At least 20 Palestinians have died because of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, health officials say. Meanwhile, new reports from Israeli media say 27 Palestinian captives who were being held in Israeli “makeshift cages” have died.

Casualties

30,800+ killed* and at least 72,298 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
424+ 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.
587 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.”

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Key Developments

27 Gaza detainees have died in custody at Israeli military facilities since October 7, reports Haaretz.
Gaza Health Ministry: Two more people have died of starvation, bringing the official death toll of those who have succumbed to malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza to 20.
HaMoked: Israel is imprisoning 9,077 Palestinians, including over 3,500 without charge in administrative detention.
South Africa asks ICJ for additional emergency measures against Israel.
Israeli army says they assassinated Hamas commander Ammar Attiya Darwish.
Poll: 72 percent of U.S. Muslim voters “disapprove” of Biden’s stance on Gaza war.
Palestinian teenager shot by Israeli forces in Burin succumbs to injuries, reports Wafa.
DCI: Israeli forces confiscate body of teen shot dead in the West Bank.
DCI: 108 Palestinian children have been killed in the West Bank since October 7.
Israeli forces assault and arrest female Palestinian journalist Bushra al-Tawil in Ramallah.
Palestinian Health Ministry: Israeli forces kill 83 people and wound 142 others in Gaza over 24 hours.
UNRWA to test Israeli military road as means of getting aid to northern Gaza, reports Reuters.
In Gaza, death by starvation is on the rise. Palestinians inside besieged Gaza have been actively starved by Israel for months, resulting in dire consequences. The situation is especially difficult in the north of Gaza, where only trickles of aid are delivered, and Palestinians are attacked by Israel when seeking out aid shipments.
The Gaza Health Ministry reported two more people dying of starvation on Wednesday, bringing the official death toll of those who have succumbed to malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza to 20.
An Israeli tank crew killed a Reuters reporter in Lebanon in October by firing two shells at a clearly identified group of journalists and then “likely” opened fire on them with a heavy machine gun in an attack that lasted 1 minute and 45 seconds, according to a new report.
Turkey’s Kizilay (Red Crescent) is sending its biggest aid shipment yet to Gaza via Egypt, with a ship carrying some 3,000 tons of food, medicine and equipment leaving for the Egyptian port of Al-Arish. Meanwhile, the US said a Gaza ceasefire is still possible. Follow the latest on the war.
1 in 6 children under two in Gaza suffers from acute malnutrition — WHO. The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that malnutrition is severe, especially in northern Gaza, with one in six children under the age of two suffering from acute malnutrition. Nearly three percent of these children experience severe wasting, which is life-threatening. Urgent treatment is crucial to prevent medical complications and death. The data was collected in January, indicating that the situation may have worsened since then.

Israel’s Genocide War in Gaza Continues

Talks between Israel and Hamas over the release of Israeli hostages have stalled, dimming hopes that a ceasefire and hostage-prisoner exchange deal could be reached before Ramadan begins in a few days, according to several people briefed in the conversations. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said that while the United States was disappointed an agreement had not been reached, mediators were still confident in the parameters of the deal they had helped negotiate, saying, “It is just a matter of getting Hamas to sign on.” An official in the region said the main sticking point in discussions remains the duration of a ceasefire, with Hamas demanding a permanent ceasefire during or after three phases of hostage releases, which Israel refuses to agree to. Ronen Bergman, Edward Wong, and Julian E. Barnes report for the New York Times.

The Israeli government has advanced plans for more than 3,400 new home settlements in the West Bank. Around 70% of the homes will be built in Maale Adumim, east of Jerusalem, with the rest in nearby Kedar and Efrat, south of Bethlehem. Far-right Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich has said the construction is a response to a recent deadly Palestinian attack near Maale Adumim. “The enemies try to harm and weaken us but we will continue to build and be built up in this land,” he wrote in a post on X. The Palestinian Authority condemned both the new plans and Smotrich’s remarks. David Gritten reports for BBC News.

Almost 40% of aid missions coordinated by the U.N. were denied or impeded by Israel last month, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said yesterday. While there was a 48% increase in the overall number of coordinated humanitarian missions facilitated by Israeli authorities across Gaza in February compared to January, OCHA said their effectiveness was “undermined by a cessation in operations to the north, and an overall decline in the security of civilians, including humanitarian aid workers,” adding that frequent and prolonged border crossing closures have also hampered aid delivery. Kareem Khadder, Ibrahim Dahman, Celine and Alkhaldi report for CNN.

REGIONAL RESPONSE

South Africa submitted an urgent request to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) yesterday asking the court to order additional emergency measures against Israel to prevent famine in Gaza. In its application, South Africa said that Palestinians in Gaza are facing starvation and asked the court to order all parties cease hostilities and release all hostages and prisoners. “The threat of all-out famine has now materialized. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy by immediately and effectively ensuring that the rights it has found are threatened under the Genocide Convention are protected,” South Africa warned. It also asked the court to immediately take “effective measures” to address “famine and starvation” in Gaza. Reuters reports.

Turkey’s Red Crescent is sending its biggest aid shipment yet to Gaza via Egypt, with a ship carrying around 3,000 tons of food, medicine, and equipment leaving for the Egyptian port of Al-Arish today. Turkey’s ambassador to Cairo said in a post on X, “This aid will keep the hopes of Palestinians alive on the eve of Ramadan.” Reuters reports.

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak joined a meeting with U.K. National Security Adviser Tim Barrow and Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz yesterday, in a nod of legitimacy to Gantz who visited London against the wishes of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The English readout issued by Gantz’s office said that Israel will support solutions to the humanitarian aid crisis that do not lead to the assistance being diverted to Hamas. In Hebrew, Gantz’s office said he emphasized during the meeting that Israel remains committed to dismantling Hamas and will do so in accordance with international law, although the readout made no mention of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Gantz also met with British foreign secretary David Cameron earlier yesterday, who “pressed Israel to increase the flow of aid,” the British Foreign Office said. Jacob Magid reports for The Times of Israel.

Sweden has initiated a meeting with Israel’s foreign ministry and several E.U. member states as well as others “to convey the urgent need to improve humanitarian access to Gaza,” Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said today. “The life and health of children in Gaza must be protected,” Kristersson said. Reuters reports.

U.S. RESPONSE

More than three dozen House Democrats wrote to President Biden expressing a “deep sense of urgency and alarm” that an Israeli invasion of Rafah could violate his requirement that U.S. military aid be used in accordance with international law, according to Axios. Citing a memorandum that Biden signed last month requiring recipients of U.S. aid to provide “credible and reliable written assurances” it will comply with international law, the lawmakers urged Biden to “use every tool” to ensure that recipients “are held accountable to the commitments demanded.” Secretary of State Antony Blinken has until March 25 to certify that Israel has signed the commitment sought by the memorandum, after which the weapons transfers to Israel would be suspended if such certification is not provided.

The United States has quietly approved and delivered over 100 separate foreign military sales to Israel since the war in Gaza began on Oct. 7, amounting to thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, small arms, and other lethal aid, U.S. officials told members of Congress in a recent classified briefing. The figure, which has not been previously reported, is the latest indication of Washington’s deep involvement in the war, even as top U.S. officials and lawmakers express concerns about Israel’s military tactics. John Hudson reports for the Washington Post.

IRAN-BACKED MILITANTS

A Lebanese newspaper linked to the Iran-backed Hezbollah group claims that Israel has set a March 15 deadline for a diplomatic deal pushing the group’s forces from southern Lebanon, after which it is prepared to escalate the ongoing border clashes into a war. It follows Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant yesterday telling the U.S. Special Envoy to the region Amos Hochstein that the cross-border attacks are bringing Israel closer to a decision regarding military action in Lebanon. Gianluca Pacchiani reports for The Times of Israel.

MILITARY CONFLICT WITH THE HOUTHIS

The Houthi group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a commercial vessel off the coast of Yemen yesterday that killed three people, the first fatalities from Houthi attacks since the group began targeting ships late last year. One Vietnamese and two Filipino crew members died in the attack, and two others were seriously injured, a spokesperson for the Barbados-flagged bulk carrier ship True Confidence said. A Houthi spokesperson said the group had warned the ship’s crew before firing missiles. Gaya Gupta and Matthew Mpoke Bigg report for the New York Times.

Following the Houthi attack which killed three people, U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said it “conducted self-defense strikes against two unmanned aerial vehicles in a Houthi controlled area of Yemen that presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels and U.S. Navy ships in the region.”

The U.S. Department of Treasury yesterday placed sanctions on two shipping companies and two vessels that have been illicitly transporting goods on behalf of a Houthi “financial facilitator” named Sa’id al-Jamal. The sanctions aim to disrupt the flow of money from Iran to the Houthis. Alan Rappeport reports for the New York Times .

Achieving the Two-State Solution in the Wake of Gaza War

Peace can come through the immediate implementation of the two-state solution, making the admission of Palestine to the United Nations the starting point, not the ending point.

Jeffrey D. Sachs & Sybil Fares The two-state solution is enshrined in international law and is the only viable path to a long-lasting peace. All other solutions—a continuation of Israel’s apartheid regime, one bi-national state, or one unitary state—would guarantee a continuation of war by one side or the other or both. Yet the two-state solution seems irretrievably blocked. It is not. Here is a pathway.

The Israeli government strongly opposes a two-state solution, as does a significant proportion of the Israeli population, some on religious grounds (“God gave us the land”) and some on security grounds (“We can never be safe with a State of Palestine”). A significant proportion of Palestinians regard Israel as an illegitimate settler-colonial entity, and in any event distrust any peace process.

How then to proceed?

The usual recommendation is the following six-step sequence of events: (1) ceasefire; (2) release of hostages; (3) humanitarian assistance; (4) reconstruction; (5) peace conference for negotiations between Israel and Palestine; and finally (6) establishment of two states on agreed boundaries. This path is impossible. There is a perpetual deadlock on steps 5 and 6, and this sequence has failed for 57 years since the 1967 war. Read the full text here

Gaza as a Paradigm

Today, the paradigm that sheds a sheen of light on our shared political present carries the name of “Gaza.”

Human rights was a lie. Free speech was a lie.

Democracy was a lie. We live in a time of monsters.

George Galloway

Gaza today shows that Palestine can only act as a ghost state that exists only to disappear, and when it disappears it must erase all traces of its past existence. As Giora Eiland of the National Institute for Security Studies in Israel stated, “Gaza will become a place where no human being can live, and I see this as a means rather than an end.”^[4] But these kinds of statements, and there are unfortunately more of them, reveal not only a future plan for the people of Gaza, but also a historical matrix of behavior toward the Palestinians. After all, the ideal scenario from the point of view of Zionist ideology, the realization of which is being heralded by Israeli bulldozers already operating in Gaza, is to recognize that Palestine was terra nullius, which was only civilized by settlers from Europe. This is a pattern of colonial thinking, whose political complement must be, and is, the decades-long apartheid regime.

What does the ongoing Gaza massacre change? The masks, that for years acted as a smokescreen for apartheid policies, are falling. Today, members of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government openly admit to it. He himself, in a speech on October 28, compared Hamas to the biblical Amalekites, about whom one can read in the 1st Book of Samuel: “’Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy all that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.’” Until now, calling policies toward the Palestinians apartheid was the domain of Israel’s external or internal critics and the conclusion of humanitarian reports, which politicians on the ground denied. Today, they openly admit their genocidal intentions without betraying any sense of shame.

Today, with genocide taking place on the fringes of the Old Continent, will the mechanisms of colonial violence have to return to their source again, and will Europeans once again be the victims? One can forecast such a dark scenario as well. The turning of violence inward is already observed in Israel itself,^[10] where repression is meted out to all opponents of the government. In Europe, which has completely lost its legitimacy, only violence can keep the population in check. In this sense, Gaza is the paradigm and laboratory for a new stage of European fascism, which will come to us not from outside or from the margins, but from the very core of what American politicians, representing yet another country sitting on a post-colonial time bomb, call “rules-based order” and all the prestigious institutions that seemed to guard us against its return. The dark future facing us, unfortunately, means something quite different: the suspension of all the rules to which our political world supposedly adhered. Since even the semblance of this order is already collapsing – and the rhetoric of Israeli politicians shows that they no longer care about preserving it – this means that in a short while anything can be done to us and no one will call it out for what it is. Look at Gaza today and weep, because you may be looking at your near future and this is “the last call” to weep over it as well. Read the full lengthy article here

After 150 Days of Death and Destruction in Gaza, Israel is Neither Stronger nor Safer

With the war now having passed the 150-day mark, every Israeli should ask themselves honestly: Are we better off now than on October 6, 2023? Are we stronger? Safer? Do we have greater deterrence? Are we more popular? Prouder of ourselves? Are we more united? Better in any way? The incredible thing is that the answer to all these questions is unequivocally no.

We have a duty to draw up a balance sheet – “What has Israel gotten out of the war – and then ask ourselves courageously: Should we have gone to war? Set aside the (justified) slogans about how no country would have overlooked such a cruel attack on its people, and a country’s right to protect itself, and what would people have wanted Israel to do. After 150 days in which there is nothing to enter into the benefits column on this balance sheet, just heavy costs, we can start to doubt its wisdom from Israel’s perspective.

We have said nothing yet of the shocking price paid by Gaza and its residents who, under the shadow of war, are suffering greater abuse than ever before.

Most Israelis – those for whom the plight of the Palestinians is of little interest and those who are even pleased by it, and there are many Israelis like that – need to ask themselves: Other than joy at Gaza’s calamity, what else have we gotten out of this war? Look at the results. Things will only get worse. Is that what you really want? Read the full text here

‘Subdued revenge’: Why Biden’s top officials hosted Israel’s Gantz

Analysts say US talks with Benny Gantz aim to vent anger at Netanyahu, but Washington still supporting for war on Gaza.

By: Ali Harb

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Benny Gantz, an Israeli minister without a portfolio, was granted an audience with officials at the highest level of the United States government in Washington, DC, this week: the vice president, secretary of state and Pentagon chief.

The US officials expressed support for Israel amid its war on the Gaza Strip, urged more aid to the besieged territory and reiterated their call for a pause in the fighting, according to government statements.

But analysts say the real message was in having the meetings at all: The administration of President Joe Biden was signaling frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by hosting a figure seen as Netanyahu’s main domestic rival.

Elevating Gantz without meaningfully reconsidering US support for Israel, however, is a “meaningless” gesture that will fail to stop abuses against Palestinians, rights advocates told Al Jazeera.

“You have the Biden administration supposedly expressing its displeasure against the Israeli government to an opposition politician instead of doing what it should be doing … which is ending all forms of US weapons transfers to Israel,” said Josh Ruebner, an adjunct lecturer at Georgetown University’s Justice and Peace program.

Ruebner added that Netanyahu may be “peeved” by Gantz’s visit to the US capital, but not so much as to push the Israeli prime minister to change his government’s policies towards Gaza.

Netanyahu will not feel like he is losing US support “unless and until” the threat of sanctions by Washington is on the table, Ruebner told Al Jazeera. “Only that is really going to compel a change in Israel’s behavior and policies and genocidal actions.” Read the full article here

Israel’s War Against Palestine, Day 153: Over 2 dozen Palestinian captives have ‘died’ in Israeli detention camps.