Amnesty International says Israel is “engineering famine” in Gaza. Organization head Agnes Callamard adds, “all states that cut UNRWA funding, sold weapons and supported Israel bear responsibility too.”
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Casualties
- 30,534+ killed* and at least 71,920 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 380+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
- Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147.
- 586 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured. **
*Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed this figure on Telegram channel. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 38,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.
** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.”
Key Developments
- Palestinians in Gaza feel “humiliated” by the way aid was delivered by U.S. and Jordan, following weeks of Israeli bombs being dropped on their heads from sky.
- Palestinian resident of Jabalia says aid airdropping is “useless”, and he couldn’t get anything of it after chasing aid crates for five kilometers.
- Dr. Ashraf Al-Qudra says Israeli forces have killed 364 health personnel and arrested 269 others since October.
- Dr. Al-Qudra adds “Israeli occupation forces destroyed 155 health institutions and put 32 hospitals and 53 health centers out of service” since October.
- Save the Children reports that Palestinian families in Gaza are “being forced to forage for scraps of food left by rats and eating leaves out of desperation.”
- Pope Francis says “Do you really think you can build a better world in this way? Do you really think you will achieve peace? Enough please! Let us all say enough please! Stop!”
- Israeli warplanes kill 12 Palestinians, bombing two homes belonging to Madi family, north of Rafah, and Al-Gharib family, in city center.
- Al-Jazeera reports that Israeli forces destroyed recently built cemetery in Jabalia refugee camp by repeatedly bombing it.
- Daniel Hagari, spokesperson of the Israeli military, resigns along with other senior military members in his unit.
- Israeli forces kill Mustafa Abu Shalbak, 16, during a raid of Al-Amari camp in Ramallah.
Children die of malnutrition with prices of food skyrocketing.
Thousands of families in the Gaza Strip are barely finding enough food to cook a meal for their children as Israel’s military aggression and aid blockade continue for the 150th day.
In Foreign Affairs article , Israel Must Decide Where It’s Going—and Who Should Lead It There, by former Israeli PM Ehud Barak, he makes a shocking assertion: “Six times in the past 12 years [Netanyahu] has rejected plans proposed by the heads of Israel’s secret security agency, known as Shabak, to eliminate the Hamas leadership.” Yet more proof that Bibi was Hamas’s best friend.
After more than four months of war in Gaza, two starkly different but equally accurate portraits of Israel have emerged. On the one hand, the war has showcased the tactical prowess of the Israel Defense Forces, inspired a high degree of unity among its troops, and promoted a sense of solidarity among Israeli citizens, who remain collectively traumatized by the barbarous October 7 terrorist attacks carried out by Hamas. On the other hand, the war has revealed the staggering strategic incompetence of the Israeli government and an astonishing leadership vacuum at the top.
Israel’s Genocide War in Gaza Continues
Israel did not send a delegation to Egypt for negotiation talks yesterday, an Israeli official told CNN. The official said the reason was that Hamas had not responded to two Israeli demands: providing a list of hostages, specifying which hostages are alive and which are dead, and confirming the ratio of Palestinian prisoners to be released from Israeli prisons in exchange for hostages. Meanwhile, a Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo for the talks, a senior Hamas official said, which negotiators from the United States, Israel, and Egypt are also expected to attend.
Days after more than 100 Palestinians were killed – reportedly by Israeli fire – during an attempted aid delivery, another convoy coordinated by the Israeli military failed to deliver most of its aid to the north, according to a Palestinian businessperson involved in the operation. A total of 16 trucks carrying supplies were sent to the north on Saturday, he said, but only one made it to Gaza city, as the rest had been swarmed and emptied in the Nuseirat neighborhood in central Gaza. Fifteen more trucks departed for the north last night and are slated to enter the area through an inland north-south road, the source added. Hiba Yazbek and Adam Rasgon report for the New York Times.
An Israeli strike outside a hospital in Rafah on Saturday killed at least 11 people and injured dozens of displaced Palestinians, including children, who were sheltering in tents nearby, the Hamas-run health ministry said. At least two health care workers were among those killed after the strike near the gate of the Emirati maternity hospital, the ministry said. The Israeli military said it had carried out a “precision strike” against “Islamic Jihad terrorists” near the hospital. Anushka Patil reports for the New York Times.
Israeli forces swept into the Palestinians’ administrative capital Ramallah in the West Bank overnight, marking their biggest raid into the city in years. The Hamas-run health ministry said Israeli forces shot and killed a teenager while raiding Am’ari refugee camp. Ali Sawafta reports for Reuters.
Fourteen medics working for the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) have been arrested in recent weeks, seven of whom were arrested from inside Al-Amal hospital, the emergency medical charity said yesterday. In a post on X, it said the fate of the workers “remains unknown.”
REGIONAL RESPONSE
Saudi Arabia May Be Taking Center Stage in Post-Gaza Peace. Kristian Coates Ulrichsen discusses whether Saudi Arabia will take a more prominent and decisive role in the future following the Israeli war on Gaza in light of Riyadh’s insistence on addressing Palestinians’ right in an independent state. Coates Ulrichsen writes that securing US and Israeli commitments on Palestinian statehood would make the kingdom an indispensable actor in Middle East diplomacy.
The UAE and the Red Sea Security Crisis. Giorgio Cafiero discusses the UAE’s worries about the disruption of maritime trade in the Red Sea which it considers essential for its expanded economic and security interests between the Arabian and Mediterranean Seas. Cafiero writes that despite the Israeli war on Gaza, maintaining relations and ensuring economic, geopolitical, and security interests between Tel Aviv and Abu Dhabi appears to be the overarching concern for Emirati leaders.
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi yesterday discussed bilateral relations, energy cooperation, trade, and Gaza with Algeria’s leader Abdelmadjid Tebboune during a one-day state visit, according to Algeria’s presidency. Reuters reports.
Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan is set to discuss Ankara’s efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during talks this week, a Turkish diplomatic source said. Erdogan and Abbas will discuss recent developments in Gaza as well as the situation in the West Bank, the source said. Reuters reports.
U.S. RESPONSE
Kamala Harris Demands ‘Immediate’ Ceasefire in Gaza. “Let’s get a ceasefire. Let’s reunite the hostages with their families. And let’s provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza,” Vice President Kamala Harris said.
Vice President Kamala Harris demanded that Israeli officials and leaders of Hamas come to an agreement that would begin an “immediate” six-week ceasefire in Gaza. She called for a pause in the ongoing war during a speech in Selma, Alabama on Sunday, marking the anniversary of the civil rights march later referred to as “Bloody Sunday.”Why it matters: Following 150 days of war, the mounting Palestinian civilian death toll has ignited international calls for a ceasefire and have heightened pressure on the Biden administration to take a tougher line on Israel. In recent months, Biden and Harris have been more vocal in criticizing Israel, with the president publicly rifting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as Israeli officials dismissed Washington’s calls for Palestinian sovereignty following an end to the conflict in Gaza.
Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s wartime cabinet and political rival of Netanyahu, is scheduled to meet with Harris and U.S. national security adviser Jake Sullivan in Washington today, the AP reported. On Tuesday, Gantz is slated to speak with Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
The United States and Jordan air-dropped humanitarian aid into Gaza, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Saturday, a day after President Biden announced that Washington would pull out “every stop” to increase aid into the besieged enclave. The combined operation by the U.S. Air Force and the Royal Jordanian Air Force saw US C-130 aircraft dropping 38,000 meals along the Gaza coastline, CENTCOM said in a statement. A U.S. official said there were 66 total bundles dropped, but there was no water or medical supplies in the bundles. Oren Liebermann and Samantha Waldenberg report for CNN.
Vice President Kamala Harris said yesterday that “people in Gaza are starving” and called for an “immediate ceasefire” as part of a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas. “Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next 6 weeks. This is what is currently on the table,” Harris said, urging Hamas to accept the deal. Her remarks were the Biden administration’s most comprehensive recognition yet of the suffering in Gaza and the strongest appeal for a ceasefire. Harris also demanded that the Israeli government take further action to facilitate aid into Gaza, saying there are “No excuses. They must open new border crossings and not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid.” Barak Ravid reports for Axios.
Harris is due to meet with Benny Gantz, a member of the Israeli war cabinet, in Washington today, according to a White House official and a spokesperson for Gantz. Harris is expected to discuss the urgency of reaching a hostage deal, which would allow for a temporary ceasefire, and the need for increased aid into Gaza, according to the White House official. She is also expected to discuss the U.S. commitment to increasing the flow of aid to Gaza, including more airdrops of food, and to impress upon Gantz her concerns for the safety of civilians in Rafah. Erica L. Green and Aaron Boxerman report for the New York Times.