Israel Atrocities
Live Reporting
Netanyahu cancels delegation to Washington after UN vote on Gaza
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he will not send a delegation as planned to Washington after the United States did not veto a UN Security Council proposal calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, Reuters reports.
Netanyahu, according to a statement from his office, said that Washington’s failure to veto the proposal was a “clear retreat” from its previous position, and would hurt efforts against Hamas in Gaza as well as efforts to release over 130 hostages.
“In light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided the delegation would not leave,” his office said.
France urges “permanent ceasefire” in Gaza after Security Council resolution
France has urged work on a permanent ceasefire between Israel and Hamas after the Security Council for the first demanded a truce but for the ongoing month of Ramazan, AFP reports.
“This crisis is not over. Our council will have to remain mobilised and immediately get back to work. After Ramazan, which ends in two weeks, it will have to establish a permanent ceasefire,” said France’s UN representative, Nicolas de Riviere.
UN Security Council demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza for first time
The United Nations Security Council has demanded an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages after the United States abstained from the vote, Reuters reports.
The remaining 14 council members voted for the resolution, which was proposed by the 10 elected members of the body.
Amid growing global pressure for a truce in the fighting that has killed more than 32,000 Palestinians, the US abstained from the vote to allow the Security Council to demand an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramazan, which ends in two weeks.
It also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.
The Security Council resolution also “emphasises the urgent need to expand the flow of humanitarian assistance to and reinforce the protection of civilians in the entire Gaza Strip and reiterates its demand for the lifting of all barriers to the provision of humanitarian assistance at scale”.
UN agency ‘lifeline of hope’ for Palestinian refugees, says Antonio Guterres
United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has defended the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, describing it as a “lifeline of hope and dignity”, AFP reports.
During a visit to the Wihdat refugee camp in the Jordanian capital Amman, Guterres said it would be “cruel and incomprehensible” to halt UNRWA’s vital services to Palestinian refugees across the region.
His remarks come as the agency faces a financing crisis after several key donor countries cut off funding following Israeli accusations that several UNRWA staff in Gaza were involved in the October 7 Hamas attack.
“We must strive to keep the one-of-a-kind services that UNRWA provides flowing because that keeps hope flowing,” Guterres said during his visit to the camp.
“In a darkening world, UNRWA is the one ray of light for millions of people. I see that hope here. Now more than ever, we must not take away that hope.” He also sought to “honour the 171 women and men of UNRWA who have been killed in Gaza — the largest number of deaths of UN staff in our history”.
— António Guterres (@antonioguterres) March 25, 2024
Canadian student hospitalised after 34 days of hunger strike for Palestine: report
A Canadian student from McGill University who has been on an indefinite hunger strike for the past 34 days was admitted to hospital after she fainted on Saturday, student organisers have told Middle East Eye.
Rania Amine, an undergraduate student at McGill, who began an indefinite hunger strike on 19 February, is understood to be stable and under observation. MEE was scheduled to speak with Amine on Saturday before she was admitted to the hospital.
Organisers told MEE that Amine went to the hospital for IV fluids.
Upon receiving the IV fluids, Amine fainted and doctors advised that she be hospitalised. The students declined to disclose the name of the hospital for Amine’s safety.
Israel slams Spain, Malta, Slovenia and Ireland for intention to recognise Palestine
Israel’s Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lior Haiat says a joint statement by the four EU member states about their readiness to recognise the Palestinian state “constitute a reward for terrorism”.
“The recognition of a Palestinian state following the 7 October massacre sends a message to Hamas and the other Palestinian terrorist organizations that murderous terror attacks on Israelis will be reciprocated with political gestures to the Palestinians,” he said in a post on X.
“Any engagement in the recognition of a Palestinian state only distances reaching a resolution and increases regional instability.”
The leaders of the four countries agreed to take the first steps towards recognising the Palestinian state after a meeting of the European Council in Brussels on Friday.
Singapore makes Israeli embassy delete ‘insensitive’ Palestinian post
Singapore has made the Israeli embassy in the city-state take down an “insensitive” social media post about the Palestinians, the interior minister says.
The post reportedly said Israel was mentioned 43 times in the Quran but Palestine was not, according to local media.
Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam said he asked Singapore’s Foreign Ministry to tell the Israeli embassy to remove the post made on Sunday after learning about it, which the mission immediately did.
“That post on the Israeli embassy social media page is completely unacceptable. I was very upset when I was told about it,” Shanmugam told reporters, according to a transcript. “It is insensitive and inappropriate. It carries the risk of undermining our safety, security and harmony in Singapore.”
UN chief says there's growing consensus to tell Israel a ceasefire needed
AMMAN (Reuters) – UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said during a visit to Jordan on Monday that there is growing international consensus to tell Israel that a ceasefire is needed and that an assault on Rafah would cause a humanitarian disaster.
"We see a growing consensus emerging in the international community to tell the Israelis that the ceasefire is needed and I also see a growing consensus, I heard in the US, I heard from the European Union, not to mention of course the Muslim world, to tell clearly to Israelis that any ground invasion of Rafah could mean a humanitarian disaster," Guterres told a press conference.
Gaza hospitals under siege
Within the past 24 hours, two hospitals in Khan Younis have been under Israeli military siege: al-Amal and Nasser hospitals.
Military vehicles, tanks and attack drones are encircling these two facilities. They’re also blocking the entrance with piles of sand, preventing medical staff, patients and injured people inside from leaving safely and constantly failing to provide a safe corridor for people and evacuees trapped inside the hospital.
What we’re getting confirmed from al-Amal Hospital is that not only it has been under constant bombing and tank shells, but loudspeakers are ordering people inside the hospital to come out only with their underwear on. And that has been confirmed by multiple sources and witnesses on the ground, those who managed to flee the harrowing situation.
Here, in overcrowded Rafah, the hospitals are in dire need of medical supplies. Gradually, they are running out of space, medical supplies and sufficient care to save lives and provide proper medical intervention for injured people.
Gaza hospitals under Israeli siege: What you need to know
Three hospitals across Gaza are under siege by the Israeli forces, with Palestinians saying the army has been pinning down medical teams under heavy gunfire.
Here is what we know about the situation in these hospitals:
Israel says it killed dozens of fighters and arrested 450 in the week-old operation in and around al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, adding that it located military equipment and infrastructure in the area.
Palestinians who fled the continuing Israeli siege of al-Shifa Hospital say Israeli tanks and armoured bulldozers drove over at least four bodies and ambulances.
Israel extended its attacks on medical complexes to al-Amal and Nasser hospitals in Khan Younis.
The Palestinian Red Crescent says one of its staff and a displaced person have been killed in al-Amal amid heavy bombardment and gunfire.
The NGO says the army demanded the complete evacuation of staff, patients and displaced people from al-Amal’s premises and fired smoke bombs to force out its occupants.
Khan Younis residents say troops also advanced and formed a cordon around Nasser Hospital under cover of heavy air and ground fire.
Doctor says conditions inside European Gaza Hospital ‘unimaginable’
Konstantina Ilia Karydi, an anaesthetist at the European Gaza Hospital near Khan Younis, has described the situation inside the medical facility in southern Gaza as “unimaginable”.
“This hospital had an original capacity of just 200 beds. Now, it has expanded to 1,000 beds,” she said.
“There are around 22,000 displaced people sheltering in the corridors and in tents inside the hospital because people feel that it’s safer to be here than anywhere else.”
Karydi is a member of an Emergency Medical Team (EMT) working with Medical Aid for Palestinians, the International Rescue Committee and the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund.
In a press release, the groups said their staff have witnessed “horrific scenes” at the hospital – one of Gaza’s last functioning medical facilities – with patients “dying from infections with evidence of serious malnutrition”.
Israeli military says Hamas fighters firing from inside al-Shifa Hospital
The Israeli military claims that Hamas fighters have barricaded themselves inside al-Shifa Hospital and are throwing explosives from inside the maternity ward and emergency room.
The Israeli military spokesperson added that Hamas fighters “hiding around the hospital” in Gaza City also fired at Israeli forces, “causing extensive damage to the hospital buildings”.
The Israeli military has placed al-Shifa Hospital under a deadly siege for one week, claiming it’s targeting Hamas fighters hiding inside the medical complex. Scores of civilians have also been killed, however, with witnesses saying Israeli forces have carried out executions.
Tanks crushed bodies, ambulances at al-Shifa Hospital: Report
Palestinians who fled the ongoing Israeli siege of al-Shifa Hospital have described what happened as Israeli tanks and armoured bulldozers surrounded the hospital.
Jameel al-Ayoubi, who was one of thousands of Palestinians sheltering at the hospital, saw Israeli tanks and armoured bulldozers drive over at least four bodies in the hospital courtyard, The Associated Press news agency reports. Ambulances were also crushed, he says.
Kareem Ayman Hathat, who lived in a five-storey building about 100 metres (328 feet) from the hospital, told AP he hid in his kitchen for days waiting as explosions shook the building.
“From time to time, the tank would fire a shell,” he said. “It was to terrorise us.”
Witnesses shared with Al Jazeera terrifying scenes at the besieged hospital, including Israeli soldiers executing a group of eight people.
UN relief chief and Qatar minister discuss ceasefire, aid
Lolwah Alkhater, Qatar’s minister of state for international cooperation, has met with Martin Griffiths, the UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs, in Doha.
The pair “stress[ed] the need” for a ceasefire and to open border crossings “to bring more humanitarian aid into the strip”, according to a statement shared by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs on social media.
Griffiths last week decried the “imminent” famine in Gaza, saying the “international community should hang its head in shame for failing to stop this”.
Israel only interested in securing release of captives over ending war, says Hamas
Hamas’s political bureau official Basem Naim says a lot of “misinformation” has been circulated through the media in recent days regarding the ongoing truce talks in Doha.
He said the Israelis are focusing on only one aspect of the negotiations, the release of captives, and are unwilling to discuss Hamas’s three demands – a permanent end to the war, “total withdrawal” from Gaza and the return of displaced people to their homes.
German FM set to hold talks in Egypt, Israel and West Bank
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock is set to arrive in Egypt today to meet with Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry for another round of crisis talks on Gaza.
Baerbock will then travel to Israel to meet with Foreign Minister Israel Katz as well as to the occupied West Bank to meet with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
Ahead of her trip to the region, her sixth since October 7, Baerbock said she would raise the lack of aid entering Gaza and call for Israel to lift restrictions on border crossings.
“Air drops or sea bridges are not a sustainable solution,” the Green Party politician said in a statement. “Hamas must lay down its arms and never again bring the terror of Oct. 7 to the people of Israel. But this goal cannot be achieved purely militarily.”
Netanyahu promises to ‘eliminate’ Hamas leader
The Israeli prime minister has promised to “eliminate” Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
“We eliminated Haman. We will also eliminate Sinwar,” Netanyahu said in a post on social media, referring to the biblical character Haman, who plotted to kill the Persian Jews.
Netanyahu often makes biblical references in relation to Israel’s war on Gaza.
South Africa’s lawyers described Netanyahu’s references to another biblical character, Amalek, as a “genocidal invocation” that was “anything but idle” in its case before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Israeli forces shoot Palestinian child in occupied West Bank
A 14-year-old Palestinian boy has been shot by Israeli forces in the town of Beit Furik, east of Nablus in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reports.
The child was injured in his foot when Israeli forces fired live bullets and tear gas at people taking part in a march in the town denouncing Israel’s military campaigns in the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
Israeli forces also shot a 16-year-old during their storming of the town of Qaffin, north of Tulkarem, according to Wafa.
The Israeli military has carried out raids in other locations across the occupied West Bank tonight. They include:
The town of Silat Al-Dhahr and the villages of Arbouna, Deir Ghazala, Arana, Al-Jalama, Faqoua, Jalboun, and Al-Fandakumiya in Jenin Governorate
The Arroub camp in Hebron
The village of Beit Wazan, west of the city of Nablus
Wafa has also reported that Israeli forces have stormed the prayer hall at the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem, while Israeli settlers danced and sang near Bab al-Silsilah, one of Al-Aqsa’s main doors, to celebrate the Jewish holiday of Purim.
Demonstrators in Iran express solidarity with Palestinians
This video is from the Palestinian Square in downtown Tehran earlier tonight, showing demonstrators expressing solidarity with Palestinians.
“Palestine, Palestine, we will support you,” the crowds are chanting at the state-organised rally. They also chant, “Muslims unite, unite” in Arabic.
Images from the rally released by the semi-official Tasnim news website show demonstrators holding up flags of Palestine and Lebanon’s Hezbollah – part of the “axis of resistance” supported by Iran across the region.
A number of young children were also at the gathering, holding up placards blasting Israel for genocide, commemorating US soldier Aaron Bushnell, and praising Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamanei.
Tasnim also released footage from another state-organised rally in the western city of Hamedan, at the Tomb of Esther and Mordekhai, a major pilgrimage site for Jews in Iran.
Israeli jets ‘carpet bombing’ area near Nasser Hospital: Witness
A young Palestinian man who fled from Khan Younis in southern Gaza has told Al Jazeera that Israeli tanks have laid siege to the city’s Nasser Hospital.
“Since 2:30 at night, we have been carpet bombed by Israeli warplanes. The entire area near Nasser Hospital was shaking as if it were an earthquake. We took shelter in our building’s stairwell until the morning. We assumed the Israeli soldiers would lay siege to the area, so we ran for our lives. Some took shelter in the hospital and others remain stranded,” he said in a video testimony.
“Israeli snipers are shooting at all those moving on the road. Many dead bodies are lying on the street. Both Nasser and the Jordanian Hospitals are besieged by Israeli tanks.”
Euro-Med: Israel’s attacks on academics in line with Gaza ‘genocide’
The Geneva-based Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor says the Israeli military has killed three university presidents and 95 university deans and professors since the start of its war on Gaza.
“The deliberate and pervasive targeting of educational institutions is an additional manifestation of the ongoing crime of genocide Israel has been committing since October 7, 2023,” the rights group said in a post on X.
Israel prevented thousands of Christians from the occupied West Bank from accessing Jerusalem on Palm Sunday, the Wafa news agency reports.
French President Emmanuel Macron tells Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call that any forced transfer of people from Rafah in southern Gaza would constitute “a war crime”.
Israeli defence chief says 'military edge' at centre of US trip
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said on Sunday (Mar 24) that his visit to Washington this week would focus on maintaining Israel's military superiority in the Middle East, as fighting rages in Gaza.
Gallant is expected to meet his US counterpart Lloyd Austin and other senior US officials, as relations between the two allies become strained over the civilian impact of Israel's almost six-month-old war against Hamas militants.
Forced Rafah population transfer would be a 'war crime', Macron warns Israel
PARIS (AFP) - French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that any forced transfer of people from the southern Gaza city of Rafah would constitute "a war crime".
In a telephone call between the two leaders, Macron also "strongly condemned" Israel's announcement Friday of the seizure of 800 hectares of land in the occupied West Bank for new settlements, said his office.
Only effective way to ramp up Gaza aid is by road, Guterres says
CAIRO (Reuters) - The only effective and efficient way to deliver heavy goods to meet Gaza's humanitarian needs is by road and includes an exponential increase in commercial deliveries, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Sunday (Mar 24).
Speaking after meeting Egypt's president and foreign minister in Cairo, Guterres also warned of the impact the war in Gaza was having around the globe.
