‘Chaotic’ search for food after Israel announces Gaza aid blockade

The stoppage of humanitarian supplies means Palestinians will definitely not eat. It’s as simple as that.

It’s chaotic, and Palestinians are very stressed. They are looking for flour, bread, anything they can have during iftar, the fast-breaking time during Ramadan.

The situation is on the verge of collapsing. Before today, Palestinians had a little bit of hope, but after this decision by Israel to end the flow of aid into Gaza, they are worried Israeli forces are going to resume their relentless attacks.

Israel accused of ‘war-crime starvation strategy’

Israel’s decision to block all aid going into the Gaza Strip is a war crime under international law, a human rights expert says.

Kenneth Roth – former head of Human Rights Watch who is now a visiting professor at Princeton University – said Israel as an occupying power has an “absolute duty” to facilitate humanitarian aid under the Geneva Conventions.

“Israel’s latest threat to cut off all aid is a resumption of the war-crime starvation strategy” that led to the arrest warrant for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by the International Criminal Court, he said.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 48,388 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. It says more than half of those killed were women and children.

Netanyahu making ’empty threats’ of restarting Gaza war

Israeli political commentator Ori Goldberg says Israel’s decision to prevent much-needed aid from entering Gaza is an act of desperation because it doesn’t have the military resources to again prosecute the war.

“This is a demonstration of Netanyahu’s limitations, just as it is a demonstration of the limitations of Hamas. This is the only thing Netanyahu can do. The threat of returning to full-scale war, or full-scale annihilation, seems to me to be more empty than full,” Goldberg told Al Jazeera.

“This is as hard as Netanyahu can play. It’s quite clear Israel doesn’t have anything to do in Gaza and is incapable of maintaining a long-time garrison there. Most Israelis do not support and occupation of Gaza.”

Doctors Without Borders condemns Israel’s use of aid as ‘bargaining chip’

The decision is “outrageous and will have devastating consequences”, said the group’s emergency coordinator Caroline Seguin.

“Humanitarian aid should never be used as a tool of war,” added the charity, known by its French acronym MSF, in a statement. “Regardless of negotiations between warring parties, people in Gaza still need an immediate and massive scale-up of humanitarian supplies.”

Israel will not stop ‘collective punishment’ of Palestinians unless forced: Barghouti

Regardless of the ceasefire deal, Israel as the occupying power is obliged to allow humanitarian aid to reach the people of Gaza who are under siege, said Mustafa Barghouti, secretary-general of the Palestinian National Initiative.

“Not allowing humanitarian aid into Gaza, not allowing humanitarian material into Gaza, is nothing but a grave violation of international law and international humanitarian law,” he told Al Jazeera from Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

“It is actually a war crime, and more than that, an act of collective punishment on Palestinians, threatening the lives of most of them.”

Barghouti said Israel has been violating the ceasefire agreement every day, and will not stop unless encountered with serious measures.

The Palestinian official said he finds the ironclad support of the Donald Trump administration in Washington for Israel “very strange”, as the US is the chief mediator and guarantor of the ceasefire agreement but is now reformulating it.

“The US administration now holds a very major responsibility for these war crimes that Israel is committing,” Barghouti said. I also think the Arab countries have a great responsibility to impose sanctions on Israel immediately and break the siege on Gaza.”

Saudi Arabia, Egypt condemn Israeli decision to block Gaza aid

Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned and denounced the Israeli decision to block all aid from entering the Gaza Strip and “to use it as a tool for blackmail and collective punishment”.

The kingdom called the move “a blatant violation of international law and a direct violation of the rules of international humanitarian law” in light of the catastrophe that Palestinians in the enclave have been exposed to as a result of Israeli attacks.

The ministry said Riyadh renews its call on the international community to stop the Israeli violations, activate international accountability mechanisms, and ensure sustainable access to aid.

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry called the Israeli block a “flagrant violation of the ceasefire agreement and international humanitarian law”.

It said there is “no justification, circumstance, or logic that allows the use of starvation of innocent civilians and imposing a siege on them”.

_{Trucks line up at the Egyptian side of the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip after Israel blocked the entry of aid trucks into Gaza, Sunday, March 2}

Israeli negotiators sought to extend phase one, secure release of 5 captives

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic, quoting sources close to the discussions, have revealed several details on what happened over the past 48 hours between the Israeli delegation and mediators:

Netanyahu says Israel adopting Witkoff proposal on temporary truce, release of remaining captives

Netanyahu has told his cabinet that Israel is adopting US envoy Steve Witkoff’s outline for a temporary ceasefire and is “fully coordinated” with Trump and his administration.

He said Hamas is currently holding 59 captives: 24 alive and 35 dead.

Netanyahu said that on the first day of Witkoff’s plan, half of the captives would be released and at the end – if agreement is reached – the remaining abductees would be released in one go.

Witkoff has defined his proposal as a “corridor for negotiations” on phase two, he said.

The Israeli leader claimed that, according to the original agreement, Israel may return to fighting after the 42nd day of the ceasefire if it feels negotiations are ineffective. He said this stance has received the backing of the Trump administration.

Egypt urges ‘full implementation’ of Gaza ceasefire

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty has pressed for the “full implementation” of the Gaza ceasefire, calling on the European Union to pressure Israel to enforce it.

“There is no alternative to the faithful and full implementation by all parties of what was signed last January,” Abdelatty said at a news conference in Cairo.

He urged the EU to exert “maximum pressure on the parties, especially the Israeli party, regarding commitment to the ceasefire agreement”.

Hamas has said it is willing to free the remaining Israeli captives all at once in phase two of the deal but only in return for the release of more Palestinian prisoners, a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli forces.

Israel stalling in an effort to avoid phase two and an end to the war

Israel for the last several weeks has not wanted to really discuss phase two of the ceasefire, because that would mean a commitment to the end of the war.

So rather, they are agreeing to this extension of phase one, in which Israel would get half of the Israeli captives who are still being held in Gaza. Israeli military intelligence says that of the 59 captives, more than half have been confirmed deceased.

However, it’s worth mentioning that Israel has largely stalled from negotiating for phase two. In this proposed truce extension, which is supposed to last 50 days and stop after Ramadan and the Jewish holiday of Passover, it’s unclear what’s going to happen.

There’s been an impasse for so long on negotiations for phase two, as the Israelis just didn’t come to the negotiating table, because committing to an end of the war is just not something they’re willing to do.

Israel will avoid resumption of fighting in Gaza for at least a week: Report

The Israeli Broadcasting Authority has reported that Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not decide on whether to resume the war on Gaza until after a visit by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff.

Witkoff had planned to travel to Israel last week, but the trip was delayed, and it is unclear when he will visit.

Hamas official rejects extension of phase one of ceasefire

A senior Hamas official, Mahmoud Mardawi, reiterated the Palestinian group’s line to Al Jazeera Arabic, saying that it would not agree to any extension of phase one and instead demand the beginning of phase two, as stipulated by the initial ceasefire deal agreed upon between Israel and Hamas.

Mardawi said that Hamas would only release the remaining Israeli captives under the terms of the current deal.

Qatar calls on world to compel Israel to allow aid into Gaza

Qatar has strongly condemned Israel’s decision to block the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

In a statement, Qatar’s Foreign Ministry called the move a blatant violation of the ceasefire agreement, international humanitarian law, the Fourth Geneva Convention, and all religious laws.

It also expressed its unequivocal rejection of using food as a weapon of war and starving civilians.

The ministry called on the international community to compel Israel to ensure the safe, sustainable, and unobstructed entry of humanitarian aid to all areas of Gaza.

EU slams Hamas’s refusal to accept truce extension, Israel aid block

The bloc has condemned what it called Hamas’s rejection of the extension of the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal, adding Israel’s subsequent aid blockade “risked humanitarian consequences”.

“The EU calls for a rapid resumption of negotiations on the second phase of the ceasefire, and expresses its strong support to the mediators,” Anouar El Anouni, the spokesperson for EU foreign affairs and security policy, said in a statement.

“A permanent ceasefire would contribute to the release of all remaining Israeli hostages while ensuring the necessary conditions for recovery and reconstruction in Gaza to begin,” El Anouni said, adding: “All parties have a political responsibility to make this a reality.”

Are you going to slam Ukraine too for not accepting US / Russia's 'truce' conditions?

‘Witkoff plan’ for ceasefire appears to be the Netanyahu plan

Matt Duss, of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, told Al Jazeera that he had “very good reason to disbelieve” what Netanyahu had said about US support for Israel’s unilateral decision to not proceed to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.

Netanyahu had called the proposal for the extension of the first phase of the deal the “Witkoff plan”, in reference to the US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff, but Duss said that “as far as I’ve been able to tell, this is in fact the Netanyahu plan”.

Duss said that it was uncertain how much support Netanyahu had from Trump, but that if the US administration was backing Israel in reneging on the terms of the ceasefire deal, it would be a continuation of US policy under Trump’s predecessor President Joe Biden, where US officials would insist that Hamas was the party not agreeing to a ceasefire, even when the opposite was true.

“I very much hope that Netanyahu is not telling the truth, because the terms of the deal are that phase one would continue as negotiations for phase two are worked out,” Duss said, before adding that Witkoff’s next moves would shed more light on the US position.

Main events on March 2nd

Five groups petition Israel’s top court over Gaza aid blockade

Five rights organisations have asked Israel’s Supreme Court for an interim order barring the Israeli government from preventing aid from entering Gaza.

The groups, which include Israeli human rights nonprofit Gisha, said the move violates Israel’s obligations under international law and amounts to a war crime: “These obligations cannot be condition on political considerations,” the petition said.

In a separate post on X, Gisha said:

“Israel is once again using its control over all of Gaza’s crossings to deny access for humanitarian aid, obstructing critical items, including food, medicine, fuel, and shelter equipment, as a weapon of war against the civilian population, in violation of its obligations under international law. Denying critical supplies to two million people, half of whom are children, constitutes a war crime.”

Israel is once again using its control over all of Gaza’s crossings to deny access for humanitarian aid, obstructing critical items, including food, medicine, fuel, and shelter equipment, as a weapon of war against the civilian population, in violation of its obligations under… pic.twitter.com/fRxq010icn

— Gisha גישה مسلك (@Gisha_Access) March 2, 2025

Israeli-Palestinian documentary ‘No Other Land’ wins Oscar

The film by Israeli journalist Yuval Abraham and Palestinian filmmaker Basel Adra has won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

It tells the story of Adra as he documents the destruction of his hometown of Masafer Yatta, in the occupied West Bank, at the hands of Israeli settlers.

The Oscar is the latest high-profile honour for No Other Land, which has struggled to find a distributor in the US. It also won the audience award and documentary film award at the Berlin International Film Festival in February 2024, as well as the New York Film Critics Circle award for Best Non-Fiction Film.

Adra, accepting the award, said the film “reflects the harsh reality that we have been enduring for decades”.

He added, “ About two months ago, I became a father, and my hope to my daughter that she will not have to live the same life I’m living now — always fearing settler violence, home demolitions and forcible displacements that my community Masafer Yatta is living and facing every day under Israeli occupation.”

Abraham called for an end to Israel’s war on Gaza and the release of all the remaining captives, and criticised the US’s unconditional support for the Israeli government.

“We made this film, Palestinians and Israelis, because together our voices are stronger. We see each other: The atrocious destruction of Gaza and its people which must end. Israeli hostages, brutally taken in the crime of October 7th, must be freed,” he said.

The team behind #NoOtherLand accepts the #Oscar for best documentary and speaks about the Iraeli-Palestinian conflict pic.twitter.com/3ilRwmdkzf

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) March 3, 2025

Israeli minister terms Oscar win for No Other Land a ‘sad moment’

Israel’s Culture Minister Miki Zohar says the Oscar win for the Palestinian-Israeli documentary No Other Land is a “sad moment for the world of cinema”.

The documentary, which chronicles Israel’s demolitions in the occupied West Bank village of Masafer Yatta, was produced between 2019 and 2023 and follows activist Basel Adra as he risks arrest to document the destruction of his hometown.



What Oscar-winning No Other Land is about, where you can watch it

No Other Land, which chronicles settler violence and the Israeli demolitions of Palestinian homes in the occupied West Bank, won the Oscar for best documentary on Sunday night.

The film has won dozens of prizes since its release last year, including at the Berlin Film Festival and the New York Film Critics Circle Awards.

This is the first time a Palestinian filmmaker has won an Oscar.

In 2006, the film Paradise Now, made by Palestinian director Hany Abu-Assad, was nominated for an Oscar for the best foreign language film with the country of origin being “the Palestinian territories”. In 2014, Abu-Assad’s film Omar was also nominated in the same category. This marked the first time the country of origin in the nomination was stated as Palestine. 

Since then, other Palestinian films have been nominated for the awards but have not won.

This year, two other Palestinian films besides No Other Land were shortlisted but not nominated. From Ground Zero, a collection of 22 films made in Gaza, was shortlisted for the best international film award. An Orange from Jaffa highlights the perils faced by Palestinians due to Israeli checkpoints. It was shortlisted for the live action short film category.

Activists protest BBC’s pulling of Gaza documentary

Pro-Palestine activists have projected the documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone onto a BBC building in Glasgow after the British broadcaster removed the film from its streaming service.

The activist group Gaza Genocide Emergency Committee called the BBC’s decision “shameful”, writing in a post on social media: “We’re showing it right back to them. For the children of Gaza.”

The film, which aired on BBC Two in February, follows 13-year-old Abdullah al-Yazouri as he describes his life in Gaza.

The BBC said it pulled the documentary from iPlayer in late February after it emerged that the film’s narrator was the son of a Hamas official.

Shamefully, the BBC pulled its showing of How To Survive a Warzone.

Tonight, at BBC Scotland, we’re showing it right back to them.

For the children of Gaza.🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/98VKUeDTRL

— GGEC (@ggectee) March 2, 2025

Israeli settlers again attack Palestinian community featured in Oscar-winning documentary

Israeli settlers, accompanied by Israeli soldiers, attacked a village in the Masafer Yatta area, hours before a documentary based on the occupied West Bank community’s struggle to exist won an Academy Award.

The head of the Susya village council, Jihad Nawajaa, told the Wafa news agency that Israeli settlers assaulted Palestinian residents, threw stones, destroyed solar panels and damaged water tanks.

Israeli soldiers who accompanied the settlers during the rampage arrested at least three Palestinians, it added.

As we’ve been reporting, No Other Land, which documents the Palestinian struggle to save their homes in Masafer Yatta from demolition by the Israeli army, has won the Best Feature Documentary category at the Oscars.


_{Palestinian women gather beside the rubble of their house after it was demolished by Israeli authorities at Khirbet Ma’in in the Masafer Yatta area, south of the occupied West Bank city of Hebron on January 25}

Israeli forces wound minor, arrest 8 in West Bank

Israeli forces have carried out a wave of raids across Bethlehem governorate in the occupied West Bank, arresting six people.

Wafa reported that, in addition to the arrests, Israeli forces stormed the town of Biddya, west of Salfit, arresting at least one person and firing live rounds and sound bombs in the streets. A 16-year-old boy was wounded in the Israeli raid, the report added.

Israeli army’s raid of Jenin continues for 42nd day

The Israeli army’s deadly raid across the city of Jenin and its refugee camp has continued for the 42nd day. At least 27 Palestinians have been killed, dozens wounded and large amount of infratructure has been destroyed in the raids.

Wafa news agency reported that on Sunday night, “a three-month-old infant suffocated from the tear gas” that was fired by the Israeli soldiers at the entrance to Jenin refugee camp.

Wafa also reported that all entrances to the camp have been blocked by “dirt mounds, forcing citizens attempting to reach their homes to turn back”.

Destruction in Tulkarem and Jenin ‘just the beginning'

The mayor of Jenin has told Al Jazeera that never before has the Jenin refugee camp, where Israel has been carrying out mass raids and demolitions, been so empty – not even during the invasion in 2022 when 400 homes were demolished by Israeli forces, not even in the early 1950s when the camp was initially set up.

The really worrying thing for observers is that there is no end in sight. Palestinians see that Israel is creating permanent military outposts in locations it is destroying. It is vowing not to allow people to return.

The added trauma, of course, is that we’re talking about refugees. There are now tens of thousands of Palestinians uprooted with very little assistance to allow them to rebuild or persevere while this onslaught continues. What the Israeli government is saying is this is not the end. Tulkarem and Jenin are just the beginning.

Now what everybody else in the occupied West Bank is watching for is what will their camps turn into and, if their camps are decimated, what will happen to them.

Suspected shooting attack in Haifa causes casualties: Israeli police

Israeli police say they are on their way to Haifa’s central bus station, where a suspected shooting attack has caused casualties.

Israel’s Arutz Sheva reports that five people have been injured in the attack, which it said included gunshots and stabbings. One of those injured is in critical condition, it said, citing Israel’s national ambulance service.

Israeli police say Haifa attacker ‘neutralised’

The Israeli police say they have arrived at Haifa’s central bus station, where an attack injured at least five people.

They said the attacker has been “neutralised”. Police say they are “handling the incident”, which they now describe as a stabbing attack, “to fully eliminate any further concern”.

Man killed in Haifa attack

A 70-year-old man, who was injured in the stabbing attack, has now died, reports Israel’s national ambulance service. Medics are treating four more wounded people, including three in “serious condition”. They include a 15-year-old boy, as well as a man and a woman in their 30s.

Search for Haifa attacker’s accomplices under way

Israeli police say that while one suspect in the Haifa stabbing attack has been killed, they are still looking for potential accomplices.

“The incident has not concluded,” Israel’s Arutz Sheva quoted police spokesperson Ariyeh Doron as saying. “Large amounts of police and security forces are operating in the area … After completing the search, we will declare the end of the incident.”

Israel’s Lapid slams government after Haifa attack

Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has accused the government of a “fundamental leadership failure” after the deadly attack in Haifa.

“Another attack that illustrates the deep failure of the far-right government in full,” Lapid wrote in a post on X. “This is a government that does not protect the security of its citizens because it is busy with political survival instead of managing the country.”

The former prime minister added: “Under this government, human lives have become expendable – in attacks, captivity, and combat.”

Haifa attacker was Israeli Druze, police say

Israeli police say the Haifa attacker was Israeli Druze, a resident of Shfaram and had returned to Israel last week.

The Druze are an ethnoreligious minority that largely identifies as Arab and is Arabic-speaking. The Druze religion grew out of Ismaili Shia Islam in the 11th century but has evolved to include aspects of other religions, including Hinduism, as well as ancient philosophies.

The faith believes in reincarnation while recognising traditional figures in Islam, Christianity and Judaism.

Israeli army kill 2 Palestinians in Rafah

Our colleagues on the ground are reporting that an Israeli army attack has killed two people in Rafah’s city centre.

The attack follows a spate of deadly attacks in southern Gaza yesterday, including one that killed a woman in Khan Younis.

Israeli attack wounds 3 Palestinians near Khan Younis

We are getting reports of more casualties in southern Gaza.

According to Wafa, three people were wounded when a helicopter fired a missile towards al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis. Israeli helicopters continue to hover in the skies of western Rafah.

At the same time, Israeli forces have opened fire intensively in northern Gaza, to the east of Jabalia, Wafa reported.

‘Ceasefire must hold’: UNICEF

Israel’s blocking of aid into Gaza will be “devastating” for the enclave, where seven newborn babies have reportedly died from hypothermia in the past week, according to UNICEF.

“The aid restrictions announced yesterday will severely compromise lifesaving operations for civilians,” said Edouard Beigbeder, UNICEF Regional Director for the Middle East and North Africa. “It is imperative that the ceasefire – a critical lifeline for children – remains in place, and that aid is allowed to flow freely so we can continue to scale up the humanitarian response.

“The ceasefire must hold and more aid must be allowed in to prevent further suffering and loss of life.”


_{Children stand near makeshift tents in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza}