Canada will resume funding to UNRWA and pay a pledge of $25m due in April. In Gaza, another Palestinian child dies of thirst and hunger in the north, bringing the number of children to die from malnutrition to 18.
Casualties
- 30,717+ killed* and at least 72,156 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 423+ 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 closer to 35,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.
** The death toll in West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. According to PA’s Ministry of Health on March 6, this is the latest figure.
*** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.”
Key Developments
- Israeli forces block entry of 14 trucks carrying aid and food to north Gaza, prompting World Food Program to airdrop aid with help of Jordanian Air Force.
- British MP reveals that Israel denied entry of 1,350 water filters to Gaza, considered “a threat.”
- A 15-year-old Palestinian girl dies of malnutrition in Al-Shifa Hospital on Wednesday, bringing total umber of children to have died from thirst and hunger in north Gaza to 18.
- UNRWA distributes flour to over 370 thousand families in southern Gaza, including Khan Younis and Rafah.
- UNRWA says there are 17,000 orphaned children in Gaza, with one in six children under two extremely malnourished.
- Canada will resume funding to UNRWA and pledge $25m due in April.
- Dr. Richard Peeperkorn of WHO says, “6,000 people [in Gaza] needed to be referred for war-related injuries and ailments, including trauma injuries, burns and amputations.”
- Hamas source says American and Egyptian officials overstated optimism about possible deal to “embarrass the resistance,” exert pressure on Hamas, or blame it for collapse of talks.
- Joe Biden says, “If we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous.”
Israel’s Genocide War in Gaza Continues
Israeli forces block WFP aid convey to north Gaza. Israeli authorities turned back 14 trucks carrying humanitarian aid to northern Gaza on Tuesday.
This prompted the World Food Program (WFP) to resort to airdropping the aid with the help of the Jordanian Air Force, delivering aid to 20,000 people in northern Gaza.
“WFP is determined to do whatever it takes to reach people in need. But to avert famine, we must have access by road,” the organization wrote on X.
Hamas said it was pressing on with efforts to secure a ceasefire in Gaza with Israel despite the absence of Israeli negotiators from the talks. Negotiators from the Palestinian militant group, Qatar and Egypt are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in time for the fasting month of Ramadan. Follow the latest.
The UN has warned that widespread famine in Gaza is “almost inevitable” without action. Aid supplies, already sharply curtailed since the start of the war, have dwindled to barely a trickle over the past month. Whole swathes of the territory are completely cut off from food. We tell that story in pictures.
Hamas said it has presented a response to the proposals transmitted by Egyptian and Qatari mediators but blamed Israel for stalling to reach an agreement. “We have affirmed our conditions for a ceasefire, complete withdrawal from the sector, the return of displaced persons to the areas they left, especially in the north, and the provision of sufficient aid, relief, and reconstruction,” senior Hamas leader Osama Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut. Hamdan reiterated the group’s requirement for a permanent ceasefire and said a prisoner exchange would only occur after Israeli troops had withdrawn from Gaza and aid was allowed to enter the enclave. Mostafa Salem reports for CNN.
The World Food Programme said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) blocked its first attempt in two weeks to deliver food aid to northern Gaza. The U.N. agency said the convoy of 14 lorries was “turned back” at a checkpoint and later looted by crowds of “desperate people.” It comes a day after the World Health Organization said children are dying of starvation in northern Gaza. The U.N. previously warned that famine is “almost inevitable” without action, with the Hamas-run health ministry reporting on Sunday that at least 15 children died from malnutrition and dehydration. George Wright reports for BBC News.
Israeli forces opened fire on people waiting for aid Monday night in northern Gaza, eyewitness told CNN. The shooting took place at the Kuwait Roundabout on Rasheed Street in Gaza shortly before midnight, one eyewitness said, who had traveled there to try to get flour. It is unclear whether there were any casualties.
The head of the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) yesterday confirmed that hundreds of Palestinians had reported abuse under Israeli detention. Philippe Lazzarini said most people coming back from detention were “completely traumatized by the ordeal they [had] gone through,” adding that Palestinians interviewed by the UNRWA reported a “broad range of ill-treatment,” including being forced to strip naked, verbal and psychological abuse, threats of electrocution, sleep deprivation, extreme noise, and the use of dogs as an intimidation tactic. The Israeli military said in response to the allegations that every detainee death was being investigated and that all mistreatment was “absolutely prohibited,” while strongly denying any allegations of sexual abuse. Monika Pronczuk reports for the New York Times.
A total of 364 health workers have been killed since the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. The ministry added that 269 of its medical staff have been arrested, 155 ambulances have been targeted, and 155 health facilities have been destroyed. CNN reports.
The U.S. Finally Realized: Netanyahu Broke an Unbreakable Alliance. Over 15 years, through hubris and rudeness, Benjamin Netanyahu has managed to turn Israel from an ally into a high-maintenance, ongoing crisis whose actions are inconsistent with U.S. interests in the Middle East
By Avner Gvaryahu
‘Past wars help pierce the fog of the present one… we have spent years studying soldiers’ testimonies from previous military campaigns in Gaza… Israel claimed that it was doing its best to avoid civilian casualties… Our investigation of revealed many reasons to doubt these claims’
Israel has been a trustworthy, dependable U.S. ally for over 50 years. Benjamin Netanyahu is not. His record, his policies, his behavior and his style over the years indicate that he does not see himself as an ally and does not conduct himself as one – and now the United States has finally realized this.
Read the full text here.
REGIONAL RESPONSE
U.S. Envoy Presses for De-escalation on Israel, Lebanon Border
U.S. Special Envoy Amos Hochstein floated a proposal (Times of Israel) for de-escalation on the border in a meeting yesterday with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv. Hochstein had done the same (Times of Israel,AFP) in Beirut on Monday. The United States and partner countries have called for a lasting security pact on the Israel-Lebanon border as skirmishes between Israel and Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah continue.
Hochstein’s mediation efforts are in parallel to diplomatic efforts to reach a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas. If tensions with Hezbollah are not managed, conflict could escalate (Reuters) on the Israel-Lebanon border despite a cease-fire in the Gaza Strip, Hochstein said. Hochstein and Gallant spoke yesterday about the prospect of reaching an agreement that would see Hezbollah withdraw from the border area, according to an Israeli readout of their meeting. Gallant said that Israel was “committed to the diplomatic process,” but continued attacks from Hezbollah were “dragging the parties to a dangerous escalation.” “Kudos to the U.S. and French officials for trying to avoid war, but as they are discovering, there is no diplomatic solution to the zero-sum relationship between Hezbollah and Israel, especially as Israeli leaders vow to change the rules of the game between Israel and the axis of resistance,” CFR expert Steven A. Cook writes for Foreign Policy. “The United States did help to head off war between Israel and Hezbollah in the days after October 7,” the Economist’s Gregg Carlstrom writes for Foreign Affairs. “[Iran’s] “axis of resistance” was meant to keep conflicts away from Iran’s borders: now, however, to use that axis is to risk bringing them home.”
INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE
British foreign secretary David Cameron said yesterday that Israel’s handling of aid for Gaza, “as the occupying power,” raised questions over its compliance with international law. Speaking at the House of Lords, Cameron referenced the “dreadful suffering” in Gaza, adding that he “spoke some weeks ago about the danger of this tipping into famine and the danger of illness tipping into disease; and we are now at that point. People are dying of hunger; people are dying of otherwise preventable diseases.” He added that, “The patience needs to run very thin and a whole series of warnings needs to be given, starting, I hope, with a meeting I have with [Israeli war cabinet] Minister Gantz when he visits the UK [today].”
A group of Canadian lawyers is suing Canada’s global affairs ministry for exporting military goods and technology to Israel during the war in Gaza. The attorneys argue the $21 million worth of exports permitted by Canada since war started on Oct. 7 could be used in alleged human rights violations against Palestinians. Ottawa denies accusations that the exports are illegal, saying the goods were “non-lethal” in nature. Nadine Yousif reports for BBC News.
U.S. RESPONSE
President Biden said yesterday that talks on a possible six-week ceasefire in Gaza are “in the hands of Hamas right now” and reiterated the need for a ceasefire, adding that, “We will know in a couple of days what’s going to happen.” Biden said that Israel had “been cooperating” in the indirect negotiations, which are being mediated by Qatar and Egypt, and that “a rational offer” had been proposed. Biden’s comments came just before a Hamas leader in Lebanon appeared to reject a proposed deal the United States is backing, insisting that Israeli hostages would be released only after a ceasefire was in place and Israeli forces had withdrawn.
Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin spoke yesterday with Israeli War Cabinet member Benny Gantz. According to a press release, Austin “expressed strong concerns over the humanitarian situation in Gaza and requested Minister Gantz’s support in enabling more humanitarian assistance and distribution into Gaza.” He also emphasized the “need for a credible and implementable plan for protecting civilians and addressing the humanitarian situation prior to any ground operations in Rafah.”
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it conducted another airdrop in northern Gaza yesterday with the Royal Jordanian Air Force, providing more than 36,800 meals to the region. In a post on X, CENTCOM said, “The combined, joint operation included US Air Force C-130 aircraft and US Army soldiers specialized in aerial delivery of US and Jordanian humanitarian assistance supplies … US C-130s dropped over 36,800 US and Jordanian meal equivalents in Northern Gaza, an area of great need, allowing for civilian access to the critical aid.”
The United States yesterday revised language to a draft U.N. Security Council resolution to back “an immediate ceasefire of roughly six-weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages,” according to the text seen by Reuters. The third revision of the text, which was first proposed by the United States two weeks ago, now reflects the blunt remarks by Vice-President Kamala Harris demanding that Hamas agree to an immediate six-week ceasefire and forcefully urging Israel to increase aid to Gaza. Washington has up until now been averse to the term ceasefire, vetoing two draft resolutions since the start of the war that would have demanded an immediate ceasefire. The United States has said it plans to allow time for negotiations on its draft and will not rush to a vote. Michelle Nichols reports for Reuters.
The United States and its international partners are considering a maritime corridor to deliver aid to Gaza, Pentagon spokesperson Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said yesterday. “In coordination with the US interagency and international partners, we are actively reviewing options for a maritime corridor for humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including potential commercial and contracted options,” Ryder said. He provided few details but confirmed that the U.S. military would be “only in a supporting role.”Haley Britzky reports for CNN.
IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS
The Israeli military and Hezbollah militants in Lebanon have ratcheted up rocket attacks as diplomats struggle to prevent a second full-fledged war in the region from breaking out. An Israeli airstrike yesterday killed three people in Houla, a border village, according to reports from Lebanon’s official National News Agency. Later in the day, a heavy barrage of rockets fired out of Lebanon struck the Israeli town of Kiryat Shmona. Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, said on Tuesday that indirect talks on an end to the border hostilities would begin next week, Reuters reported. Hwaida Saad reports for the New York Times.
MILITARY CONFLICT WITH THE HOUTHIS
A U.S. destroyer shot down drones and a missile launched by the Houthis toward the Red Sea, officials said today. The assault apparently targeted the USS Carney, a destroyer that has been involved in the U.S. campaign against the rebel group. The attack involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, CENTCOM said, adding that Washington later launched an airstrike destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats. A Houthi military spokesperson acknowledged the attack but not the later U.S. airstrikes, and claimed the group targeted two U.S. warships without elaborating. Jon Gambrell reports for AP News.
In Latin America, Palestinian Activists Are Correcting False Narratives
Jimena Ledgard is a writer, journalist and audio storyteller from Lima, Peru. Her work often deals with social and spatial inequality, political violence and shifting cultural landscapes. You can follow her work on Twitter/X and Instagram.
The writer interviews Palestine activists in Peru, Chile, Columbia, and Brazil who speak to the narratives and movement for Palestine in their communities.
Like many Chilean Palestinians, Pablo Abufom hails from a family of Orthodox Christians who migrated from Beit Jala to Latin America in the early decades of the 20th century. The Palestinian diaspora is well integrated into Chilean society. For Abufom, though his militancy for the Palestinian cause wasn’t constant, it lingered in the background, especially during critical periods, such as the first Intifada.
Farid Kahhat, academic and organizer, Peru
Considering how small the Peruvian-Palestinian community is, it’s surprising how Farid Kahhat —a soft-spoken academic — has become such a well-known figure in the national media. While his expertise lies in international relations, he’s mostly known as the de-facto spokesman for Palestinians whenever a new Israeli assault arises.
Unlike Chile, however, sympathies in Peru tend to be clearly aligned along ideological divides. “The right tends to close ranks with Israel. They obviously view Israel as beneficial to Western powers and see the conflict through the lens of Islamophobia. Moreover, they associate Hamas with Sendero Luminoso.”
Odette Yidi, academic and director of the Institute of Arab Culture of Colombia
Colombia is home to one of the largest Palestinian diasporas in the region. In Barranquilla, where Odette resides, most Palestinians were Orthodox Christians at the time of their arrival, some of them almost a century ago. It’s now a diverse and arguably fragmented diaspora, shaped by factors such as class and religion; a reflection of the history of uprooting and displacement that has long defined the Palestinian experience.
In many ways, Odette personifies the emerging wave of Palestinian diaspora members who are
Mohammed Manasra, activist with Sanaúd-Juventude Palestina, Brazil
Unlike many Latin American Palestinians, Mohammed Manasra doesn’t consider his Palestinian identity a distant or remote issue. He arrived in Brazil just a decade ago, joining the recent wave of Muslim Palestinian immigrants fleeing Occupation and apartheid. He describes his life in al-Khalil (Hebron) as dire. “Terror lurked in every corner,” he reflects grimly. “Israeli terrorists suffocated us daily.”
Read the full interviews text here.