Lebanon’s foreign minister requests ‘pressure’ on Israel to end attacks

Youssef Rajji says on X that he has made a flurry of diplomatic contacts in an effort to bring an end to Israel’s escalating attacks on southern Lebanon.

Those contacts, according to Rajji, include the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt and France as well as EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas and two US diplomats, Morgan Ortagus and Natasha Franceschi.

“I requested that pressure be exercised on Israel to halt the aggression and escalation and to contain the dangerous situation on the southern border,” Rajji wrote.

Gaza faces ‘desperate crisis’ as 120,000 displaced in days: UN

Olga Cherevko, spokesperson for OCHA, says the situation in the Gaza Strip is getting “more and more desperate”.

“As of yesterday, according to our estimations, over 120,000 people have already been displaced in a matter of just a few days,” Cherevko, speaking from al-Mawasi in southern Gaza, told Al Jazeera.

“The closure of the crossings is also contributing to the very dire situation on the ground as we continue to run out of supplies.”

After the renewed Israeli attack on Gaza, aid agencies are finding it “extremely difficult” to operate in the Strip, Cherevko said.

“These evacuation orders affect not only the people on the ground, but also the facilities we have already set up and that are operating,” she said.

“We’re in need of the international community stepping up and having our backs and supporting us in this endeavour, because if the situation is not reversed very soon, I think the stain we will have on our collective humanity will be absolutely indelible.”

Hamas says it has ‘no ambition to govern Gaza’

Earlier we reported on the comments by US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff on Gaza and the now-shattered ceasefire in an interview with American journalist Tucker Carlson.

Witkoff’s “bridge” plan, presented last week, aims to extend the Gaza ceasefire into April, beyond Ramadan and Passover, to allow time for negotiations on a permanent cessation of hostilities.

Hamas responded to the remarks made by Witkoff in a statement:

At least 32 people killed in Gaza on Saturday: Medical sources

Medical sources in Gaza tell Al Jazeera Arabic that Israeli attacks across the territory have killed at least 32 people since dawn.

Main events on March 22nd

US bombs Yemen’s as-Salif port

We’ve been covering the US’s renewed attacks on Yemen.

Earlier, the Saba news agency reported three US raids on the airport of Hodeidah. It now says there’s been an attack on the port of as-Salif, which is also located in the Hodeidah governorate.

US bombs central and northern Yemen

We are getting reports of renewed US attacks on Yemen.

The official Saba news agency says US forces bombed the districts of Sahar and Kitaf in the northern province of Saada and carried out five air attacks on the central province of Marib.

Israeli military intercepts missile from Yemen

The military says the projectile launched from Yemen was intercepted by its air force “prior to crossing into Israeli territory”.

The attack triggered air raid alerts in several areas in Israel.

Israelis back to the routine of taking shelter during air raid alerts

The Israeli military says it intercepted a missile outside Israeli territory, so there is no danger to the residents of Tel Aviv and the larger Jerusalem area.

Nonetheless, this is extremely destructive as we are talking about the heart of the Israeli economy and disruptions at Ben Gurion airport, the main airport in Israel.

The economic impact of this is quite high, and it’s something that Israelis had thought was over when the ceasefires in Lebanon and Gaza were reached.

Now they’re back to that routine where they have to watch for alerts to head to the nearest shelter to take cover when the alarms go off because even if the missile doesn’t create an impact, there are fears of shrapnel.


Houthis claim more attacks on Ben Gurion Airport, USS Harry Truman

Yemen’s Houthi group says it again fired a ballistic missile at Israel’s main airport and also attacked a US aircraft carrier.

The armed group said it targeted the Ben Gurion Airport with “a Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile”. “The operation successfully achieved its goal,” said military spokesman Yahya Saree.

The Israeli military, however, said it intercepted a missile launched from Yemen before it crossed into Israeli territory. The Houthis also said they fired “several missiles and drones” at the USS Harry Truman carrier and a number of US warships. No damage was reported by the US.

Seems the Houthis are not interested in actually killing anyone. Setting off the air raid sirens, disrupting people's daily business is more effective than scoring kills.

The US and UK have killed many dozens of civilians in Yemen, but that's not going to deter the Houthis either. That's still a drop in the bucket of what else is going on in Yemen.

https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2024/country-chapters/yemen
https://www.globalr2p.org/countries/yemen/

New Israeli drone attack on southern Lebanon

An Israeli drone hit a vehicle in a southern Lebanese town, state media reports, a day after the most intense escalation since a November ceasefire.

“An Israeli drone carried out an air strike this morning, launching a guided missile targeting a car in the town of Aita al-Shaab,” near the border with Israel, Lebanon’s official National News Agency said.

It reported an unspecified number of casualties in the attack.

Israel violates Lebanon ceasefire repeatedly

People here in Lebanon are concerned this ceasefire might not hold because there are Israeli violations on a daily basis. This area is now more of a war zone after the latest attacks.

Yesterday, two civilians were killed – a 60-year-old man and a young lady, who were injured and later pronounced dead – bringing the number of people killed to eight from Israel’s Saturday bombardment.

There are attacks on different towns and villages in the Bekaa Valley and in the south of Lebanon.

Just this morning, there was an assassination of a Hezbollah commander in Aita after the town was hit by Israeli artillery overnight. Hassan al-Zein was killed as a result of an Israeli drone strike that targeted his car in his hometown.

Hezbollah says its presence important for Lebanon’s security

An expert on Hezbollah says the group will continue its presence in Lebanon despite calls to disarm because it’s the only military force capable of confronting the Israelis.

“Hezbollah is licking its wounds right now; it’s been heavily damaged. It has given an order just a week ago for all militants to disappear from southern Lebanon,” said Elijah Magnier, a Brussels-based military analyst.

He said there is “a difference in understanding” between Israel and Hezbollah over positioning near the Litani River under the truce.

“Hezbollah maintains its power north of the Litani River and the rest of the country. But that power has been much more reduced. The objectives of Hezbollah are no longer regional; they’re domestic,” he told Al Jazeera.

“Israel is helping Hezbollah justify its existence by keeping more Lebanese territory under occupation. Lebanon’s government doesn’t have the possibility to force the Israelis to withdraw.

“This is why Hezbollah is saying, ‘My presence and my power are important for the security of Lebanon – unless the government has the power and military to push out the Israeli army, which is not going to be the case.'”

All by design. Keep the Lebanese army weak, keep occupying parts of Southern Lebanon, keep up the regular air strikes, all to keep the support up for the resistance, and use that as an 'excuse' to keep going. Israel is cynically exploiting this vicious cycle to keep Lebanon divided and unable to become a stable country while slowly annexing more territory.

Israel is doing the same to Syria, US is now using that 'tactic' in Yemen.

Jumping from war to war ‘important’ for Israeli PM Netanyahu

Israel’s leader Netanyahu is trying to stay in power for at least another two years and this is why “he’s jumping from one war to another”, a military analyst says. “He’s doing that with Syria – without being provoked by Syria; he’s doing that with Lebanon,” Elijah Magnier told Al Jazeera.

He described the alleged firing of five rockets into northern Israel on Saturday as “doubtful”, saying there’s “no value” for Hezbollah or other armed groups in carrying out such an attack, as evidenced by about 200 Israeli raids in response that killed seven people and wounded dozens.

“For Israel, it’s important to maintain this pressure for political reasons and political gain for the prime minister and his far-right cabinet,” Magnier said.

Israeli forces forcibly displace Palestinians in occupied West Bank

Here’s what we know:

Israel to recognise 13 more illegal settlements in West Bank

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich says Israel is planning to “recognise” 13 more settlements across the occupied Palestinian territory, despite them being considered illegal under international law.

“The move is taking place against the backdrop of the approval of tens of thousands of housing units in Judea and Samaria,” Smotrich said in a post on X, using an Israeli term to refer to the occupied West Bank.

“We continue to lead a revolution of normalisation and regulation in settlement,” he said. “Instead of hiding and apologising – we raise the flag, build and settle. This is another important step on the path to de facto sovereignty,” he added.

Smotrich has long pushed for Israel to “annex” the occupied West Bank, last year pledging to bring a million new settlers to live there.

Hamas slams Israeli plan to normalise West Bank settlements

The Palestinian group has issued a statement condemning Israel’s plans to formally recognise 13 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, calling it a “racist replacement project”.

The planned settlement recognition, announced by Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich this morning, is part of Israel’s efforts to “steal [Palestinian] land and sacred sites and impose a hateful system of apartheid, in blatant violation of all international and humanitarian laws and conventions”, Hamas said.

The group called on “Arab and Islamic nations, and the free people of the world” to speak out against the settlement expansion.

‘Entire neighbourhoods’ pushed out during ongoing Israeli assault

The scenes of mass forced displacement are also repeating in the occupied West Bank. More than 44,000 Palestinians have been displaced there since the beginning of January; over half are from the Tulkarem area.

Overnight and throughout yesterday, Israeli soldiers forced entire families and neighbourhoods in Tulkarem city to leave their homes at very short notice. That means they could only flee with whatever they could carry in their hands.

The infrastructure in that city has been completely upended by more than 40 days of Israeli military assault. Those incursions continue. The Israeli military says it will carry out attacks throughout the occupied West Bank for much of this year.

Israel’s Smotrich: ‘We raise the flag, build and settle’

Earlier we reported that Israel’s security cabinet approved a plan to separate 13 Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank from their neighbouring communities.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry criticised the approval of the separation of the neighbourhoods and their recognition as independent settlements as disregarding international legitimacy and resolutions.

Israel’s pro-settler politicians have been emboldened by the return to the White House of US President Donald Trump.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich – head of the far-right Religious Zionism party and a key partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s governing coalition – has for years called for Israeli sovereignty in the West Bank.

The settlements will ultimately be recognised as independent, Smotrich posted on X about the move, which follows the approval of tens of thousands of housing units across Palestinian territory.

“Instead of hiding and apologising – we raise the flag, build and settle,” he said.

Hamas condemns ‘treacherous’ assassination of al-Bardawil

The Palestinian group has issued a statement confirming al-Bardawil’s killing. It said the senior Hamas politician was killed along with his wife in a “treacherous Zionist assassination operation” on their tent in al-Mawasi, west of Khan Younis.

Hamas described him as a “beacon of political, media, and national work, and a symbol of honesty, steadfastness, and sacrifice” and said “he never failed to perform a duty, take a stand, or serve the cause”.

His killing comes “as part of the series of brutal massacres committed by the enemy against our steadfast people in the Gaza Strip”, it added.

_{Palestinians gather at the scene where an Israeli strike killed Hamas senior official Salah al-Bardawil in Khan Younis, Gaza Strip, March 23}

Assassination of Hamas leader raises concerns over future negotiations

Salah al-Bardawil was a member of the political bureau of Hamas and its legislative council and was heavily involved in implementing many charitable projects across the Gaza Strip.

He was an important political figure but also extremely popular among the people of Khan Younis. His assassination underscores how most of Hamas’s political bureau across Gaza have been killed by the Israeli military.

This might affect how negotiations in the future will play out in terms of the captives’ release, as well as the “day after” plan for Gaza once Israel finally ends its devastating war.

Who is Salah al-Bardawil?

According to Palestinian media, al-Bardawil was born in the Khan Younis refugee camp in the Gaza Strip on August 24, 1959.

He studied Arabic and literature in Egypt, obtaining a PhD in Palestinian literature in 2001. He worked as a teacher in government schools as well as the Islamic University throughout the 1990s and served as the editor-in-chief of Al Risala newspaper from 1997 to 2001.

According to the Quds News Network, al-Bardawil joined Hamas when it was founded in late 1987 and was arrested by Israeli forces in 1993 and held for more than 70 days in Gaza and Ashkelon prisons.

He was elected to the Palestinian Legislative Council for the Hamas-affiliated Change and Reform Bloc in the 2006 elections. He was also a spokesman for Hamas, speaking to Arabic media, and writing articles and research articles on the Palestine issue for local and regional papers.

Al-Bardawil was elected to Hamas’s political bureau in 2021.

He has three sons and five daughters. His wife died in the same Israeli strike that killed him.

Trump adviser lauds Gaza takeover plan

US National Security Adviser Mike Waltz tells Fox News that Trump’s plan to forcibly displace Palestinians from Gaza is “a very practical idea”.

In an interview with Lara Trump, the president’s daughter-in-law, Waltz said: “He … looks at the death of destruction in Gaza. He knows as a builder, it’s going to take years to clean that up. He’s asking a very practical question: How does two million people live for a decade in the middle of all of that?”

Waltz claimed that Palestinians, if offered, would take the chance to leave Gaza.

“As President Trump said, have they ever really been offered? And who wouldn’t take the opportunity to take their family somewhere else with some decent housing, and a place to live?” Waltz said. “Then he says let’s stop the definition of insanity of pouring billions and rebuilding Gaza just to see terrorists attack all over again.”

Palestinians in Gaza, however, have rejected Trump’s proposal, describing it as ethnic cleansing and saying they want to remain on their land. Arab nations, too, have opposed it and presented a counter-proposal to rebuild Gaza without relocating its residents.

 
Israel greenlights agency to displace Palestinians from Gaza

The Times of Israel reports that Israel’s security cabinet has approved a proposal by Defence Minister Israel Katz to establish a government agency to oversee the displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

In a statement, the Israeli Defence Ministry said the agency would be tasked with securing the movement of Gaza’s population “for their voluntary departure to third countries, including securing their movement, establishing movement routes, checking pedestrians at designated crossings in the Gaza Strip, as well as coordinating the provision of infrastructure that will enable passage by land, sea and air to the destination countries”.

The ministry claimed that the move was “subject to Israeli and international law, and in accordance with the vision of US President Donald Trump”.

Trump has previously proposed that the Gaza Strip be depopulated to “develop” the enclave under US control. Palestinians in Gaza have rejected this proposal, describing it as ethnic cleansing, while Arab nations have backed Egypt’s Gaza reconstruction plan counterproposal to rebuild Gaza without relocating its residents.

Forcibly displacing Palestinians from Gaza now official Israeli policy

It’s been 23 days of Israel not allowing any food, water, or medicine into the Gaza Strip, then launching this attack on Tuesday that has killed hundreds of people, including more than 200 children.

Israel has now officially endorsed the policy of facilitating the exit of the population of Gaza to implement US President Trump’s plan. This is now official policy. There will be a naming of someone who will head a directorate for this purpose inside Israel’s Defense Ministry.

The idea of forcing people out of Gaza has been harshly criticised and pointed out as a war crime by experts in the field. Israel is calling it “voluntary migration”.

Gaza’s confirmed death toll tops 50,000: Health Ministry

The Health Ministry in Gaza says at least 41 people have been confirmed killed and 61 wounded in Israeli attacks in the last 24 hours. These casualties bring the total number of Palestinians killed since the war began 17 months ago to 50,021, with 113,274 wounded, said the ministry.

Numerous victims are still trapped under the wreckage where rescuers cannot reach them, it added.

Israel’s public ‘not interested’ in deaths in Gaza

Ori Goldberg, an Israeli political commentator, says Israelis will have little sympathy at the news that Gaza’s death toll has surpassed 50,000 during the war.

“My personal response would be anger, sadness, and shock. This is not likely to resonate because when the number was 45,000 [dead] the figures were said to be bogus, augmented by Hamas,” Goldberg told Al Jazeera.

“Generally, the Israeli public is not interested in claiming responsibility for Palestinian deaths in Gaza. It isn’t really interested in claiming responsibility for Israeli deaths in Gaza.”

He said the media in Israel show images of the carnage and suffering in the Strip, but “this has gone on so long, after a while, the mind is numbed”.

Since the beginning of the war, the Israeli public has said “every death in Gaza is on Hamas, for a variety of reasons”, Goldberg added.

‘A whole generation has been wiped out’

This is a very grim, horrifying milestone. People who had dreams, ambitions and life to look forward to are now gone.

For the record, the 50,000 figure is only a conservative estimate. These are only the people who have been registered at health facilities across the Gaza Strip. There are so many others buried without being registered or who have gone missing, trapped under piles of rubble.

Recent Israeli attacks have caused further civilian casualties, trapping more people under the concrete debris of collapsed buildings.

Of the more than 50,000 killed, 17,000 are children. A whole generation has been wiped out. These children would have affected how their society would have progressed – politically, economically and intellectually.

Israel’s Gaza strategy part of a ‘fantasy’ pursued by hard-right government

Israeli analyst Ori Goldberg says there are two “points of origin” to consider when looking at Israel’s current strategy on Gaza.

“One has to do with the Trump plan, the collective Israeli fantasy … that has been pursued actively by the hard-right government … that is ethnic cleansing, forced – certainly not the voluntary – expulsion of Palestinians outside the Strip,” he told Al Jazeera, referring to the widely criticised proposal by the US president.

Goldberg said the plan looks to appease Israeli settlers and give Israel’s Defense Minister Israel Katz, “who is constantly on the prowl for empty titles, some jurisdiction over the matter should it arise”.

The second point of origin concerns the domestic political issues plaguing Netanyahu and the Israeli military Chief of Staff, Eyal Zamir. “They’re both looking for redemption. Netanyahu is looking to actively stave off protests that show no sign of weakening against his government,” Goldberg said.

“The Palestinians … with the second agenda, are merely props, and the truth is, nobody cares about shedding Palestinian blood in Israel,” he added.

Israeli military claims to besiege Tal as-Sultan

Israeli troops have surrounded Rafah’s Tal as-Sultan neighbourhood, the military says, after demanding Palestinian civilians flee the area earlier.

In a statement, the military said it’s rooting out Hamas military infrastructure, pursuing fighters, and expanding its “security zone” in southern Gaza. However, it said it would still allow civilians to evacuate via “organised routes”.

In an earlier notice, Israel’s Arabic-language spokesman told civilians in Tal as-Sultan to head by foot towards southern Gaza’s al-Mawasi.

 
Israeli forces ‘besieging’ several ambulances in Rafah

The Palestine Red Crescent Society says it has lost contact with several paramedics after Israeli forces surrounded their ambulances in the southern city of Rafah.

“Occupation forces are besieging several Palestine Red Crescent ambulances while they were responding to an attack on Al-Hashashin area in #Rafah,” it said in a post on X. “Several PRCS EMTs have been injured, and contact has been lost with the team, which has been trapped for several hours,” it added.

Civil defence: 50,000 people near Rafah under ‘imminent danger’

Gaza’s civil defence agency has warned of “imminent danger” to the lives of more than 50,000 people in an area west of the southernmost city of Rafah after it came under attack by Israeli forces.

First-responder crews are at risk in the besieged area after attempting to rescue Palestine Red Crescent Society medics, it said. The agency says it’s currently unable to communicate with its teams.

‘Displacement under fire’: Fleeing Palestinians targeted by Israeli drones

In southern Rafah, Palestinian men, women and children can be seen walking along a dirt road and carrying their belongings in their arms – a recurring scene in a war that’s forced most of Gaza’s population to flee multiple times.

“It’s displacement under fire,” said Mustafa Gaber, a local journalist who left Tal as-Sultan with his family. He said hundreds of people are fleeing as Israeli tank and drone fire echoes nearby. “There are wounded people among us. The situation is very difficult.”

Mohammed Abu Taha, another resident who fled, said many people are unable to evacuate because of the surprise incursion overnight. He said his sister and her family were sheltering in a school in an area of Rafah surrounded by Israeli forces.

Witkoff's strategy "repeat a lie often enough, people will eventually come to believe it" often attributed to Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels.

‘This is on Hamas,’ US envoy Witkoff says of new Gaza attack

Hamas is responsible for the renewed fighting in Gaza after rejecting efforts to move forward with what had been an “acceptable deal”, US special envoy Steve Witkoff says.

“So this is on Hamas. The United States stands with the state of Israel,” Witkoff told Fox News. “Hamas is the aggressor here.”

He added: “Hamas had every opportunity to demilitarise and accept the bridging proposal, but they elected not to.”

Witkoff’s “bridge” plan for the Gaza ceasefire, presented last week, aimed to extend the truce into April – beyond the holidays of Ramadan and Passover – to allow time for negotiations.

Hamas says it wants Israel to abide by what it agreed on when it signed the January ceasefire deal, including talks on ending the war permanently in exchange for the remaining 59 captives held in Gaza.

“We have positively responded to all the efforts made towards us,” Taher al-Nono, media adviser for the head of the Hamas political bureau, told Al Jazeera on Wednesday. “It was Netanyahu that has backed down on the agreement. It was Netanyahu who turned a blind eye to it. Therefore, it is Netanyahu, not Hamas or the resistance, that should be pressured to comply,” he said.

Israel and the US broke the agreed upon ceasefire, plain and simple.
Witkoff's bridge proposal is nothing but a breach of contract.