Hard to say whether there are more horrific war crimes than straight up lies each day or vice versa.
Israel claims ‘excess capacity’ for Gaza aid despite overwhelming evidence
Israel continues to insist that it has no responsibility concerning the desperate lack of humanitarian aid going to Palestinians despite the UN and many others showing evidence to the contrary.
The idea that Israel is blocking aid is “simply a lie”, said Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy on X. “There is no limit to the amount of food, water, medicine, or shelter equipment that can enter via Israel. There is EXCESS CAPACITY at Israel’s crossings for more to enter.”
This comes after Washington resorted to airdropping a limited amount of food into the Gaza Strip since aid could not enter Gaza via Israeli-controlled border crossings and after the killings in the aid convoy in which 118 people have died so far.
Israeli protesters have also repeatedly gathered at border crossings with Gaza to prevent aid from being taken into the enclave.
Israeli army denies intentionally killing people in aid convoy massacre
The spokesman for the Israeli army, Daniel Hagari, told a news conference that Israeli soldiers did not intentionally open fire on hungry Palestinians in the aid convoy massacre that left at least 118 dead and more in critical condition.
“This was a humanitarian operation we conducted, and the claim that we intentionally struck the convoy and intentionally harmed people is baseless,” he was quoted as saying by Times of Israel. “We are investigating this incident, we have all the footage we need to complete an exhaustive investigation and find out the truth of the facts of this incident, and we will present the findings,” Hagari said.
The army had previously released edited drone footage of the incident and confirmed its soldiers fired on Palestinians, but claimed most were killed in a stampede – despite overwhelming eyewitness reports of Israel shooting at the crowd, and a UN team reporting that many of those injured had gunshot wounds.
Former US ambassador says airdrops are ‘humiliation’
The former US ambassador to Algeria and Syria wrote in a social media post that – aside from a 1967 Israeli air raid on the USS Liberty, which killed 34 American crew – the US being forced to airdrop aid to Gaza on Saturday were the worst-ever Israeli humiliation of the US.
“Forcing [the] USA to do airdrops of aid to Gaza as if [the] USA is no better than Egypt [and] Jordan is Israel’s worst humilitation of [the] USA [I’ve] ever seen,” Ford, who is now a fellow at the Middle East Institute, wrote.
“I should add that [the] USA will do humanitarian aid airdrops to Gazans if the Israeli Air Force graciously agrees not to shoot down the American planes over Gaza,” Ford added.
Currently Online i've seen Israel humiliate previous US administrations, but aside from murderous 1967 Israeli airstrike against US navy ship Liberty, now forcing USA to do airdrops of aid to Gaza as if USA is no better than Egypt & Jordan is Israel's worst humiliation of USA i've ever seen.
— Robert Ford (@fordrs58) March 1, 2024
Airdrops ‘close to the worst way to deliver aid’, says former US disaster relief official
“You only resort to [airdrops] when there is something on the ground blocking you from using better forms of transportation,” Jeremy Konyndyk, the president of Refugees International and a former disaster relief official in the [former US President Barack] Obama and [US President Joe] Biden administrations, told Al Jazeera.
“They’re very expensive, they’re dangerous because there’s a lot that can go wrong when things drop and they deliver a very small volume of aid. Relative to the level of need that exists in Gaza today, this is not enough to make a meaningful dent in the humanitarian crisis.
“You have to ask, why is this necessary? Well, it’s necessary because over the last nearly five months, the Israeli military offensive has made it virtually impossible for normal humanitarian operations to exist in Gaza,” Konyndyk added.
“They could be opening more border crossings – they have refused to do that. Even the two crossings in the south that are open have seen their volumes decline in the last few weeks. And they’ve made it very difficult for humanitarian groups to operate within Gaza – there have been air strikes on humanitarian facilities, there was a naval strike on a UN food convoy heading to the north that was actually [previously] stopped at an Israeli checkpoint at the time.”
“So this resort to air strikes is a reflection of how impossible the Israeli government has made it to conduct normal and frankly more effective humanitarian operations inside Gaza.”
UNICEF chief says many children ‘on the brink’ of death from starvation in Gaza
Commenting after the death of 10 children in Gaza from malnutrition, UNICEF head Catherine Russell wrote in a social media post that one in six children in Gaza under the age of two are acutely malnourished.
“For children in Gaza, every minute counts in safely accessing nutrition, water, medical care & protection from bullets & bombs,” Russell wrote. “This requires a humanitarian ceasefire NOW.”
Severe malnutrition can be deadly or leave young children with permanent cognitive & physical damage.
For children in Gaza, every minute counts in safely accessing nutrition, water, medical care & protection from bullets & bombs.
This requires a humanitarian ceasefire NOW.
— Catherine Russell (@unicefchief) March 2, 2024
Israeli attack on displaced in tents ‘outrageous’: WHO chief
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization, was reacting to the news earlier today that an Israeli attack on displaced Palestinians living in tents in Rafah had killed 11 people. Ghebreyesus said the incident was “outrageous and unspeakable”, and added that two heath workers were among the dead.
“We urge [Israel] to cease fire,” he added.
Reports that tents sheltering displaced people in Rafah were bombed - reportedly killing 11 people and injuring 50, including children - are outrageous and unspeakable.
Among those killed are two health workers.
Health workers and civilians are #NotATarget, and must be…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 2, 2024
Palestinian child killed by Israeli forces in West Bank
The child, 13-year-old Mohammad Khaled Zaid, was shot by Israeli forces near the Jalazone camp north of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
Mahdi Hamdan, the head of Jalazone Media Centre, told Al Jazeera that gunfire had been heard near Jalazone, and that news emerged about a child being injured. However, it was an hour before the child, Mohammad Khaled Zaid, was found near the separation wall, close to the illegal settlement of Beit El.
“We reached him and the Palestinian Red Crescent Society tried to provide emergency first aid,” Hamdan said. “He was unconscious and didn’t have a heartbeat. He was transferred to Ramallah Government Hospital where it was announced that he had died.”
Ahmed Jibril of the PRCS said that Zaid had been shot in the back and left to bleed for nearly an hour. PRCS workers attempted to resuscitate him but failed. Zaid was his parents’ only son, Hamdan said, adding that the child’s death had brought the total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in Jalazone since October 7 to six.
Israel open to a longer-term framework after military shortcomings
Israeli politicians “learned a lesson” after the agreement in November that secured a one-week ceasefire and exchange of prisoners and now appear more open to a longer-term solution, says Mahjoob Zweiri, director of Gulf Studies Centre at Qatar University.
“There are two obstacles. One is Netanyahu’s slogan for the day after, which basically indicates he doesn’t want to withdraw troops because he wants to control Gaza,” he told Al Jazeera.
“And number two; he doesn’t want people to go back to northern Gaza from Rafah and the southern parts because he wants to create a new security status quo in the north. That is why we see Hamas insisting on those two elements.”
Zweiri said a main driver behind this interest for a new agreement is that the Israeli military has not been able to fully achieve its goals on the ground, with fighting still continuing in northern Gaza, where it claimed it had eliminated Hamas’s presence months ago.
The Israeli military has not been able to fully clear northern Gaza of Palestinian fighters despite months of bombings and ground assaults
US official claims ball is in Hamas’s court on ceasefire deal
The US official, speaking to reporters in a conference call, says that Israel has “basically accepted” a six week ceasefire. “Israelis agreed to a six week ceasefire, now it’s up to Hamas to agree,” the official said. That would be followed by a “second phase” to “build something more enduring”.
Hamas has previously demanded a final and total ceasefire, and not just a temporary pause, the total withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, and freedom of movement for Palestinians within Gaza.
‘Good chance’ US-backed ceasefire will be agreed on
It would be “unwise” for Hamas to refuse the framework agreement with Israel that is on the table because Palestinians need even the six-week pause that it could bring, said HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute. “It’s an incredibly desperate humanitarian situation in the Strip and any pause would be a respite for the people there,” he told Al Jazeera.
Hellyer said a sticking point in the ongoing mediated talks is which Palestinian prisoners Israel is willing to release in exchange for its captives in Gaza during a potential pause.
“I think there is a very good chance an agreement will be penned tomorrow in Cairo. I don’t think [political prisoner] Marwan Barghouti is likely to be part of that deal in the slightest, but I think that they will overcome that particular sticking point.”
No Israeli reaction to US official’s suggestion of ceasefire agreement
There hasn’t been any Israeli reaction to this just yet, in fact, over the last week, the only thing we’ve been hearing about are impasses when it comes to this deal, and conflicting reports about where delegations are or are not being sent.
But remember, the entire time that there have been these talks, the Israelis have been discussing their red lines and the concessions that they are simply not willing to give up as part of a deal. That is, they’re not willing to see the release of thousands of Palestinian prisoners as part of this deal.
It also comes as several Israeli media outlets report that there will not be an Israeli delegation going to the next round of talks.
Israel’s Gantz to visit Washington, London without Netanyahu approval
Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz is set to visit Washington and London in an uncoordinated trip that has reportedly angered Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The head of the National Unity party, who has been tipped to replace Netanyahu if an election takes place, plans to be in the US on Sunday and then travel to the UK, Israeli media reported.
The reports cited unnamed Netanyahu associates as saying the prime minister has “made it clear to Minister Gantz that the State of Israel only has one prime minister”. They said the trip runs against government regulations that require coordinating with the prime minister and securing approval for trips.
Reuters cited an unnamed US official as saying Gantz will meet Vice President Kalama Harris on Monday amid the Biden administration’s frustration with Netanyahu.
Gantz is just as much a hardliner, ready to go into Rafah no matter what, saying things like "100% military control in Gaza, 0% civilian control" for the day after. His issue with Netanyahu is allowing too much discourse. He is part of the National Unity party and former IDF Chief of Staff.
As for the imminent ceasefire deal "It also comes as several Israeli media outlets report that there will not be an Israeli delegation going to the next round of talks." just more American lies to make Biden look like he's doing something
Israeli military confirms three soldiers killed in Gaza
The Israeli army confirms three more soldiers are killed in Gaza, bringing the official death toll of its ground offensive to 245.
It confirmed that three 19-year-old sergeants, Dolev Malka, Afik Tery and Inon Yitzhak, were killed, and 14 other soldiers were wounded, six of them seriously. They entered a building in Khan Younis in southern Gaza that was rigged with two explosive devices, which detonated. The Israeli military claimed its soldiers killed several Hamas operatives in the area.
This appears to be the same incident that Hamas also reported several hours ago, saying its fighters detonated explosives after Israeli troops entered a building in a neighbourhood in northern Khan Younis.
Hamas claims successful attacks on Israeli tanks, drone
Hamas says it launched multiple successful attacks on Israeli tanks and a drone in the Zeitoun district in central Gaza City, where intense ground fighting continues to rage. It said Palestinian fighters hit two Merkava tanks with Yassin-105 rocket-propelled grenades and blew up two more tanks using explosives.
The armed group also said it detonated an improvised explosive device as Israeli ground troops entered a building, and managed to take possession of a Skylark drone which was on a reconnaissance mission south of Zeitoun.
Gaza rockets activate sirens near largest Israeli city in Negev desert
Sirens have sounded in a kibbutz called Hatzerim, near the southern Israeli city of Beersheba – the largest in the Negev desert.
The Israeli military said four long-range rockets were fired from Gaza, with Israeli media reporting the rockets also caused sirens to be activated in the Be’eri kibbutz bordering the besieged enclave.
Hatzerim is close to an Israeli air force base of the same name. There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries caused by the rockets.
Calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza are growing louder
Senior Houthi official taunts UK leaders on sunk ship, politics
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, a senior member of the Yemeni group’s political council, was addressing UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on the UK-owned Rubymar cargo vessel that sunk in the Red Sea earlier today.
“You and your government bear responsibility” and are also “responsible” for genocide in Gaza, he said on X.
Al-Houthi said the group could “salvage” the vessel, which was on the water for days after being hit with Houthi antiship missiles, if Sunak sent “a letter of guarantee, signed by George Galloway, that the relief trucks agreed upon at that time would enter Gaza”.
In a fractious week for UK politics, Galloway won the Rochdale by-election after a campaign centred on supporting Gaza, rattling the Labour Party and starting a war of words among top politicians. Sadiq Khan, London’s mayor, weighed in on Saturday by criticising Sunak and calling out “a concerted and growing attempt by some to degrade and humiliate minorities for political and electoral gain”.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guard pledges ‘revenge’ for slain navy man in Syria
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) has promised “revenge” for the assassination of its senior navy soldier in Syria in an Israeli air strike.
The force said in a short statement that it “reserves the right for revenge on the agents and perpetrators of this crime” and that the funeral for Colonel Reza Zarei will be held on Sunday in Bandar Abbas in southern Iran. The statement identified the 40-year-old Zarei as having 20 years of experience in the IRGC Navy and as a “military advisor” in Syria who was killed on Friday.
The two other people killed in the air strike were members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah, Iranian media reported.
Israel has been intensifying its attempted assassinations of Iranian and Lebanese forces in Syria and Lebanon in the past few weeks.
Iran’s Raisi, Qatar’s Sheikh Tamim discuss Gaza in Algeria
Iran’s President Ebrahim Raisi and Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani have discussed Gaza in Algeria, where they convened for the Gas Exporting Countries Forum. The Iranian president’s official website said Raisi once more criticised “inaction” by Islamic countries and said any economic relations with Israel now would amount to “financial support” for the state.
“This is happening in the world of Islam at a time when the US and the Zionist regime are continuing their crimes and genocide in Gaza and are looking to kill time to continue their crimes,” he said.
A video circulating online shows Sheikh Tamim telling Raisi that Qatar has emphasised the necessity of delivering aid to the US, with the Iranian president telling him, “if the US doesn’t prevent help from going into Gaza it would be enough, we have no need for its aid.”
Lebanon’s Hezbollah claims attacks on Israeli sites
The Lebanese group Hezbollah has claimed several attacks on Israeli targets as it continues to engage in cross-border fire. In a statement, it said it targeted the Al-Raheb military site off Lebanon’s southern town of Aita Al-Shaab. Earlier, it announced attacks on a gathering of Israeli soldiers in proximity of the Jal al-Alam site, opposite the Lebanese town of Naqoura.
Al Jazeera correspondents also reported that missiles were fired at an Israeli site in the occupied Kfar Shuba hills and at another site in the occupied Shebaa Farms, southern Lebanon. Hezbollah has confirmed the deaths of seven fighters in the past 24 hours, as the Israeli army continues a campaign of targeted attacks against members of the group.
PIJ calls on Arab, Muslim countries to take up arms against Israel
The Quds Brigades armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) says Arab and Muslim countries should take up arms against Israel in a defiant statement carried by its spokesperson Abu Hamza.
“Is it not time for you to mobilise your weapons, following in the footsteps of the free people of Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq?” he said to countries that “possess armies, planes, and artillery” but have not intervened to stop the war on Gaza.
Abu Hamza also called on Arab and Muslim nations to make the first day of Ramadan – which is in about a week – a day of international support for Gaza.
“Just as you turn to God in prayer and fasting, turn to the land of Israel with weapons,” he told Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
Israeli forces killed them – these are their names and faces
In less than 150 days, Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians across Gaza and the occupied West Bank. These are just some of the people killed across both occupied territories every day of the siege.
Most victims listed here were killed by Israel’s attacks in Gaza. Others died from starvation after Israel blocked aid deliveries in Gaza. Some victims highlighted lived in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli forces and settlers have killed more than 400 Palestinians – including more than 100 children – since October 7.
Plotting these numbers out in a graph, pretty much steady slaughter, 144 days of mass murder
Big jump after a long internet outage not allowing numbers out.
Followed by a flat section which was the 2 week pause.
If aid can't get in soon these numbers will start to become exponential as starvation claims more and more victims.
Doctor treating dehydrated, malnourished newborns appeals for help
Dr Imad Dardonah, a paediatrician at Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, says that the most doctors at the hospital can do for malnourished and dehydrated children is to give them saline solution or sugar solution.
“All of this is happening due to the lack of food,” he said.
“My message is an appeal to the entire world to intervene and save all the children,” he said. “The war must stop immediately.”
Children search for supplies in Deir el-Balah
Children look through tents and makeshift shelters which were destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza on Saturday. As fewer aid convoys reach Gaza, people are searching through destroyed buildings for supplies and in the hopes of finding food.
UNSC issues statement on aid convoy ‘incident involving Israeli forces’
The UN Security Council (UNSC) has issued a joint statement from members expressing “deep concern” that more than “100 individuals lost their lives” in “an incident involving Israeli forces at a large gathering surrounding a humanitarian assistance convoy southwest of Gaza City”.
The statement notes that several hundred people were also injured, including with “gunshot wounds as observed by [the UN humanitarian agency] UN-OCHA” but does not specify who was responsible for the gunfire.
Council members jointly called on “all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance”.
The statement does specifically mention Israel’s role in keeping “border crossings open for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza” and calls on Israel “to support the rapid and safe delivery of relief items to people in all of the Gaza Strip”.
The joint statement comes after the US on Thursday blocked a statement from the council which would have assigned blame to Israel for the so-called “flour massacre“.
US military releases footage of aid airdrops into Gaza
The United States military has released footage of its personnel preparing aid packages and airdropping them into Gaza.
The US Central Command posted the footage on X after announcing it had airdropped 38,000 meals into the enclave.
Video and pictures of the preparation and airdrop of 38,000 meals to the people of Gaza on Mar. 2. pic.twitter.com/ynjgE3oPas
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 2, 2024
More reports that Israel will send delegation to Cairo talks
The Reuters news agency is now reporting that Israeli and Hamas delegations are expected in Cairo for talks on Sunday, citing two Egyptian security sources.
Earlier, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic reported that the Israeli and Hamas delegations plan to meet on Sunday in the Egyptian capital for an “indirect round of negotiations” towards a possible truce and prisoner-captive exchange deal.
Reuters also cited another unspecified source “briefed on the talks” that says Israel would not send a delegation until it got a full list of captives still alive.
Talks discuss temporary pause, but ceasefire needed
Negotiators are currently discussing a temporary pause in fighting not a more permanent ceasefire, HA Hellyer, a senior associate fellow with the Royal United Services Institute in London, has told Al Jazeera.
“A pause will be a welcome respite to the people of Gaza. But of course, what they really need – especially in the midst of this incredible humanitarian crisis that has been on the screens of the world’s media for so long – is for a ceasefire,” Hellyer said. “The Israelis have made it very clear that once they got the hostages out, then bombardment will continue so it’s not exactly a ceasefire deal.”
Al Jazeera’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, reporting from Rafah, said a ceasefire would allow Palestinians in Gaza a chance “to retrieve the bodies of their beloved ones from under the rubble”. Azzoum noted that negotiators have been working to “bridge the gaps of understanding” and that Palestinians hope they will see a ceasefire soon.
New York Times executive editor defends leak inquiry amid Hamas rape article controversy
The New York Times’ executive editor Joseph Kahn has sent an email to his newsroom defending the paper’s decision to investigate internal leaks related to controversy over an article alleging systemic sexual violence during Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel, The Intercept has reported. In his email to staff cited by The Intercept, Kahn said that leaking material related to a shelved episode of the Times’s podcast The Daily had crossed a “clear red line.”
“It threatens the culture of trust essential to the intensive editing process in every part of the newsroom,” Kahn wrote, according to a screenshot of the email shared by the Intercept. Kahn’s message to staff comes after the union representing New York Times employees on Friday accused the company of targeting employees with Middle Eastern or North African heritage during the leaks investigation.
The Times said in a statement to the Washington Post that accusations that it targeted staff based on their associations or ethnicity were “preposterous”.
The Times launched the leaks inquiry after The Intercept in January reported that the paper had pulled an episode of The Daily about an article describing widespread sexual violence on October 7 amid questions about the article’s credibility.
Joe Kahn, the NYT executive editor has sent a company wide email doubling down on the leak investigation pic.twitter.com/9ScY5N4uVm
— Daniel Boguslaw (@DRBoguslaw) March 2, 2024
UFC fighter dedicates victory speech to people in Gaza
Brother Umar Nurmagomedov dedicated his @ufc win tonight to the starving and besieged Palestinians of Gaza. 💚 @UNmgdv 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/8wrG2Ug2Bo
— Dilly Hussain (@DillyHussain88) March 2, 2024
Jill Biden heckled by antiwar protester in Arizona
Jill Biden, the wife of US President Biden, was heckled by a protester about the war in Gaza during a speaking event in the state of Arizona.
Footage posted on social media showed a young woman standing up from her seat and yelling, “Jill, when are you and the president going to call for a ceasefire in Gaza?”, before she was dragged away by security.
The first lady was in Arizona to talk about abortion rights ahead of the US presidential election in November.
“Jill, when are you and the President going to call for a ceasefire in Gaza?”
Protestors in Arizona disrupt Jill Biden’s speaking event to #ShutItDown4Palestine 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/BuZNYwKvqX
— ANSWER Coalition (@answercoalition) March 2, 2024
Footage of air dropped aid landing
| SvennoJ said: |
The voting results in Rochdale is threat to our democracy eh?
I feel like the "a threat to our democracy" is the new race/sexism card for the 2024 elections, since the latter have been overused and lost any shred of impact thanks the fake outrage style of reporting MSM have been engaged in that stripped meanings from what used to be powerful words.
The elaborate stunt Labour pulled to deny the SNP's ceasefire motion from being presented is the sort of garbage countries with fake-democracies engage in like Egypt, spare me your democracy concerns!
..... and I despise the SNP/Hamza and Nicola Sturgeon, but that's where we are right now.
These days you don't need to dig up history to point out the double-faced policies these politicians are guilty of, and in a way, Gazans are exposing the entire lying gaslighting western apparatus, from journalists, newspapers, TV channels, military complex and their politician puppets at a level that we have never experienced before, even the averages joes and those who are most detached from politics are wondering in disbelief (thanks to social media).
The veil has never been this thin, and in an undeniable important battle between the truth and lies, Gaza has won.
Last edited by LurkerJ - on 03 March 2024
Israel withholds Cairo delegation: Reports
Israel has withheld a delegation expected to go to Cairo for truce talks, after learning that Hamas – the group that rules Gaza – had not provided the expected list of captives it is holding, according to Israeli media.
The Times of Israel newspaper, quoting an official, said that Hamas refused to address the demand to provide the list of living captives, which is tied to how many Palestinian prisoners Israel must release for every captive freed.
Another Israeli newspaper, Haaretz, said that Hamas’s answer was delivered through Qatar.
Truce possible ‘within 24 to 48 hours’ if Israel accepts terms: Hamas official
A senior Hamas official told AFP that a ceasefire in Gaza may be secured “within 24 to 48 hours” if Israel accepts the Palestinian group’s demands in ongoing talks. “If Israel agrees to Hamas demands, which include the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza and increasing humanitarian aid, that would pave the way for a [truce] agreement within the next 24 to 48 hours,” said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity, as negotiations were set to resume in Cairo.
‘Sticking points’ remain in negotiations to conclude Gaza truce deal
In the last hour, we’ve been getting word from anonymous officials speaking to Israeli media that the Israelis will not be sending a delegation to Cairo because they are dissatisfied with the fact that Hamas is unwilling to release a list of names of captives who are still alive.
This is the first kind of confirmation we’ve gotten from these Israelis, though it is from an anonymous source, that there will not be a delegation heading to Cairo. But remember that there are quite a lot of sticking points still here.
Hamas has said that they’re not willing to give up that kind of information until there’s a deal that’s finalised. But what that word “finalised” means, we don’t quite know. There is also the issue with the concessions they’re unwilling to budge on.
Hamas has said that their position has not changed. They want to see an end to the war, whereas the Israelis have said that even if there is this six-week pause in the fighting, they do want to resume military activity in the Gaza Strip after the ceasefire deal, if it were in place or to conclude.
Hamas needs to make several ‘calculations’ on proposed truce deal
Mohamed Elmasry, an analyst and a professor at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies, says while it was “very easy” for Israel to agree to the latest proposal for a six-week truce. It was “much more complicated” for Hamas.
“Hamas has a couple of different calculations to make. On the one hand, Palestinians in Gaza are desperate for a break. They need aid. They’re dying, literally from bombs or a lack of basic nutrients,” he told Al Jazeera.
“On the other hand, I think it would be very difficult for Hamas to accept the deal on Israel’s terms,” Elmasry said.
“Israel’s terms are basically the complete destruction of Gaza. They’ve made that clear, both in word and in action: they want to destroy as much of Gaza as possible, make conditions unliveable, and ultimately drive the Palestinians out of Gaza,” he added.
Total state terrorism, holding 2.3 million people hostage under a medieval siege of deliberate starvation while bombing, shooting people daily and calling that 'pressure'. Collective punishment in a most barbaric form. Hamas might as well accept a temporary ceasefire now, Israel has proven not to care all that much about the hostages anyway. Buy time to get aid in and stories / evidence out.
The difficult calculation is, Israel will storm Rafah either with or without hostages released. So maybe it buys more time for the people in Rafah not to release them. The pressure from the hostage families does work and Netanyahu can't afford to get more hostages killed. The US continues to shield Israel from all outside pressure, yet the pressure on Biden continues to build as well.
It's basically the same as Russia's negotiations with Ukraine, lay down your arms and let us come kill you, we're going to occupy and destroy your country anyway. If there were no hostages, there would not have been a first pause to begin with and Rafah would already be (further) in ruins.
Israeli government has no right to exist: Liberman
Israeli opposition MP and Yisrael Beiteinu leader Avigdor Liberman has called for early polls in the country. “The government has run its course, it’s no longer able to lead nor unite us… it has no right to exist,” he said in an interview with the army radio quoted by the Israeli media.
“I gave the government credit for five months, but after the last ten days, the government has no right to exist and we must have elections,” he added. In the previous months, Liberman said that the country needed unity at the time of war, taking a stance against early elections.
Health Ministry: Death toll rises to 30,410
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip has announced that 90 Palestinians have been killed by Israel in “nine massacres” over the past 24 hours, with 117 others wounded. This brings the death toll from the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip since October 7 to 30,410, with about 71,700 injured.
Lies lies and more lies, keep Fox news well fed
Israeli army says most Gaza aid convoy deaths happened in stampede
Israel’s military has denied it was responsible for the killing of 117 aid-seeking Palestinians in Gaza City, which has triggered global condemnation and calls for an independent inquiry. The military spokesperson, Daniel Hagari, said a preliminary review determined that Israel’s forces did not strike the convoy and that most Palestinians died in a stampede.
The purported finding is against the accounts of the Palestinian officials, who said more than 100 Palestinians were killed and some 700 others wounded after Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City. The military “concluded an initial review of the unfortunate incident where Gazan civilians were trampled to death and injured as they charged to the aid convoy”, Hagari said.
The review, he said, which gathered information from commanders and forces in the field, determined that no strike was carried out towards the aid convoy. “Following the warning shots fired to disperse the stampede and after our forces had started retreating, several looters approached our forces and posed an immediate threat to them. According to the initial review, the soldiers responded toward several individuals,” Hagari said.
But the UN team, medics and rights monitors say evidence points to heavy shooting by Israeli forces. The Palestinian Foreign Ministry condemned the “massacre” while global leaders, including the UN chief, called for an independent investigation.
Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith said the military “initially tried to pin the blame on the crowd”, saying that dozens were hurt as a consequence of being crushed and trampled in a stampede when aid trucks arrived. “And then, after some pushing, the Israelis went on to say that their troops felt threatened, that hundreds of troops approached their troops in a way they posed a threat to them so they responded by opening fire,” Smith added. However, they didn’t explain how those people posed a threat.
Witnesses insisted that the stampede happened only after Israeli troops started firing at people looking for food.
Israel’s claim on ‘flour massacre’ contradicts evidence: Amnesty official
Donatella Rovera, a senior crisis response adviser at Amnesty International, says Israel, as the occupying power, is obliged under international law to cater to the needs of the population it occupies. She stressed that Israel controls what goes into Gaza by way of food, medical supplies and humanitarian aid. “Those restrictions have increased exponentially since October 7,” Rovera told Al Jazeera, pointing to the Israeli blockade of Gaza since 2007.
“There is concrete evidence that contradicts whatever statements are being made by the Israeli authorities” on the killing of 117 Palestinians while collecting food aid on February 29, she said. Israel on Sunday denied its military was responsible for the deaths, which triggered global condemnation and calls for an independent inquiry.
The purported finding is against the video evidence, witness accounts and accounts of the Palestinian officials, who said the victims were attacked by Israeli troops while waiting for food aid southwest of Gaza City. UN officials said on Saturday that many of those wounded near the aid convoy sustained bullet injuries. Rovera also reminded that the Israeli authorities prevent human rights officers and journalists from entering Gaza to carry out independent investigations.
Next war crime
At least nine killed after Israeli air strike hits aid truck in Deir el-Balah
At least nine people have been killed and many others injured in an Israeli bombing of an aid truck in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, according to witnesses cited by the Wafa news agency.
The Israeli bombing hit the truck belonging to a Kuwaiti association in the Brook area on al-Rashid Street, according to Al Jazeera sources.
A view of a heavily damaged humanitarian aid vehicle, which has been the target of Israeli air strikes resulting in the killing of nine and dozens of injuries in Deir el-Balah
Israel’s targeting of Deir el-Balah aid truck is ‘insistence on genocide’
Hamas says Israel’s targeting of relief convoys, the latest of which was an aid truck in Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, is “an affirmation and insistence on its part to continue the war of genocide”.
“The occupation’s continued targeting of aid convoys expresses an unprecedented level of criminality and brutality in contemporary history,” a statement from Hamas said on Sunday. Israel is practising systematic starvation and deepening the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip in complete disregard for humanitarian laws, the statement added.
Palestinian people try to remove the debris from a heavily damaged aid vehicle
Eyewitnesses describe Israel’s attack on aid truck in Deir el-Balah
One of the witnesses has told Al Jazeera that he was on his way to a water well when the area was “showered with missiles, shrapnel flying around, body parts in the air”. “This truck was carrying relief aid, with civilian volunteers on board. They were carrying food items to displaced Gaza people. It is alleged that Deir el-Balah is a safe zone,” he said.
“[Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu is waging a genocide and a starvation war. However, we are holding our ground. He cannot bring the Gaza people to their knees, I repeat, we will not bow to Israel.”
Another eyewitness told Al Jazeera that “there is no safe inch in Gaza”. “Hospitals, schools, even tents are attacked; even journalists are not spared; and now the trickling relief aid is targeted. What is left for us? This is a sin,” he said.
A third person told Al Jazeera that “every single civilian and any moving object is targeted by the Israelis”. “Every one of us walks carrying his own shroud,” she said.
Palestinians rescue people trapped under rubble after Israeli attack in Rafah
Search and rescue efforts are carried out by locals after the Israeli attacks
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