Israel continues Gaza blockade as UN experts say 'genocidal acts' committed against Palestinians

The UN Security Council (UNSC) has called on all states to respect Syria's sovereignty, territorial integrity, and refrain from action that may further destabilise the country.

Israel, while not singled out by the UNSC, has continued its attacks on Syria since the fall of President Bashar al-Assad in December, and expanded its occupation of border areas. On Thursday, Israeli missiles struck a building in Damascus, killing at least one person, a war monitor said.

The United Nations Security Council has agreed to a statement condemning widespread violence in Syria's coastal region and calling on Syria's interim authorities to protect all Syrians, regardless of ethnicity or religion, diplomats said on Thursday.

The Russian and U.S.-drafted presidential statement is due to be formally adopted on Friday, the diplomats said. Such statements are agreed by consensus. It comes after the 15-member council met behind closed doors on Syria on Monday.

Qatar has begun funding gas supplies to Syria from Jordan, state media in the Gulf state reported Thursday, as Damascus's new leadership seeks economic relief for the war-torn country.

"Qatar has started today providing... natural gas supplies to the Syrian Arab Republic through the territories of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan," the official QNA news agency said.

"This initiative is aimed at addressing the severe electricity production shortage and improving infrastructure performance in the country."

The Kurdish-led administration in northeastern Syria criticised a constitutional declaration announced by the interim government in Damascus on Thursday, saying it does not reflect the country's diversity.

The declaration "contradicts the reality of Syria and its diversity" the administration said, adding that it "lacks the.. spirit of Syria's people and its various components from Kurds to Arabs, as well as Syriacs, Assyrians and other Syrian national components".

Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa hailed the start of a "new history" for his country on Thursday, signing into force a constitutional declaration regulating its five-year transitional period and laying out rights for women and freedom of expression.

Israeli settlers have carried out several attacks against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa, the Palestinian news agency.

In one incident, settlers destroyed land belonging to villagers from Iskaka, located east of Salfit.

In the Masafer Yatta area, south of Hebron, settlers assaulted Palestinian shepherds and stole 13 sheep in the village of Khirbet al-Fakhit. Nidal Yunis, head of the Masafer Yatta Council, confirmed the attack, highlighting it as part of the ongoing harassment faced by local residents.

Additionally, settlers attacked Palestinian maintenance workers in the Wadi al-Rakhim community, southeast of Yatta.

Osama Makhamreh, a local activist, stated that settlers, accompanied by Israeli forces, targeted workers from the Southern Electricity Company while they were repairing the electrical network. The attackers also damaged vehicles and confiscated equipment.

Near Naqoura village, northwest of Nablus, settlers threw stones at Palestinian vehicles.

Mohammad Azem, head of the Joint Services Council for the villages northwest of Nablus, reported that settlers from the illegal Shavei Shomron settlement carried out the attack.

Russia castigated Syria's new leaders in a closed United Nations briefing this week, two sources briefed on the meeting told news agency Reuters, warning against the rise of extremism in Syria and comparing sectarian killings of Alawites to Rwanda's genocide.

Moscow's private criticism of Syria's Islamist rulers comes despite Russian efforts to retain two key military bases in coastal Syria - the same region where hundreds of people from the Alawite minority were killed last week.

The violence was triggered on March 6 by an attack on new government security forces blamed on ex-army figures loyal to ousted leader Bashar al-Assad, who is Alawite.

That attack unleashed widespread killings of Alawites across several provinces by groups accused of links to the new government.

The Kremlin, which backed Assad before he was toppled and fled to Russia in December, called on Tuesday for Syria to remain united and said it was in contact with other countries on the issue.

But its comments in the closed Security Council briefing on Monday, which it called for jointly with the United States, were much more scathing, shedding light on Moscow's strategy as it tries to reassert influence over Syria's course.

They have not been previously reported.

Two sources briefed on the meeting told Reuters Moscow's envoy Vassily Nebenzia compared the sectarian and ethnic killing to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when Tutsis and moderate Hutus were systematically massacred by Hutu extremists, led by the Rwandan army and a militia known as the Interahamwe.

The sources cited Nebenzia as telling those gathered "no one" had stopped the killing in Syria.

When asked whether he likened the violence in Syria to Rwanda's genocide, Nebenzia told Reuters: "I say what I want in the closed consultations, based on the premise that it is closed consultations and nothing comes out."

The Israeli military has announced plans to confiscate and demolish the home of Jafar Muna, a Palestinian responsible for a bombing attack in Tel Aviv last year.

The attack, which left one Israeli injured, led to Muna’s death.

Rights organisations have consistently condemned the practice of demolishing the homes of Palestinians involved in attacks as a form of collective punishment.

Demonstrators from a Jewish group filled the lobby of Trump Tower on Thursday to denounce the immigration arrest of a Columbia University activist who helped lead student protests on the Manhattan campus against Israel's war in Gaza.

The Jewish Voice for Peace protesters, who wore red shirts reading "Jews say stop arming Israel" and carried banners reading "Opposing fascism is a Jewish tradition" and "Fight Nazis not students," chanted "Bring Mahmoud home now!"

Mahmoud Khalil, a permanent US resident who is married to an American citizen and who hasn't been charged with breaking any laws, was arrested outside his New York City apartment on Saturday and faces deportation.

President Donald Trump has said Khalil’s arrest was the first "of many to come" and vowed on social media to deport students who he said engage in “pro-terrorist, anti-Semitic, anti-American activity.”

Khalil’s supporters say his arrest is an attack on free speech and have staged protests elsewhere in the city and around the country.

Hundreds demonstrated Wednesday outside a Manhattan courthouse during a brief hearing on his case.

Khalil, 30, was being detained at an immigration detention center in Louisiana, where he has remained after a brief stop at a New Jersey lockup.

BREAKING: Hundreds of U.S. Jews and friends are taking over the Trump Tower to say: Come for one, face us all. pic.twitter.com/m14JGQIxwU

— Jewish Voice for Peace (@jvplive) March 13, 2025

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar stated that Israel has significantly altered the Middle East landscape since the Gaza conflict began, but claimed that threats persist in neighbouring Syria and Lebanon.

Sa'ar, in comments to Israeli media outlet Arutz Sheva, noted that while Israel "did not shed a tear" over the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in December, he claimed that the current leadership in Syria remains a destabilising force.

Regarding Lebanon, Sa'ar argued that Iran is boosting efforts to strengthen Hezbollah.

He said, "The international community must ensure that the Lebanese army will be stronger than Hezbollah."

On Gaza, Sa'ar reiterated Israel’s stance that any resolution must include the complete demilitarisation of Gaza and the return of all the remaining Israeli hostages held in the devastated territory.

Rescue efforts in Gaza resumed at al-Shifa Hospital, where civil defence crews have now recovered 48 bodies for proper burial, according to a Thursday statement issued by the enclave's authorities.

Of the recovered bodies, 38 have been identified with the help of relatives, while 10 remain unidentified.

Civil defence officials stated that it will take several days to clear the remaining bodies, estimated at around 160, from the hospital.

A Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) member confirmed that the Israeli airstrike in Damascus targeted the empty home of PIJ leader Ziad Nakhaleh.

Ismail Sindak told The Associated Press that the apartment had been vacant for years and Nakhaleh was not in Syria at the time.

The strike did not result in any casualties.

While Nakhaleh's exact location is unknown, he is believed to divide his time between Lebanon, Iran, and Syria.

The Israeli military earlier stated the airstrike targeted a PIJ command centre in Damascus.

BREAKING: Israel bombs a residential area in Damascus, claiming to have targeted Palestinians.

Reportedly a group civilians killed and injured. Israel says it is a headquarters for PIJ. No confirmation yet on whether any Palestinian officials were assassinated. pic.twitter.com/LwL0iYC5BS

— Robert Inlakesh (@falasteen47) March 13, 2025

The Israeli military said it carried out an air strike on Thursday targeting fighters who were planting explosives in central Gaza, the latest such attack amid a fragile ceasefire in the Palestinian territory.

"Earlier today, several terrorists were identified operating near [Israeli army] troops in central Gaza and attempting to plant explosive devices in the ground. An IAF aircraft struck the terrorists," the military said in a statement.

Amiram Levin, a former Israeli army general, stated that the Palestinian conflict "must be resolved, not contained."

In an interview with Maariv, he stressed that without addressing the Palestinian issue, serious normalisation with Saudi Arabia or Lebanon would be impossible.

Levin described the continuation of Israel's occupation as "the root of all sins" and called for reducing the occupation and establishing borders that maintain a Jewish majority, without returning to the 1967 borders.

He also argued that ceding certain territories would benefit Israel, not because it would help Palestinians, but because it would serve Israel’s interests.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will visit Hungary in the coming weeks, a Hungarian minister said Thursday, despite an international arrest warrant for the Israeli leader over the war in the Gaza Strip.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyás, told a news conference in Budapest that Netanyahu would likely visit Hungary before Easter, which falls this year on April 20.

Orbán, a right-wing populist and close Netanyahu ally, had earlier vowed to disregard the International Criminal Court warrant against the Israeli leader, accusing the world’s top war crimes court based in The Hague of “interfering in an ongoing conflict for political purposes.”

On Thursday, Gulyás said he would “very much support” Hungary withdrawing from the ICC, claiming it had “lost its meaning by conducting political instead of legal activities.” Hungary’s government, however, has not made any decision on the matter, he added.

Ismail al-Thawabtah, Director General of the Government Media Office in Gaza, has provided an update on the worsening humanitarian situation in the enclave, exacerbated by the ongoing Israeli blockade of aid.

In his translated remarks, he stated:

"The closure has halted the entry of fuel and cooking gas, forcing dozens of bakeries to shut down.

This ongoing policy of closure and the denial of fuel has not only disrupted bakeries and essential services but has also caused a complete breakdown in the transportation sector, impeding citizens’ movement and limiting their ability to reach hospitals and medical centres.

We urge the international community, as well as human rights and humanitarian organisations, to take immediate action to pressure the Israeli occupation to reopen the crossings without delay."

Hamas on Thursday said a UN report accusing Israel of "genocidal acts" in Gaza showed that Israel had committed "genocide and humanitarian" violations in the Palestinian territory during the war.

"The UN's investigation report on Israel's genocidal acts against the Palestinian people confirms what has happened on the ground: genocide and violations of all humanitarian and legal standards," Hamas spokesman Hazem Qassem told  news agency AFP.

"The atrocities committed by the occupation (Israel) are too horrific to be fully captured in this report, underscoring the urgent need to expedite the prosecution of its leaders for these crimes and ensure their swift trial at the International Criminal Court."

Earlier on Thursday, the UN Commission of Inquiry said Israel had "intentionally attacked and destroyed" Gaza's main fertility centre, and had simultaneously imposed a siege and blocked aid including medication for ensuring safe pregnancies, deliveries and neonatal care.

The commission found that Israeli authorities "have destroyed in part the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza as a group through the systematic destruction of sexual and reproductive healthcare", it said in a statement.

Defence Minister Israel Katz confirmed the Israeli Air Force conducted an air strike in Damascus on Thursday, following reports from a war monitor that an Israeli raid had killed one person in Syria's capital.

In a separate statement, Israel's military said it had targeted a "terrorist command centre" in Damascus belonging to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, which fought alongside Hamas in Gaza against Israel.

"There will be no immunity for Islamic terrorism against Israel -- whether in Damascus or anywhere else. We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the state of Israel," Katz said in a statement.

Syrian state media said that Israel had struck a building in Damascus.

Israel's military said, "The command centre was used to plan and direct terrorist activities by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad against the state of Israel."

It said the military "will not allow terrorist organisations to entrench themselves in Syrian territory and operate against the state of Israel, and will respond forcefully to any such entrenchment."

Syria will retain Islamic jurisprudence as the main basis of law and will preserve freedom of opinion and expression, according to a constitutional declaration drafted by experts and signed by interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Thursday.

A summary of its 44 articles was read out by a legal expert from the committee appointed by Sharaa less than two weeks ago.

An Israeli airstrike has hit a residential building on the outskirts of Damascus, state news agency SANA is reporting.

Videos circulating online show the aftermath of an explosion, which occurred in the suburb of Dummar north-west of the capital.

We'll bring you more as we get it.

The number of people killed during Israel's war on Gaza has risen to 48,524, according to the latest tally by the local health ministry.

The number of wounded has climbed to 111,955.

 Israel has sent humanitarian aid to Druze communities in Syria over the past few weeks, its foreign ministry said on Thursday.

"In an operation conducted over the past few weeks, 10,000 packages of humanitarian aid were thus far delivered to the Druze community in the battle areas of Syria," the foreign ministry said in a statement.

The packages included basic goods like oil, flour, salt and sugar, and were mostly delivered to the southern province of Suwayda, the Foreign Ministry said.

In Israel, many Druze serve in the military, including in the war in Gaza, and some have reached senior ranks.

This week, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz said Syrian Druze would be allowed to enter and work in the Golan Heights, which Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 war.

A group of around 100 senior figures from Syria's Druze are also expected to visit the Golan Heights on Friday, members of the community said. 

Israeli forces have arrested at least 25 Palestinians during their latest raids across the occupied West Bank, according to reports from the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society (PPS) and the Commission of Prisoners’ and Ex-Prisoners’ Affairs.

The arrests include a woman and several former prisoners, as detailed in a joint statement on Telegram.

Raids have been intensifying in Hebron, with the Wafa news agency reporting that 12 people, including 11 former prisoners, were detained today.

Hamas spokesperson Hazem Qassem welcomed on Wednesday US President Donald Trump’s apparent retreat from his proposal for a permanent displacement of Palestinians from Gaza, urging him to refrain from aligning with the vision of the "extreme Zionist right."

The statement by the Hamas official came after Trump said on Wednesday that "nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza" in response to a question during a meeting in the White House with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

"If US President Trump's statements represent a retreat from any idea of ​​displacing the people of the Gaza Strip, they are welcomed," Qassem said in the statement.

"We (Hamas) call for this position to be reinforced by obligating the Israeli occupation to implement all the terms of the ceasefire agreements."

The United Nations warned Wednesday that supplies of aid are at risk of running out in Gaza as Israel blocks deliveries to put pressure on Hamas.

Israel halted aid shipments 11 days ago and has disconnected the only power line to a water desalination plant in the Palestinian territory as part of its efforts to push Hamas into agreeing to its terms in truce talks.

After a ceasefire went into effect on January 19, the United Nations made progress with bringing food and medicine into Gaza and getting its damaged hospitals up and running, said Tom Fletcher, head of the UN humanitarian affairs bureau.

But now nothing is getting in, he told a news conference.

"Eleven days is already 11 days too long to prevent aid reaching civilians who so badly need it," said Fletcher.

"The supplies are clearly running out very, very fast," he said, forcing the UN to ration stocks to make them last longer.

"The fact that we're not getting fuel in means that incubators are being switched off," said Fletcher, adding that Gaza will quickly become a huamnitarian crisis again.

Fletcher said he visited Gaza last month and while he tried to prepare himself, things were much worse than he had anticipated.

He said one of his biggest shocks was seeing dogs fattened from eating corpses as they sniffed through the rubble of Gaza.

"And you notice that the people are thin, and then you see that for miles and miles and miles. And I don't think anything can prepare you for that," said Fletcher.

The Lebanese army on Thursday received a soldier who had been detained by Israel on Sunday, the army said in a post on X.

Israel said it would release five Lebanese held by its military in a "gesture to the Lebanese president."

Lebanon received four of them on Tuesday.

The Israeli negotiating team will remain in Doha as ceasefire discussions continue in Qatar’s capital, according to The Times of Israel, citing an anonymous Israeli official.

Originally, there had been speculation that the Israeli delegation, which arrived in Qatar on Monday to resume truce talks, might leave by Wednesday evening.

The first phase of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire agreement ended on March 1, without a clear path for extending the truce.

On Tuesday, Hamas announced the beginning of a "new round of ceasefire negotiations" in Doha. The status of these talks, which are being mediated by the US, Qatar, and Egypt, remains uncertain.

Israeli public broadcaster Kan, quoting a Palestinian source, reported that former Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff is advocating for a second 60-day ceasefire in exchange for the release of 10 Israeli hostages from Gaza.

Egypt said on Thursday it appreciated US President Donald Trump's remarks on not demanding that residents of Gaza leave the enclave, according to a statement from the foreign ministry.

"Nobody is expelling any Palestinians from Gaza," Trump said on Wednesday, in response to a question during a meeting in the White House with Irish Prime Minister Micheál Martin.

"This position reflects an understanding of the need to prevent further deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza and the importance of finding fair, sustainable solutions to the Palestinian issue," the Egyptian foreign ministry added.

Trump had proposed a US takeover of Gaza, where Israel's military assault in the last 17 months has killed tens of thousands, after earlier suggesting that Palestinians in the enclave should be permanently displaced.

Hamas on Wednesday welcomed Trump’s apparent retreat from his proposal for the displacement of Gazans, urging him to refrain from aligning with the vision of the "extreme Zionist right."

Earlier in March, Arab leaders adopted a $53 billion Egyptian reconstruction plan for Gaza that would avoid displacing Palestinians to counter Trump's vision of a "Middle East Riviera."