Gaza: 39 Palestinians killed in 24 hours, Israel rejects Eid truce proposal

The live blog has now ended, thank you for following. We will be back tomorrow for more updates.

One person was killed after an Israeli drone targeted a car on the road to the village of Maaroub in south Lebanon - Al Jazeera Arabic reports.

Hamas spokesperson Abdel-Latif Al-Qanoua has been killed in an Israeli airstrike in northern Gaza's Jabalia, the Shehab news agency said early on Thursday.

Hamas said Israel "turned on the agreement it signed with us … refused to move to the second phase of it, and resumed its aggression again against our people" in a statement.

The group said it dealt with ceasefire proposals during the final phase of indirect negotiations with Israel.

Israeli airstrikes targeting the central Gaza Strip killed 16 Palestinians - Wafa reports.

Israeli fighter jets killed six civilians targeting the Abdullah Azzam Mosque, five were killed near the al-Qassam Mosque, two were killed in al-Zawaida after airstrikes started tent sheltering displaced people, and one was killed in an airstrike near ash-Shuhada Junction.

The Israel army denied thousands of Palestinians to enter Al Aqsa mosque on Wednesday to observe Laylat al-Qadr.

Sources told Wafa the army prevented them from crossing into the city, turning back thousands of Palestinians, saying they did not have the required entry permits.

The Israeli army has issued fresh forced evacuation orders for Palestinians in and around Gaza City, ordering Gazans to move to the south.

“This is a final warning before an attack! Terrorist organisations are once again launching their rockets from within civilian areas,” the Israeli army’s Arabic-language spokesman Avichay Adraee ordered on X.

“For your safety, you must move immediately to the south of Wadi Gaza to the known shelters.”

#عاجل ‼️ إلى جميع سكان قطاع غزة المتواجدين في الأحياء التالية: الزيتون الغربي والشرقي، تل الهوا، البلدة القديمة، الشيخ عجلين، الشيخ، توسعة النفوذ والرمال الجنوبي
⭕️هذا انذار مسبق وأخير قبل هجوم!
⭕️تعود المنظمات الإرهابية وتطلق قذائفها الصاروخية من داخل المدنيين. لقد حذرنا هذه… pic.twitter.com/13N4Vl1k2b

— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 26, 2025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu threatened Wednesday to seize parts of Gaza if Hamas did not release captives, while the group warned they would return "in coffins" if Israel did not stop bombing the Palestinian territory.

Just over a week since the military resumed operations following a January truce, Israel said two projectiles were fired from the Gaza Strip, with one intercepted and the other landing near the border. There were no immediate reports of any casualties or damage.

The rocket fire came as rare protests against Hamas by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip were held for a second consecutive day, with demonstrators chanting slogans against the Islamist movement and calling for an end to the war.

Oscar-winning Palestinian filmmaker Hamdan Ballal said Wednesday that he was attacked by Israeli settlers for winning the prestigious award, calling the "brutality" life-threatening.

Israeli police released Ballal on Tuesday after detaining him the day before for allegedly "hurling rocks" following what activists described as an attack by settlers in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.

"I felt that these were the last moments of my life, that I would lose it due to the severity of the beating," he told AFP in a video interview.

"My head was trapped between the settler's foot, the door and the wall, as if it were a football."

The "brutality" of the attack, he said, "made me feel it was because I won the Oscar".

Ballal co-directed "No Other Land", which won Best Documentary at this year's Academy Awards.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused the opposition of fuelling "anarchy" in Israel after mass anti-government protests in recent days.

Addressing the opposition during a speech in parliament, Netanyahu said: "You recycle the same worn-out and ridiculous slogans about 'the end of democracy'. Well, once and for all: Democracy is not in danger, it is the power of the bureaucrats that is in danger".

"Perhaps you could stop putting spanners in the works of the government in the middle of a war? Perhaps you could stop fuelling the sedition, hatred and anarchy in the streets?" he added.

Thousands of Israelis have taken part in several days of anti-government protests, accusing Netanyahu of undermining democracy and resuming strikes in Gaza without regard for hostages held there.

Leaders from the Iran-backed "axis of resistance" against Israel struck a defiant tone on Wednesday ahead of an annual Tehran-sponsored pro-Palestinian commemoration later this week, Hezbollah's Al-Manar television reported.

Quds Day commemorations, when Iran and its allies organise marches in support of the Palestinians, were launched in 1979 by Iran's revolutionary leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini.

They are traditionally held on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which this year is expected to finish at the end of March.

Palestinian group Hamas's Khalil al-Hayya said in a statement broadcast on Al-Manar that Israel had been "unable to break the will of our people and our resistance" despite more than a year "of killing, terrorism and destruction, and despite the full assistance and support of the United States".

An Israeli air strike struck a home in Deir el-Balah, causing debris into the air as locals run for cover.

In the chaotic aftermath, an injured man can be seen clutching his stomach as he leaves the scene of the attack.

In another video, the building that was targeted in the strike can be seen lying in ruins with shattered windows and a collapsed roof.

The Lebanese and Syrian defence ministers are to meet Thursday in Saudi Arabia to discuss issues including border tensions, a Lebanese official with knowledge of the matter told AFP.

Instead of a visit to Damascus that has been postponed, Lebanese Defence Minister Michel Menassa is set to meet with his Syrian counterpart Murhaf Abu Qasra "in Jeddah, under the patronage of Saudi Arabia", the official said on condition of anonymity.

A Syrian government source had earlier told AFP that Menassa's Damascus visit, initially planned for Wednesday, had been postponed due to "preparations for the formation of a new government".

The postponement was "in no way related to tensions or conflicts", another Lebanese official had said earlier on condition of anonymity.

It had been scheduled to be the first visit to Damascus by a Lebanese minister since a government was formed in Beirut in February.

The resumption of Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip has displaced 142,000 people in just one week, the United Nations said Wednesday, warning of the humanitarian cost.

"142,000 people have been displaced," a spokesman for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, pointing out that about 90 percent of Gaza's population has been displaced at least once between the start of the war on October 7, 2023 and January of this year.

Palestinians in Gaza staged anti-Hamas protests for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, calling for an end to the war with Israel, witnesses said.

Demonstrators carrying banners reading "Hamas does not represent us" were seen marching in Gaza City and the town of Beit Lahia in the north of the territory, more than a week after the Israeli army resumed its bombing campaign following nearly two months of a truce.

Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said on Wednesday that the military would soon "operate with full force" in additional parts of Gaza, more than a week after resuming its offensive in the Palestinian territory.

Israeli forces "will soon operate with full force in additional areas of Gaza, and you will be asked to evacuate from combat zones for your

11 Palestinians have been killed as a result of Israeli drone strikes on tents housing displaced people, as well as a charity food bank in the centre of the Gaza Strip, Al Jazeera is reporting.

Israeli airstrikes targeting the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip have killed four Palestinians and injured others, according to Palestinian news agency Wafa on Wednesday.

Israeli fighter jets reportedly pounded the vicinity of Abdullah Azzam Mosque in the camp, killing the four Palestinians.

The armed wing of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Quds Brigades, has claimed responsibility for the rockets fired at Israel earlier on Wednesday, saying it "bombed the settlements surrounding Gaza with a barrage of rockets" in response to ongoing Israeli attacks on the enclave.

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in Jerusalem on Sunday, two Greek sources told Reuters on Wednesday.

The agenda of the talks was expected to be extensive, one of the sources said.

The two leaders last met in Israel in 2023.

Greece condemned the 7 October, 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas but has called for an end to the war in Gaza, and respect for ceasefire agreements.

It says the unhindered and continuous flow of humanitarian aid to all parts of Gaza remains a priority while the displacement of Palestinians could lead to regional instability.

Hospitals in Greece have also received children from Gaza in need of medical care.

Israeli officials have reportedly rejected Egypt's proposal for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip during the Muslim celebration of Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of Ramadan, The New Arab's Arabic-language sister site, Al-Araby Al-Jadeed is reporting.

The proposal was reportedly approved by Hamas, Al-Araby said.

Egyptian officials told Al-Araby that Israel's rejection of the plan 'embarrasses' Cairo and put further pressure on Egypt concerning the displacement of Gaza into the country - a plan cheered on by the Trump administration. 

The Israeli army has issued a forced displacement order for all residents of Gaza City’s Zeitoun, Tal al-Hawa and Sheikh Ijlin neighbourhoods, via its Arabic-language spokesperson, Avichay Adraee.

He said this was a final warning to flee to the south of Wadi Gaza through al-Rashid Street before Israel starts bombing them.

Syria's authorities delayed a visit planned for Wednesday by the Lebanese defence minister that aimed to discuss tensions along the border, officials from the two countries told AFP.

"We were informed on Tuesday by the Syrian party of the postponement of the visit" of Lebanese minister Michel Menassa, a Lebanese official said on condition of anonymity.

The delay was "in no way related to tensions or conflicts", the official added, without specifying the date to which it had been postponed.

A Syrian government source meanwhile told AFP that the delay was due to "preparations for the formation of a new government".

Menassa had been set to meet his Syrian counterpart, Murhaf Abu Qasra, in the first visit by a Lebanese minister since the cabinet was formed in February.

Border tensions flared earlier in March after Syria's new authorities accused Lebanese armed group Hezbollah of kidnapping three soldiers into Lebanon and killing them.

At least 39 people have been killed in the past 24 hours in Gaza, the health ministry said, while 124 have been injured.

Israel's military said two projectiles were fired from Gaza into Israeli territory on Wednesday, with one intercepted and the other falling in an area near the Gaza border.

"Following the sirens that sounded at 12:03 (1003 GMT) in the communities near the Gaza Strip, two projectiles were identified crossing into Israeli territory from central Gaza Strip," the military said in a statement. "One projectile was successfully intercepted by the IAF (air force) and a fallen projectile was identified in the area of Zimrat".

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated threats on Wednesday to seize territory in the Gaza strip if Hamas failed to release the remaining hostages it still holds.

"The more Hamas continues in its refusal to release our hostages, the more powerful the repression we exert will be," Netanyahu told a hearing in parliament, which was occasionally interrupted by shouting from opposition members.

"This includes seizing territory and it includes other things," he said

The health ministry in Gaza said on Wednesday that at least 830 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory since Israel resumed large-scale strikes on March 18.

According to the ministry's statement, the figure included 38 people killed in the past 24 hours. It also reported that the overall death toll had reached 50,183 since the war began on October 7, 2023.

Palestinian militant group Hamas warned on Wednesday that hostages may be killed if Israel attempts to retrieve them by force and air strikes continue in the Gaza Strip.

The group said in a statement that it was "doing everything possible to keep the occupation's captives alive, but the random Zionist (Israeli) bombardment is endangering their lives," adding: "every time the occupation attempts to retrieve its captives by force, it ends up bringing them back in coffins".

An Israeli strike has hit the al-Shawka area, east of Rafah’s, according to our colleagues on the ground, killing at least one Palestinian, Al Jazeera and Quds Media Network are reporting.

Nine Palestine Red Crescent first responders remains missing for the consecutive day after they were targeted by occupation forces while carrying out their humanitarian duty in Rafah, southern Gaza.

The PRCS staff headed for the al-Hashaashin neighbourhood of Rafah on Sunday after reports of casualties.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said it was 'besieged" by Israeli forces and that Israeli authorities refused to cooperate with efforts to reach them through international organisations.

Israeli forces have detained several Palestinians during an incursion in the occupied West Bank, chiefly in the  Ramallah area and Bethlehem, Palestinian media said on Wednesday.

In al-Mughayyir, Israeli forces temporarily detained and interrogated 30 young men. In Bethlehem, Israeli forces rounded up more than 20 Palestinians in the Beit Jibrin and Aida refugee camps.

Brazilian authorities are seeking answers for the death in custody of a Brazilian-Palestinian teenager in the country's notorious Megiddo prison, according to a statement on X.

17-year-old Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmed was "kidnapped and murdered" after being transferred to the notorious facility, the ministry said. The date, however, remains, unknown.

The ministry said "the circumstances and exact date of his death have not yet been clarified" and demanded "the necessary explanations from the Israeli government regarding the minor’s death".

Brazil went on to add that 11 Brazilian nationals in Palestine "remain imprisoned in Israel, the majority of whom have not been formally charged or tried, in gross violation of International Humanitarian Law".

“israel” mantém 11 cidadãos brasileiros sequestrados em campos de tortura; maioria não tem acusação formal

Em nota excessivamente diplomática, o Itamaraty se posicionou sobre o assassinato do brasileiro-palestino Walid Khaled Abdullah Ahmed, 17 anos, sequestrado e assassinado… pic.twitter.com/uuxDhbOE8b

— FEPAL - Federação Árabe Palestina do Brasil (@FepalB) March 25, 2025

Houthi media in Yemen reported on Wednesday at least 17 strikes in Saada and Amran, blaming the United States for the attacks.

The rebels' Ansarollah website said US warplanes carried out "aggressive air raids... causing material damage to citizens' property", but gave no details of casualties.

Washington on March 15 announced a military offensive against the Houthis, promising to use overwhelming force until the group stopped firing on vessels in the key shipping routes of the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.

That day saw a wave of US air strikes that officials said killed senior Houthi leaders, and which the rebels' health ministry said killed 53 people.

Since then, Houthi-held parts of Yemen have witnessed near-daily attacks that the group has blamed on the United States, with the rebels announcing the targeting of US military ships and Israel.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel has condemned Israel’s ongoing bombardment of the Gaza Strip, stating that the country is "carrying out the extermination of the Palestinian people with total impunity ensured by the United States".

Diaz-Canel denounced Israel’s bombardment of hospitals, refugee camps and UN facilities, in a statement on X, calling Israel's actions a blatant violation of international humanitarian law.

The Cuban President accompanied his post on X with Palestinians forced to flee their homes amid Israel's aggression on Gaza.