Israeli fire has killed eight people in the Gaza Strip over the past 24 hours, Palestinian officials said, even as a fragile ceasefire with Hamas has largely held.
The forces targeted a group of civilians in the centre of Gaza City, killing five. At the same time, a woman was killed after Israeli forces opened fire in Rafah.
Five Palestinians, including a 60-year-old woman, were killed by Israeli forces in Jenin over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday, adding to a growing toll from one of the largest operations seen in the West Bank in years.
Another man, who was wanted over previous incidents, was killed by Palestinian security forces, the PA said in a separate statement.
The Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike on Tuesday in southern Gaza, claiming to be targeting a militant who was gathering information on Israeli forces in the area.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric warned that humanitarian workers in Gaza are now forced to ration supplies, including critical fuel, to stretch limited resources.
“We’ve seen prices rise again,” Dujarric added, explaining that with no fresh supplies of cooking gas, vegetables, or flour entering Gaza, market prices are surging.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar told ABC News that Israel will not agree to end the Gaza war unless Hamas is fully disarmed.
He described Hamas’s status as the most powerful military force in Gaza as “unacceptable".
Palestinian Islamic Jihad has welcomed the Houthis' decision to resume naval attacks on ships linked to Israel.
In a statement, Islamic Jihad described the move as a "bold step" aimed at pressuring Israel and its allies to reopen crossings and allow aid into the besieged Gaza Strip.
Last week, the Houthis gave Israel a four-day ultimatum to lift the Gaza blockade or face renewed attacks.
Yemen rebels say will resume attacks on Israeli shipping over blocked Gaza aid
Doctors Without Borders (MSF) has strongly condemned Israel’s blockade of aid to Gaza, calling it an “outrageous” move that deprives residents of essential services and critical supplies, including access to water following electricity cuts.
As reported earlier, Israel halted all aid to Gaza on Sunday, March 2, plunging hundreds of thousands into further deprivation.
“This is outrageous. Humanitarian aid should never be used as a bargaining chip in war,” said Myriam Laaroussi, MSF emergency coordinator, in a statement.
EU nations and the UN have condemned Israel’s aid blockade, which appears to be a pressure tactic to force Hamas to release more Israeli captives without Israel committing to the next phase of the ceasefire agreement.
Two children were wounded by Israeli gunfire during an evening raid on the Fawwar refugee camp in southern Hebron, located in the occupied West Bank, according to medics.
The Palestinian Red Crescent Society said its teams treated a 17-year-old who was shot in the abdomen and a 16-year-old who was shot in the pelvis. Both were transferred to the hospital for treatment.
Israel has been conducting widespread operations in the occupied Palestinian territories for weeks, frequently using live ammunition.
Israel’s public broadcaster Channel 12 reports that an Israeli team has arrived in Qatar's capital to resume negotiations with mediators regarding the Gaza ceasefire, which has remained uncertain since its initial phase ended earlier this month.
This development follows remarks from a senior Hamas official confirming that talks in Doha had resumed.
According to Channel 12, mediators will attempt to secure a concession from Hamas involving the release of Israeli captives in exchange for a temporary ceasefire extension to allow more time for negotiations.
However, Hamas has repeatedly rejected such a proposal.
Israel’s defence minister, Israel Katz, has said that his country’s troops were ready to stay in Syria for an "unlimited period".
After the fall of the regime of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad late last year, Israeli troops quickly moved into Syrian territory, occupying, among other areas, the peak of Mount Hermon, which sits on the border between the two countries.
"We will stay on Mount Hermon and ensure that the security zone in southern Syria is demilitarised," Defence Minister Israel Katz said in a video message posted on X.
"Every morning [interim Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa] in Damascus will see that the Israeli army is watching him from the peaks of Mount Hermon."
A senior Hamas official said that a fresh round of Gaza ceasefire talks began on Tuesday in the Qatari capital Doha, with the Palestinian movement approaching the negotiations "positively and responsibly".
"A new round of ceasefire negotiations began today," Abdul Rahman Shadid said in a statement. "Our movement is dealing with these negotiations positively and responsibly."
Lebanon received on Tuesday four detainees who had been taken into custody by Israel during its war on Lebanon, the presidency said, with a fifth to be released the following day.
"Lebanon received four Lebanese prisoners who were detained by Israeli forces during the last war, and a fifth prisoner will be handed over tomorrow (Wednesday)," the presidency said in a statement.
The Israeli military said Tuesday it had carried out an air strike against several Hezbollah members in the area of Froun in southern Lebanon, in addition to an earlier attack in the area of Nabatiyeh.
"Earlier today (Tuesday), several terrorists were identified in a site used by Hezbollah in the area of Froun in southern Lebanon. An IAF (air force) aircraft struck the suspects," the army said in a statement. Earlier, in a separate strike, the army said it had killed a senior Hezbollah militant.
US Deputy Special Envoy for the Middle East Morgan Ortagus said Tuesday that Washington was seeking a political solution to persistent border disputes between Israel and Lebanon.
"We want to get a political resolution, finally, to the border disputes," Ortagus told Lebanese TV channel Al-Jadeed. "When it comes to the border agreement, the land border agreement, there are 13 points -- I think that six are still problematic."
Five Palestinians, including a 60-year-old woman, were killed by Israeli forces in Jenin over the past 24 hours, the Palestinian Authority said on Tuesday, adding to a growing toll from one of the largest operations seen in the West Bank in years.
Another man, who was wanted over previous incidents, was killed by Palestinian security forces, the PA said in a separate statement.
The latest incidents bring the number of Palestinians killed since January, when Israeli forces launched a major operation involving thousands of troops in cities and refugee camps in the north of the West Bank, to over 30.
(Reuters)
Israel confirmed the release of five Lebanese detainees held by the Israeli military, Israeli media reported on Tuesday, citing the Israeli prime minister's office.
Earlier on Tuesday, Axios reported citing an unnamed US official that Israel and Lebanon had agreed to open negotiations to resolve disputes over the land border between the countries.
(Reuters)
Israel and Lebanon have agreed to open negotiations to resolve disputes over the land border between the countries, Axios reported on Tuesday citing an unidentified US official.
The American official said Israel released five Lebanese captured by its military forces during fighting last year as part of the understanding between the parties, the report said.
(Reuters)
The Israeli military said it carried out an airstrike on Tuesday in southern Gaza, claiming to be targeting a "militant" who was gathering information on Israeli forces in the area.
It said in a statement one of its aircraft launched an attack "earlier today in the southern Gaza Strip, targeting a terrorist who was operating surveillance equipment and gathering information on IDF (Israeli) forces in the area. The strike was carried out to eliminate a threat to the forces."
Egypt on Tuesday condemned Israel's decision to cut off electricity to the Gaza Strip, calling it a "new violation of international humanitarian law".
In a statement, the Egyptian foreign ministry said the move was part of Israel's "policies of collective punishment" after Israeli authorities blocked the entry of aid into Gaza last week.
Egypt called on the international community to "take the necessary measures to stop these violations", echoing earlier statements from fellow mediator Qatar, as well as Saudi Arabia and Jordan.
Israel on Sunday disconnected the only power line to a water desalination plant in the war-ravaged Palestinian territory.
Some 3,500 people have so far crossed into Egypt from the Gaza Strip via the Rafah crossing, including more than 2,000 people needing medical treatment, the European Union's foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas told the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
The European Union restarted its civilian mission on 31 January to monitor the border crossing, a key entry and exit point for the Palestinian territory. It had been shut to human traffic since May.
(Reuters)
Palestinians described alleged abuses by Israeli forces and settlers — punched in the genitals, held for days while naked, starved — to independent UN-backed human rights investigators on Tuesday during hearings on the treatment of detainees during the war on Gaza.
Israel has refused to cooperate with the commission, accusing it and the council of anti-Israel bias. Israel, which quit the council shortly after US President Donald Trump announced a US pullout last month, has repeatedly denied mistreatment of Palestinian detainees in its custody and said it takes action against any offenses.
Rights groups have alleged widespread abuse at a military detention facility, Sde Teiman.
One more Palestinian has been killed by Israeli forces in Jenin, bringing a total of four civilians killed today.
The forces are reportedly withholding three of the bodies.
Gaza's civil defence agency reported an Israeli air strike targeting a group of people in Gaza City on Tuesday, killing four.
"There are four martyrs... as a result of an Israeli strike on a group of citizens in the Netzarim area, south of Gaza City," agency spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP, adding those killed were men in their 20s. The Israeli military said it was looking into the reports of the strike.
Israeli police once again raided the Muna family's Educational Bookshop, one month after it first raided the shop that led to the arrest of Ahmad & Mahmoud Muna.
Imad Muna, the owner, was arrested and the store was closed.
Five civilians were killed after an Israeli airstrike targeted a group of civilians near the Netzarim checkpoint in Gaza City - Wafa reports.
The Israeli military said its forces shot dead three Palestinians during an operation in the occupied West Bank on Tuesday.
During a raid in the areas of Qabatiya and Jenin, Israeli forces "encountered several armed terrorists who had barricaded themselves inside a structure in Jenin," the military said in a statement.
"During the exchange of fire, they (soldiers) eliminated two of the terrorists and struck an additional operative," it said.
The Ramallah-based Palestinian health ministry said it had been informed by Israeli authorities "about the martyrdom of two citizens" who were shot dead on Tuesday morning.
The ministry said that a Palestinian woman Fayza Ibrahim Abu Ghali, 58, was also "martyred due to occupation's aggression on Jenin". It did not offer further details on how she was killed.
Armed Israeli settlers stole hundreds of sheep from a Bedouin community in the Jordan Valley, local residents say, in one of the largest recent incidents in which Bedouins in the area have reported being attacked and harassed.
"This was the biggest one there has been," said Hani Zayed, a resident of the community, who said he lost 70 sheep in the attack. After years of experience in dealing with local law enforcement, the idea of appealing to the police to help elicited nothing more than a shrug.
"The police don't do anything, they have never helped us in anything. If you tell them the settler is taking your sheep, they'll ask 'Are you sure it's yours?'".
Local residents said about 1,500 sheep and goats were taken by settlers, who drove the animals from the village under the eyes of police and soldiers or loaded them onto pickup trucks.
An Israeli police statement denied the incident had taken place as described. Israel's military did not comment, nor did a group representing settlers in the area.
(Reuters)
The Palestinian Health Ministry says three Palestinians, including a 58-year-old woman, were killed by Israeli fire in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday.
The Israeli military claimed troops killed two militants in an exchange of fire in Jenin and arrested 10 others. It said its forces eliminated another who had fired at them during the operation and destroyed two vehicles loaded with weapons.
The Gaza Health Ministry says four people have been killed by Israeli fire and another 14 wounded over the past 24 hours. The ministry said Tuesday that rescuers had also retrieved 32 bodies from under the rubble.
The four killed included three brothers hit by a drone strike in central Gaza on Monday, including the woman killed by a drone strike Tuesday in the southern city of Rafah, the ministry said.
Severe water shortages in Gaza have reached "critical levels", with only one in 10 people able to access safe drinking water, UNICEF revealed.
The organisation says the situation "deteriorated further" following Israel cutting off power to the Gaza Strip, which the organisation said is "disrupting vital desalination operations".
"UN agencies estimate that 1.8 million people – over half of them children – urgently need water, sanitation and hygiene assistance," the organisation said in a statement.
A Palestinian woman was killed by an Israeli drone strike in Rafah - Al Jazeera reports.
Israel's military said on Tuesday that its warplanes struck southern Syria overnight, targeting air defence systems and other military sites in the latest attack on the neighbouring country.
Syrian state media had said Israel hit the southern province of Daraa, with a war monitor reporting at least 17 strikes on positions of the former Syrian army, including an observation platform and tanks.
A statement from the Israeli military said its "fighter jets struck radars and detection assets used for constructing aerial intelligence assessments" as well as "command positions and military sites containing weapons and military equipment belonging to the Syrian regime".
Since the overthrow of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad in December, Israel has carried out hundreds of air strikes in Syria and deployed troops to a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the strategic Golan Heights.
Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan on Tuesday condemned Israel's decision to cut electricity supply to the war-battered Gaza Strip, calling in separate statements for the international community to take action.
Saudi Arabia's foreign ministry expressed "condemnation in the strongest terms of the Israeli occupation authorities' use of collective punishment against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip by cutting off electricity to the area".
A Qatari foreign ministry statement said the Gulf state "strongly condemns the Israeli occupation's act of cutting electricity to the Gaza Strip, considering it a blatant violation of international humanitarian law".
Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Sufyan Qudah called the electricity cut "a clear continuation of the policy of starvation and siege imposed by Israel", about a week after Israeli authorities blocked the entry of aid into Gaza.
Discrimination and attacks against American Muslims and Arabs rose by 7.4 percent in 2024 due to heightened Islamophobia caused by US ally Israel's war on Gaza and the resulting college campus protests, a Muslim advocacy group said on Tuesday.
The Council on American Islamic Relations said it recorded the highest number of anti-Muslim and anti-Arab complaints - 8,658 - in 2024 since it began publishing data in 1996.
Most complaints were in the categories of employment discrimination (15.4 percent), immigration and asylum (14.8 percent), education discrimination (9.8 percent) and hate crimes (7.5 percent), according to the CAIR report.
Rights advocates have highlighted an increase in Islamophobia, anti-Arab bias and antisemitism since the start of Israel's devastating assault on Gaza in October 2023.
(Reuters)
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