Israel’s war on Gaza updates: Rafah invasion to be ‘avoided at all costs’
EU President Ursula von der Leyen’s comments come as Israeli PM again insists operation will go forward.
The live page is now closed. You can continue to follow our coverage of the war in Gaza here.
The live page is now closed. You can continue to follow our coverage of the war in Gaza here.
- EU President Ursula von der Leyen’s says Israel’s planned Rafah invasion must be “avoided at all costs”, while Netanyahu insists to German chancellor that operation will go forward.
- Israeli attacks on Deir el-Balah in central Gaza killed at least 12 people and injured many more, including children, according to videos and witnesses.
- Thirteen aid trucks arrived safely in Jabalia and Gaza City, marking the first convoys to travel from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip without incident in four months.
- Ceasefire talks could resume in Qatar as early as Sunday, with an Israeli delegation led by Mossad’s spy chief expected in Doha to discuss Hamas’s proposal for a three-stage plan to end the war.
- At least 31,645 Palestinians have been killed and 73,676 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack stands at 1,139 with dozens taken captive.
Here’s what happened today
We will be closing this live page soon. Here is a recap of today’s main events:
- An Israeli air attack on a home in Deir el-Balah killed 12 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
- An Israeli delegation led by Mossad’s spy chief is expected in Doha to discuss Hamas’s proposal for a three-stage plan to end the war.
- Nineteen aid trucks have arrived in Jabalia as part of the first convoys to arrive in northern Gaza without being blocked or fired on by Israeli forces in months.
- Thousands of Israeli protesters are demanding Netanyahu resign over his handling of the war.
- Airdrops and maritime deliveries are “a drop in a bucket” in terms of the humanitarian aid needed, says UNICEF chief Catherine Russell.
Hezbollah claims eight attacks on Israel today
Hezbollah claimed a total of eight attacks on Israeli positions on Sunday with rockets, missiles and artillery strikes.
The group said they struck a “gathering of Israeli soldiers” in the area of Wazzani in southern Lebanon and targeted “spying equipment” around al-Assi.
The latest attack was a strike on Israeli army vehicles using artillery shells in the area of al-Malikiyah that we reported on earlier.
Biden says ‘urgent need’ for Gaza aid, captive agreement
US President Joe Biden says in a shamrock ceremony at the White House that he agrees with Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar on a need for a truce deal in Gaza.
“The Taoiseach [Irish leader] and I agree about the urgent need to increase humanitarian aid in Gaza and get a ceasefire deal that brings hostages home and moves toward a two-state solution, which is the only path for lasting peace and security,” Biden said.
Varadkar said people ask him why the Irish have such empathy for the Palestinian people.
“We see our history in their eyes, a story of displacement, of dispossession, a national identity questioned and denied, forced emigration, discrimination, and now hunger,” he said.
The Irish leader, who has previously criticised US arms transfers to Israel, said he “was not shocked” that Washington has decided to continue arming Israel.
Video shows latest occupied West Bank raid hits al-Khader
This footage verified by Al Jazeera shows the latest raid by the Israeli military in the occupied West Bank.
The raid, conducted with multiple armoured vehicles, took place in the town of al-Khader south of Bethlehem.
قوات الاحتلال الإسرائيلي تقتحم بلدة الخضر جنوب مدينة بيت لحم بالضفة الغربية #حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/sGGwxDyeC0
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 17, 2024
Translation: Israeli occupation forces storm the town of al-Khader, south of the city of Bethlehem in the West Bank.
What are Israel’s Nahal and Givati brigades doing in Gaza?
The latest report by the Critical Threats Project think tank provides an overview of what two major brigades of the Israeli military ground forces are doing across Gaza now.
The Nahal Brigade, active in northern and central Gaza, claimed to have killed 18 Palestinian fighters using air strikes as well as tank and sniper fire on Sunday.
Having operated in the area for weeks, the brigade has been active while the military builds the so-called “Netzarim corridor”, which is effectively cutting Gaza in half and preventing the movement of displaced Palestinians.
Palestinians from multiple armed factions are still engaging in gunfights with Israeli soldiers, launching mortar, rocket and small arms attacks.
In Khan Younis in the south, the Givati Brigade is still, after weeks, conducting raids in the Hamad neighbourhood of residential buildings. Ground fighting is ongoing there as well.
NEW | The IDF Nahal Brigade (162nd Division) conducted clearing operations in the northern and central Gaza Strip on March 17. pic.twitter.com/CkLyP9FxuZ
— Critical Threats (@criticalthreats) March 17, 2024
Chevron responds to UN criticism of business ties to Israeli military
Earlier, we reported that two UN human rights experts called on Chevron and other oil companies to stop supplying to the Israeli military, as reported by Oil Change International.
In response to a query from Al Jazeera, Chevron has provided the following: “We are deeply concerned about the recent events and the devastating impact on communities. Our thoughts are with those affected”
“Chevron is focused on the safe and reliable supply of natural gas for the benefit of the Israeli domestic market and our regional customers. Any questions related to the security situation should be addressed to the appropriate authorities of Israel.”
Qatar, UAE foreign ministers discuss Gaza aid in Doha meeting
Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani has met with his Emirati counterpart, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, in Doha to discuss the war.
As with most recent international meetings on Gaza, the two neighbouring states discussed “the need to accelerate the pace of entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip without obstacles”.
“The meeting also discussed the expansion of the cycle of violence in the region and its impact on regional and global stability,” said a statement from the Qatari Foreign Ministry.
Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs @MBA_AlThani_ Meets UAE Minister of Foreign Affairs#MOFAQatar pic.twitter.com/KvA9DXvXj6
— Ministry of Foreign Affairs – Qatar (@MofaQatar_EN) March 17, 2024
Mental support groups for traumatised Palestinian children, medics
These images from the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) show how Palestinian ambulance crew members, along with others affected by Israel’s war, especially children, gather for a mental support group.
The PRCS says tens of thousands of Palestinians are benefitting from these services amid the ongoing horrors of the war.
🫶The PRCS psychological health teams continue to provide psycho-social support services to the PRCS ambulance teams working in the field, in addition to providing psycho-social support services to the wounded and displaced affected by the war, especially children, in the Gaza… pic.twitter.com/VxIjyQSSS2
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) March 17, 2024
Israeli opposition leader calls for ‘international pressure’ for Hamas deal
The Israeli opposition leader, Yair Lapid, after meeting in Israel with German Chancellor Scholz, has said that Israelis are united in a call to quickly return captives still held in Gaza.
“Israel’s opposition will support any moves that advance a hostage deal,” he wrote in Hebrew on X, with a picture of him shaking the hand of the German leader.
“The international community must put pressure on Hamas and promote a deal quickly,” Lapid said.
Hamas political chief Haniyeh meets with Chinese officials in Doha
Hamas politburo chief Ismail Haniyeh met with a Chinese delegation led by a senior Foreign Ministry diplomat in Qatar’s Doha on Sunday afternoon.
The group said in a statement that Haniyeh told the delegation, which also included Chinese envoy to Doha, Cao Xiaolin, that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip need urgent aid and are being subjected to starvation and “massacres” by the Israeli military.
He emphasised demands that Israeli must “quickly stop its aggression and massacres, withdraw the occupying army, return the displaced, provide shelter and reconstruction requirements, and achieve the political goals and aspirations of establishing an independent Palestinian state with full sovereignty with [East] Jerusalem as its capital, and the right of return and self-determination”.
The Chinese diplomat was quoted as saying that Beijing wants to stop the war, and also sees Hamas as “part of the Palestinian national fabric” and therefore wants to maintain a political relationship.
More aid trucks on their way to north Gaza
Al Jazeera cameras have captured a convoy of 19 aid trucks entering the Jabalia refugee camp in north Gaza.
The trucks are carrying flour, rice and other foodstuffs and are on their way to a UNRWA distribution centre, our correspondent reports.
Earlier, we reported that 13 aid trucks arrived safely in Jabalia and Gaza City, marking the first convoys to travel from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip without incident in four months.
North Gaza continues to face rampant starvation, as Israel continues to block significant aid from entering the territory.
UNICEF chief says Gaza aid from sea, air a ‘drop in the bucket’
The executive director at UNICEF, Catherine Russell, also said in her interview that we reported on earlier that the one thing the organisation knows for sure is that “not enough aid is getting in”.
She said the aid that is coming in through airdrops and a maritime route is “a drop in a bucket in both cases”.
“We have so little access right now and it’s very challenging. We are also facing very great bureaucratic challenges moving trucks in by land, which is by far the most efficient and effective way to get aid in”, she added.
“If things are dual use, sometimes they get rejected. So, we can’t get plastic pipes in, we can’t get some medical kits in if they have little scissors. It’s almost Kafkaesque sometimes trying to figure out how to get things into this bureaucratic mess.”
‘Prime objective’ of war to bring captives back: Herzog
After a meeting with Netanyahu, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met with the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog.
The president told him the “prime objective of this war is to bring our hostages back home” in what he called a “supreme humanitarian challenge”.
Scholz also said getting captives out of Gaza was “the first and most important question”.
“Hostages have to be released. Too many have suffered for a very long time and we have to do everything we can to help them.”
Thank you @Bundeskanzler @OlafScholz. You are a true friend of Israel and the Jewish people. Together we spoke about the need to bring the hostages home, as an urgent matter of paramount importance. We spoke about the need to ensure humanitarian aid for the civilian population in… pic.twitter.com/ziVh2828R9
— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) March 17, 2024
Hezbollah claims more attacks on Israeli army
The Lebanese armed group says it carried out two more attacks on Israeli forces.
In the first, Hezbollah says it attacked the al-Samaq site in the hills near the Lebanese village of Kfar Shuba, which Israel occupies.
In the second attack, Israeli army vehicles were hit with artillery shells “as they entered the al-Malikiyah site”.
UNICEF chief: Gaza babies ‘don’t even have energy to cry’
One in three babies under the age of two in northern Gaza is suffering from acute malnutrition, according to UNICEF.
Catherine Russell, the executive director of the UN’s children’s agency, described in an interview with US broadcaster NBC what that means.
“Essentially, the body starts to consume itself as it has nothing else, and it’s a painful, painful death for children. I have been in wards where babies are suffering from malnutrition, the whole ward is absolutely quiet because the babies don’t even have the energy to cry”, she said.
“If we can get therapeutic feeding to them, they can survive but often, they are stunted for life and stunted means your cognitive ability is impacted as well, so it is a lifelong challenge for these children – if they survive.”
Jordanian FM receives call from US secretary of state
Antony Blinken spoke on the phone today with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry says on X.
“The two ministers discussed efforts to reach a ceasefire and deliver sufficient and sustainable humanitarian aid to [Gaza],” a statement from the ministry reads.
Jordan has been a key partner of the US in its recent efforts to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip.
Israeli military confirms death of captain taken on October 7
The Israeli military has confirmed the death of Captain Daniel Perez, a 22-year-old soldier who was taken by Palestinian fighters on October 7.
The army said he was a platoon commander in an armoured brigade and was from the settlement of Yad Binyamin.
His body remains in Gaza but the official announcement allows a burial to be held for Perez in accordance with Jewish law.
US Senator Cardin says ‘up to Israelis to determine leaders’
The fallout from Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer’s speech and call for early elections in Israel continues to expand, with Democratic Senator Ben Cardin asserting that it is “up to the Israelis to determine their own leaders”.
The Jewish senator from Maryland tells US broadcaster NBC that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was facing issues with his leadership before October 7 but that “there’s unity now because of the war”.
“Once there is security in Gaza and there is security for the Palestinians and the Israelis, the Israelis need to focus on who they want their leader to be.”
UNRWA: Palestinians in Gaza on verge of famine
The UN’s organisation for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, has again highlighted the plight of those in Gaza facing famine.
“Safe, unimpeded and sustained access throughout the Gaza Strip is a matter of life and death,” it said in a post on X.
People in #Gaza are on the verge of famine.@UNRWA needs to be able to reach as many people as possible with critical aid. Delivery via land remains the most efficient & safest way.
Safe, unimpeded & sustained access throughout the #GazaStrip is a matter of life & death. pic.twitter.com/IKFgxIXGZl
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) March 17, 2024
Israeli army chief: ‘Long way to go’ to achieve war goals
Israeli military Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has said in a press statement that much has been achieved during a “multi-front and complex war” but it would take time to achieve more.
“We still have a long way to go until the war goals are achieved,” he said.
Halevi also said the army continues to plan operations in “areas where we have not yet operated” in a reference to Rafah in southern Gaza, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
“The military is preparing for offenses in the additional areas and together with the political echelon we will decide on the timing and the appropriate conditions,” he said.
“We are determined to act wherever Hamas is building its strength. It is wrong to leave Hamas brigades and Hamas battalions functioning.”
WATCH: Aid reaches north Gaza for first time in months
Earlier today, we reported that 13 aid trucks arrived safely in Jabalia and Gaza City, marking the first convoys to travel from the south to the north of the Gaza Strip without incident in four months.
Watch our video to find out more:
Trump gets into Schumer-Netanyahu spat, says Israel should ‘finish it up’ in Gaza
Presumed US Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump says the top Jewish politician in Washington, DC, Chuck Schumer, “dumped Israel” and “essentially said Bibi Netanyahu should take a walk”.
He suggested during a programme on the US channel Fox News that Israel may be at some fault for “sticking” with Democrats and remaining too loyal.
“I think you have to finish it up and do it quickly and get back to the world of peace,” the former president said in a message to Netanyahu.
“I bet you I would have had Iran in the Abraham Accords,” Trump said in reference to agreements during his tenure that led several Arab countries to normalise relations with Israel.
Protesters block entrance to Netanyahu’s office
The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation (Kann) says that demonstrations in front of the prime minister’s office have blocked the road, forcing several Israeli politicians to find another route into the building.
The protesters blocked the entrance of Agriculture Minister Avi Dichter, Transportation Minister Miri Regev and former Justice Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Kaan reports.
Ire against Netanyahu, his handling of the war on Gaza and his failure to bring home Israeli captives held in Gaza has been growing among the Israeli population, with huge weekly protests demanding early elections.
Israel claims 239 aid trucks allowed into Gaza today
The Israeli government’s Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) office claims that it facilitated the entry of 239 humanitarian aid trucks into Gaza today via the Karem Abu Salem – Kerem Shalom in Israel – and Nitzana land crossings.
It said 70 percent of them carried food, with the rest taking water, medical supplies and shelter equipment to Palestinians.
COGAT also claimed that 179 packages were airdropped over northern Gaza.
This comes on a day when top European leaders on regional trips called on Israel to allow significantly more aid amid its starvation of 2.3 million Palestinians in the enclave.
Netanyahu claimed earlier today that Israel imposes no limits on aid and the reason Palestinians continue to go hungry is that the aid that gets into Gaza is taken by Hamas and “gangs” operating there.
Humanitarian aid for the Gaza Strip today (March 17):
🚛239 humanitarian aid trucks via Kerem Shalom and Nitzana.
✈️179 packages airdropped over northern Gaza.We will continue expanding our efforts to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip. pic.twitter.com/Mpi924YMEs
— COGAT (@cogatonline) March 17, 2024