To write about a national media figure who lived through different historical periods, full of great challenges, is not an easy matter, in order to give him his historical right and shed light on his rich career, so that younger and later generations can recognize a specific personality, who left a media message that still penetrates the darkness and in which the Palestinian citizen finds an outlet to express his joys and sorrows.

There are many characteristics and successes of the late Abu Marwan, Mahmoud Abu Al-Zaluf, founder of the newspaper "Al-Quds" which, as I said above, was born from the womb of suffering, and is still making its way despite all the difficulties and challenges.

One of the most important of these achievements is the ability of the media knight, who dismounted while on the job, to formulate an insightful media vision in its independence and comprehensiveness, and the satisfaction of the vast majority of audiences with it throughout its successive historical eras.

A second success trait that characterized this great journalist was his ability to convey his message and vision to his successors, male and female, and to his life partner, who was awake day and night and with all concern for the continuity of the independent national approach that he adopted. It is as if he was extrapolating the future of our people, and the state of confusion and strife experienced by this people, to which the media knight Abu Marwan belongs. Yes, he completely moved away from sectarianism and narrow partisanship and mortgaged himself and his media organization to serve his people and their just cause, without giving up his professional and humanitarian principles. How much we need such penetrating vision and insight.

Believing in the important role played by the media in promoting civil peace, defending human rights, and serving society in all its aspects, we would like to launch an academic initiative, Abu Al-Zaluf for Media, through which young media professionals are trained on how to employ the media to confront hate speech, and to strengthen and unite all efforts to serve all of humanity, and we are absolutely certain that his family and many friends have the ability and love of loyalty to return some of the favor to this media figure, which is missed not only by the Palestinian media family, but also by the Arab and even international media.
Your efforts, Abu Marwan, and influences will remain immortal among the generations who studied in your school or who would like to follow in your footsteps. Sleep soundly, for here are the children carrying the flag with all honesty, care, and integrity, to continue accomplishing more of what you aspired to when you began the journey.

A number of civilians and soldiers were killed and wounded at dawn today (Friday) in an Israeli air attack that targeted several points in the countryside of the city of Aleppo in northern Syria, according to Syrian official media.

The official Syrian news agency (SANA) quoted a military source as saying, “At approximately 1:45 a.m., the Israeli enemy launched an air attack from the direction of Ithriya, southeast of Aleppo, targeting a number of points in the Aleppo countryside,” which resulted in “the killing and wounding of a number of civilians and military personnel and material losses to public and private property.”

The source added that the Israeli attack "coincided with a drone attack carried out by terrorist organizations from Idlib and the western countryside of Aleppo in an attempt to target civilians in the city of Aleppo and its environs."

For its part, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said today, "At least 36 members of the regime forces were killed and dozens were injured with varying injuries, some of them seriously, which makes it likely that the death toll will rise as a result of Israeli air strikes after midnight Thursday-Friday."

He continued that the Israeli strikes "hit a weapons depot belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah in the Jibreen area near Aleppo International Airport," in addition to "defense laboratories" in the city of Al-Safira, southeast of Aleppo, while explosions sounded in the Kafr Joum area, west of Aleppo.

The Observatory indicated that ambulances and firefighting teams rushed to the site of the attacks to transport the wounded and put out the fires, amid a tight security cordon.

He stressed that "this death toll from regime forces is the highest" during previous Israeli strikes that targeted Syrian areas.

Two civilians were killed on Thursday in an Israeli bombing that targeted a residential building in the Damascus countryside, according to official media.

Over the years of the conflict that broke out in Syria in 2011, Israel launched attacks inside Syrian territory under the pretext of the presence of weapons depots belonging to Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah. These attacks intensified recently with the outbreak of war between the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) and Israel in the Gaza Strip on the 7th of Last October.

Israeli Channel 12 said that the head of the Israeli intelligence service (Mossad), David Barnea, believes that there is a possibility of concluding an exchange deal if Israel shows flexibility regarding the return of residents of the northern Gaza Strip, despite the response of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

The channel said that the two Ministers in the War Council, Benny Gantz and Gadi Eisenkot, support the position of the Mossad chief, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposes him and insists on launching an operation in Rafah.

The Hamas movement had previously said that the basic principles underlying its vision of the negotiation file - which it presented to the mediators in Egypt and Qatar - are based on five main points, which are a ceasefire, an unconditional return of the displaced, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and the entry of aid. Relief and reconstruction materials.

Hamas stressed that these principles and foundations that it presented are considered necessary for the agreement and the prisoner exchange file, and that it will remain biased towards the rights and concerns of the Palestinian people.

In a related development, Israeli Channel 13 said that a stormy discussion took place in the War Cabinet session yesterday, Thursday, but the session was canceled minutes before it was scheduled to take place.

The channel quoted a source close to Netanyahu that the reason for canceling the session was that Gallant was unable to attend.

During the discussion, Eisenkot called for doing everything possible to conclude an agreement and return the detainees, while Netanyahu insisted that military pressure was the key to releasing the detainees, and rejected demands to expand the powers of the negotiating team, especially with regard to the return of residents to the northern Gaza Strip.

Increasing disagreements

Disagreements are increasing between Netanyahu and members of the War Council, as the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation revealed a difficult confrontation between him, Gantz, and Eisenkot regarding the prisoner deal.

For its part, Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper reported that Netanyahu transferred the discussion of the deal to the expanded government, where there is a greater number of opponents to it.

Netanyahu said that he is personally managing the negotiations to recover all the “hostages,” not some of them. This comes in light of the cancellation of a war cabinet session that was planned to address the prisoner exchange deal.

This came in a statement issued by Netanyahu's office after the latter met with the families of detained soldiers in Gaza, without specifying the location of the meeting. This is his first meeting with those families since Israel launched its war on the besieged Strip.

Netanyahu said - according to the statement - “Since we have returned 123 detainees so far (during the temporary truce), I am forced to return all the rest,” adding, “I will not leave any of them behind. I am working for this day and night.”

He also said - according to the statement - that the cards must be used wisely in negotiations, noting that they have "strategic assets" of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), considering this matter "another key to recovering the hostages."

Netanyahu claimed that "the continued strong military pressure that we have exerted and will exert is what brought back the detainees and will bring back everyone."

He also said that they took control of the northern Gaza Strip and Khan Yunis (south) and were preparing to enter Rafah (south), despite international and international opposition to the consequences of any military operation in Rafah, which is crowded with displaced people.

It is noteworthy that Israeli media quoted the families of the detained soldiers before their meeting with Netanyahu as saying that the security services and the state intimidated them and that no minister communicated with them. They said, “We have remained silent since the beginning of the war at the request of the security services.”

The families of the captured Israeli soldiers demonstrated for the first time since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip due to the ban imposed on them by security and military measures, while Tel Aviv and other cities are witnessing massive daily demonstrations demanding that the Israeli government expedite the conclusion of a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas.

Head of the Shin Bet in Cairo

In a related context, the Axios news website quoted two Israeli sources as saying that the head of the Israeli Internal Security Service (Shin Bet), Ronen Bar, visited Cairo and met with his Egyptian counterpart, Abbas Kamel, on Monday, amid tensions between Israel and Egypt due to the war in Gaza and the possibility of the Israeli army expanding its operations to the city of Rafah on the Borders with Egypt.

Israeli officials said that Barr traveled to Cairo to discuss issues not related to detainees. The issues included the situation along the Salah al-Din axis (Philadelphia axis) in the Gaza Strip, and how Egypt and Israel could work together to prevent weapons smuggling into Gaza. They also discussed possible post-war plans.

The Shin Bet refused to comment, and no comment has yet been issued by Egyptian officials.

Cairo fears that a military operation in Rafah - especially along the Philadelphia Corridor (the narrow strip of land from the Palestinian side to Egypt) - would lead to a massive influx of Palestinian refugees into Sinai.

Simultaneously, indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are continuing in Doha, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, with the aim of reaching a prisoner exchange deal and a second truce between the two parties.

Neither Israel nor Hamas specified the number of captured Israeli soldiers in Gaza, while Israel holds more than 9,000 Palestinians in its prisons, and estimates that there are about 134 Israeli prisoners in Gaza, while Hamas announced that 70 of them were killed in random Israeli raids during the ongoing aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Tonight, the Israeli  forces attacked those in seclusion in the courtyards of Al-Aqsa Mosque on the first nights of seclusion in the last ten days of Ramadan.

Eyewitnesses reported that the Israeli forces expelled those in retreat from the courtyards and kept those inside the covered chapels.

Eyewitnesses said that the Israeli forces also assaulted women by beating them while expelling those in seclusion from the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

The director of Al-Aqsa Mosque, Sheikh Omar Al-Kiswani, confirmed that the door to seclusion is open until the end of the holy month of Ramadan, and the date of the night prayer is set, which will be performed in congregation starting tonight at exactly 1:30 after midnight.

Dozens of citizens were killed and injured tonight as a result of the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip for the 175th day in a row.

Local sources reported that 12 citizens were killed and others were injured when the Israeli aircraft bombed a house for the Muammar family south of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

A female citizen was also martyred and others were injured in the occupation aircraft’s bombing of the “Saad bin Abi Waqqas” mosque in Jabalia, north of the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli aircraft bombed residential buildings near Al-Wahda Tower in the Al-Nasr neighborhood, west of Gaza City, and the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood, south of the city, resulting in a number of martyrs and wounded. The Israeli army also targeted a group of citizens south of the Beach camp in Gaza, wounding a number of them.

The Israeli aircraft launched a series of raids on the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, coinciding with intense artillery shelling.

In an infinite toll, the number of dead as a result of the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7 has risen to 32,552 people, in addition to 74,980 injured, and thousands of citizens are still missing under the rubble and on the roads, and the Israeli army prevents ambulance and rescue crews from reach them.

Despite the pressure exerted by the United States on it, Israel is preparing for the operation in Rafah, and is taking actual steps in the field, according to what the “Central News Bulletin” [Channel 12] reported yesterday (Wednesday). The army has begun isolating Gaza City, in case the negotiations collapse. Regarding the kidnapped deal. The army is preparing for the operation in Rafah by manipulating tunnels, attacking militants, and the apartments in which they hide, attacking weapons stores, and eliminating “terrorist activists.” As part of the preparation for the operation in Rafah, and as part of addressing the issue of the civilian population, the Prime Minister requested the purchase of 40,000 tents from China, and upon their arrival in Israel, they will be transported to specific and clear places in the Strip, where they will be set up for the refugees. Meanwhile, Defense Minister Yoav Galant is coordinating the operation with his American counterparts in Washington.

Meanwhile, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in an interview with Lyonette Levy on Channel 12 yesterday: “We believe that a major ground operation in Rafah is a mistake.”

Kirby continued: “We simply cannot support a major ground attack in Rafah without an achievable plan that guarantees the safety of the 1.5 million Gazans who have taken refuge there. They took refuge in Rafah because of the operations that took place in the northern Gaza Strip, in Khan Yunis, and before that in the city of Gaza".

He added: "We need to make sure that their safety will be preserved. We recognize the necessity of acting against Hamas, and we also recognize that Israel has the right to do so. Hamas still poses a real danger, and we know that there are 'saboteurs' in it." Rafah. We fully understand the need to do this, but we do not think that entering Rafah is a good idea.”

As for the warning about the “repercussions” of the military operation in Rafah, which was stressed by US Vice President Kamala Harris, Kirby did not give details about it, and said: “I do not want to present estimates, or talk about hypothetical scenarios. We believe that there are other ways to pursue Hamas.” 'In Rafah, once again, Israel has the right to do this, but it must not endanger the lives of refugees.'

In light of the severe crisis between Israel and the United States as a result of the failure to use the veto in the Security Council, Kirby stressed that the United States had not changed its policy towards Israel, and said: “This is not a change in our policy in any way. The wording of the resolution contains a link between the kidnapping deal and "Ceasefire. Moreover, since this resolution does not condemn 'Hamas', this was the reason for our abstention from voting. But there is no change in our policy. President Biden remains committed to doing everything in his power to return the kidnapped."

As for the lack of any progress in communications related to the kidnapped deal with Hamas, Kirby said: “We have not progressed in the direction we want, that’s for sure. We had the impression that the gaps were closed, and we were close to reaching a deal that would enable us to release the kidnapped people. Now, "It seems we have not made progress, at least, not in the direction we had hoped for."

He continued: "But this does not mean that we will give up making efforts. We will continue to work on this deal, and we will work strongly, and do everything in our power to bring the two parties back to the room and agree on this matter. This is not the first time that 'Hamas' has been an obstacle." .

As for the escalation on the northern front against Hezbollah, Kirby was asked: Will the United States remain committed to exporting weapons to Israel at any cost? He replied: “Our support for Israel and its security is strong. But I want to stress that this does not mean that we will not hold direct and frank talks with our partners in Israel on this issue.”

n blatant violation of international law, particularly international humanitarian law, the Israeli army has executed 13 children by direct shooting in Al-Shifa Medical Complex and its Gaza City environs. This is a war crime and a crime against humanity, and is part of the genocide that the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip having been experiencing for the past six months.

For over a week now, the Israeli army has been conducting systematic and horrifying military operations inside and around Al-Shifa Medical Complex. These crimes include extrajudicial executions and deliberate killings of Palestinian civilians. The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor field team has received identical testimonies about the killings and executions of Palestinian children between the ages of four and 16.

Some of the fatal shootings occurred during an Israeli army siege while the victims’ families were inside their homes; others occurred when the victims attempted to escape via routes that the Israeli army had designated as “safe”  after forcibly evacuating them from their homes and places of residence.

Palestinian Islam Ali Salouha lives close to Al-Shifa Medical Complex. Salouha stated that Israeli forces killed his sons Ali, nine, and Saeed Muhammad Sheikha, six, in front of their families and fellow locals. They specifically targeted the children, he said, with live bullets.

According to Salouha, the family chose to stay in their apartment with several other residents because there was no safe way for them to leave after more than a week of Israeli forces besieging them inside their home amid frequent raids.

He explained that on the afternoon of Sunday 24 March 2024, the Israeli army ordered everyone in the vicinity, through loudspeakers, to leave their residential area immediately or face having their home bombed. As a result, the residents were forced to leave the area with a number of their neighbours and cross a corpse-strewn road that the Israeli army had designated for travel.

Salouha said that they were only able to walk for 10s of metres before they were suddenly exposed to intense gunfire, which targeted the two children, Ali and Saeed, in particular. The children then fell in front of them, their bodies covered in blood.

As they attempted to pull the two kids off the ground, he said, the Israeli forces opened fire on them again, forcing them to leave Ali and Saeed on the ground and to continue walking.

Salouha emphasised that his son Ali was killed in a field execution crime after he had been deprived of food for days because of the Israeli siege. He also pointed out that the area around Al-Shifa Medical Complex had become a hotspot for field executions and murders, with the bodies of the victims discovered in the streets serving as evidence.

The Israeli army launched a massive military operation on 28 March targeting Al-Shifa Medical Complex, turning it into a military barracks and transforming the surrounding area into a military zone, amid non-stop air and artillery bombardment and live fire.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on arbitrary or extrajudicial executions must take urgent action to investigate and document the killings committed by Israeli forces in and near Al-Shifa Medical Complex, and push for effective measures to hold the perpetrators and those who gave the orders accountable.

Euro-Med Monitor draws attention to the need of protecting Palestinian children, who are more vulnerable to the ongoing Israeli crimes in the Gaza Strip and who are not being afforded any protection under international law. Instead, the Israeli army has turned them into a clear and present target for murders, executions, and indiscriminate targeting, in addition to denying them food, shelter, and medical care.

Since Palestinian children make up more than one-third of the dead victims of Israel’s crimes in the Gaza Strip, ongoing since 7 October 2023, accounting for 14,405 of the 40,156 total dead, the killing of these children by the Israeli army in such a systematic and widespread manner is clearly intentional. This serves as further evidence of Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, as well as its deliberate destruction of entire generations of Palestinians living there.

The international community must act swiftly and forcefully to defend Palestinian civilians from Israel’s nearly six-month-long genocide in the Gaza Strip. It must also employ effective pressure to put an end to Israel’s grave crimes there, such as its attacks on Al-Shifa Medical Complex and other medical facilities, and must ensure that Israel complies with the requirements of international law and the rules of war, which specify the need to protect civilians and not target them for any reason.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) must act immediately to hold Israel accountable for its crimes that fall under its jurisdiction. It also needs to prioritise working on and investigating what is happening in the Gaza Strip, given that the gravity of the crimes committed there have an impact on global peace and security.

The international community must step in and force Israel to abide by yesterday’s UN Security Council resolution, which requires an immediate ceasefire, as well as the 26 January ruling of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Shlomo Ben-Ami said that the United States wanted to bend Israel's arm by refraining from announcing a veto against a draft resolution for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip last week, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is now convinced that US President Joe Biden wants to overthrow him.

In an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Pais, the last Israeli foreign minister in a government led by the Labor Party said that Biden was fed up with Netanyahu and that abstaining from using the veto in the Security Council was “part of a progressive strategy to send signals to Israel that things can change.” The abstention was The vote was a severe blow to Netanyahu, and its importance exceeded the importance of other similar steps in recent years.

According to Ben Ami, the change in the American position appeared, for example, in a statement by Biden leaked to the media that Netanyahu had become a burden, but he did not see the abstention from using the veto as a change in the American strategy in the Middle East as much as he saw it as an attempt to twist Israel’s arm, which made Netanyahu convinced that Biden wanted to bring him down. .

War and elections

Ben-Ami said that although Washington was keen to limit itself to abstaining from voting for the resolution (which was not binding), its step clearly expressed a willingness to go further in the pressure, especially if Netanyahu’s rule continued, which, according to him, would be as embarrassing as it was Biden, and he stated that the close and volatile relationship between the two parties was wise. Always clear limits, which are not to obstruct American geopolitical interests or the goals of the White House resident.

He explained that Biden cannot launch the election season burdened by the burden of the failure of his strategy in the Middle East, not to mention his need to save face before world leaders.

Ben Ami - who was one of the architects of the Israeli-Arab peace processes in the past few decades - added that Israel is living in a state of isolation and described it as "a threat to Western goals in the current cold war between the United States on the one hand and China and Russia on the other hand."

According to the former minister, Biden had a clear strategy in the Middle East, based on a solid alliance with Israel and the Arab countries against Iran, and the great success of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) was in dragging Netanyahu into a war without clear political goals that removed Israel from the Western alliance that was established. Recent years, which supports Ukraine against Russia and China.

He referred to what he called the extremely sudden explosion against Israel in the world, the likes of which had never happened before, and this, according to him, is a great victory for Hamas. He said that what prevents this explosion from being confronted is Netanyahu’s extremist government.

Ben-Ami also warned Israel against being blind to the major currents present in American society and seeking to distance itself from Israel, whether in the Democratic Party or among the youth. He held Netanyahu responsible for the rise in popularity of the more extreme trends in American society, such as evangelicals or “Trumpism.”

The former Israeli minister noted another damage caused by the Israeli Prime Minister, which is the rift in American Jewish support. He said that Netanyahu and his extremist government were able to split the ranks of American Jews who have never failed to support Israel, to the point that there is now among them a movement calling for the adoption of a new ideology that ends dependence on Israel. 

Source: Spanish press

Today, Thursday, the Israeli army conducted a “surprise” military maneuver to test the readiness of its forces and apparatus for the outbreak of a comprehensive war on the country’s northern front, according to Hebrew media.

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority said that the maneuver “was carried out suddenly, as its aim was to enhance the readiness of the Israeli army for various scenarios on the northern front” with Lebanon.

It added that the maneuver was "multi-weapon" and was conducted through the Army's Operations Division.

According to the broadcasting authority, the training included military commands and wings, as well as the General Staff.

The Israeli army organized this sudden maneuver against the backdrop of escalating confrontations with Hezbollah, as well as the complaints of soldiers serving in the north of the country about the lack of protection available to them when firing from Lebanon, according to the same source.

On Wednesday, the Israeli army hinted that reaching a prisoner exchange deal with the Hamas movement might lead to an agreement with Lebanon as well, according to the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz.

On a daily basis, the border between Israel and southern Lebanon witnesses an exchange of fire in a number of areas, the latest of which was the Israeli army monitoring, earlier Thursday, a barrage of rockets launched from southern Lebanon towards the border settlements in the north of the country.

During two days of meetings between the Israeli Defense Minister and senior officials in the White House and Pentagon, discussions about the planned Israeli military operation in southern Gaza focused not on how to stop it, but rather on how to protect civilians while the operation begins, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

The practical tone of the talks was marked by a departure from the tone of previous weeks, when senior US officials bluntly warned Israel against launching an all-out attack on Rafah - where more than a million displaced Palestinians have taken refuge - while the Israeli Prime Minister pledged to defy the administration to move forward.

According to experts, the operation (how) to invade Rafah lies at the heart of the growing dispute between Israeli and American political leaders. These tensions escalated on Monday when Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a visit by his senior aides to Washington to discuss American concerns about the planned attack according to the claims of the Israeli Prime Minister, who says there are 5 Hamas brigades in the city, and culminated in Netanyahu canceling the visit, in response to the US abstention from voting on a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire while also demanding the release of the hostages.

But Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant continued his meetings at the White House and the Pentagon on Monday and Tuesday, which were previously scheduled. Gallant is part of Israel's three-member war cabinet that includes Netanyahu and Benny Gantz, Netanyahu's main political rival.

In a sign that both sides are seeking to stop the escalation, the White House announced on Wednesday that the Israeli delegation’s visit has been rescheduled, with the approval of the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office. “We are working to set a date,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said. An Israeli government official said that the White House contacted the Prime Minister's Office to set a new date for the visit.

According to the newspaper’s report: “While President Biden’s relationship with Netanyahu has become strained, the channel between US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gallant remains strong, and since the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, Austin has met with Gallant several times and they have spoken on the phone about 40 times.”

At Gallant's closed-door meetings in Washington, a more realistic conversation began to emerge, with discussions centered around a gradual process to limit potential harm to civilians while ensuring that Israel dismantles the four Hamas brigades in Rafah.

Gallant said after his meetings at the White House: “I think there is an understanding that we have to dismantle Hamas.” Also, in a meeting on Tuesday at the Pentagon, Austin urged his Israeli counterpart to ensure that effective arrangements are in place to protect civilians before launching an Israeli military operation to attack Hamas fighters there.

A US Defense Department official told the newspaper: “There is a sequence.” He added: "The military aspect of the operation should not continue until the humanitarian aspects are fully addressed."

The newspaper says: “The two parties also agreed on the need to expel the Hamas brigades in Rafah so that the militants cannot attempt to return or continue to smuggle weapons into the Gaza Strip, which is a basic condition for ending the war and paving the way for a new political authority in Gaza. This means trying to find ways to work with Israel regarding the Rafah strategy, in light of the lack of better options.”

It is noteworthy that after negotiations in Doha, Qatar, regarding a temporary ceasefire stopped last weekend, Israeli officials informed the mediators that Israel may launch an operation in Rafah as soon as the month of Ramadan ends in approximately mid-April, if efforts to reach an agreement fail, Egyptian officials said on Wednesday. The officials added that talks may resume in person again in Cairo by the end of this week.

The newspaper quotes a senior Israeli official familiar with the talks as saying, “Israel is still open to continuing negotiations, but will consider other options if a breakthrough is not achieved, including launching its planned invasion of Rafah as soon as possible.” The official said: “There is no doubt that "A military operation can help."

The newspaper points out that although a military operation is not imminent, the challenges are enormous. About 1.4 million Palestinians are taking refuge in Rafah, including many who have already fled from other areas of Gaza. The city is also a major entry point for humanitarian aid, and any Israeli military operation, if not carefully designed, could deprive civilians of vital aid and uproot them again.

The Director of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Thursday that 10 out of 36 hospitals are partially functioning in Gaza and the health system is barely surviving.

He called for an immediate halt to Israeli attacks on hospitals in Gaza, and for the protection of staff, patients and civilians.

Ghebreyesus warned of the consequences of the collapse of the health system in the besieged Gaza Strip.

He said on the X platform: With only 10 partially functioning hospitals out of 36, the health system in Gaza is barely surviving.

He pointed out that the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced on Tuesday that Al-Amal Hospital in the city of Khan Yunis (south) had stopped working as a result of the ongoing Israeli army attacks on the facility and its environs.

The organization's director renewed his demand for an immediate halt to attacks on hospitals in Gaza, and called for the protection of health personnel, patients, and civilians.

On Tuesday, the association announced that Al-Amal Hospital had been completely out of service, after the Israeli army forced medical teams to evacuate the hospital and closed its entrances with dirt barriers.

On Sunday, Israeli forces stormed Al-Amal Hospital amid heavy gunfire and carried out bulldozing operations in its vicinity, according to a statement by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

Since the start of its war on Gaza on October 7, Israeli forces have targeted medical facilities and hospitals in various areas of the Strip with systematic and continuous attacks, causing the destruction of the health system, a humanitarian catastrophe, and the deterioration of the infrastructure.

This "bloody war" on Gaza left tens of thousands of civilian casualties, most of them children and women.

Today, Thursday, the International Court of Justice called on the Israeli occupation to ensure the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip “without obstacles.”

Today, the International Court issued new measures ordering the Israeli occupation to take the necessary and effective measures to cooperate with the United Nations without delay, in accordance with the Genocide Convention.

It said in a statement that Israel must urgently provide basic services and humanitarian aid without obstacles on a large scale.

It called on Israel to increase the capacity and number of land crossing points into Gaza and keep them open for as long as necessary.

The International Court of Justice affirmed that “Israel must ensure that its army does not commit violations of the rights of Palestinians in Gaza, such as preventing the delivery of aid.”

It indicated that Israeli authorities must submit a report to the court regarding the measures they will take within a month from today, Thursday, March 28.

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) called on Thursday for lifting restrictions imposed on the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip to avoid the risk of famine as a result of Israeli attacks.

In a statement via X, UNRWA said, “its aid convoys were once again prevented from reaching northern Gaza.”

The statement added that preventing aid from reaching northern Gaza "accelerates the risk of famine."

The statement included a statement by Jonathan Whittall, Senior Humanitarian Affairs Officer at the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), regarding the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Whittall said that the northern Gaza governorate has become a famine hotspot in the region.

He stressed the need for food supplies to enter the region urgently.

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin says events in Gaza represent the ‘blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale’.

Ireland has said it will intervene in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, in the strongest signal yet of Dublin’s concern about the war in Gaza.

Announcing the move, Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said on Wednesday that while it was for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to decide whether genocide was being committed, he wanted to be clear that Hamas’s October 7 attack and current events in Gaza represent the “blatant violation of international humanitarian law on a mass scale”.

 “The taking of hostages. The purposeful withholding of humanitarian assistance to civilians. The targeting of civilians and of civilian infrastructure. The indiscriminate use of explosive weapons in populated areas. The use of civilian objects for military purposes. The collective punishment of an entire population,” Martin said in a statement.

“The list goes on. It has to stop. The view of the international community is clear. Enough is enough.”

Martin also said the situation “could not be more stark”.

“Half the population of Gaza face imminent famine and 100 percent of the population face acute food insecurity. As the UN Secretary-General said as he inspected long lines of blocked relief trucks waiting to enter Gaza during his visit to Rafah at the weekend, ‘It is time to truly flood Gaza with life-saving aid. The choice is clear: surge or starvation.’ I echo his words today,” he added.o Duration 02 minutes 39 seconds02:39

In January, the ICJ, also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the Genocide Convention and to ensure its troops committed no genocidal acts against Palestinians after South Africa accused Israel of state-led genocide in Gaza.

But Israel’s bombardment and blockade have continued.

“The Israeli government is starving Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinians, putting them in even more peril than before the World Court’s binding order,” Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said on February 26.

Israel has been criticised for targeting civilians, with more than 80 percent of those killed being women and children. At least 32,490 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its assault on October 7 in the wake of a surprise attack by Hamas, in which more than 1,000 people were killed and dozens taken captive.

This week, the UN Security Council finally passed a resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire, as well as the release of the captives still held by Hamas.

Israel and its Western allies have said the allegation of genocide against Palestinians is baseless. The ICJ could take years to reach a final ruling.

Martin did not say what form Ireland’s intervention might take or outline any argument Ireland plans to advance, but he added that the country decided to make the move following legal and policy analysis and consultation with several partners, including South Africa.

Martin’s department said such third-party interventions do not take a specific side in the dispute, but that the intervention would be an opportunity for Ireland to put forward its interpretation of one or more of the provisions of the Genocide Convention.

Israel has stated that it has implemented a variety of measures to prevent civilian casualties.

Rejecting South Africa’s genocide charge in January, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that his country had displayed unparalleled “morality” in the Gaza war.

“No, South Africa, it is not we who have come to perpetrate genocide, it is Hamas,” Netanyahu said. “It would murder all of us if it could.”

“In contrast, the [Israeli army] is acting as morally as possible,” he added.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

Former officials in the Israeli army, businessmen, academics and officials in the high-tech world signed a memorandum demanding the removal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from office due to his unfitness and conflict of interest in his work.

The Israeli Calcalist website reported that the memorandum was sent to the government's judicial advisor under the title, "We do not trust Netanyahu because he is not qualified to make decisions in the war and the day after it."

The memorandum added that Netanyahu is deeply immersed in a conflict of interest between his duty and his personal interest in continuing the war in order to postpone his trial.

The memorandum explained that the families of the detainees and residents of the south and north have the right to ensure that decisions regarding the prisoner exchange and war deal are taken based on Israel’s interest only.

In a related context, the families of the Israeli soldiers detained in Gaza said on Thursday that the Tel Aviv government had abandoned their sons, prior to their first meeting with Netanyahu, according to Hebrew media.

The Jerusalem Post newspaper quoted the soldiers' families as saying, "Our sons have been abandoned and are being held as corpses by Hamas."

For its part, the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said that the families of detainees in Gaza will ask Netanyahu to answer a question about his plans to return their children.

Yesterday, Wednesday, the Israeli opposition issued a statement saying that Netanyahu crossed the red line, and that Israel’s security cannot be a card in the political game, after Netanyahu dismissed Defense Minister Yoav Galant from his position.

These tensions in the Israeli government coincide with ongoing demonstrations taking place in various areas in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa, demanding that the Israeli government conclude a prisoner exchange deal with the resistance in Gaza.

An article in Time magazine pointed out that the International Court of Justice concluded last January that it was “plausible” that crimes linked to genocide may have occurred in Israel’s war on Gaza, and it actually warned Israel, even if it found that the Israeli campaign did not It was genocidal in nature.

Its author, David J. Simon, director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University, noted that the court issued six “interim measures,” including two urging Israel and its forces to ensure that genocide does not occur during the response to the events of last October 7.

While one of these measures forces it not to incite genocide, two others relate to preserving evidence and submitting reports to the court, and the sixth also urges it to “address the negative living conditions faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”

Is the humanitarian crisis evidence of genocide?

The writer pointed out that the essence of the Genocide Convention is that it is not just “mass killing,” even of civilians, but rather it is a term that refers to an attempt to destroy a people, and therefore it includes 4 means other than killing, such as “causing serious physical or psychological harm,” and “ “Inflicting damage to the conditions of life to bring about the physical devastation of the group,” “imposing measures to prevent births,” and finally “forcibly transferring children from one group to another.”

Although the number of casualties in battles decreased - according to the author - in the weeks following the International Court of Justice’s order, the humanitarian crisis, over which the International Crisis Group expressed explicit concern, has deepened.

United Nations reports indicate that 75% of the population of Gaza were displaced from their homes before the end of this March, and it is likely that the potential attack on Rafah will significantly worsen the situation, and an analysis conducted by the “Integrated Interim Classification of Food Security,” which monitors crises, predicted that Half of the Gaza Strip's population of 1.11 million people faces catastrophic conditions by mid-summer, reaching the fifth stage, i.e. "famine", which is the worst stage of its classification.

Simon wondered whether the humanitarian crisis constituted genocide given the court’s concerns, stressing that considering the situation an act (or policy) of genocide depends, from a legal standpoint, on knowing whether the circumstances were “deliberate” and whether they were planned to “destroy” the Palestinian population in Gaza.

Ordinarily, the issue is less complex, because the forced movement of many Gazans from the north of the Strip to shelters and tent cities in the south, which was accompanied by a policy of restricting aid to the entire Gaza Strip, made famine practically inevitable, especially since the network of warning systems Early Famine issued these forecasts late last year, and raised precisely these concerns.

Conviction, not acquittal

Moreover - the writer says - the dangerous, slow and insufficient measures - to an unfortunate extent - to alleviate the severity of the famine, such as airdrops and temporary docks, demonstrate awareness of the need for relief, but Israel cites them as evidence of its good faith, even though other countries who did, in fact, constitutes a conviction, not an acquittal.

The writer concluded that what Gaza needs now is a massive, well-coordinated relief effort, and a cessation of hostilities is a prerequisite for that, and therefore the fanaticism of Israel or Hamas regarding reaching a ceasefire cannot be separated from responsibility for the humanitarian crisis.

In the absence of trust between the two parties, they must commit to allowing a third party, whoever it is, to supervise relief and monitor its distribution, knowing that political discussions about the status of sovereignty, security guarantees, and accountability for international crimes, which constitute an essential part of the medium-term solution in Gaza, cannot be resolved. It begins only after the humanitarian crisis is addressed.

The writer concluded that the reason behind such a move should not be that the International Court of Justice demands it, or that failure to do so increases the possibility of it ruling genocide, although it may do so, but rather the reason should be the moral responsibility to avoid a possible humanitarian catastrophe. Prevent it.

Source: Time

Prime Minister-designate Muhammad Mustafa presented the government's work program and the proposed formation list to the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas, in order to gain confidence in accordance with the Basic Law to approve its formation.

Accordingly, the President issued a decree-law granting confidence to the nineteenth government and issued a decree approving its formation.

The government will be sworn in before the President next Sunday, 3/31/2024.

The government's program confirmed that the government's political reference is the Palestine Liberation Organization, its political program, its international commitments, and the letter of assignment addressed to the government by President Mahmoud Abbas.

The government's program included working to give the humanitarian situation a top priority, including developing a comprehensive plan for humanitarian aid and immediate relief for our people in the Gaza Strip, recovery and reconstruction in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, and focusing efforts aimed at consolidating and stabilizing the financial situation and its reflection on economic stability.

It also includes plans for institutional reform, restructuring and unifying institutions, fighting corruption, raising the level of services and digital transformation, unifying institutions and restructuring institutions between the two parts of the country.

The government's work program includes an item on the rule of law, enhancing the integrity of the financial sector, including empowering the judiciary, enhancing security and safety, and ensuring public freedoms.

It also included strengthening steadfastness in occupied Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and marginalized areas, continuing work to preserve the Christian and Islamic sanctities in the city, and developing plans and programs to reconnect the city with all Palestinians.

The US State Department accused Francesca Albanese, author of a UN human rights report that says there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide, of being anti-Semitic, as a way to dismiss the allegations.

The report's author, Francesca Albanese, the UN special rapporteur for the occupied Palestinian territories, presented the report to the UN Human Rights Council on Tuesday.

“Israel committed three acts of genocide with the requisite intent, inflicting serious physical or mental harm on members of the group, intentionally inflicting on the group living conditions intended for its physical destruction in whole or in part, and imposing measures intended to prevent birth within the group,” Albanese said.

State Department spokesman Matt Miller, in response to a question from Al-Quds.com correspondent, about the department’s opinion on the report and whether it had seen it, said that the United States “opposed for a long period of time the mandate of this special rapporteur” and accused Albanese of having “a history of anti-Semitic comments.”

Albanese angered Israeli officials earlier this year because they wrote on X website that the victims of the Hamas attack on October 7 “were not killed because of their Jewishness, but in response to Israeli oppression, and France and the international community did nothing to prevent this. My respect to the victims.”

Miller said Albanese made comments that "appear to justify the October 7 attacks."

Miller did not address the substance of Albanese's detailed report and reiterated the American position that Israel denies committing genocide. He added: “With regard to the report itself, we made clear that we believe the allegations of genocide are baseless.”

Albanese's report came months after the International Court of Justice ruled that it was "plausible" that Israel was committing genocide. The court's final ruling in this case will not be issued for a few years, but if Israel is found guilty of genocide, the United States will be implicated because of its strong military support for Israeli operations in Gaza.

Medical sources announced today, Thursday, the death of a child due to famine and the lack of treatment, bringing the number of victims of malnutrition in the Gaza Strip to 30 citizens.

The same sources said that a child died as a result of malnutrition, dehydration, and lack of medical supplies, at Kamal Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip.

The Gaza Strip has been subjected to continuous Israeli aggression, since October 7, and has been subjected to extremely difficult humanitarian conditions, amounting to famine, in light of the severe scarcity of food, water, medicine, and fuel supplies.

As a result of the war, citizens, especially the Gaza and northern governorates, are on the verge of famine, with about two million Palestinians displaced from their homes in the Strip, which has been besieged by Israel for 17 years.

The Israeli authorities continue to prevent and obstruct the arrival of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, especially to the northern regions, while the aid that reaches the south of the Strip does not suffice the needs of citizens, especially with the displacement of more than 1.3 million citizens from northern Gaza to its south, specifically to Rafah.

The Israeli forces not only prevent the entry of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, but also deliberately target citizens while they are waiting for this aid to arrive, resulting in the death and injury of hundreds.

Canadian International Development Minister Ahmed Hussein said that the US Ambassador to the United Nations appealed to Canada last month to continue funding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

In January, Canada, like 16 countries allied with the United States, froze the organization's funding following allegations from Israel that 12 UNRWA employees participated in the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel.

But earlier this month, Hussein announced that Ottawa would go ahead with a scheduled payment to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East after Canada obtained an interim report on the allegations.

The decision came about two weeks after Hussein met with Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US envoy to the United Nations.

Hussein added that she (Linda Thomas-Greenfield) urged Ottawa "not to withdraw from UNRWA," as the organization is known.

The minister said in a recent interview with the Canadian Press: “She appealed to us to continue dealing with UNRWA and to provide UNRWA with the support it needs, in appreciation of the lifeline that UNRWA provides to the Palestinians.”

The United States has been the largest financial supporter of UNRWA for years, sending $343 million in 2022.

It withdrew its funding on January 26 after these allegations.

Hussein said Canada made the decision to move forward with the $25 million payment to the agency due in April due to reforms and increased accountability within the agency.

He also said that the decision came because the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip is getting worse day by day, and there is an urgent need for aid.

Hussein said that UNRWA is the "backbone" of aid in the region.

The European Union, Australia, Sweden, Finland and Iceland have also restored at least some of their funding to UNRWA, but many of its largest donors, including the United States, have yet to do so.

On Tuesday, Germany promised new funding for UNRWA's work in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the West Bank, but its aid to UNRWA in Gaza remains suspended.

Last week, the United States extended a halt to UNRWA funding for at least a year after Congress approved a spending package that averted a government shutdown. Republicans supported this measure to reduce aid.

The White House said as a general principle that it supports the work of UNRWA.

In mid-February, President Joe Biden's administration indicated that it was in talks with allies to maintain the flow of humanitarian aid.

State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said at the time that talks were taking place with international partners “about the importance of ensuring uninterrupted humanitarian assistance.”

A spokesman for the US Embassy in Ottawa declined to comment on the details of the private diplomatic discussions.

Hussein said Ottawa is increasingly concerned about "the lack of sufficient access" to get aid into Gaza, especially in the north, where officials say famine is imminent.

Hussein said: "The matter is still not at the level we would like to see, and the level required by the need."

UNRWA continued to blame Israel for refusing to allow an aid convoy to deliver supplies to northern Gaza, saying that two months had passed since the convoy was able to reach the area.

The Israeli government responded by saying that hundreds of trucks full of aid were simply waiting for the United Nations and its partners to be able to distribute it.

Hussein was in Egypt in February, where he said he saw 700 aid trucks parked at the border, where they had been parked for three to four weeks.

He said he raised the need for more entry points into Gaza with the Israeli ambassador to Canada, just as Foreign Minister Melanie Jolie and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau raised the issue with other Israeli officials.

Hussein added that the situation is "very frustrating" for relief organizations and Canada, noting that the number of trucks that passed in January and February was less than in November and December.

UNRWA said that during the first 23 days of this March, 157 aid trucks crossed daily into Gaza on average, less than the target of 500 trucks.

Security is a concern for Israel, which is heavily involved in controlling access to the border between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.

Hussein said Israel has a "very strict" process for examining and approving aid trucks.

“However, I believe that even with this consideration, the amount of aid being brought in could be increased, especially by considering more border crossings,” Hussein said.

For his part, US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said in his response to the “Al-Quds” correspondent’s question about whether US President Joe Biden would use the right of exception to bypass the US Congress’ decision (last Friday, March 22) to stop supporting UNRWA for at least a year, that he (Miller ) He has no knowledge of this mechanism, and everyone is awaiting the results of the investigation conducted by UNRWA into the fact that its employees were involved in the attack of last October 7.

The Israeli army committed 6 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, including 62 killed and 91 injuries to hospitals during the past 24 hours.

According to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, a number of victims are still under rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

The toll of the aggression rose to 32,552 killed and 74,980 injuries since the seventh of last October.

Here are the latest developments: A man was shot dead by the army in Hamad Town, north of Khan Yunis, south of the Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the Gaza Crossings Authority announced that the Israeli  authorities released 102 prisoners who were arrested from various areas in the Gaza Strip.

On the 174th day of the Israeli war on Gaza, the Israeli bombing of multiple areas in northern, central and southern Gaza continued, with 3 Palestinians martyred and 20 others injured, while the Israeli Channel 12 said that the army had begun preparations to launch an operation in Rafah in the event of the collapse of the negotiations.

It added that the Israeli army began steps to isolate the city of Rafah and evacuate civilians.

It said that Netanyahu ordered the purchase of 40,000 tents from China to set up in Gaza in preparation for the ground operation in Rafah. The tents will be transferred upon their arrival from Israel to the Gaza Strip. Clear spots will be identified in the Strip - where tents will be set up and refugees will stay.

On the other hand, the Israeli army announced that a sergeant in the Givati Brigade and another soldier were killed, and a third soldier was seriously injured in the Gaza battles.

For its part, the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) said, “The scenes broadcast by Al Jazeera of the killing of civilians in cold blood are further evidence of the extent of fascism and criminality in Zionist behavior,” and called for international action to stop “the systematic killing of our people and hold this rogue entity accountable.”

Poll shows ‘clear disconnect’ between President Joe Biden’s policies and US public, especially Democrats, analyst says.

 A majority of Americans disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza, a new poll has shown, as the Israeli military continues to pound the besieged Palestinian enclave and imposes a siege that has created a hunger crisis.

The Gallup poll released on Wednesday found that 55 percent of respondents disapproved of the Israeli military’s actions in the Gaza Strip, up from 45 percent who said they disapproved in November, a month after Israel began its operation.

Among Democratic Party voters, the percentage was even higher, with 75 percent of respondents expressing a negative view of Israel’s actions, while 60 percent of independents also said they disapproved.

“The Gallup poll reflects a clear disconnect between the Biden administration’s policies and the views of a majority of Americans, particularly Democrats, on Israel’s actions in Gaza,” said Raed Jarrar, advocacy director at Democracy for the Arab World Now, a think-tank in Washington, DC.

“This divergence suggests a pressing need for the administration to realign its foreign policy with the values and expectations of its constituents,” Jarrar told Al Jazeera in an email.

“Such a substantial gap in approval should be another reason for the administration to end its ongoing support to Israel’s genocide.”

  The findings of the poll, which was conducted earlier this month, come as Israel has intensified its bombardment of parts of the Gaza Strip despite growing international demands for a lasting ceasefire to end the war.

US President Joe Biden, a Democrat, has also faced protests and public anger over his staunch support for Israel and refusal to withhold foreign aid to the Israeli government until it complies with international human rights norms.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration abstained from a United Nations Security Council ceasefire resolution instead of using its veto, a move that experts said highlighted Biden’s frustrations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

But Washington continues to provide weapons and public support to Israel, and senior US officials have downplayed the importance of the UN Security Council measure.

Meanwhile, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that Israeli attacks on the territory over the past 24 hours had killed at least 76 Palestinians, raising the total to at least 32,490 Palestinians killed since Israel began its assault following Hamas’s October 7 attack that left 1,139 Israelis dead.

Israel also continues to block humanitarian aid deliveries to the enclave, which is facing shortages of food, clean water and other supplies.

A UN expert warned this week that there are “reasonable grounds” to believe Israel is committing genocide in Gaza. The Israeli government rejected those allegations.o Duration 02 minutes 08 seconds02:08

Against that backdrop, Biden’s approval rating for his handling of the situation in the Middle East sits at 27 percent, according to another Gallup poll released last week.

Among Democrats, the approval rating was 47 percent, compared with 16 percent and 21 percent among Republicans and independents, respectively.

“Democrats’ widespread opposition to Israel’s actions underscores the difficulty of the issue for President Joe Biden among his most loyal supporters,” Gallup said on Wednesday.

“Some Democratic critics believe Biden has been too closely aligned with Israel by not taking stronger actions to promote a ceasefire and to assist Palestinian civilians caught in the war zone.”

Biden has faced a growing protest movement over his Gaza policy as he campaigns for re-election in November against his predecessor and the Republicans’ presumptive presidential nominee, Donald Trump.

Groups have urged Democratic voters to cast “uncommitted” ballots during several state primaries so far this year, including in the key US swing state of Michigan.

Earlier this month, organisers of the so-called Listen to Michigan campaign announced plans to take their movement national.

“Today, we launched our national movement to let you all know uncommitted voters aren’t going anywhere, and we aren’t backing down until we achieve a permanent ceasefire,” Layla Elabed, a key organiser, told reporters.

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA

Editorial

Israel expelled the majority of the Palestinian population from their homes in the northern Gaza Strip in the first weeks of the war, under the pretext of preserving their safety during the ground invasion (“maneuver”) of the Israeli army in its war against Hamas. 

While the new refugees were congregating in Rafah, Israel destroyed a large part of Gaza City and its suburbs, demolishing homes, shops, schools, universities and government institutions. The one-kilometre-wide area of the Gaza Strip along the border has undergone a “clearance” process, removing houses, roads and trees, in order to use the area in a safe manner in the future and prevent Palestinians from entering it. 

The Israeli army built a road to divide the Strip into two parts, along which a type of border crossing will be established between the north and south of the Strip.

The Palestinians who remained in the northern Gaza Strip are clinging to their destroyed homes, and are at risk of starvation, despite UN warnings, and Israel refuses to transfer supplies to them, via the shorter route, through the closed Erez crossing. 

As for the negotiations with Hamas regarding the ceasefire deal and the exchange of kidnapped persons and prisoners, Israel refused to allow the return of all refugees to the northern Gaza Strip, and only allowed the return of women and children in the first stage. There are increasing voices in Israel calling for turning the occupation of the northern Gaza Strip into a permanent reality, similar to the situation in the West Bank, and establishing settlements for Jews in place of Palestinian villages and cities that were destroyed in the war.

Today, these votes are shared by far-right parties, such as “Jewish Power” and “Religious Zionism,” and a large number of members of the Likud Party. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who declared at the beginning of the war his opposition to Jewish settlement in Gaza, is now talking about a continued presence in the Strip, and opposes the establishment of any Palestinian authority there on “the day after the war.”

The decision to expel the residents, destroy their homes, expose the border area, and build the road separating the north from the south, was taken in closed rooms, and in light of the ambiguity of war, and calls for revenge against the Palestinians for the “massacre” of October 7 in the cover settlements. 

The government and the army have refrained from informing the public about this, and most information about the situation on the ground is obtained from international bodies and media, or from satellite images. The more time passes, the greater the impression that expulsion and destruction will become a permanent reality, and that the residents of the northern Gaza Strip will become refugees like their fathers, the refugees of the 1948 Nakba.

This war, whose purpose was to eliminate Hamas and return the kidnapped people to Israel, and these two goals were not achieved even after five months, must not turn into a second Nakba for the Palestinians. Israel's future, security and prosperity lie in coexistence with the Palestinians and with all neighboring Arab countries, not in creating a new wave of refugees who will swear revenge. 

The continuation of the occupation and the establishment of settlements in the Gaza Strip constitute a war crime and a moral crime. They will deepen the conflict and make Israel an isolated state in the world.

Israel bombed at least four homes in Rafah on Wednesday, raising new fear among the more than a million Palestinians sheltering in the last refuge on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip that a long-threatened ground assault could be coming.

One of the airstrikes killed 11 people from a single family, health officials said.

Mussa Dhaheer, looking on from below as neighbors helped an emergency worker lower a victim in a black body bag from an upper storey, said he had awakened to the blast, kissed his terrified daughter, and rushed outside to find the destruction. His father, 75, and mother, 62, were among the dead.

"I don't know what to do. I don't know what to say. I can't make sense of what happened. My parents. My father with his displaced friends who came from Gaza City," he told Reuters.

"They were all together, when suddenly they were all gone like dust."

At another bomb site, Jamil Abu Houri said the intensification of air strikes was Israel's way of showing its disdain for a UN Security Council resolution last week demanding an immediate Israel-Hamas ceasefire.

Next up, he fears a ground assault on Rafah, which Israel has threatened for weeks to carry out despite pleas from its closest ally Washington that this would wreak a humanitarian disaster.

"The bombing has increased, and they have threatened us with an incursion, and they say that have been given the green light for the Rafah incursion. Where is the Security Council?" Abu Houri said.

"Look at our little ones. Look at our children. Where should we go? Where should we go?"

Another Israeli airstrike in Rafah on Wednesday afternoon killed four Palestinians including a woman and a child and injured other residents, Gaza health authorities said.

Just west of Gaza City in the enclave's north, seven people were killed in an airstrike on a house, health officials said.

The Israeli military says it is targeting armed Hamas militants who use civilian buildings, including apartment blocks and hospitals, for cover. Hamas denies doing so.

West Bank violence

Separately, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where bloodshed has worsened in parallel with the Gaza war, three Palestinians were killed and four wounded by Israeli fire during a raid in Jenin overnight, the Palestinian health ministry said.

At least 32,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's air and ground offensive into Hamas-run Gaza, according to the health ministry there, with thousands of other dead believed buried under rubble and over 80% of the 2.3 million population displaced, many at risk of famine.

The war erupted after Hamas gunmen broke through the border on Oct. 7 and rampaged through nearby communities, killing 1,200 people and abducting 253 hostages according to Israeli tallies.

Israeli forces just north of Rafah kept the two main hospitals in Khan Younis, Al-Amal and Nasser Hospital, under a blockade imposed late last week. In the north, they were still operating inside Al Shifa, the enclave's largest hospital, which they stormed more than a week ago.

Israel says the hospitals have been lairs for Hamas gunmen, which Hamas and medical staff deny. The Israeli military has said it killed and captured hundreds of fighters in a battle in Al Shifa. Hamas says civilians and medics were rounded up.

Gaza's health ministry said wounded people and patients were being held inside Al Shifa's human resources department that was not equipped to provide them with healthcare.

Residents living nearby have reported hearing explosions in and around Al Shifa and columns of smoke coming from buildings inside the premises.

"A war zone, this is how it looks in and around Al Shifa," Mohammad Jamal, 25, who lives one km (less than one mile) away from Al Shifa, said via a mobile phone chat app.

"Explosions never stop, we see lines of smoke coming from inside, no one moves even in streets that are hundreds of meters away because of Israeli snipers on rooftops of buildings."

International mediation has failed to secure a ceasefire and exchange of prisoners so far as the two sides stick to irreconcilable demands. Hamas wants an end to the war and total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza while Israel has vowed to keep fighting until its foe is eradicated.

Military plans

Meanwhile, Israel has asked to reschedule a meeting with US officials to discuss its military plans in Gaza's southern city of Rafah, a US official said on Wednesday, days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu abruptly scrapped the planned talks.

Netanyahu called off a planned visit to Washington by a senior Israeli delegation after the US allowed passage of a Gaza ceasefire resolution at the United Nations on Monday, in a move that appeared to reflect growing US frustration with the Israeli premier.

US officials said the Biden administration was perplexed by the Israeli cancellation and considered it an overreaction to the Security Council resolution, insisting there had been no change in policy.

On Wednesday, a US official said Netanyahu's office "has said they'd like to reschedule the meeting dedicated to Rafah. We are now working with them to set a convenient date."

Netanyahu is considering sending a delegation for a White House meeting on Rafah as early as next week, but the scheduling is still being worked out, an Israeli official in Washington told Reuters on condition of anonymity.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli prime minister's office.

The planned talks are expected to focus on Israel's threatened offensive in Rafah, the last relatively safe haven for Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

The White House said last week it intended to share with Israeli officials alternatives for eliminating Hamas without a ground offensive in Rafah that Washington says would be a "disaster."

US Senator Bernie Sanders said on Wednesday that Israel is currently considered a right-wing state that is increasingly turning into a religious fundamentalist state.

Sanders pointed out, in an interview on social media, that the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) and US President Joe Biden are the reason why few Democrats are publicly calling for making aid to Israel conditional.

The independent US senator from Vermont has repeatedly criticized the unlimited US support for Israel in its war on Gaza, and called for it to stop supplying Tel Aviv with money and weapons if it does not put an end to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip.

He also previously called on the Biden administration to express its opposition to the behavior of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Last January, Sanders said that the United States is complicit in the nightmare experienced by the Palestinian people.

Source: American press

International newspapers and news websites covered extensively the repercussions of the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip, the resulting humanitarian crisis that reached the point of famine, and the escalating dispute between Tel Aviv and Washington.

The American newspaper "Los Angeles Times" said in its editorial that famine in Gaza is imminent, noting that "the killing of more than 32,000 Palestinians, and the grief and misery experienced by the survivors, is not only tragic, but unjustified."

The newspaper demanded, “The United States immediately uses its influence to end this madness, and then the floating port ordered by US President Joe Biden can be built, and its completion will take a few weeks.”

The American newspaper "The New York Times" touched on the demands of the authorities in Gaza "to stop airdrops and increase aid deliveries by land."

It indicated that this claim came after eyewitnesses reported that 12 people drowned off the northern coast, while trying to retrieve aid dropped in the sea, adding that it is not clear which country is responsible for the airdrop operation in question.

Security Council resolution

As for the Chinese Global Times editorial, it said that no party should ignore the UN Security Council’s decision to cease fire in Gaza, because these decisions are binding on all countries, and the United States should take the initiative to implement it.

The newspaper asked, "If Security Council resolutions are not binding, as the US ambassador claimed, why does Washington resort to repeatedly vetoing them?"

The British Guardian newspaper considered in its editorial that the United States’ abstention from voting against the Security Council resolution on Gaza - last Monday - was an important symbolic moment.

It added, "But it seems that little change will result from this, unless the United States takes substantive measures, because complaining about human suffering is meaningless when it continues to provide the weapons that caused the disaster."

For its part, the American magazine "National Interest" published an article by researcher Leon Hadar, in which he said that moderate politicians in Israel must understand that if they fail to convince the majority of Israelis that an independent Palestinian state will not pose any threat to Israel, then the United States is unable to perform this task on their behalf.

He also explained that the idea that Biden would come to the aid of those seeking to remove Netanyahu from power “is just wishful thinking.”

'Diplomatic error'

In its editorial, the Hebrew newspaper "Jerusalem Post" considered the decision of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel the visit of a high-level delegation to the United States a major diplomatic error and a short-sighted step.

It added that the decision indicates that a missed opportunity for Israel deprives it of influencing opinions, and prevents it from clarifying its position directly to the United States and exploring alternative strategies for the complex situation in Gaza.

As for the Hebrew newspaper "Haaretz", it stressed in its editorial that Israel's war on the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) should not turn into a second Palestinian Nakba, because that generates revenge.

“The prolonged occupation and construction of settlements in Gaza would constitute a war crime and a moral crime, which will only exacerbate the conflict and make Israel hated around the world,” she added.

Source: American press + Israeli press + British press + Chinese press

The Ministry of Health in Gaza announced today, Wednesday, that the death toll from the Israeli aggression had risen to 32,490 people and 74,889 injuries since the seventh of last October.

The Ministry of Health indicated that Israeli army committed 8 massacres against families in the Gaza Strip, including 76 killed and 102 injuries during the past 24 hours.

It pointed out that a number of victims are still under rubble and on the roads, and ambulance and civil defense crews cannot reach them.

Israeli aircraft continued their bombing of various areas of the Gaza Strip on the 173rd day of the war, leaving dozens killed and hundreds wounded.

The US State Department said that Washington still believes that negotiations between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) can continue, pointing to alternatives to a military operation that could eliminate the remaining leaders of the movement.

US State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said on Wednesday that the department does not believe that negotiations between Israel and Hamas regarding the detained prisoners have ended.

He pointed out that the negotiations on a humanitarian truce in Gaza have not ended and have not reached a dead end.

He added that Washington believes that there is a possibility of continuing talks on the release of Hamas prisoners.

In response to a question from reporters whether a limited military operation in Rafah could eliminate the remaining Hamas leaders, Miller said, “Yes.”

The Foreign Ministry said that it has ideas about alternatives to the military operation in Rafah that could lead to the elimination of Hamas brigades there, she said.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said - today, Wednesday - that indirect negotiations are continuing between Israel and the Hamas movement to reach an agreement to exchange prisoners and ceasefire, while the main dispute centers on the return of the displaced to the northern Gaza Strip.

Yesterday, Tuesday, Qatar clarified that talks are still ongoing between the parties at the level of technical teams, adding that there is no timetable for negotiations.

Last Monday, Hamas held Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responsible for the failure of the negotiations, and said that it informed the mediators of its adherence to the vision it presented on March 14.

This vision includes 4 main points: a comprehensive ceasefire, the withdrawal of the Israeli army from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, and a real exchange of prisoners.

Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, leaving tens of thousands of civilians killed and wounded, most of them children and women, and massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.

Israel continues this war despite the issuance of a resolution by the UN Security Council, last Monday, for an immediate ceasefire during the month of Ramadan, and also despite being tried for the first time before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday that military pressure will lead to the release of detainees held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

This came while he received, in his office in West Jerusalem, a delegation of members of the US Congress, which included Republican and Democratic legislators, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.

Netanyahu said: “It is very important to maintain bipartisan support at all times, especially in these difficult times.”

He claimed that "Iran has officially launched a campaign with Hezbollah, which also applies to Hamas, the Houthis, and others, requiring their official policy to shift from an ideological position to destroy Israel, to a long-term practical plan to destroy it."

Netanyahu continued: “We must win, but this does not eliminate other needs (representing) how to deal with Hezbollah and Iran, and prevent them from obtaining nuclear weapons, and how to prevent militias from launching missiles at Israel from Yemen or Baghdad.”

He explained, "Our goal is to destroy the military and authoritarian capabilities of Hamas in Gaza."

Netanyahu pointed out, "The second goal is to release the kidnapped people, and military action is what creates pressure to release the kidnapped ones."

For days, the Qatari capital, Doha, has been witnessing indirect negotiations between Israel and the Hamas movement, mediated by Qatari and Egyptian, but they have not yet led to reaching a prisoner exchange deal.

The Israeli Prime Minister continued: “The third goal is to create a situation in which Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. These are the goals.”

The meeting was attended by Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs Ron Dermer, National Security Council Chairman Tzachi Hanegbi, and Netanyahu's political advisor Ofir Falk, according to the statement.

While the congressional delegation included Representatives: Brad Schneider, Jim Costa, Debbie Lesko, Juan Vargas, Valerie Fauci, Cathy Manning, Marilyn Strickland, Norma Torres, and Debbie Wasserman Schultz, in addition to other senior officials from the Israel lobby in the United States (US Public Affairs Committee Israeli) known by the abbreviation "AIPAC".

For its part, the Hebrew Channel 7 said: The American delegation arrived in Israel at the initiative of AIPAC.

While the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper quoted Netanyahu during his meeting with the American delegation as saying, “Israel will win the war with the support of US President (Joe) Biden, which support we greatly appreciate,” he claimed.

Relations between Tel Aviv and Washington are witnessing increasing tension, which reached its peak on Monday, with the latter abstaining from using its veto within a resolution adopted by the UN Security Council calling on Israel to cease fire in the Gaza Strip during the month of Ramadan, as 14 countries voted in favor of the resolution and the United States abstained from voting. 

In response, Netanyahu announced the cancellation of sending his country's delegation to Washington in protest against its failure to veto the draft resolution.

A delegation including Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi was scheduled to leave for Washington in the coming days, to discuss a possible Israeli ground operation in Rafah, to which Washington has repeatedly announced its objection.