The delegation, primarily composed of members from France’s left-wing ecologist and communist parties, had been invited by the French consulate in Jerusalem for a five-day official program aimed at promoting peace and international cooperation.

Israel’s interior ministry justified the cancellations under legislation permitting authorities to deny entry to individuals deemed threats to national interests.

The banned lawmakers condemned the action as “collective punishment” and a “major rupture in diplomatic ties,” calling on President Emmanuel Macron to intervene and pressure Israel to reverse its decision.

The incident occurs amid growing tensions over Palestinian statehood recognition. The lawmakers noted their political parties have historically supported Palestinian statehood, a position President Macron recently signaled France might formally adopt.

During a recent international summit, Macron indicated that France may recognize a Palestinian state as early as June.

Netanyahu has consistently opposed international recognition of Palestinian statehood, characterizing such moves as “a reward for terrorism.”

Read more at Times of India

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Since a January ceasefire collapsed on March 18, Israeli attacks have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians, according to the Gaza health authorities, and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes as Israel seized what it calls a buffer zone of Gaza’s land.

Israel has also imposed a blockade on all goods into Gaza, including fuel and electricity, since the beginning of March.

On Wednesday, the foreign ministers of Germany, France, and Britain jointly called on Israel to adhere to international law and allow the unhindered passage of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

They also urged for the ceasefire to be restored and for remaining hostages held by militant group Hamas to be released.

“Humanitarian aid must never be used as a political tool and Palestinian territory must not be reduced nor subjected to any demographic change,” the ministers said in a statement.

Medics said the airstrike on the Yaffa School in the Tuffah area of Gaza City set fire to tents and classrooms. There has been no Israeli comment on the school attack.

Some furniture was still in flames several hours after the strike as people sifted through blackened classrooms and the schoolyard in search of their belongings.

“We were sleeping and suddenly something exploded, we started looking and found the whole school on fire, the tents here and there were on fire, everything was on fire,” said eyewitness, Um Mohammed Al-Hwaiti.

“People were shouting and men were carrying people, charred (people), charred children, and were walking and saying: ‘Dear God, dear God, we have no one but you.’ What can we say? Dear God, only,” she told Reuters.

Medics said at least 36 people had been killed in Israeli strikes across Gaza on Wednesday.

Intensive Care Unit, Solar Power Damaged

The Gaza Health Ministry said an Israeli missile hit the upper building of the Durra Children’s Hospital in Gaza City, damaging the intensive care unit and destroying the solar panel system that feeds the facility with power. No one was killed in the hospital strike.

Gaza’s healthcare system is close to collapse due to Israel’s blockade, which it says is aimed at pressuring the Hamas militants who run Gaza to release 59 remaining Israeli hostages captured in the October 2023 attacks that precipitated the war. Hamas says it is prepared to free them but only as part of a deal that ends the war.

The health ministry said many Palestinian victims of Israeli military strikes remained trapped under buildings, as rescue teams are unable to reach them because of ongoing bombardments. The attacks have also hit dozens of bulldozers and machinery used to clear roads, remove debris, and to carry out rescue operations.

The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had hit 40 “engineering vehicles” that were used for “terrorist actions”, including Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

Israel says 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’ assault that day and 251 hostages were taken to Gaza.

Since then, local health authorities have reported that over 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive.

—

(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi. Additional reporting by Mahmoud Issa in Gaza; Editing by Sharon Singleton)

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Also on Tuesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Trump spoke by phone, two weeks after the two met in Washington. Trump wrote on his social networking site Truth Social that the two spoke about trade and Iran, among other issues. “The call went very well—We are on the same side of every issue,” he wrote.

Netanyahu’s office did not have an immediate comment, but his hastily-arranged visit to Washington was not deemed a rousing success after he appeared to fail to secure the support he wanted from Trump on issues such as stopping Iran from developing nuclear weapons, reducing Trump’s tariffs, the influence of Turkey and the war in Gaza.

Israel’s 18-month offensive against Hamas has destroyed vast areas of Gaza, raising fears that much of it may never be rebuilt. The territory already had a shortage of heavy equipment, which is also needed to rescue people from the rubble after Israeli strikes and to clear vital roads.

The Israeli military said it struck and destroyed around 40 pieces of heavy machinery. Israel said Hamas used the vehicles, including bulldozers, for planting explosives, digging tunnels, and breaching fences, including during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack.

A municipality in the Jabaliya area of northern Gaza said a strike on its parking garage destroyed nine bulldozers provided by Egypt and Qatar, which helped broker the ceasefire that took hold in January. Israel ended the truce last month, renewing its bombardment and ground operations and sealing the territory’s 2 million Palestinians off from all imports, including food, fuel and medical supplies.

The strikes also destroyed a water tanker and a mobile generator provided by aid groups, and a truck used to pump sewage, the Jabaliya al-Nazla municipality said.

Israeli Strikes Kill 17, Mostly Children

An Israeli airstrike early Tuesday destroyed a multistory home in the southern city of Khan Younis, killing nine people, including four women and four children, according to Nasser Hospital, which received the bodies. The dead included a 2-year-old girl and her parents.

“They were asleep, sleeping in God’s peace. They had nothing to do with anything,” said Awad Dahliz, the slain girl’s grandfather. “What is the fault of this innocent child?”

Also on Tuesday, a strike in the built-up Jabaliya refugee camp killed three children and their parents, and a strike in Nuseirat killed a man and two children, according to the Gaza Health Ministry’s emergency service and local hospitals.

The Israeli military did not have immediate comment on the strikes, but has accused Hamas of using civilian infrastructure for militant purposes.

Israel’s air and ground war has killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to the ministry, which does not say how many of the dead were civilians or combatants. Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking 251 people hostage. They are still holding 59 hostages, 24 of whom are believed to be alive, after most of the rest were released in ceasefire agreements or other deals.

Hamas has said it will only free the remaining hostages in return for the release of Palestinian prisoners, a full Israeli withdrawal and a lasting ceasefire. Israel has said it will keep fighting until the hostages are returned and Hamas has been either destroyed or disarmed and sent into exile. It has pledged to hold onto so-called security zones in Gaza indefinitely.

Islamist Killed in Lebanon

An Israeli drone strike southeast of Beirut killed Hussein Atwi, a member of the Lebanese branch of the Muslim Brotherhood, a regionwide Sunni Islamist political movement. The group said he was leaving for work when the drone struck.

Lebanon’s Health Ministry said another person was killed in an Israeli strike on the southern Tyre province, without providing further details. Israel said that its air force carried out the strike near Tyre and targeted a militant commander.

Israel has continued to carry out regular strikes across Lebanon despite reaching a ceasefire with the Hezbollah militant group in November. Israel says it is targeting militants and weapons caches. The Lebanese government says 190 people have been killed and 485 wounded since the ceasefire took hold.

Hezbollah began firing on Israel the day after Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack. Israel responded with airstrikes, and the conflict in Lebanon escalated into a full-blown war in September when Israel carried out a heavy wave of strikes and killed most of Hezbollah’s top leadership.

Palestinian Militants Arrested in Syria

The Palestinian Islamic Jihad group said two of its senior members were arrested in Syria “without any explanation.” The Syrian government has not commented.

Islamic Jihad, a smaller militant group allied with Hamas and also backed by Iran, had an established presence in Syria during the rule of former President Bashar Assad. It sent fighters to Lebanon to support Hezbollah during the war with Israel.

The arrests came days after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas visited Damascus and met with Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa. It was Abbas’ first visit to Syria since before the 2011 uprising and the civil war that eventually led to Assad’s overthrow last year.

Abbas leads the Western-backed Palestinian Authority, dominated by political rivals of Hamas.

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Sally Abou AlJoud in Beirut contributed.

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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Gaza’s health ministry said a U.N.-backed polio vaccination campaign meant to target over 600,000 children had been suspended, putting the enclave at risk of the revival of a crippling disease that once had been all-but eradicated.

In diplomacy to end the conflict, a Hamas delegation was expected to arrive in Cairo for talks. Two sources familiar with the mediation effort said the delegation would discuss a new offer which would include a truce for 5 to 7 years following the release of all hostages and an end to fighting.

The sources said Israel, which rejected a recent Hamas offer to release all hostages for an end of the war, had yet to respond to a revamped long-term truce proposal. Israel demands Hamas be disarmed, which the militants reject.

Hamas Source Denies Knowledge of Visit

A Hamas source later denied knowledge of an imminent visit, telling Reuters the group stood by its demand any agreement must end the war.

Gaza residents said Israeli forces bombed several areas across the enclave from tanks, planes, and naval boats. The attacks hit houses, tent encampments and roads, they added.

The airstrikes destroyed bulldozers and vehicles being used to lift rubble and help recover bodies trapped under the ruins, officials and residents said.

Hamas said the vehicles that were destroyed included nine that had been received from Egypt, adding that the move aimed to “deepen the suffering of our people in Gaza.”

The Israeli military said they hit 40 “engineering vehicles” that were used for “terrorist actions”, including the execution of Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

The vehicles were “considered a key component in Hamas’ ability to carry out terrorist operations against the Defense Forces and the State of Israel,” said the military.

Israel has imposed a total blockade on all supplies to Gaza since the start of March and relaunched its military operations on March 18 after the collapse of a ceasefire.

Since then, Israeli strikes have killed more than 1,600 Palestinians according to the Gaza health authorities, and hundreds of thousands have been forced from their homes as Israel seized what it calls a buffer zone of Gaza land.

Israel’s 18-month bombing campaign has rendered nearly all buildings in the Gaza Strip uninhabitable, and Gaza’s 2.3 million people now mostly live in the open under makeshift tents. Since the total blockade was imposed last month, all 25 U.N.-supplied bakeries making bread have been shut.

Israel says enough supplies were sent into the enclave during the six-week truce to keep Gazans alive for months. Aid agencies say they fear the population is on the precipice of starvation and mass disease.

If polio vaccines don’t arrive immediately, “we anticipate a real catastrophe. Children and patients must not be used as cards of political blackmail,” said Gaza health ministry spokesperson Khalil Deqran. He said 60,000 children were now showing symptoms of malnutrition.

Israel Denies Blockade Breads International Law

Israel says its blockade is aimed at pressuring the Hamas militants who run Gaza to release 59 remaining Israeli hostages captured in the October 2023 attacks that precipitated the war. Hamas says it is prepared to free them but only as part of a deal that ends the war.

“Israel is acting in full accordance with international law,” Defence Minister Israel Katz wrote on X, in response to U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who called the Israeli blockade of Gaza since March a war crime.

“The humanitarian condition in Gaza is constantly monitored and large quantities of aid were delivered. Whenever it becomes necessary to allow additional aid, it must be ensured that it does not pass through Hamas, which exploits humanitarian aid to maintain control over the civilian population and to profit at their expense,” Katz wrote.

Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the United Nations Palestinian relief agency UNRWA, described the blockade as collective punishment of Gaza’s people.

“The siege must be lifted, supplies must flow in, the hostages must be released, the ceasefire must resume,” Lazzarini said on Tuesday in a post on X.

The conflict was sparked by a Hamas attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, resulting in 1,200 deaths and 251 hostages taken to Gaza, according to Israeli records.

Since then, local health authorities report that over 51,000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli offensive.

—

(Reporting and writing by Nidal al-Mughrabi; Editing by Peter Graff and Ros Russell)

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Bezalel Smotrich, the country’s powerful finance minister, suggested in a radio interview that ensuring that Hamas no longer ruled Gaza after its deadly 2023 attack in southern Israel was a higher priority.

“We have promised the Israeli people that at the end of the war, Gaza will no longer be a threat to Israel,” said Smotrich, who has called for building Jewish settlements in the Palestinian enclave. “We need to eliminate the problem of Gaza.”

Israel Had Two Major Aims for War in Gaza

Israel launched the war in Gaza after the Hamas-led attack with at least two aims: destroy Hamas and bring back the more than 250 people captured in the assault.

Both goals have proved elusive despite a devastating campaign that has killed more than 50,000 people in Gaza, according to Palestinian officials, who have not said how many of the dead were combatants.

Hamas is demanding a permanent ceasefire in exchange for the release of any more of the remaining hostages. Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, have insisted they will not end the war before Hamas surrenders. Netanyahu has argued that “military pressure” will ultimately force the group to accept more favorable terms.

Smotrich’s remarks touched a nerve in Israel, where a no-one-left-behind ethos has long prompted the country to make difficult deals in exchange for the release of its captives.

In January, Israel agreed to a ceasefire with Hamas, during which more than 1,500 Palestinian prisoners were exchanged for 30 hostages and the bodies of eight more.

Since Israel ended the truce in mid-March, the families of Israeli hostages have been demanding an immediate agreement to release the remaining captives, even at the cost of ending the war and leaving Hamas in charge of Gaza.

Around Two Dozen Living Hostages Believed to Be in Gaza

About two dozen living hostages and the bodies of more than 30 others are believed to still be in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.

The Hostages Families Forum, a group representing many of the relatives of the Israeli captives, said the Israeli government under Netanyahu’s leadership, had “consciously decided to give up on the hostages.”

There was no immediate comment from Netanyahu’s office.

More than 36 hostages have died during the 18-month war in Gaza, some of them in Israeli airstrikes. Hamas has continued to fight a dogged insurgency against Israel for well over a year despite heavy losses, leaving critics skeptical that the group can be destroyed completely.

In an address on Saturday night, Netanyahu said he would not end the war as long as Hamas ruled Gaza. He accused “elements in Israel” who wanted to end the war in order to bring back the hostages of “echoing Hamas propaganda word for word.”

—

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Aaron Boxerman
c. 2025 The New York Times Company

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Younish Al-Khatib, chairman of the Palestinian Red Crescent, said he did not consider the measures taken by the Israeli military, which reprimanded one officer and dismissed another from his position, as sufficient.

“This looks like the management of a company taking administrative measures against its employees who made some kind of a mistake,” he told Reuters. “When you kill 15 medical staff and civil defence personnel, these can’t be called ‘measures’.”

“There has to be proper accountability and a stop to impunity that Israel has taken for granted for so many years,” he added.

Israeli Military Said Special Forces Made Errors in Gaza

On Sunday, the Israeli military said members of a special forces unit in Gaza had made a number of errors in three separate incidents on March 23, during which they fired on ambulances, a fire truck and a UN vehicle.

It issued a formal reprimand to a brigade commander and said the deputy battalion commander who was on the ground when the incident occurred would be relieved of his post over the mix of professional failures and breaches of orders, as well as a failure to fully report the incident.

After initially saying the soldiers opened fire on a number of unmarked vehicles that approached their position, the military confirmed that they were clearly marked as emergency vehicles. The investigation found, however, that the soldiers had been unable to see clearly in the dark.

The military advocate general’s office may now take further action, including possible criminal action against the soldiers, the military said.

Killing of the aid workers drew condemnation worldwide, piling pressure on the military to clarify what had occurred and to hold those responsible to account.

Al-Khatib said the army’s investigation, headed by former Major General Yoav Har-Even did not match the seriousness of the incident, which added to a toll of more than 400 Palestinian emergency and health workers killed in the conflict, including 44 from the Red Crescent.

“We don’t look at it as a proper investigation,” Al-Khatib said, urging an independent international investigation. He said the Red Crescent would continue to work in Gaza, the West Bank and Jerusalem.

Separately, Hamas issued a statement saying the Israeli military investigation was “nothing but a blatant attempt to evade full responsibility for this heinous crime”.

—

(Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

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The Houthis’ media office said 13 U.S. airstrikes hit an airport and a port in Hodeida, on the Red Sea. The office also reported U.S strikes in the capital, Sanaa.

There were no immediate reports of casualties.

U.S. Military Confirms Ongoing Strikes

The U.S. military’s Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, said it continues to conduct strikes against the Houthis in Yemen.

Thursday’s strike hit the port of Ras Isa, also in Hodeida province, killing 74 people and wounding 171 others, according to the Houthi-run health ministry. It was the deadliest strike in the U.S. ongoing bombing campaign on the Iranian-backed rebels.

U.N. Expresses Grave Concern

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday said he was “gravely concerned” about the attack on Ras Isa, as well as the Houthis missile and drone attacks on Israel and the shipping routes, his spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said Saturday.

“The secretary-general recalls that international law, including international humanitarian law as applicable, must be respected at all times, and he appeals to all to respect and protect civilians as well as civilian infrastructure,” Dujarric said.

U.S. Central Command declined to answer any questions about possible civilian casualties. It referred to a statement in which it said “this strike was not intended to harm the people of Yemen.”

Context of U.S. Bombing Campaign

The strikes on Hodeida have been part of a month-long U.S. bombing campaign, which the Trump administration said came about because of the Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, a crucial global trade route, and on its close ally, Israel.

About 200 people have been killed in the U.S. campaign since March 16, according to the Houthis’ health ministry.

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Children and women were among the 15 people killed overnight, and some had been sheltering in a designated humanitarian zone, according to hospital staff.

Humanitarian Zone Struck

At least 11 people were killed in the southern city of Khan Younis, several of them in a tent in the Muwasi area where hundreds of thousands of displaced people are staying, hospital workers said. Israel has designated it as a humanitarian zone.

Mourners cradled and kissed the faces of the dead. A man stroked a child’s forehead with his finger before body bags were closed.

“Omar is gone … I wish it was me,” one brother cried out.

Four other people were killed in strikes in Rafah city, including a mother and her daughter, according to the European Hospital, where the bodies were taken.

There was no immediate Israeli military comment. Israel has vowed to intensify attacks across Gaza and occupy indefinitely large “security zones” inside the small coastal strip of over 2 million people.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was expected to issue a statement Saturday night, according to his office. There were no immediate details.

Aid Blockade Raises Alarm

Israel also has blockaded Gaza for the past six weeks, again barring the entry of food and other goods.

This week, aid groups raised the alarm, saying thousands of children have become malnourished and most people are barely eating one meal a day as stocks dwindle, according to the United Nations.

On Friday, the head of the World Health Organization’s eastern Mediterranean office, Dr. Hanan Balkhy, urged the new U.S. ambassador in Israel, Mike Huckabee, to push the country to lift Gaza’s blockade so medicines and other aid can enter.

“I would wish for him to go in and see the situation firsthand,” she said.

In his first appearance as ambassador on Friday, Huckabee visited the Western Wall, the holiest Jewish prayer site in Jerusalem’s Old City. He inserted a prayer into the wall, which he said was handwritten by U.S. President Donald Trump. Huckabee said every effort was being made to bring home the remaining hostages.

The war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducting 251. Most of the hostages have been released in ceasefire agreements or other deals. Hamas currently holds 59 hostages, 24 of them believed to be alive.

Israel’s offensive has since killed over 51,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

The war has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and most of its food production capabilities. Around 90% of the population is displaced, with hundreds of thousands of people living in tent camps and bombed-out buildings.

Growing Frustration and Calls for Ceasefire

Frustration has been growing on both sides after Israel shattered a ceasefire last month, with rare public protests against Hamas in Gaza and continued weekly rallies in Israel pressing the government to reach a deal to bring all hostages home.

A growing campaign of retired and reservist Israeli soldiers has called for an end to the war.

——

Magdy reported from Cairo. Associated Press writer Jamey Keaten contributed to this report.

___

Follow AP’s war coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war

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According to the Kremlin, the ceasefire will last from 6 p.m. Moscow time (1500 GMT) on Saturday to midnight (2100 GMT) following Easter Sunday.

“We assume that the Ukrainian side will follow our example. At the same time, our troops must be ready to repel possible violations of the truce and provocations from the enemy, any of its aggressive actions,” Putin said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, in a video shared by the Kremlin’s Press Service.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the ceasefire “another attempt by Putin to play with human lives.” He wrote on X that “air raid alerts are spreading across Ukraine,” and “Shahed drones in our skies reveal Putin’s true attitude toward Easter and toward human life.”

In response to the ceasefire announcement, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said that Kyiv had in March “agreed unconditionally to the U.S. proposal of a full interim ceasefire for 30 days,” which Russia rejected.

“Putin has now made statements about his alleged readiness for a ceasefire. 30 hours instead of 30 days,” Sybiha continued, writing on X. “Unfortunately, we have had a long history of his statements not matching his actions.”

Related Story: European Countries Vow Billions in Military Support for Ukraine as US Envoy Meets Putin

Largest POW Exchange So Far

The two sides meanwhile exchanged hundreds of POWs on Saturday. Russia’s Ministry of Defense said that 246 Russian service members were returned from territory controlled by Kyiv, and that “as a gesture of goodwill” 31 wounded Ukrainian POWs were transferred in exchange for 15 wounded Russian soldiers in need of urgent medical care.

Zelenskyy said that 277 Ukrainian “warriors” have returned home from Russian captivity.

Both sides thanked the United Arab Emirates for their mediation.

Putin’s ceasefire announcement came after U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday said negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are “coming to a head” and insisted that neither side is “playing” him in his push to end the grinding three-year war.

Trump spoke shortly after Secretary of State Marco Rubio warned that the U.S. may “move on” from trying to secure a Russia-Ukraine peace deal if there is no progress in the coming days, after months of efforts have failed to bring an end to the fighting.

In January 2023, Putin had ordered his forces in Ukraine to observe a unilateral, 36-hour cease-fire for Orthodox Christmas. Zelenskyy had dismissed it as playing for time to prepare additional attacks.

Related Story: Putin Proposes UN-Sponsored Governance Over Ukraine, Boasts of Battlefield Gains

Russia Says Its Forces Have Retaken Nearly All of Kursk

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday its forces pushed Ukrainian troops from the village of Oleshnya, one of their last remaining footholds in Russia’s Kursk region where the Ukrainians staged a surprise incursion last year.

Gerasimov said Saturday in a report to Putin, quoted by Russian state media, that Russia had retaken nearly all of the territory from Ukrainian forces.

“The main part of the region’s territory, where the invasion took place, has now been liberated. This is 1,260 square kilometers, 99.5%,” Gerasimov said.

Zelenskyy wrote on X that Ukrainian forces “continued their activity on the territory of the Kursk region and are holding their positions.”

The Associated Press was unable to immediately verify the claim by Russia. Russian and North Korean soldiers have nearly deprived Kyiv of a key bargaining chip by retaking most of the region.

According to Russian state news agency Tass, Russia is still fighting to push Ukrainian forces out of the village of Gornal, some 7 miles (11 kilometers) south of Oleshnya.

“The Russian military has yet to push the Ukrainian armed forces out of Gornal … in order to completely liberate the Kursk region. Fierce fighting is underway in the settlement,” the agency reported, citing Russia security agencies.

In other developments, the Ukrainian air force reported that Russia fired 87 exploding drones and decoys in the latest wave of attacks overnight into Saturday. It said 33 of them were intercepted and another 36 were lost, likely having been electronically jammed.

Russian attacks damaged farms in the Odesa region and sparked fires in the Sumy region overnight, Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said Saturday. Fires were contained, and no casualties were reported.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense, meanwhile, said its air defense systems shot down two Ukrainian drones overnight into Saturday.

Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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“This is how Russia began this Good Friday – with ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, Shaheds – maiming our people and cities,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on X.

Ihor Terekhov, the mayor of Ukraine’s second biggest city, said the attack damaged 21 apartment buildings, two schools, two kindergartens, a children’s arts centre and a factory, where the strike caused a fire. More than 5,000 windows were shattered in the attack, the official said.

“Everything went flying in all rooms, the windows shattered,” said Inna Khrystych, one of the residents. “My husband died.”

Andriy Ponomarenko said he and his wife were woken by the strike and rushed to find their four-year-old daughter amid the smoke and shattered glass.

“We first thought the blood was mine but turned out she got a cut by her eye,” he said.

Ukraine Says Russia Launched Four Missiles

Ukraine’s foreign minister said Russia launched four missiles at Kharkiv, three of them ballistic and carrying cluster warheads.

“Russia is a terror machine. It will only stop if we confront it with true strength,” Andriy Sybiha added, a day after meeting U.S., French, German and British envoys in Paris.

Zelenskiy added later that advanced Iskander missiles had been used in the attack.

Russia and Ukraine agreed to a U.S.-brokered moratorium on strikes against energy infrastructure last month, but both sides have accused each other since of violating it.

Zelenskiy told a press conference in Kyiv on Thursday that in total, Russia was launching the same number of missiles and drones at Ukraine as before the agreement.

He said that Russia has reduced the number of its strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities, but was attacking civilian infrastructure instead.

A Friday morning drone attack on Sumy, another northeastern city, also killed one person and injured another at a factory baking Easter cakes, officials said.

—

(Reporting by Anastasiia Malenko in Kyiv, Vitalii Hnidyi in Kharkiv and Maria Tsvetkova; Editing by Tom Hogue, Kate Mayberry, Andrew Heavens and Alison Williams)

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