UN official: Israeli army "the most degenerate army"

On Sunday  , April 19, 2026, a Palestinian was killed and another was seriously injured  by Israeli gunfire in the northern and central Gaza Strip, as part of a continuous series of violations of the ceasefire in force since October 2025.

Artillery shelling and heavy gunfire

In the most recent attacks, IDF vehicles fired at the tents of displaced people in the Halawa refugee camp, east of Jabalya, in the northern Gaza Strip, killing one Palestinians. A 16-year-old boy was also seriously injured after he was targeted by an Israeli drone in the Tahlia area in the city of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, an area outside the scope of the deployment of the occupation forces, which control more than half of the Gaza Strip.

Local sources reported that the army's vehicles and helicopters fired towards areas in the east of the central governorate, while Israeli artillery shelled areas east of the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, in conjunction with intensive fire from vehicles and helicopters, while warships targeted the city's coast with shells and machine guns.

Continued violations of the ceasefire agreement

The government information office in Gaza confirmed on Tuesday that Israel has committed more than 2,400 violations of the ceasefire agreement, including killings, arrests, sieges and starvation. According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, these violations resulted in the death of 773 Palestinians and the injury of 2,171 others.

The agreement was reached two years after a genocidal war launched by Israel on Gaza in October 2023 with US support, which resulted in more than 72,000 dead and 172,000 wounded Palestinians, in addition to extensive destruction of 90% of infrastructure.

Francesca Albanese: The Israeli army is the "most degenerate army"

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Palestinian Territories, Francesca Albanese, said on Sunday, April 19, 2026, that the Israeli occupation army is "the most degenerate army."

Commenting on a video showing members of the occupation army abusing  a Palestinian child, Albanese wrote, "I have seen enough to say with certainty: the Israeli army is the most degenerate army."

A few days ago, Albanese revealed that her life had become threatened and had even turned into something like a "roller coaster ride" since the publication of her report in which she accused the occupying power of committing genocide in Gaza.

In an interview with The Guardian, Albanese said she faced death threats and a constant sense of danger after accusing Israel of genocide.

The Popular Front mourns the death of Lebanese activist Maha Abu Khalil

In a related context, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) mourned the 80-year-old Lebanese militant Maha Abu Khalil, who was assassinated by the Israeli army in the city of Tyre in southern Lebanon just before a ceasefire with Hezbollah.

The Front said in a statement that Abu Khalil "escalated following the treacherous Zionist aggression on the city of Tyre on the evening of Friday, April 17, minutes before the announcement of the ceasefire, after targeting four residential buildings that were razed to the ground."

The statement added that the martyr was a model of the militant woman who combined thought, national commitment and social work, noting that she obtained a doctorate in media and studied in Prague in the late 1970s, and participated in the activities of the Popular Front abroad since the 1970s, including the 1969 Athens guerrilla operation.

Abu Khalil was known for her constant presence in southern Lebanon and her steadfastness in the city of Tyre during repeated Israeli wars, refusing to leave her land despite the bombardment. An old video of her waving a victory badge during her trial in Greece following the attempted hijacking of an Israeli plane has been circulated on Palestinian platforms.

 The ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah went into effect at midnight last Thursday/Friday for a renewable ten-day period, after a 45-day aggression that killed more than 2,294 people, injured 7,544 others, and displaced more than a million in Lebanon.