Israel strikes Lebanon amid ceasefire, kills scores in Gaza

Israeli government dismisses intelligence chief: statement

Thousands of Israelis joined protests against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as demonstrations against his move to oust the head of the domestic intelligence service flared for a third consecutive day.

Police fired water cannon and made numerous arrests as scuffles broke out during the protests in Tel Aviv and close to the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem, where police said dozens of protesters tried to break through security cordons.

Over the past three days, demonstrators protesting against the move to sack Shin Bet head Ronen Bar have joined forces with protesters angry at the decision to resume fighting in Gaza, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire, while 59 Israeli hostages remain in the Palestinian enclave.

"We're very, very worried that our country is becoming a dictatorship," Rinat Hadashi, 59, said in Jerusalem. "They're abandoning our hostages, they're neglecting all the important things for this country."

Yemen's Houthis claim responsibility for missile strike on Israel.

Israel's President Isaac Herzog on Thursday expressed concern over steps being taken by the government, hours before the cabinet was due to fire the domestic security chief in an unprecedented move.

"It is impossible not to be deeply troubled by the harsh reality unfolding before our eyes," Herzog said in a video statement, stopping short of mentioning Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu by name.

Earlier this week, Netanyahu announced a return to the war in Gaza, sending in ground troops, and dealing a last blow to a ceasefire that had been in place since January.

"It is unthinkable to resume fighting while still pursuing the sacred mission of bringing our hostages home," said Herzog, whose role is largely ceremonial.

Israel's military said Thursday that troops had resumed its ground assault in the area of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip, while continuing attacks in other parts of the territory.

"Over the past few hours, IDF (army) troops began conducting ground activity in the area of Shabura in Rafah. As part of the activity, the troops dismantled... terrorist infrastructure," the army said in a statement, adding that "simultaneously, IDF troops are continuing ground activity in northern and central Gaza."

Israel's military said it struck military sites in east and south Lebanon on Thursday, in its latest attack despite a November ceasefire that ended a war against militant group Hezbollah.

"A short while ago, the IDF (military) struck a military site containing an underground terrorist infrastructure site in the Bekaa area in Lebanon, as well as a military site containing rocket launchers in southern Lebanon in which Hezbollah activity has been identified," the military said in a statement.

Lebanese state media on Thursday reported Israeli strikes on the country's south and east.

The state-run National News Agency said "enemy aircraft" struck "the eastern slopes of the mountain range within the town of Janta in the Bekaa," as well as "the outskirts of the town of Taraya, west of Baalbek", also in the east.

Four missiles were fired in the Nabatiyeh area of southern Lebanon, NNA said.

Hamas on Thursday called on Arab and Muslim nations to take urgent action to halt Israel's renewed offensive on Gaza, saying they had a "direct moral and political responsibility" to "end the genocide".

Gaza's civil defence agency said 504 people had been killed since Israeli air strikes resumed on Tuesday, including more than 190 under the age of 18.

The toll is among the highest since the war started more than 17 months ago.

In a statement, Hamas said the "continued massacres... place direct political and moral responsibility on the Arab League and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation to end the genocide carried out in full view of the entire world."

"We call on the Arab and Islamic countries to take urgent action in the international forums, particularly the UN's Security Council, and implement immediate measures to halt the aggression," it added.

European Union leaders have expressed their strong condemnation of the collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza, which was shattered when Israel resumed its military action on Tuesday, and Hamas's refusal to release the remaining hostages.

In a statement, the European Council stated, "The European Council deplores the breakdown of the ceasefire in Gaza, which has caused a large number of civilian casualties in recent airstrikes."

The council also condemned Hamas’s refusal to hand over the remaining captives.

The EU leaders called for an "immediate return to the full implementation of the ceasefire-hostage release agreement" and urged "unimpeded access" for the continuous and large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Additionally, the statement stressed the need for the resumption of the supply of electricity to Gaza, particularly for water desalination plants, to ensure humanitarian needs are met.

The number of casualties from an Israeli airstrike on a house in Abasan al-Kabira, east of Khan Younis, has increased, al Jazeera English reports.

Initially reported as five dead, AJE states that at least 15 people have been killed, with 40 more wounded in the attack.

A massacre against civilians was reported, committed by the Israeli occupation when Israeli airstrikes targeted a residential building in Abasan Al-Kabira town, east of Khan Younis.

According to local sources, at least 6 Palestinians were killed, and dozens of others, including… pic.twitter.com/KTaj2nDL8D

— First Source Report (@FirstSourceNew) March 20, 2025

British Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has decided to withdraw from an Israeli government-backed conference on antisemitism after it was revealed that far-right European politicians were invited, Israeli news outlet Haaretz reports.

The event, sponsored by Israel's diaspora affairs ministry, is set to take place on March 26-27 in Jerusalem.

Among the invitees are Jordan Bardella, leader of the far-right National Rally party in France, founded by Holocaust denier Jean-Marie Le Pen, as well as politicians from the Sweden Democrats and Hungary's Fidesz party.

According to Haaretz, the Chief Rabbi's office stated that Mirvis had been "made aware of the attendance of a number of far-right populist politicians" and, as a result, would no longer attend the conference.

Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy has expressed concern in the House of Commons that Israel’s total blockade of Gaza may be in violation of international law.

Lammy stated it is "difficult to see how denying humanitarian assistance to a civilian population" aligns with international humanitarian law.

While acknowledging that courts, not governments, should make legal determinations, Lammy called Israel’s actions "appalling and unacceptable," particularly the blocking of aid and electricity to Gaza.

He noted that Israel’s actions further justified the UK’s decision to suspend some arms exports to the country last year.

Lammy had previously stated that Israel's actions had breached international law, but later reverted to the government's stance that these actions are “at clear risk” of violating the law.

Just yesterday, @DavidLammy said that Israel was breaching international law. Today, @10DowningStreet have backtracked on that admission.
Israel has been committing non-stop violations of international law in Gaza and the West Bank for over a year; including most recently… pic.twitter.com/yAZmnqx3Sj

— Oxfam (@oxfamgb) March 18, 2025

Israel's military said on Thursday it had killed the head of Hamas's internal security agency in an air strike on the Gaza Strip, the latest official targeted in recent days.

Israeli forces "in recent days... struck and eliminated the terrorist Rashid Jahjouh, head of the Hamas General Security Service, who assumed his position after the elimination of his predecessor, Sami Oudeh, in July 2024," military spokesman Avichay Adraee said in a post on X.

US President Donald Trump "fully supports" Israel's deadly resumption of air and ground operations in Gaza, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said Thursday, blaming Hamas for the violence.

"He fully supports Israel and the IDF and the actions that they've taken in recent days," Leavitt told reporters when asked if Trump was trying to get a Gaza ceasefire back on track.

"The president made it very clear to Hamas that if they did not release all of the hostages there would be all hell to pay, and unfortunately, Hamas chose to play games in the media with lives."

Leavitt said the situation was "completely the fault of Hamas" for their October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, adding that Trump wants "all of those hostages" seized by Palestinian militants to be released.

Gaza's civil defense agency said 504 people had been killed so far in the Israeli assault, including more than 190 children. Its previous death toll was at least 470.

The White House: President Trump fully supports Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip.

On March 18, Israeli forces have resumed airstrikes and ground assaults, leaving over 320 dead within the first few hours.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has also stated that all negotiations… pic.twitter.com/G6t0uuXK9A

— Open Source America (@USAopens) March 20, 2025

Al Jazeera Arabic reports that at least 110 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks across Gaza since dawn.

Further updates will be provided by The New Arab as more information becomes available.

Israeli police deployed a water cannon and made several arrests on Thursday as protests against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's move to oust the head of the domestic intelligence service flared for a third consecutive day.

Thousands of Israelis have joined anti-Netanyahu demonstrations with opponents of the move to sack Shin Bet head Ronen Bar joining forces with protesters angry at the decision to resume fighting in Gaza, breaking a two-month-old ceasefire, while 59 Israeli hostages remain in the Palestinian enclave.

"We're very, very worried that our country is becoming a dictatorship," Rinat Hadashi, 59, said in Jerusalem. "They're abandoning our hostages, they're neglecting all the important things for this country."

On Thursday, police and demonstrators clashed as hundreds marched along the road leading to the prime minister's official residence in Jerusalem, where police said dozens of protesters tried to break through security cordons.

Protests were planned later outside the Kirya military headquarters complex in Tel Aviv.

A day earlier there were angry confrontations between protesters and counter-demonstrators, highlighting divisions that have deepened since Netanyahu returned to power at the head of a right-wing coalition at the end of 2022.

Even before the war in Gaza, tens of thousands of Israelis were joining regular demonstrations protesting at a government drive to curb the power of the judiciary that critics saw as an assault on Israeli democracy but which the government said was needed to limit judicial overreach.

Since the start of the war, there have also been regular protests by families and supporters of hostages seized by Hamas during its assault on Israel from Gaza on October 7, 2023 that have sometimes echoed the criticisms of the government.

Israel's cabinet is expected to meet on Friday to formally approve the dismissal of Bar, who has clashed with Netanyahu over a corruption investigation against aides in his office that the prime minister has called a politically motivated attack.

The US and Israel have called for a UN Security Council meeting to address the captives held in Gaza, according to Al Jazeera English.

Israeli Ambassador Danny Danon announced that former captive Eli Sharabi would provide testimony at the session.

Sharabi recently met with US President Donald Trump at the White House and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street.

Israel's government is set to meet late on Thursday to vote on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to dismiss the head of the Shin Bet internal security agency, a move which has sparked opposition outrage.

Netanyahu on Sunday cited an "ongoing lack of trust" as the reason for moving to sack Ronen Bar, who was appointed in October 2021 for a five-year term.

The aim of Thursday's meeting, scheduled for 09:30 pm (1930 GMT), is to "terminate the duties of the director of Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, before the end of his term of office", following a vote, according to a letter sent by the Prime Minister to members of the government.

The move to dismiss Bar comes as Israel renews its deadly air strikes and ground operations in the Gaza Strip, shattering a relative calm that had pervaded since a truce began in mid-January.

On Wednesday, thousands of protesters massed in Jerusalem, chanting slogans against Netanyahu whom they accused of undermining democracy and wanting to concentrate power in the hands of the executive.

According to The Times of Israel, a Hamas rocket attack on central Israel resulted in no casualties.

Israeli officials stated that one rocket was intercepted, while two others landed in open areas. Authorities are currently searching for any remaining shrapnel in the vicinity.

Qatar and Egypt, key mediators between Israel and Hamas, said on Thursday there was a need to boost joint efforts to implement the three phases of the Gaza ceasefire deal, a Qatari statement said, after Israel resumed military operations in the enclave.

Qatar's Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani spoke with Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty in a phone call to discuss coordination efforts and the latest developments in Gaza, the statement added. 

 At least 85 Palestinians were killed and 133 wounded in the Israeli offensive in Gaza on Thursday, Gaza's health ministry said in a statement.

Hamas said it fired rockets at Israeli commercial hub Tel Aviv on Thursday in its first military response to the growing civilian death toll from Israel's resumption of air and ground operations in Gaza.

Israel said it had closed off the territory's main north-south route as troops expanded the ground operations they resumed on Wednesday.

Gaza's civil defence agency said 504 people had been killed so far in the Israeli assault, including more than 190 children.

The armed wing of Hamas, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, said it fired rockets at Tel Aviv in response to Israel's "massacres" of Gaza civilians.

The Israeli army said it intercepted one projectile fired from Gaza and that two others struck an uninhabited area.

After weeks of stalemate, Israel resumed its air campaign early Tuesday with a wave of deadly strikes that drew widespread condemnation.

Former Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon questioned the need for renewed attacks on Gaza, stressing that it "won’t bring the hostages back", Al Jazeera English reports.

He called on the public to join mass protests to remove Prime Minister Netanyahu’s government, stating that replacing it is key to ending Israel's current crisis.

Ya’alon, a former army chief of staff, emphasised the need to focus on freeing hostages and warned that Israel is on the brink of a catastrophic crisis.

 Five staff members of the United Nations Palestinian relief agency, UNRWA, have been killed in the past few days, the agency's Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on Thursday.

"In the past few days another five UNRWA staff have been confirmed killed, bringing the death toll to 284. They were teachers, doctors and nurses: serving the most vulnerable", he said in a statement posted on X.

Lazzarini said he feared the worst was yet to come as Israeli bombardments continue by land and sea, as well as an ongoing ground invasion.

On Wednesday United Nations Secretary-General condemned attacks on the organisation's personnel after a United Nations Office for Project Services staff member died when two UN guesthouses in Deir al Balah were hit in strikes.

He added in a statement from his spokesperson that all parties in Israel's attack on Gaza knew where the UN's premises were based. 

#Gaza: Israeli Forces bombardment continues from air & sea for the third day.
We are fearing that the worst is yet to come given the ongoing ground invasion separating the north from the south.

Evacuation orders forcing people to flee were issued impacting tens of thousands of…

— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 20, 2025

The Ministerial Committee, formed by the Joint Arab-Islamic Extraordinary Summit on Gaza, has strongly condemned the resumption of war in Gaza and the "direct bombardment of civilian areas," warning that this escalation could trigger a broader regional conflict.

In a statement released by the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, the committee called on the international community to fulfill its "moral and legal responsibilities" and to urgently pressure Israel to halt its aggression and violations.

The committee, established in November 2023, includes representatives from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Bahrain, Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, Palestine, the Arab League, and the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation.

The Israeli army banned traffic Thursday on Gaza's main north-to-south artery, a day after announcing renewed ground operations in the Palestinian territory.

"Over the past 24 hours, [Israeli] soldiers have begun a targeted ground operation in the central and southern Gaza Strip in order to expand the security zone between the northern and southern parts," army spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

"For your safety, movement along Salah al-Din Road between the northern and southern parts of the Gaza Strip, in either direction, is prohibited."

Saudi Arabia’s state agency revealed that Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman engaged in discussions with French President Emmanuel Macron regarding the ongoing Middle East tensions, particularly the resumption of Israeli airstrikes on Gaza.

In a statement posted on Thursday, the agency confirmed that the two leaders held a phone conversation where they addressed the latest developments in the region, including the intensifying conflict in Gaza since Israel shattered the ceasefire on Tuesday.

سمو #ولي_العهد والرئيس الفرنسي، يبحثان هاتفيًا تطورات الأحداث في المنطقة وعلى رأسها استئناف العدوان الإسرائيلي على غزة والجهود المبذولة لوقف الهجمات وحماية المدنيين. pic.twitter.com/e11nu37eBX

— وزارة الخارجية 🇸🇦 (@KSAMOFA) March 20, 2025

Israeli forces detained five individuals across the occupied West Bank cities of Hebron, the town of Dura, and the Fawwar refugee camp, according to Wafa news agency.

Additionally, 14 people were arrested in the village of Husan and the nearby Dheisheh refugee camp in the Bethlehem governorate, Wafa reported.

During the raid in Husan, Israeli forces also temporarily detained around 20 people and subjected them to what Wafa described as "harsh" interrogations.

 Israeli strikes overnight killed dozens of Palestinians across Gaza, medics in the territory said late Thursday.

The strikes hit houses in the cities of Khan Younis and Rafah in southern Gaza and the northern town of Beit Lahiya, they said.