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Forums - Politics - Israel-Hamas war, Gaza genocide

SvennoJ on 29 March 2025

Hezbollah preparing for resumption of war with Israel

Military analyst Elijah Magnier says what’s happening in Lebanon “could potentially become a limited but deliberate Israeli military campaign on the country that “pushes boundaries” without provoking a full-scale response.

Israel wants to push the government to the negotiating table and “force Lebanon to do something that they want to do, which is to normalise relations with Israel, which is considered an enemy state”.

“Israel has the full power today to do whatever it wants without accountability, and it has [US] President Donald Trump, unlike President Joe Biden, fully on its side and with the support of Benjamin Netanyahu’s agenda in Lebanon, in Syria, in Gaza, in the [occupied] West Bank,” he told Al Jazeera.

“So Israel has been rearmed by the Americans to pursue this objective, and Hezbollah is taking benefit from the ceasefire to reorganise itself, close the holes … change the objective from being a regional army to become a national or domestic force.”

Israeli forces open fire at Lebanese village

Lebanon’s National News Agency reports that Israeli troops have been firing at eastern neighbourhoods in the border village of Kfarchouba, damaging homes and cars.


Israeli troops fire at French peacekeepers in south Lebanon: Reports

Several Lebanese news outlets report that Israeli soldiers have opened fire at a French infantry unit serving in the UN peacekeeping force, UNIFIL.

Lebanon’s National News Agency said the French troops were inspecting a dirt mound that Israeli troops had put up near the border village of Rmaish.



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SvennoJ on 29 March 2025

Top Hamas official says group accepted mediators’ proposal on Gaza

Khalil al-Hayya says Hamas has “dealt positively” and “accepted” a proposal by Egypt and Qatar to stop the fighting in the territory.

He did not reveal the details of the initiative, but several Israeli media outlets reported that it would involve the release of five Israeli captives in exchange for resuming and prolonging the truce.


More from Hamas’s al-Hayya

The Hamas official says the group has accepted an Egyptian plan for forming an independent body of experts to oversee civil administration in Gaza. But while he suggested that Hamas is willing to give up – or at least share – its governing powers in the territory, he said the group will not disarm.

He added that Hamas and other armed resistance groups will not relinquish their responsibilities and allow Israel to dictate Palestinians’ future.

“We would never accept dishonour and insults for our people, so no deportations and no displacement,” al-Hayya said. “As for the resistance’s arms, they are a red line, linked to the presence of the occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.”


Israel has no plans to end the war

We are hearing from the Israeli media that there might be some movement on the proposal put forward by the mediators for a ceasefire. The Egyptians were working on a formula in which Hamas would release five Israeli captives in exchange for 50 days of calm.

The Israeli prime minister’s office responded by saying that they had put forward their own counteroffer in coordination with the US administration. They want 10 captives out, in addition to bodies of some of the captives killed during the war.

And they are not committing to ending the war.



SvennoJ on 29 March 2025

Hamas releases video of Israeli captive

The Palestinian group releases video of Israeli captive Elkana Bohbot pleading for the Israeli government to secure his release.

“You have to understand we are in a very bad situation. We are under bombardment for 24 hours every day,” Bohbot says.

The nearly four-minute video ends with the caption: “Only a ceasefire brings them back alive.”


Israeli captive’s family says nothing to add to what he said in video

Earlier, Hamas released a video of captive Israeli Elkana Bohbot pleading with the Israeli government to work for his release.

Bohbot’s family approved the publication of the footage in Israeli media.

“We have nothing to add to what Elkana cried out for,” the family said in a statement, according to the Times of Israel newspaper.


Netanyahu doesn’t care about captives, says grandfather of freed Israeli

Shaul Levy was speaking at Saturday evening’s protest in Tel Aviv demanding that the Israeli government agree to a deal that would secure the release of all the remaining captives held in Gaza.

“You [Netanyahu] abandoned them [the captives] on October 7 and you continue to abandon them now, too,” Levy was quoted by The Times of Israel as saying.

“In just the past few days, you renewed the war in Lebanon because they violated the ceasefire. What is stopping you from stopping the war in Gaza, returning all the hostages and, if they violate the peace, returning to war?” Levy said.

“The hostages are of no concern to Netanyahu, maybe they are just a fabrication, and there’s no such thing as citizens, soldiers or hostages that are still stuck in Gaza,” he added. “Maybe this is just a fabrication by hundreds of thousands of demonstrators.”

Levy’s granddaughter, Naama, was released from Gaza in January.


SvennoJ on 29 March 2025

US air strikes reported in Yemen

The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV says three air raids have struck the city of Saada and four more hit the neighbouring Al-Salem district in northwestern Yemen.

US bombs Yemen’s Sanaa, Saada: Report

The Houthi-affiliated Al Masirah TV is reporting more US attacks on Yemen.

It said US forces launched two more attacks on the city of Saada and bombed the Al-Asayed area in the Kitaf district of the northern Saada province twice.

It also reported two raids on the Bani Maadh area of the Sahar district in Saada.

US forces also renewed attacks on the province of Sanaa, the channel said, launching three raids near Mount Nab Shuaib in the Bani Matar district.

Houthi official says US strikes achieved nothing except killing civilians

Mahdi al-Mashat, head of the Houthi Supreme Political Council, plays down the effect of the US attacks on the Yemeni group’s military capabilities.

“From the first strike until today, the Americans have achieved nothing except killing children, women and civilians and targeting civil officials,” al-Mashat said.

He reiterated that the Houthis will continue their attacks against Israel and shipping lanes in the Red Sea until the war on Gaza ends.

The Trump administration has intensified US attacks against the Houthis, launching strikes in Yemen almost daily, and claimed that the attacks had targeted Houthi leaders.

The US president had promised that the group would be “completely annihilated”.



SvennoJ on 29 March 2025

Main events on March 29th

  • Israel’s military begins a new ground operation in Rafah in southern Gaza, as the death toll from Israeli attacks on Saturday rose to 24.
  • Hamas says it has agreed to a new ceasefire deal, proposed by Egypt and Qatar, that reportedly calls for the release of five captives each week.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says Israel has conveyed to the mediators a counterproposal in full coordination with the United States.
  • Thousands of Israelis are rallying in Tel Aviv, calling on Netanyahu to secure the release of the remaining captives held in Gaza.
  • The US continues its bombardment of Yemen, launching at least three raids on the city of Saada and the nearby Al-Salem district.
  • Hezbollah chief Naim Qassem warns Israel that the group’s patience has limits after the Israeli military carried out its first major air attack on Beirut’s southern suburbs on Friday.



Israelis protest as Netanyahu tries to buy time with ceasefire counter-proposal

Thousands of Israelis have filled the streets in Tel Aviv and other cities to protest against the Israeli government.

The Tel Aviv protest kicked off with a statement from the families of Israeli captives. They want all 59 captives released at once in exchange for ending the war, and they’re pleading with Donald Trump to intervene.

These rallies are not just about the captives.

They’re a convergence of many angry groups, those opposed to their government’s policies and decisions, like changes in the judiciary and the decision to fire the chief of internal security. And those who are fed up with Benjamin Netanyahu’s long list of corruption charges.

During the protest, news came that the Israeli army is expanding its assault on Gaza, while the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office declared Israel has submitted a counter-offer to a ceasefire proposal put forward by Egypt and Qatar after Hamas accepted it – a move some observers say is meant to foil attempts to end the war.

Netanyahu is buying time to keep his coalition, which has an insatiable appetite for war.

Palestinians in Gaza starving as Israeli blockade continues, official says

Ismail Al-Thawabta, the spokesman for Gaza’s Government’s Media Office, says “starvation is on the rise” in the enclave as Israel’s total blockade on the territory nears one month.

“We are talking about around 20,000 aid trucks that are supposed to enter Gaza but the Israelis didn’t allow a single one to go in,” Al-Thawabta said. “Not to mention two thousand trucks of fuel and even the cooking oil.”

The spokesman said the shortages have now “caused many bakeries to shut down all across Gaza” and that this closure is taking place alongside Israeli attacks on community kitchens.

“We hold the US administration and the Israeli army responsible for malnutrition and famine in Gaza and we urge the international community to force the Israeli occupation to open the crossings, withdraw its troops and allow aid to be delivered before it is too late,” he added.



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SvennoJ on 30 March 2025

Palestinian groups highlight plight of detainees on Eid al-Fitr

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society are drawing attention to the plight of those held in Israeli jails as Palestinians mark Land Day and Eid al-Fitr.

In a joint statement, the organisations said that this year’s Land Day and Eid al-Fitr comes at “the bloodiest time” in Palestinian history due to the ongoing “genocide” in Gaza and continued attacks on the occupied West Bank.

It said:

  • Israel is holding more than 9,500 Palestinian prisoners, including 350 children, 22 women and 3,405 in administrative detention, meaning they are being imprisoned without trial or charge.
  • At least 63 Palestinians have died in Israeli custody since the war on Gaza, including 40 from the Strip.
  • Israeli forces have carried out more than 15,700 arrests in the occupied West Bank since the war on Gaza began.
  • Thousands more have been arrested from Gaza, but the exact number is not known as Israel has refused to reveal those details.


Israeli forces kill Palestinian man in occupied West Bank

The Palestinian Health Ministry says Israeli forces have killed the 22-year-old man in the town of Tammun and are withholding his body, according to the Wafa news agency. The ministry identified the slain man as Ahmad Qasem Suleiman Bani Odeh.


Israeli forces use tear gas on Palestinians visiting Jenin cemetery

They targeted Palestinians paying respects to loved ones at a Jenin cemetery on Eid al-Fitr, causing “suffocation injuries”, according to local media reports. Verified footage from Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency captures crowds scrambling for safety as clouds of tear gas spread in the area.



SvennoJ on 30 March 2025

West Bank attacks: ‘The settlers can do whatever they like’

Yariv Oppenheimer, from the Israeli group Peace Now, says images emerging of attacks by Israeli settlers guarded by police in the occupied West Bank are disturbing.

“As an Israeli, I’m ashamed of the pictures and ashamed of the behaviour of the police and army. The police are being controlled by the ultra-right-wing racist political party of Itamar Ben-Gvir. The settlers attacking the Palestinians know they can do it without being arrested, without paying the price,” Oppenheimer told Al Jazeera.

He noted police officers are not only allowing the attacks, they’re going after and arresting Palestinian victims in the besieged West Bank.

“In previous years, we had pressure coming from the United States about these kinds of incidents. Now with the Trump administration, you don’t hear one word of criticism coming from Washington. The international pressure is very limited, and the outcome of that is the settlers can do whatever they like.”


Occupied West Bank attacks by settlers are ‘government policy’

It’s the policy of the far-right Israeli government to expel Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, and illegal settlers are leading the charge, an Israeli peace activist says.

“The settlers are attacking specific locations in which they’d like to see these communities giving up and moving away,” Yariv Oppenheimer from the group Peace Now told Al Jazeera. “It’s a policy, not just attacks.”

But he said there’s “encouraging news” as more and more Israelis come together to demonstrate against the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“It’s not only about the hostages in Gaza, it’s also about the internal democracy issues and legislation of the government,” Oppenheimer said. “And there is some encouraging news coming from the negotiation table. Next to the fighting, there is some kind of progress and we might see some result as well.”



SvennoJ on 30 March 2025

Israeli attack kills child in southern Gaza

Al Jazeera Arabic is reporting on a second deadly Israeli attack in the Khan Younis area. The air raid on a house in the town of Bani Suheila, to the east of Khan Younis, killed a girl and wounded five other people.


Community kitchen in central Gaza closes amid Israeli blockade

Staff at the kitchen, run by the Wefaq Association for Women and Childcare (WEFAQ), say they have been forced to stop preparing hot meals for displaced Palestinians because they have no means to cook with.

“We have returned to a more difficult situation than before… Nothing has entered Gaza, neither food supplies, gas, nor flour: nothing at all. Many organisations have stopped working because there is basically no gas or firewood [to use] as fuel for cooking,” Buthaina Subeh, director of WEFAQ, said in a statement.

“There are calls from women and families who are now suffering from hunger; children screaming from hunger because there is no food,” she added.

The closure of WEFAQ’s kitchen comes as the UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, announced that at least 10 kitchens across Gaza have been forced to shut down because of depleted fuel supplies as well as danger from Israeli attacks.


Children killed in al-Mawasi attack

I can hear the sound of Israeli choppers right now opening fire in eastern areas of Deir el-Balah.

Just 30 minutes ago, the Israeli military struck a tent camp in al-Mawasi area, a few kilometres from our location. Four civilians have been confirmed killed, including children.

A whole family has died. This area has been designated by Israel’s army as a “humanitarian safe zone”.  This morning has brought more agony and grief to Palestinian families.


Death toll from morning attacks rises to 20

Israeli military attacks in Gaza have so far killed 20 people, our colleagues on the ground report citing health authorities.

The victims include at least five children. Three young girls killed in an air raid on al-Mawasi are seen in footage verified by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit bloodied and apparently wearing new clothes for the Eid al-Fitr holiday.



SvennoJ on 30 March 2025

Videos show children killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza ‘safe zone’

Palestinian activists released footage of several children killed in Israeli air raids on the al-Mawasi area in southern Gaza.

Israeli forces early this morning attacked a tent encampment for forcibly displaced people. The videos show bodies of dead children dressed in new Eid al-Fitr clothes drenched in blood. The footage is too graphic to post.

The encampment was designated a “humanitarian safe zone” by Israel in December 2023. The camp at al-Mawasi, near Khan Younis and Deir el-Balah, is one of the most overcrowded areas in Gaza.


Palestinians inspect their tents after seawater swept them away in al-Mawasi


Three more people killed in Khan Younis, Rafah

We are getting reports of another Israeli deadly attack in Khan Younis, this one hitting a camp in Gaza’s main southern city. The attack killed two people and injured 10, our colleagues on the ground report.

Further south in the town of ash-Shawka, near Rafah, a strike on a home killed another Palestinian, according to the Wafa news agency.

Seven Palestinians killed in Gaza City

Our colleagues report seven Palestinians – including three children – have been killed in an Israeli air raid on a house in the Tuffah neighbourhood of northern Gaza City.

A number of Palestinians were also wounded.


Gaza father describes the fear in his children’s eyes

Ezzedine Mousa, a resident of Gaza City, described an overwhelming sense of fear gripping the besieged area under constant Israeli attack.

“People are afraid to visit one another because a rocket could strike at any moment, killing them,” he said. “Our children’s eyes reflect their fear, but we do our best to keep them happy with whatever little we have.”



SvennoJ on 30 March 2025

Palestinian Red Crescent condemns Israeli attacks on paramedics

Younis al-Khatib, president of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, has just held a news conference in Ramallah.

Here are some of his key comments:

  • The Palestine Red Crescent strongly condemns the Israeli targeting of paramedics as they carried out their humanitarian mission in Gaza a week ago.
  • It condemns “deliberate attempts” by Israeli forces to “cripple” rescue attempts.
  • A Palestinian life is not merely a number. The nine missing members of the Red Crescent team and the six missing members of the Civil Defence agency have families waiting for them.
  • If this incident happened anywhere else, “the whole world would have moved heaven and earth to expose this war crime.”
  • The Red Crescent contacted the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the International Committee of the Red Cross to identify the exact location of the missing members.
  • Unfortunately, they turned down “repeated requests” until two days ago, when OCHA managed to arrange for Red Crescent members to visit the site, where one body was recovered.
  • The rescue team was not allowed to pass a barrier to establish whether the remaining crew members are alive.
  • The missing team must have either been killed or detained by Israeli soldiers.


What we know about the rescuers who went missing near Rafah

  • In the early hours of March 23, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) deployed an ambulance to the al-Hashaashin neighbourhood of Rafah to evacuate the wounded after Israeli forces bombed the area.
  • The crew, however, came under Israeli fire, and PRCS deployed three more ambulances to evacuate the medics as well as other civilians.
  • But Israeli soldiers besieged the area, resulting in the PRCS losing contact with all of the 10 medics it sent there. Israel later released one of the medics after severely assaulting him.
  • The Palestinian Civil Defence also deployed a six-member team to Al-Hashasin at the same time, but said that it, too, lost contact with its crew.
  • On March 27, Al Jazeera’s Sanad agency obtained satellite images, taken on the day the medics went missing, showing the Israeli military surrounding at least five vehicles belonging to the PRCS and the Civil Defence.
  • Rescuers were finally able to reach the scene on Saturday and found the body of Civil Defence mission leader Anwar Abdel Hamid al-Attar “in dismembered pieces” as well as destroyed fire engines, and ambulances, including PRCS vehicles.
  • The Israeli military acknowledged attacking ambulances and fire trucks, but claimed the vehicles had been used by Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and alleged that the Palestinians it killed were fighters.


10 more bodies of emergency responders discovered in Rafah

The Palestine Red Crescent Society has confirmed 11 more bodies have been found in southern Rafah city, with six identified as its members and four with the civil defence agency.

The eleventh body is being identified. The ambulance service said three of its medics and one civil defence responder remain missing. The teams were called for rescue efforts after Israeli attacks on the area eight days ago.


Number of health worker bodies recovered rises to 14: PRCS

The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) says it has now recovered the bodies of 14 Gaza health workers, including eight emergency medical technicians (EMTs). Five Civil Defense personnel and one UN employee were among the 14 bodies, PRCS said.

“Efforts are still ongoing to search for additional bodies,” it said.