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Morning update | 2 April 2024 06:25 BST | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-38

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Wafa News Agency reports that an Israeli air strike on Rafah killed four people, including two children

The death toll from the Israeli strike on a World Central Kitchen vehicle has risen to seven as the organisation announced it is now pausing its operations in the region. Those killed were coming from Poland, Australia, the UK, Palestine, and a dual citizen of the US and Canada.

Australian PM Anthony Albanese demanded “full accountability” for the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, while the US called on Israel to “swiftly” investigate the killing of aid workers

Axios reports that the US told Iran it had “no involvement” in the suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus, which killed seven people including a top Iranian commander

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said they saw a record rise in anti-Muslim incidents in the US in 2023 due to the Israeli war on Gaza

#Bilan
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2 April 2024 00:02 BST - Evening recap
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/evening-recap-83?nid=350241&topic=Israel-Palestine%2520war&fid=508806

The Palestinian health ministry said that the death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza has risen to 32,845, with 63 killed over the past 24 hours .

An additional 94 people have been wounded, bringing the total to 75,392 since the start of the war.

In other developments:

Palestinian media outlets have reported that an Israeli attack on a vehicle south of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza killed five aid workers affiliated with World Central Kitchen.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hernia surgery was successful.

Israeli air strikes targetting the Iranian consulate in Syria’s capital on Monday killed at least five people, Iranian state media reported.

The Palestinian Authority is seeking a vote by the UN Security Council within this month to grant it full membership status in the global organisation.

Knesset passes a law to close Al Jazeera’s office in Israel.

🔴 En direct : l’armée israélienne s’est retirée de l’hôpital al-Chifa à Gaza
▻https://www.france24.com/fr/moyen-orient/20240401-%F0%9F%94%B4-en-direct-le-premier-ministre-isra%C3%A9lien-netanya

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Le ministère de la Santé de la bande de Gaza contrôlée par le Hamas a affirmé que l’armée israélienne a retiré ses chars et autres véhicules de l’hôpital al-Chifa. « Des dizaines de corps de martyrs, certains en état de décomposition, ont été retrouvés dans l’enceinte et aux abords de l’hôpital al-Chifa », a affirmé le ministère.

Le Premier ministre israélien, Benjamin Netanyahu, a été opéré d’une hernie « avec succès », rapporte un communiqué de son bureau.

Des négociations devraient reprendre au Caire pour une trêve entre Israël et le Hamas. En dépit des efforts de l’Égypte, du Qatar et des États-Unis, les discussions patinent, l’État hébreu et le mouvement islamiste palestinien se renvoyant la responsabilité de cette impasse.

#Bilan
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Morning update
1 April 2024 05:34 BST | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-37

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Israeli forces reportedly withdrew from Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital and its vicinity, leaving the complex severely damaged and burned

Israel says a drone attack lightly damaged a building in Eilat, as the Islamic Resistance in Iraq claims to have targeted the country

Axios reports that the US and Israel are expected to hold a virtual meeting later today, in which they will discuss the Biden administration’s alternative proposals to an Israeli military invasion of Rafah

Veterans for Peace said a US Air Force senior airman Larry Hebert will go on a hunger strike to shed light on the plight of Gaza’s children

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Evening update
31 March 2024 23:09 BST
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/evening-update-10?nid=350241&topic=Israel-Palestine%2520war&fid=50860

The Gaza health ministry has updated the death toll in the besieged Strip, stating it has jumped to 32,782. It added that 75,298 people had been injured since the war broke out on 7 October. The toll included 77 people killed and 108 wounded in the past 24 hours .

Israel’s military said it carried out an air strike against a command centre operated by the armed Islamic Jihad group in the courtyard of al-Aqsa hospital in the central Gaza Strip. Palestinian health officials said the strike hit several tents used by journalists and displaced Palestinians in the vicinity of al-Aqsa hospital in Deir al-Balah, killing four people and wounding several, including five journalists.

The Israeli military said it killed a Hezbollah commander in an airstrike on a vehicle in Lebanon on Sunday, identifying him as Ismail al-Zin, a significant commander in the anti-tank missile unit of Hezbollah’s Radwan Forces.

Two civilians were injured in Israeli strikes on the outskirts of Damascus on Sunday, the Syrian defence ministry said, in the second such attack on the country in a few days.

Other major developments on Sunday included:

Palestinian Christians in occupied East Jerusalem observed low-scale Easter celebrations. According to Al Jazeera, the Church of Holy Sepulchre in occupied East Jerusalem was relatively empty, contrary to previous years, when the courtyard would be packed.

Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in Jerusalem on Sunday against Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and against exemptions granted to ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from military service, in scenes reminiscent of mass street protests last year.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is due to undergo hernia surgery tonight. His hernia was discovered by doctors “during a routine examination”. During the period of surgery, Justice Minister Yariv Levin will serve as acting prime minister.

A new Palestinian government led by recently appointed Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa was sworn in on Sunday.

Three ships, carrying 400 tonnes of aid, sailed for Gaza earlier on Sunday, a World Central Kitchen (WCK) representative said on board an accompanying boat. This was the second maritime aid shipment by the WCK to Gaza.

Morning update | 30 March 2024 09:20 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-35

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An Israeli strike hit a car carrying UN observers near south Lebanon border, security sources told Reuters

The Israeli military struck the Deir al-Balah, Nuseirat and Maghazi refugee camps in central Gaza, destroying residential buildings. It also targeted northern Gaza with massive aerial attacks

A 13-year-old Palestinian child was shot and killed and two youths were wounded during a dawn raid in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency

The US said it welcomes the nomination of a new Palestinian Authority cabinet

Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said that Israel will expand its offensive on the northern border and increase attacks on Hezbollah

The Israeli army said that it has killed the deputy commander of Hezbollah’s rocket and missile unit, Ali Abdel-Hassan Naim, in an air strike near the southern city of Tyre.

#Bilan

Late night update 29 March 2024 23:49 GMT
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/late-night-update-13?nid=350241&topic=Israel-Palestine%2520war&fid=50

On Friday, Israel escalated its bombardment campaign against Lebanon and Syria, with a series of air strikes in the Aleppo province that killed more than 40 people.

Israel also said that it killed a Hezbollah commander in south Lebanon. The escalatory strikes have further raised concerns about Israel’s willingness to seek peace as it continues to increase attacks in the wider conflict amid its ongoing war in Gaza.

Meanwhile, countries continue to airdrop humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip, as the threat of famine grows for the Palestinian population.

The death toll in Gaza, according to the latest figures from the Palestinian health ministry, stands at 32,623.

Here’s what else you need to know from Friday’s developments:

An Israeli strike on a sports centre in Gaza City’s Shujaiyah neighbourhood killed 15 people

Two Israeli attacks in Gaza City’s Shujaiyah neighbourhood killed several members of the local police force in charge of securing aid convoys to the area

A UK charity has launched a nationwide billboard campaign calling on the government to end its arms sales and trade agreements with Israel if it continues its bombardment of Gaza

A senior US State Department official acknowledged that famine in Gaza is both a risk and “quite possibly” present in some areas in the northern part of the enclave

Israel has destroyed more than 2,000 agricultural sites, including farms and greenhouses, in Gaza since October 2023, according to a report from Forensic Architecture

The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, said on Telegram that it destroyed a Merkava 4 Israeli tank in Tal al-Hawa in Gaza City

The Biden administration has approved the transfer of billions of dollars worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel in recent days, according to a report from the Washington Post

The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu released a statement saying that the government will send a delegation back for negotiations over a truce between Hamas.

Le ministère de la Santé du Hamas annonce un nouveau bilan de 32 623 personnes tuées
▻https://www.france24.com/fr/moyen-orient/20240329-%F0%9F%94%B4-en-direct-au-moins-36-soldats-syriens-tu%C3%A9s-dans

Le ministère de la Santé du Hamas a annoncé un nouveau bilan de 32 623 personnes tuées dans la bande de Gaza depuis le début de la guerre entre Israël et le mouvement islamiste palestinien le 7 octobre.

En 24 heures, 71 morts supplémentaires ont été recensés, selon un communiqué du ministère, qui fait état de 75 092 blessés en près de six mois de guerre.

#Bilan
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Morning update
29 March 2024 | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-34

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Israeli strikes on Syria’s Aleppo killed 38 people, including five members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, two security sources told Reuters
An Israeli attack on a home in Gaza’s Maghazi refugee camp killed eight people

Israeli PM Netanyahu told relatives of Israeli soldiers held in Gaza they “preparing to enter Rafah,” after claiming they had already conquered northern Gaza and Khan Younis

In response to ICJ’s additional provisional measures, Israel said it is “committed to international law” and will “promote new initiatives” to deliver aid into the Gaza Strip

Japan announced it will restore its funding of Unrwa, the UN’s Palestinian refugee agency

The UN’s World Food Programme said that famine is “imminent” in northern Gaza, calling for much more aid to be delivered there

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Late night update
28 March 2024 23:46 GMT| Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/late-night-update-12

On Thursday, the International Court of Justice issued additional provisional measures, ordering Israel to allow the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza without any hindrances.

The order was issued with special emphasis on the situation regarding hunger in Gaza, with the ICJ noting that “famine is setting in”.

The political leader of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziyad al-Nakhalah, met with Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran and Khamenei told the Palestinian leader that the group would “see final victory of the people of Gaza”.

And despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire and renewed negotiations, Israel is continuing to bomb areas all across the Gaza Strip. The current death toll stands at 32,552 Palestinians.

Here’s what else you need to know from Thursday’s developments:

An Israeli air strike has killed at least 12 Palestinians in Rafah.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked Israel’s top court to defer a 31 March deadline for the government to come up with a new military conscription plan addressing the exemptions granted to members of the ultra-Orthodox community.

Politico is reporting that the Pentagon is in “preliminary conversations” about a proposal to help fund either a multinational peacekeeping force or a Palestinian peacekeeping team in Gaza in a post-war scenario.

Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Mustafa has formed a new cabinet, in which he will also serve as foreign minister.

A six-year-old Palestinian boy died from malnutrition in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military released 102 Palestinians who were detained from across the Gaza Strip in recent months. The military also released seven members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society.

October 7: Forensic analysis shows Hamas abuses, many false Israeli claims
By Richard Sanders and Al Jazeera Investigative Unit
Published On 21 Mar 202421 Mar 2024 | Al Jazeera
▻https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/21/october-7-forensic-analysis-shows-hamas-abuses-many-false-israeli-claims

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Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit (I-Unit) has carried out a forensic analysis of the events of October 7, when Hamas fighters launched an incursion into Israel that has transformed the politics of the Middle East.

October 7 reveals widespread human rights abuses by Hamas fighters and others who followed them through the fence from the Gaza Strip and draws up a comprehensive list of those killed. (...)

#7oct

🔴 En direct : frappes israéliennes et combats dans plusieurs villes de la bande de Gaza
France 24 | Publié le : 28/03/2024
▻https://www.france24.com/fr/moyen-orient/20240328-%F0%9F%94%B4-en-direct-frappes-isra%C3%A9liennes-combats-villes-g

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La bande de Gaza est le théâtre jeudi de raids aériens et d’affrontements féroces entre l’armée israélienne et des combattants palestiniens du Hamas. Un haut responsable local rapporte, quant à lui, des combats près de la ville de Gaza (nord) et à Khan Younès (sud).

L’armée américaine a annoncé avoir abattu mercredi quatre drones lancés par les rebelles houthis du Yémen qui ciblaient un navire de guerre des États-Unis en mer Rouge.

Frappes israéliennes meurtrières sur Gaza et poursuite des combats dans plusieurs villes
▻https://www.france24.com/fr/moyen-orient/20240328-%F0%9F%94%B4-en-direct-frappes-isra%C3%A9liennes-combats-villes-g

La bande de Gaza est le théâtre jeudi de raids aériens et d’affrontements féroces entre l’armée israélienne et des combattants palestiniens du Hamas à l’heure où le gouvernement de Benjamin Netanyahu rouvre la porte à des discussions avec son allié américain sur une éventuelle opération à Rafah.

Tôt jeudi, le ministère de la Santé du Hamas a fait état d’au moins 66 morts à Gaza au cours de la nuit, notamment dans des frappes aériennes, tandis qu’un haut responsable local rapportait des combats près de la ville de Gaza (nord) et à Khan Younès (sud). En parallèle, l’agence de presse palestinienne Wafa a dénombré des heurts dans différentes localités de la Cisjordanie occupée.

L’armée israélienne, qui accuse les combattants du Hamas de se cacher dans les hôpitaux, poursuit son opération lancée le 18 mars dans le complexe hospitalier al-Chifa de Gaza-Ville.

À Khan Younès, les soldats mènent des opérations dans le secteur des hôpitaux Nasser et al-Amal, distants d’environ un kilomètre. L’hôpital al-Amal « a cessé de fonctionner complètement », a indiqué plus tôt cette semaine le Croissant-Rouge palestinien après l’évacuation des civils qui s’y trouvaient.

Morning update
27 March 2024 06:01 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-33

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Israel targeted an emergency health centre affiliated with Lebanese political and armed group al-Jamaa al-Islamiya in al-Habbaryieh, south Lebanon, reportedly killing seven rescuers. Israeli claims the strike killed a key member of the group

Israeli morning strikes on two homes in Rafah killed three people

One 19-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli forces in Jenin, occupied West Bank as heavy clashes are reported in the area

Jordanian police beat and arrested several protesters near the Israeli embassy in Amman

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant said a “local alternative” must be found in Gaza as he believes it should not be governed by Israel or Hamas

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Late night update
26 March 2024 23:56 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/late-night-update-10

A day after the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Israel’s war on the enclave continues.

Despite that resolution, truce talks between Israel and Hamas have not progressed, with the Israeli negotiating team leaving Doha, blaming Hamas for what it described as a “dead end” in the current discussions.

And Israel’s military has continued to bomb the Gaza Strip despite the international call for a cessation of hostilities. The latest Palestinian health ministry death toll in Gaza stands at 32,414.

Here’s what else you need to know from Tuesday’s developments:

Israel claimed that it killed top Hamas military leader Marwan Issa in a strike earlier this month. Hamas officials said there was no confirmation of this, and said Israel was waging an information war.

Colombia’s President Gustavo Petro has threatened to cut diplomatic ties with Israel if the country doesn’t comply with the UN Security Council’s ceasefire resolution.

Yemen’s Houthi movement said that it carried out six operations, including attacks on four ships and attacks on two US destroyers. One attack, however, was denied by the vessel’s company.

A series of air strikes targeted the eastern province of Deir el-Zour in Syria, killing more than a dozen people, including an Iranian advisor and a member of the World Health Organisation.

Thirty Palestinians have been detained by Israeli forces in mass arrests across the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Society.

Unrwa said it has sufficient funds to keep its operations going until the end of May.

The US Treasury Department has announced sanctions against finance and trade facilitators for Yemen’s Houthi rebels, the Lebanese group Hezbollah and Iran’s Quds Force.

#Bilan

War on Gaza: How Israeli soldiers assaulted Palestinians during the raid on al-Shifa hospital
Survivors of the attack on hospital’s vicinity recall executions, torture and abuse by Israeli soldiers during a week-long operation
By Mohammed al-Hajjar and Abubaker Abed and Osama Kahlout in Gaza, occupied Palestine

Published date: 25 March 2024 16:15 GMT | Last update: 17 hours 34 mins ago | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/gaza-war-israeli-soldiers-assaulted-palestinians-al-shifa-hospital-at

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Survivors of the Israeli attack on al-Shifa hospital and its vicinity in Gaza City have recounted their experiences to Middle East Eye, a week after the raid.

Israeli forces have been attacking and laying siege to al-Shifa hospital since Monday 18 March. The medical complex is the largest in the Gaza Strip, with some 30,000 people seeking refuge there prior to the current raid.

The surgical building was destroyed on Thursday, and many displaced people were forced to leave the medical complex, the largest in the Gaza Strip. Meanwhile, civilians in the vicinity of the hospital have reported being trapped under Israeli fire for days.

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor rights group said on Saturday that it documented “a series of crimes systematically committed by Israeli forces” in the area of the hospital in Gaza City over the past week.

The abuses , according to Euro-Med, include extrajudicial executions, communication cutoffs, and intense shelling targeting homes surrounding the medical complex.

Adel AbdRabbouh, 29, was an eyewitness to the Israeli attack on the hospital last week as he arrived there to visit his cousins.

At around 11am last Monday, he watched as Israeli quadcopters, tanks, warplanes and military vehicles encircled the hospital.

He said “thousands of bullets” were fired at the hospital, which forced him to stay put as he feared being shot at if he fled the building.

“People were falling [...] like leaves from Israeli bullets; patients were left alone moaning from pain inside; women were calling their children, and children were crying out in panic. That was the scene,” he told Middle East Eye.

Then, AbdRabbouh said that approximately 500 Israeli soldiers stormed the hospital, instructing everyone not to move.

They began apprehending those who could walk and had no life-threatening wounds, he added.

“Initially assuring us no harm would come, they proceeded to kill at least 300 civilians. We were mere toys in their hands," he said.

Despite sustaining severe fractures and burns on his left leg during the attack, AbdRabbouh was among those detained in the raid.

Over 500 individuals, including women and children, were also detained, he told MEE.

“Men were stripped, beaten, blindfolded and handcuffed. We were herded into the courtyard and later subjected to interrogation,” he added.

AbdRabbouh said he underwent three rounds of questioning by Israeli soldiers, each round lasting 15 minutes.

Soldiers asked him whether he had encountered any Palestinian fighters. Following 45 minutes of interrogation per person, they were left naked outside the hospital, and received nothing for iftar except a small bottle of water.

They remained in this state until the following morning when they were instructed to march to Al-Rasheed Street, near Istanbul Cafe. On Wednesday morning, they were released and ordered to flee south.

“Despite our exhaustion, wounds, and dehydration, we had to trek for seven hours to Deir al-Balah. I arrived there on the brink of death," he recounted. (...)

Morning update
26 March 2024 05:50 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-32

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Here are the latest updates:

Despite US insistence on the UN Security Council Gaza resolution being “non-binding,” countries across the world welcomed it, with UN chief Antonion Guterres saying it, in fact, binding and must be implemented
The Israeli army bombed a home in Rafah, killing at least 15 people, including four children
Israeli settlers attacked the Palestinian town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron, while Israeli forces conducted several arrests across the West Bank
Meeting with Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken reiterated his country’s opposition to an operation in Rafah, saying “alternatives exist” to the ground invasion

Late night update
26 March 2024 00:04 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/late-night-update-9

Hello MEE readers. Monday marked the 171st day of Israel’s war in Gaza. The number 171 is also the number of Unrwa staff members killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

On Monday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire after the US abstained from the vote. The US used its veto power to reject several similar resolutions since October, but decided not to weigh in on Monday, allowing the measure to pass.

The decision was met with outrage by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who in response cancelled an Israeli delegation to Washington that was meant to discuss the options for an invasion of Gaza’s southern city Rafah.

UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese also released a damning report on Monday, outlining how Israel had crossed the threshold of genocide in Gaza.

Here’s what else you need to know from Monday’s developments:

The US State Department said the Israeli decision not to come for scheduled talks with American officials was “surprising and unfortunate”.

Hamas has informed mediators that the group will stick to its original position on reaching a comprehensive ceasefire rather than a temporary one.

The US said it conducted another airdrop of humanitarian aid into northern Gaza on Monday.

US presidential candidate Donald Trump said that Israel should “finish up” its war on Gaza, saying that it is losing international credibility.

The military wing of Hamas, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired rockets towards the southern Israeli city of Ashdod on Monday. It was the first such attack in weeks.

Survivors of al-Shifa Hospital raid spoke to MEE about the torture and abuse that occurred. You can read that story here.

#Bilan

Late night update
24 March 2024 23:50 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/late-night-update-8

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At least 32,226 Palestinians have been killed, among them 84 in the past 24 hours, and 74,518 injured in Israel’s air and ground assault into the densely populated Gaza Strip, according to the local health ministry.

Today, Israel informed the United Nations today that it will no longer allow Unrwa food convoys into north Gaza, where 70 percent of people face the highest level of food scarcity.

UN chief Antonio Guterres denounced “horror & starvation” in Gaza during his humanitarian visit to Egypt, in a series of posts to X.

Meanwhile, the US announced that it sent an airdrop over north Gaza in cooperation with the Jordanian air force.

The shipment is the 13th humanitarian aid airdrop to the area, however, the UN and other aid organisations have warned that airdrops cannot provide nearly enough aid to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Other updates from today include:

In a joint statement, 14 NGOs came together to state that Israel is not in compliance with US President Joe Biden’s national security memorandum that barred recipients of US weapons from obstructing humanitarian aid in conflict zones.

The US Conference of Catholic Bishops called for a ceasefire in Gaza ahead of the Christian Easter holidays.

French President Emmanuel Macron warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that forcible population transfer is a war crime that violates international law, condemning “Israeli announcements on settlements” in talks with the Israeli leader.

Riot police fired tear gas to push back hundreds of Jordanian demonstrators marching to the Israeli embassy in Amman on Sunday in protest at Israel’s latest storming of hospitals in Gaza and mounting civilian deaths.

#Bilan

Guerre à Gaza : Netanyahou « suggère que le nouveau port construit par les États-Unis pourrait aider à expulser les Palestiniens » | Middle East Eye édition française
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/actu-et-enquetes/guerre-gaza-netanyahou-suggere-que-le-nouveau-port-construit-par-les-

https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/images-story/gaza%20port%20satellite%20reuters.jpg

[…] lors d’une réunion privée de la commission des Affaires étrangères et de la Sécurité de la Knesset, Netanyahou a suggéré que le port pourrait également faciliter l’expulsion des Palestiniens de Gaza.

Netanyahou a affirmé qu’il n’y avait « aucun obstacle » à ce que les Palestiniens quittent la bande de Gaza, hormis le refus d’autres pays de les accepter, selon un journaliste de Kan News.

Evening recap
22 March 2024 23:38 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/evening-recap-82

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The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza by Israeli forces since 7 October has risen to 32,070, the Palestinian health ministry said on Friday.

Hundreds of healthcare workers, patients, and displaced civilians - including two critically ill children- are trapped inside Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital due to the Israeli military’s invasion and five-day blockade.

In other developments:

Martin Griffiths, the United Nations’ humanitarian chief, demanded an immediate ceasefire and urged Israel to remove all barriers to the distribution of aid to the people of Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Israel will launch a ground operation in Rafah without US backing, if necessary.
The UN Security Council has failed to pass a US resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a deal to release captives held in Gaza. Russia and China voted against the resolution.
Israel has seized 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank, Israeli media said on Friday.
Israeli forces blocked hundreds of Palestinian worshippers from reaching al-Aqsa Mosque for the second Friday prayer during the month of Ramadan.

Israel-Palestine live: Hundreds of Palestinians still trapped in al-Shifa hospital
23 March 2024 09:15 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live/gaza-israel-hamas-palestine-war-conflict

It’s just after 11:00 am (9:00 GMT) in Palestine and Israel. Here are the latest developments on day 169 of Israel’s war on Gaza:

Israeli shelling across the Gaza Strip on Saturday morning has killed several people, including in Rafah and Deir al-Balah as the raid on al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City continues for the sixth day.

Local media say patients are dying in some of the hospital buildings that are under Israeli blockage, due to the lack of food and medical care.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is set to visit Egypt’s border with Gaza on Saturday to reiterate his call for a humanitarian ceasefire.

A vote in the UN Security Council on a new ceasefire resolution, initially planned for Saturday, has been postponed until Monday, according to media reports.

The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Friday in a statement that its forces had conducted strikes against three Houthi underground storage facilities in Yemen.

#Bilan

Gaza death toll rises to 31,988
21 March 2024 09:20 GMT
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/gaza-death-toll-rises-31988?nid=350241&topic=Israel-Palestine%2520war

More than 31,988 Palestinians have been killed and 74,188 wounded by Israeli forces since 7 October, the Palestinian health ministry said on Thursday.

At least 65 Palestinians were killed and 92 wounded over the past 24 hours, it added in a statement.

Morning update
21 March 2024 05:43 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-31

https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/2024-03/child-gaza-nuseirat-reuters-march-2024.jpg

Israeli forces are still conducting operations in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital
Two Palestinians were killed by an Israeli drone strike on the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank
Israeli authorities reportedly ordered 25 patients who had been receiving treatment in occupied East Jerusalem and Israel to be returned to Gaza, but were blocked by the country’s High Court of Justice
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the “gaps are narrowing” between Israel and Hamas, and that a truce agreement is “very much possible.”

20 March 2024 23:56 GMT
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/evening-recap-80?nid=350241&topic=Israel-Palestine%2520war&fid=507266

Gaza’s health ministry said the Palestinian death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza has reached 31,923 with over 104 Palestinians killed in the last 24 hours.

The Israeli army said it killed dozens of “terrorists” and apprehended around 300 people in its latest raid on al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.

In other developments:

US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is due to make another trip to the Middle East in a new push to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
The World Health Organisation said it has recorded 410 attacks on healthcare facilities in the Gaza Strip since 7 October.
The Gaza government’s media office said that over 100 aid workers and seekers were killed by Israeli forces over the course of one week.
Nine women shaved their heads outside the UK’s parliament on Tuesday, as an act of protest against Britain’s role in the war on Gaza.
Israeli air strikes have targeted two vehicles in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, Palestinian media reported on Wednesday.
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that efforts are in progress for an incursion into Rafah in the southern part of the Gaza Strip, but noted that this operation “will take some time”.
Arab foreign ministers and a senior Palestinian official are set to meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cairo on Thursday.

#Bilan

Louis Vuitton pris dans une controverse liée à Gaza à propos d’un T-shirt « pastèque » | Middle East Eye édition française
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/fr/actu-et-enquetes/louis-vuitton-pris-dans-une-controverse-liee-gaza-propos-dun-t-shirt-

https://www.middleeasteye.net/sites/default/files/images-story/louis-vuitton-lv-patch-t-shirt-Palestine.jpg

Vraiment, l’ "antisémitisme" se niche partout ! Mais Louis Vuitton, c’est une surprise ;-) C’est très bien, cela ridiculise encore un peu plus ce type d’accusation.

Louis Vuitton pris dans une controverse liée à Gaza à propos d’un T-shirt « pastèque »
Les internautes pro-palestiniens accusent la maison de haute couture française de marketing opportuniste, tandis que les partisans d’Israël qualifient le T-shirt d’« antisémite »
Le T-shirt blanc présente les initiales Louis Vuitton en rose, vert et noir, amenant certains utilisateurs des réseaux sociaux à le comparer à une pastèque, symbole de la résistance palestinienne

In the West, Israel never initiates violence, it only ’retaliates’
Joseph Massad | 20 March 2024 | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/west-israel-never-initiates-violence-it-only-retaliates

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One of the remarkable things about western support for settler-colonialism in Palestine is its insistence that the Zionist act of colonisation is legitimate and does not constitute aggression against the indigenous Palestinians.

On the other hand, it views the resistance that the Palestinians mount against settler-colonialism as illegitimate.

This is why the massive repression that Jewish colonists visit upon the Palestinian natives is invariably identified by Israel, western governments, think tanks, and the obsequious western press as “retaliations” or “reprisals”.

Such descriptions have been used by settler colonies more generally for their massacres but are never used to denote the indigenous peoples’ resistance to settler colonialism. From this perspective, the initial violence in settler colonies is always that of indigenous resistance, which is why the colonists’ war against the natives is always an act of “retaliation”.

This is not confined to the recent genocidal war that Israel waged against Gaza since 7 October, which it and western media identify as “retaliation”. (...)

Morning update | Middle East Eye
20 March 2024 05:46 GMT
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-30

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Here are the latest updates:

As Israeli attack on al-Nuseirat refugee camp, central Gaza, killed at least 27 people, most of whom were displaced by the war
The WHO warned that an increasing number of children are “on the brink of death” due to starvation
US congressional leaders and the White House reached an agreement on a bill that may extend the country’s ban on Unrwa funding until March 2025
Over 100 US Democratic donors and activists sent a letter to president Joe Biden warning that his unwavering support for Israel is “increasing the chances of a Trump victory” at the upcoming presidential election
UK foreign secretary David Cameron said a truce in fighting in Gaza was crucial but “a whole lot of conditions” need to be fulfilled first regarding the dismantlement of Hamas

War on Gaza: Torture, executions, babies left to die, sexual abuse… These are Israel’s crimes
Jonathan Cook
15 March 2024 11:40 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/opinion/war-gaza-israel-torture-executions-babies-die-sexual-abuse-crimes

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Why is the same western media obsessively reheating five-month-old allegations against Hamas so reluctant to focus on Israel’s current, horrifying atrocities?

Hostages tortured to death. Parents executed in front of their children. Doctors beaten. Babies murdered. Sexual assault weaponised.

No, not Hamas crimes. This is part of an ever-growing list of documented atrocities committed by Israel in the five months since 7 October - quite separate from the carpet bombing of 2.3 million Palestinians in Gaza and a famine induced by Israel’s obstruction of aid.

Last week, an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz disclosed that some 27 Palestinians seized off Gaza’s streets over the past five months are known to have died during interrogations inside Israel.

Some were denied medical treatment. But most are likely to have been tortured to death.

Three months ago, a Haaretz editorial warned that Israeli jails “must not become execution facilities for Palestinians”. (...)

Morning update
13 March 2024 05:48 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-27

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An Arab diplomat told the Times of Israel that progress has been made regarding a hostage and ceasefire deal in Qatar, as the outlet claims Doha put pressure on Hamas to accept the new proposals

The Israeli army bombed several areas across the Gaza Strip overnight, killing many people including 10 in Deir al-Balah

As least four Palestinians were killed in Israeli raids across the West Bank

The EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, accused Israel of using starvation ’as a war arm’ in Gaza

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said two of its members were killed in the latest Israeli strike near Baalbek, deep into Lebanese territory

#Bilan #Génocide

Morning update
12 March 2024 05:43 GMT| Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/morning-update-26

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Israel fired at aid seekers in Gaza City once again, killing at least seven people and injuring over 20
The Israeli army killed two Palestinian men near the town of Attil in the occupied West Bank
The Islamic Resistance in Iraq claimed a drone attack on Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport
Yemen’s Houthis threatened to ramp up their attacks on ships during Ramadan
US president Joe Biden said he does not have plans to address the Israeli Knesset or to meet with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu
A barrage of rockets was fired into northern Israel following last night’s Israeli strike near the Lebanese eastern city of Baalbek

#Bilan

Israel slams decision by Canada and Sweden to resume Unrwa funding
10 March 2024 10:53 GMT | Middle East Eye
▻https://www.middleeasteye.net/live-blog/live-blog-update/israel-slams-decision-canada-and-sweden-resume-unrwa-funding

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Israel on Saturday slammed the decision by Canada and Sweden to resume aid to the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, saying supporting Unrwa was a “serious mistake”.

Several countries, including the United States and Britain, paused their funding to Unrwa in late January after accusations by Israel that a dozen of the agency’s 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in the Hamas attack on southern Israeli towns on 7 October.

Canada and Sweden announced over the weekend they were resuming funding for the agency, which has been fundamental to humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip, where more than three quarters of the 2.2 million population have been displaced by Israel’s military campaign.

The Israeli foreign ministry called on both governments to cut funding, saying the renewed aid showed that Canada and Sweden had chosen “to ignore the involvement of Unrwa employees in terrorist activity”.

On Saturday, Sweden announced an initial payment of $20m after receiving assurances of extra checks on Unrwa’s spending and personnel.

Canada said on Friday that it would resume funding to Unrwa “because of the dire humanitarian situation on the ground”, but did not elaborate.

#IsraelSuède #IsraelCanada