-range missiles from Yemen.

Among the Palestinians released Tuesday is Mohammad al-Sharif who was taken from Rafah. He said it felt like he had been given a “new date of birth” because he can finally see his family again.

“While I was in captivity, I thought that I would not find any of my family members and relatives” if he returned to Gaza, he said.

The 10 Palestinians released by Israel arrived at Aqsa Hospital in a Red Cross vehicle on Tuesday, where they were examined by doctors. Some of them said they had been held for around five or six months.

The ceremony, held annually since 2006 and occasionally drawing right-wing protesters, was down from 15,000 attendees two years ago, according to Ayelet Harel, the Israeli director of the Parents Circle Families Forum, a group of bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families, one of two sponsoring organizations.

Liat Atzili, who was held in captivity by Hamas for 54 days, addressed the ceremony and spoke about her husband, who was killed on Oct. 7, 2023 on Kibbutz Nir Oz. She described how he loved tractors and the wildflowers that bloomed in the western Negev. She also spoke of things that gave her hope during her time in captivity.

“In this situation, where I have no control over anything, I still have the opportunity to decide the type of person I want to be,” she said. Atzili said she wanted to focus on the shared humanity, even with those holding her hostage.

Israel police said three protesters were arrested after a brawl outside a screening of the ceremony in Raanana, a town north of Tel Aviv. According to Israeli media, dozens of right-wing protesters gathered outside of a synagogue where a live screening of the ceremony was held and yelled at attendees. Four police officers were lightly injured.

An activist originally from central Gaza, whose testimony was read by a Palestinian activist to protect her identity, spoke about losing many members of her family during multiple wars in Gaza. She wrote that their stories are “not just about heartbreak, but about steadfastness, and also about hope that rises from the rubble.”

Only two Palestinians from the Israeli-occupied West Bank were able to secure permits to attend the ceremony in Israel, Harel said, though around 200 attended a joint screening in Beit Jala, a Palestinian town near Jerusalem, and at several spots around Israel.

President Isaac Herzog called on Israel to rise above political wrangling, especially during the national Memorial Day, at a candle-lighting ceremony in Jerusalem.

“At this pure national moment, I call: remove the IDF from political disputes," he said, referring to Israel's military. "Place the Shin Bet, the Mossad, the police, and all security services above all disputes.”

Hours earlier, the Israeli cabinet voted to cancel a government decision to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service, part of a political dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the Shin Bet.

Thousands of people attended a ceremony for fallen soldiers and victims of attacks at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, one of the holiest sites where Jews can pray.

Volker Türk, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said the world must act together to prevent the collapse of humanitarian aid operations in Gaza, which he said are plunging toward “a new unseen level.”

Israel has blocked the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian supplies since March 2.

“Any use of starvation of the civilian population as a method of war constitutes a war crime, and so do all forms of collective punishment,” Türk said in a statement Tuesday. Israel says the blockade is a pressure tactic on Hamas to release the hostages.

The organizers said they canceled this year's march because of heavy restrictions imposed by Israeli police on the event.

The Nakba, Arabic for “catastrophe,” refers to the 700,000 Palestinians who fled or were driven out of what today is Israel before and during the war surrounding its creation in 1948. Israelis will celebrate independence day beginning Wednesday evening, as Palestinians mark the Nakba on Thursday.

Mohammed Barakeh, a former lawmaker and head of the High Follow Up Committee for Arab Citizens, said that police imposed a ban on waving the Palestinian flag and said no more than 700 protesters could take part in the march, which has previously drawn thousands.

Instead, he said that organizers would plan gatherings in Palestinian villages that were depopulated during the Nakba.

Israel's Memorial Day, which lasts from sunset to sunset, began Tuesday evening with an official ceremony in Jerusalem.

“We all have one home. We all have one country. We all have one fate. We all have one future,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. “Everyone understands who we are fighting against, and what we are fighting about,” he said.

Protesters yelled from a distance but did not interrupt the ceremony. Later in the ceremony, a bereaved father shouted at Knesset speaker Amir Ohana as he was about to read a prayer written by his son, a soldier who was killed in Gaza. Ohana later went to comfort the father.

The ceremony is the first of many official ceremonies and smaller events at military cemeteries and memorials across the country. The solemnity is then abruptly interrupted by the fanfare of Independence Day, which begins Wednesday evening.

The cancellation means that Israel’s Supreme Court is unlikely to rule on whether his removal -- which came amid a rising confrontation with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu -- was politically motivated.

The Cabinet voted by telephone on Tuesday afternoon to cancel a government decision to fire Ronen Bar, the head of the Shin Bet internal security service. He announced on Monday he would resign on June 15.

Netanyahu moved to fire Bar last month over what he said was a crisis of confidence surrounding Hamas’ attack. But the step sparked an uproar in Israel because the agency is investigating ties between the Israeli leader’s office and Qatar — a key mediator between Hamas and Israel over the war in Gaza.

The Movement for Quality Government in Israel, one of the petitioners who brought the case against Netanyahu to protest Bar’s firing, called the cancellation a “cynical and transparent exercise designed to prevent a ruling.” They said they will appeal to the Supreme Court to demand the hearing continue.

Among the tents for the displaced near Khan Younis, children sent by their parents mobbed the Rafah Charity Kitchen, holding out empty pots. Workers ladled out portions of boiled lentils in each.

Hani Abu Qasim, at the Rafah Charity Kitchen, said his staff used to serve meat and chicken but now can only give lentils, plain pasta or rice. They reduced portions to stretch out their stocks.

Thousands of people come to the kitchen every day.

After hours of waiting at the kitchen, Yahya Abu Shaar and his children returned to the family tent with two small pots of lentil soup. His wife Abeer Abu Shaar added some bread into it to thicken it, then set it on the ground in their tent for their nine children to eat.

She worries that the children have no variety in their diet, with no proteins, dairy or fruit available to them.

“They are getting problems. It’s having an effect on their speech and their minds,” she said. “It’s not healthy.”

Malnutrition among kids in the Gaza Strip is already surging. The U.N. said it identified 3,700 children suffering from acute malnutrition in March, up 80% from the month before.

Dr. Ayman Abu Teir, head of the Therapeutic Feeding Department at Khan Younis’ Nasser Hospital, said the number of malnutrition cases coming in has increased substantially.

Dr Ziyad Majaida, a pediatrician in Khan Younis said children need “1 to 2 grams of protein per kilogram per day,” for growth from foods such as meat, eggs, fish and dairy. “Of course, these things are unfortunately unavailable due to the closure of the crossings for more than two months,” he said.

Israel imposed the blockade on March 2, then shattered a two-month ceasefire by resuming military operations on March 18. It said both steps aim to pressure Hamas into releasing hostages. Rights groups call the blockade a “starvation tactic” endangering the entire population and a potential war crime.

At least six Palestinians including three children and one woman were killed in two Israeli overnight strikes in Gaza Strip, medics said. The strikes hit a house in Khan Younis and a tent in Mawasi area.

Mourners gathered around the bodies of their loved ones at the Nasser Hospital ahead of funeral prayers.

“What can I say? And who will listen?” one grieving woman, Sabah Fojo, tearfully told The Associated Press. “They don’t feel anything for us — no one feels anything. Let’s just keep our feelings to ourselves.”

The Palestinian Red Crescent aid group said one of its medics, Asaad al-Nsasrah, was released by Israel on Tuesday alongside nine other detainees from Gaza.

Prisoners released by Israel have said they were ordered by Israel not to speak to the media and fear for their safety.

The medic had been detained since Israeli forces killed several of his colleagues on March 23 — eight medics with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society, six members of the Hamas government’s Civil Defense rescue group, and a United Nations staffer. Israeli troops bulldozed over the bodies along with their mangled vehicles, burying them in a mass grave. U.N. and rescue workers were only able to reach the site a week later.

The Palestinian Health Ministry says at least 2,273 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel resumed the war last month. In total, Israel has killed more than 52,000 Palestinians, the majority of them women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between militants and civilians in its count.

Since Israel ended the ceasefire last month, its forces have seized more than half of the coastal territory. The Israeli military has been striking homes, shelters and public areas daily, saying it is targeting Hamas militants.

The war in Gaza started when the Palestinian militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251.

Israeli police in riot gear fired tear gas into a schoolyard in east Jerusalem on Tuesday, sending Palestinian children who were playing soccer fleeing into the building as they coughed and covered their eyes.

Three AP reporters visiting the school in the Shuafat refugee camp witnessed the episode. It was the latest Israeli incursion to impact the school, which is run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, known as UNRWA, for boys in grades 1-9.

The tear gas spewed through the school’s open windows and filtered into the hallways as students ran for cover. Pupils donned facemasks while worried teachers ferried them into classrooms.

An Israeli police spokesperson said police forces in Shuafat camp had rocks and bottles thrown at them and “they had to reply.” But the spokesperson denied police deliberately targeted the school.

Forces had entered the Shuafat camp, a hardscrabble district in east Jerusalem surrounded by a concrete wall, earlier that morning, said UNRWA officials. Such incursions are common but gas entering the school is rare, said teacher Duaa Zorba.

Israeli authorities say Hamas is holding 24 living hostages in Gaza and the remains of roughly 35 more. The families of the dead say their plight is urgent because they fear their loved ones won’t return home for proper burial, which they see as a measure of closure to their ordeal.

“Every moment that passes decreases the chance that we can bring back the missing,” said Meital Weiss, whose father, Ilan Weiss, was killed during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack and his body taken into Gaza.

The plea was made hours before Israel begins marking its national Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of militant attacks.

Since the war in Gaza resumed last month, there has been little recent progress to bring about a new ceasefire that would free more hostages. Deceased hostages are expected to be the last to be returned.

People visit Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on the eve of Israel's annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Freed Palestinian prisoner Samir Abu Ghanem, who was detain by the Israeli army during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, arrives at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, after his release from an Israeli prison, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Freed Palestinian prisoner Mohammad Al-Sharif, who was detain by the Israeli army during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, arrives at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, after his release from an Israeli prison, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Freed Palestinian prisoner Raheem Salah, who was detain by the Israeli army during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, arrives at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, after his release from an Israeli prison, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Freed Palestinian prisoner Mohammad Hijazi, who was detain by the Israeli army during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, arrives at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, after his release from an Israeli prison, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Freed Palestinian prisoners, who were detain by the Israeli army during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, arrive at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, after their release from an Israeli prison, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Asaad Al-Nsasrah, a paramedic with the Red Crescent whose colleagues were killed by Israeli army in southern Gaza, arrives at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, after being released from an Israeli prison. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli scouts light torches marking the annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers, at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

People light candles at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on the eve of Israel's annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Palestinian fishermen pull their nets out of the Mediterranean Sea at the port of Gaza City, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Israeli fighter jets fly over Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. on the eve of Israel's Memorial Day for fallen soldiers. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Freed Palestinian prisoner Mohammad Al-Sharif, who was detain by the Israeli army during its ground operation in the Gaza Strip, arrives at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, after his release from an Israeli prison, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talks with Meir Hershkowitz the father of fallen Israeli soldiers Netanel Hershkowitz during the annual ceremony at the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers (Yom HaZikaron) at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

Girlfriend of Liel Haio, an Israeli soldier killed in Gaza, visits his grave on the eve of the Israel's Memorial Day, at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)

Asaad Al-Nsasrah, a paramedic with the Red Crescent whose colleagues were killed by Israeli army in southern Gaza, arrives at al-Aqsa Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025, after being released from an Israeli prison. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)

The bodies of several members of the Abu Mahdi family, killed in an Israeli army airstrike, lie on the floor at the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Students react to tear gas fired by Israeli Police into the yard of the UNRWA Boys' School run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in the Shuafat Refugee Camp in east Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Students play soccer at the UNRWA Boys' School, run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees, moments before Israeli Police fired tear gas into the yard in Shuafat Refugee Camp in east Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

A student reacts to tear gas fired by Israeli Police while he was playing soccer with classmates in the yard of the UNRWA Boys' School, run by the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees in the Shuafat Refugee Camp in east Jerusalem, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during the annual ceremony at the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers (Yom HaZikaron) at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, Amir Ohana, right, and Jerusalem mayor Moshe Leon, left, attend the annual ceremony at the eve of Israel's Remembrance Day for fallen soldiers at the Yad LaBanim Memorial in Jerusalem, on Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (Abir Sultan/Pool Photo via AP)

A Palestinian flag flies outside the International Court of Justice, rear, which opened hearings into a United Nations request for an advisory opinion on Israel's obligations to allow humanitarian assistance in Gaza and the West Bank, in The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong)

Heba Shakura mourns her son Islam Abu Mahdi who was killed in an Israeli army airstrike, during his funeral at the Indonesian hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Monday, April 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

Palestinians receive donated food at a distribution center in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, Tuesday, April 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Jehad Alshrafi)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)