Main events on March 14th
- Hamas affirmed its “complete readiness to begin negotiations” for the second round of the ceasefire, as it agreed to release Israeli-American soldier Idan Alexander and the bodies of four deceased dual nationals held in Gaza.
- Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem said the move was a “positive gesture” aimed at moving talks forward, but it does not mean the group is open to renegotiating the framework underpinning the Gaza ceasefire.
- Hamas’s statement came after Washington proposed a “bridge” to extend the Gaza ceasefire into April to allow more time to negotiate a permanent truce.
- Israel’s repeated violations of the fragile ceasefire continue, including an attack by its naval forces on a Palestinian fisherman who was killed when his boat was shelled off north Gaza’s coast.
- The US Justice Department said it is looking into whether pro-Palestine student protests at Columbia University violated federal terrorism laws, Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche has said.
- A large protest was held in New York City demanding the release of Columbia student Mahmoud Khalil, detained over his pro-Palestine activism, and denouncing the college’s decision to expel demonstrators.
UN warns of escalating Israeli settler violence in occupied West Bank
Violent attacks by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank are escalating, according to the latest UN update from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
Two Palestinians were injured, more than 1,400 sheep and goats were stolen or killed, and more than 380 olive and fruit trees were vandalised in 16 Israeli settler attacks carried out between March 4 and 10, according to OCHA’s latest update.
In one attack, Israeli settlers, dressed in what appeared to be military uniforms, descended on Palestinian worshippers while they prayed at a mosque in Khirbet Tana, Nablus. In an attack on Friday, Israeli settlers set fire to two homes leaving two Palestinian families, among them a baby and a toddler, homeless..
The UN update also notes that attacks by Israeli settlers on the Ras Ein al Auja Bedouin community have increased sharply since January 2024, documenting a total of 110 incidents.
The Bedouin community is surrounded by illegal Israeli settlements and is regularly targeted in raids on livestock or critical water infrastructure.
State of Palestine urges world to keep two-state solution alive after G7 statement
The two-state solution must be kept alive and a sovereign Palestinian state must be established, Palestine’s presidential spokesperson, Nabil Abu Rudeineh, has said.
The Wafa news agency reports that the State of Palestine made the call in response to a final statement by G7 foreign ministers on Friday, which did not mention a two-state solution but emphasised a “political horizon for the Palestinian people”.
Rudeineh said the immediate priority was to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid. But ending the conflict requires the implementation of the two-state solution, the full withdrawal of Israel from Gaza and a ceasefire in the occupied West Bank, he said.
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