As the killings in Gaza continue, Israel prevents many Christians from reaching holy sites or homes in Jerusalem. Palestinian Christians in Gaza, the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem have marked a second sombre Easter under punishing conditions and Israel’s war on Gaza. In the Gaza Strip, where no food or aid has been allowed in by the Israeli military for nearly 50 days, people observed Easter on Sunday at the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyrius in Gaza City amid death and destruction. Easter celebrations were limited to religious rituals as families cancelled other gatherings fearing more bombs would be dropped by Israeli warplanes, which killed dozens of people in the besieged enclave on Sunday. Israeli forces bombed the Saint Porphyrius compound in October 2023, just days after the war began in the aftermath of Hamas-led attacks on Israel. Israel said it was targeting “terrorists”. That attack killed at least 18 displaced Palestinians who had sought refuge in the church. More than 51,000 Palestinians have been killed by the Israeli army since the start of the war. During a brief appearance before thousands of Catholic pilgrims gathered in St Peter’s Square for the Vatican’s open-air Easter Mass, Pope Francis renewed his call for a ceasefire in Gaza. He also called on the Palestinian armed group Hamas and other groups to release the remaining captives held in Gaza. Israeli authorities prevented many Christians, including Palestinians, from accessing holy sites for Easter in the occupied West Bank. Israeli police clashed with Christian worshippers and even a priest as they tried to access the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in occupied East Jerusalem. The Old City of Jerusalem was in effect turned by Israeli authorities into a military outpost, said Fathi Nimer, Palestine policy fellow at the Al-Shabaka think tank. “Some would say that there are now more soldiers, security and police officers than worshippers around the Holy Sepulchre,” he told Al Jazeera from Ramallah in the West Bank on Sunday. “There are dozens of checkpoints within the city, and these limitations have not only impacted Palestinian Christians from the West Bank but also from Jerusalem itself and within the 1948 territories.” Nimer said people were beaten, and Israeli officers and onlookers directed insults and slurs towards Christians. Only about 6,000 Palestinians from the West Bank received permits to attend Easter services this year, and even the representative of the Vatican in Palestine was denied entry into the church. Nimer said a tightening Israeli chokehold over holy places in the past few years has led to a dwindling number of worshippers of Palestinian origin. “This is all part of the wider war on Palestinian culture and identity. Israel is basically saying they have an exclusive claim to Jerusalem and all of Palestine,” he said. Mitri Raheb, a Palestinian pastor and theologian and founder and president of Dar al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, concurred that current Israeli restrictions are among the toughest. “I myself as a pastor don’t have a permit to go for the Holy Week, which is the most important week for Christians throughout the year because Jesus was crucified and risen in Jerusalem,” he told Al Jazeera. “The Palestinian-Christian community that has been there for 2,000 years cannot go there to celebrate and mark this where it all happened.” Raheb said incitement against Palestinian Christians, especially clergy members, has also been on the rise with dozens of incidents of Israeli settler attacks reported this year. “One of the first things you read about in church about Jesus is that he was like a lamb led to the slaughter. But when you hear this today as Palestinian Christians, you think it’s our whole people being led to slaughter, considering what is happening in Gaza.” Israeli settlers and politicians, backed by armed police and soldiers, have also been increasingly storming the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound to perform Talmudic rituals and challenge its status quo. Non-Muslims are not allowed to worship at the compound of Islam’s third holiest site, which is located in East Jerusalem, as part of the status quo agreement that the Israeli government claims it remains committed to. Pope Tawadros II, head of Egypt’s Coptic Orthodox Church, strongly condemned the Israeli onslaught on Gaza. “Palestinians are subject to the most horrific forms of injustice in their daily lives amid the destruction of their homeland,” he told state television during Easter celebrations. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

Rebel group say they will resume naval attacks against Israel if it fails to lift the blockade on Gaza within four days. Houthis to resume attacks if Israel’s Gaza blockade not lifted Yemen’s Houthi fighters have given Israel a four-day deadline to lift its blockade on food, medicine and aid into Gaza, threatening to resume “naval operations” against the country otherwise. The ultimatum, issued late on Friday, signals a possible escalation from the rebel group after their assaults tailed off in January following a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza. “We give the entire world notice: We are granting a four-day deadline,” the group’s leader, Abdel-Malik al-Houthi, said in a video statement. “This deadline is to allow for mediators to continue their efforts. If, after these four days, the Israeli enemy persists in preventing the entry of aid into Gaza, maintains the complete closure of crossings, and continues to block the entry of food and medicine into Gaza, we will resume our naval operations against the Israeli enemy,” he said. The Houthis, who are backed by Iran, launched more than 100 attacks targeting ships in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden following Israel’s war on Gaza, saying the raids were in solidarity with Palestinians in the enclave. During that period, the fighters sank two vessels, seized another and killed at least four seafarers in an offensive that disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around Southern Africa. The Houthis also launched dozens of missile and drone attacks on Israel, killing at least one person and causing damage to buildings, including a school in Tel Aviv. The United States, under President Donald Trump, re-designated the Houthis as a “terrorist” organisation earlier this week. There was no immediate comment from Israel on the Houthi threat. Hamas meanwhile welcomed the announcement. “The brave decision … is an extension of the positions of support and assistance that they [the Houthis] provided over the course of 15 months of war … in Gaza,” the Palestinian group said. The Houthis, who control most of Yemen, also said in February that they will take military action if the US and Israel try to displace Palestinians from Gaza forcibly. Their ultimatum comes as Israel’s blockade on all aid into Gaza entered a seventh day. The siege began on March 2 after Israel reneged on the ceasefire deal and sought to extend the first stage of the three-phased agreement that expired last week, without committing to ending the war on Gaza. The United Nations, rights groups and countries around the world say the Israeli blockade could constitute a war crime. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), in a statement on Friday, said the Israeli action has caused prices to soar in Gaza and resulted in anxiety over a return to bombardment and starvation. It noted that the blockade also comes as health authorities reported that at least eight babies, whose families have been sheltering in flimsy makeshift tents, have died from the cold in the past two weeks. “As the occupying power, Israel has a legal obligation to ensure the provision of the necessities of life for Palestinians living under its control,” the OHCHR said. “Any denial of the entry of the necessities of life for civilians may amount to collective punishment. The use of hunger and starvation as a weapon of war is a war crime.” Palestinians say the blockade has also resulted in shortages of medical supplies and left hospitals struggling to care for those wounded in the war. Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Khan Younis in southern Gaza, said healthcare workers were trying to do everything possible in order to continue to provide essential medical services. “We’re talking about more than 100,000 wounded people who have injuries from Israel’s military attacks on Gaza. And now, this ban has triggered huge concerns regarding two important issues: fuel and medical supplies,” he said. “Hospitals and medical centres are in desperate need of fuel in order to help medical teams continue to provide services. The vast majority of hospitals rely on emergency generators and now, with the ban on fuel trucks entering, the situation is getting much worse,” he added. “And it’s expected to get even worse within the coming days if there isn’t any serious intervention.” Israel’s war on Gaza has killed at least 48,440 Palestinians and wounded 111,845 others. Authorities in the enclave say the death toll is likely to be at least 61,709, as thousands of Palestinians missing under the rubble are presumed dead. Follow Al Jazeera English:...

The Lagos State Government has presented provisional approval letters to owners of 41 private nursery and primary schools and 29 junior and senior secondary schools. At the presentation held on Wednesday at the Education Resource Center, Ojodu, Ikeja, the Supervising Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education, Mr Sesan Ogundeko said the private educational institutions approved were those that met rigorous quality benchmarks. He said the state recognised the crucial place of private schools in the Lagos education sector, promising continued resources, and support with private institutions for quality teaching and learning environment in the state. In his welcome remarks, the Coordinating Director, Office of Education Quality Assurance, Mr Remi Abdul explained that only 70 out of the over 100 applicants for the provisional approval met the stringent criteria set by the state. Abdul explained that the approval process encompassed online registration, site visits, approval inspections and meticulous documentation. Abdul emphasized the importance of adherence to established educational laws and policies, particularly those concerning safeguarding and child protection. He highlighted the government’s unwavering commitment to student welfare. “This initiative aligns with Lagos State’s ongoing efforts to regulate and elevate the quality of private education. “School Proprietors are encouraged to maintain the high standards that qualify them for approval and to continually strive for excellence in their educational offerings,” Abdul said. Speaking, the Director of Private Education & Special Programmes, Sulaimon Ogunmuyiwa encouraged those who received provincial approval letters to maintain the high standards of education as established during the approval process. On his part, the Executive Director, Lagos State Examinations Board, Mr Adebayo Orunsolu, who was represented by Mr Peter Adefioye underscored the significance of attestation certificates for schools that have received official approval. ‘’For schools that have recently obtained approval, this development offers a dual advantage. Not only does it enhance the institution’s credibility, but it also serves as a form of advertisement, attracting other schools to register their students under the newly approved institution. ‘’This shift ensures that certificates issued, such as those for the Junior Secondary School Examination and attestation, bear the name of the approved school, thereby bolstering its reputation.’’ The school owners expressed their satisfaction with the approval letters. The proprietor of Russell College, Mrs. Ehi Nwanoeze praised the Lagos State Government, particularly the Quality Assurance Department, for its unwavering commitment to upholding educational standards.

Relatives of passengers lost on the 2014 flight have continued to demand answers from Malaysian authorities. The latest search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been suspended as it is “not the season”, according to the country’s transport minister, more than a decade after the plane went missing. “They have stopped the operation for the time being, they will resume the search at the end of this year,” Anthony Loke said in a voice recording sent to the AFP news agency on Thursday. “Right now, it’s not the season.” Flight MH370, a Boeing 777, was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew members when it vanished en route to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur in 2014 in one of the world’s greatest aviation mysteries. The decision came a couple of weeks after authorities said the search for the missing flight had resumed, following earlier failed attempts that covered vast swaths of the Indian Ocean. An initial Australia-led search covered 120,000sq km (46,300sq miles) in the ocean over three years, but hardly found any trace of the plane other than a few pieces of debris. Maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity, based in the United Kingdom and the United States, led an unsuccessful hunt in 2018, before agreeing to launch a new search this year. Last month, Ocean Infinity resumed the search for the wreckage of the missing flight. Its most recent mission was conducted on the same “no find, no fee” principle as its previous search, with the Malaysian government paying out only if the firm finds the aircraft. “Whether or not it will be found will be subject to the search, nobody can anticipate,” Loke said on Thursday, referring to the wreckage of the plane. MH370’s disappearance has long been the subject of theories – ranging from the credible to outlandish – including that veteran pilot Zaharie Ahmad Shah had gone rogue. A final report into the tragedy released in 2018 pointed to failings by air traffic control and said the course of the plane was changed manually. Investigators said in the 495-page report that they still did not know why the plane vanished and refused to rule out that someone other than the pilots had diverted the jet. Relatives of the missing passengers of the flight have continued to demand answers from Malaysian authorities. Two-thirds of the passengers were Chinese, while the others were from Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, and elsewhere. Last month, family members of Chinese passengers gathered in Beijing outside government offices and the Malaysian embassy on the 11th anniversary of the flight’s disappearance. Attendees of the gathering shouted, “Give us back our loved ones!” Some held placards asking, “When will the 11 years of waiting and torment end?” Follow Al Jazeera English:...