Israel’s war on Gaza updates: Israel again attacks aid seekers in Gaza City
Deaths announced after UNICEF chief warns of acute malnutrition as efforts under way to reach truce.
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- Gaza’s Health Ministry says “dozens” have been killed and wounded in a “horrific massacre” of aid seekers at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City.
- The ministry says at least 15 children have died in the past few days from malnutrition and dehydration at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in Gaza City hours after the chief of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned of acute malnutrition.
- Truce talks are expected to resume in Egypt on Sunday, but the details beyond a possible six-week pause in fighting remain unclear despite US officials’ claims that a ceasefire is near. A senior Hamas official told AFP on Sunday that a ceasefire may be secured “within 24 to 48 hours” if Israel accepted their demands.
- At least 30,410 people have been killed and 71,700 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The revised death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.
WATCH: Released Palestinian prisoners say they don’t feel free
Any new deal about a Gaza truce will likely include the release of hundreds of Palestinians from Israeli jails.
In the previous pause in fighting in November, 240 people were released back to their families in the occupied West Bank.
Al Jazeera’s Bernard Smith reports from Ramallah on how one young Palestinian woman is adapting to life back home.
Watch the full report below:
Israeli forces begin raid on Tulkarem
A video posted by local platforms and verified by Al Jazeera shows Israeli military bulldozers entering Tulkarem in the occupied West Bank.
We will bring you updates on this raid as information comes in.
Israel claims to kill senior Hamas operative in central Gaza
The Israeli military says it has assassinated a senior Hamas operative in “central camps” of the Gaza Strip.
The army said it worked with Shin Bet, the internal security service, to direct an air strike that destroyed the vehicle of Mahmoud Muhammad Abed Haz. It released a short clip of a drone shot on a vehicle at the time of the strike.
Israel claims the Palestinian man was involved in raising funds for Hamas military activity and recruited new operatives to the battalion in the Zeitoun neighbourhood of Gaza City.
As we reported earlier, the Israeli military claims to have killed at least 113 Hamas operatives in Zeitoun in intense fighting over the past two weeks.
Gantz’s planned US trip angers Netanyahu: Report
The Israeli minister’s trip came as a surprise to the prime minister, reports US newspaper The Wall Street Journal. Netanyahu was informed only after the agenda for the trip was set, it said.
Earlier, we reported that Gantz will travel to the US in the coming days to meet with US officials, including Secretary of State Blinken, National Security adviser Jake Sullivan and Republican and Democratic members of Congress.
Gantz is also due to meet Vice President Kamala Harris and, according to US broadcaster ABC, the two are expected to discuss a plan for the post-war leadership of Gaza and how the devastated territory will be rebuilt.
Israel’s Ben-Gvir tries to stop release of administrative detainees
Itamar Ben-Gvir, perhaps the most hardline minister in the most far-right government in Israel’s history, was trying to stop the release of more Palestinians held as administrative detainees on Sunday.
The national security minister wrote to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to renew his protest of the releases – which the Israeli government has said are to free up space in prisons.
“Since it is a decision of the head of the Shin Bet [Israel’s security agency] only, it is appropriate to demand that he stop conducting an independent policy and act on initiatives of his own accord,” he is quoted as saying by Israeli news site Ynet.
After the first administrative detainees were released on Friday, Ben-Gvir had called it a “Ramadan gesture to murderers”.
Hezbollah claims sixth attack on Israeli military today
Hezbollah says it struck an Israeli armoured unit in al-Malkiyya.
The attack, which the armed Lebanese group said on its Telegram channel took place at 9:45pm (19:45 GMT), was carried out with artillery shells.
This marks the sixth attack on Israeli forces claimed by Hezbollah today. The Israeli military also used warplanes to launch multiple attacks on southern Lebanon on Sunday.
WATCH: At least nine killed after Israel bombs aid truck in Deir el-Balah
Watch our video report to hear witness testimony from an Israeli attack on an aid truck:
US vice president calls for ‘immediate’ six-week ceasefire
“What we are seeing every day in Gaza is a tragedy,” Kamala Harris said during a speech in Selma, Alabama.
“There must be an immediate ceasefire”, she said, adding that it should be for six weeks, stopping short of the scores of world governmental and humanitarian leaders, including of the UK, one of the US’s closest allies, who have called for a permanent end to the war in Gaza.
“We saw hungry desperate people approach aid trucks, simply trying to secure food for their families, after weeks of nearly no aid reaching northern Gaza,” she said, referring to an incident in Gaza City on Thursday that saw Israeli troops kill more than 100 starving Palestinians in Gaza City.
Harris made no mention of the fact that Israel is widely accepted, per top UN and other humanitarian agencies, to be systematically blocking aid and denying life-saving shipments of food to the territory.
“And they were met with gunfire and chaos,” she continued, without naming Israel as the perpetrator of that massacre.
Despite her criticism of Israel, Harris was also very vocal about her support for the country. “President Joe Biden and I are unwavering in our commitment to Israel’s security,” she continued, adding that Hamas must be destroyed.
Israeli forces strike home in Rafah
Al Jazeera has obtained footage showing numerous injured individuals being transported to a Rafah hospital after an assault on the residence of the al-Gharib family.
The video shows the arrival of women and children among the injured seeking medical attention at the Abu Youssef al-Najjar Hospital.
On Saturday, Israeli forces bombed a residential building in Rafah, according to a witness and media reports, killing at least 14 Palestinians.
Guinea-Bissau president first African leader to visit Israel since start of war
The president of Guinea-Bissau has become the first African leader to visit Israel since the start of its deadly war on Gaza, which has pitted most African nations against Israel.
Umaro Sissoco Embalo of the West African country was welcomed by Israeli President Isaac Herzog as a “true friend of Israel” in the Israeli official’s office earlier today.
“We will never forget our friends and you were with us even in this difficult time. You supported our position in the African Union and showed true friendship,” Herzog told him.
Embalo was quoted by the Israeli president’s office as saying that he comes as a “messenger of peace” and would like to help establish dialogue and agreement between Israel and its “neighbours”.
Aid entering Gaza ‘not enough’: US envoy to UN
Linda Thomas-Greenfield says she has urged Israel to “keep border crossings open, facilitate the opening of additional crossings to meet humanitarian needs at scale, and support the rapid and safe delivery of relief items”.
“Not nearly enough humanitarian aid is getting into the hands of Palestinians in dire need,” she posted on X.
However, the US has been frequently criticised for vetoing calls for a ceasefire in Gaza at the UN Security Council. Last month, the US vetoed for the third time a draft resolution, introduced by Algeria, calling for a ceasefire.
WATCH: Zeitoun neighbourhood in rubble
The Zeitoun area of Gaza City has seen intense fighting in recent days and weeks. As some pockets of the neighbourhod have quieted down, residents are returning to their homes to find utter devastation where they once lived their lives.
Watch our video to hear some of their stories:
Israel says it wants UNSC resolution telling Hamas to surrender
As the United States continues to use its veto power to shield Israel at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC), Tel Aviv says it wants a resolution demanding the surrender of Hamas.
Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy says in a video on X that “the only positive role” the council can play would be to pass a resolution that condemns the October 7 attack and tells the Palestinian group to lay down its arms immediately.
Levy also said Israel wants Palestinians to “hand over war criminals for a tribunal” and release all the captives held in Gaza.
Israel’s desired resolution includes no clauses on protecting civilians or facilitating humanitarian aid for besieged Palestinians.
Washington has vetoed dozens of resolutions in support of Israel over the decades, including three calling for an immediate ceasefire since the start of the war.
Israeli air strikes hit southern Lebanon: Report
Israeli warplanes have launched two raids on the north and center of the town of Aita al-Shaab in the south of the country, Lebanese news outlet National News Agency is reporting.
We will bring you more on this as more information becomes available.
Hezbollah claims new attack on Israeli soldiers
The armed Lebanese group says it targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the area of Mount Nezer.
It said, via a statement on its Telegram channel, that the attack was carried out at 7pm local time (17:00 GMT) and a direct hit was achieved.
Hezbollah has claimed five attacks on Israeli forces so far today, three of which it has said were conducted using missiles.
More on Nuseirat strike that killed 10
Our correspondent on the ground in Gaza reports that more than 40 injured people arrived at al-Awda Hospital following the bombing of a house in the central Gaza camp that was sheltering displaced Palestinians.
Pro-Palestine supporters march in Massachusetts, US
Thousands have demonstrated against Israel’s looming ground invasion of Rafah in the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts in the US.
Carrying Palestinian flags and banners, they shouted chants like “hands off Rafah” and “end genocide”.
Israeli leaders have threatened to begin a military operation against Rafah by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – about a week from now – if Israeli captives held in Gaza are not released.
BOSTON: Thousands rally outside of Cambridge City Hall as part of the global day of action to #ShutItDown4Palestine 🇵🇸 pic.twitter.com/QJwGcasXxN
— ANSWER Coalition (@answercoalition) March 2, 2024
Gaza ‘hell on earth’ says UNRWA
Responding to the “horrific” recent deaths of at least 10 Palestinian children due to malnutrition, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) says the “deaths are man-made, predictable and entirely preventable”.
“Gaza has become hell on earth. When will the world say ‘enough’?”
Horrific reports confirmed that, over the last few days only, at least 10 children died of malnutrition in #Gaza
These deaths are man-made, predictable and entirely preventable.#Gaza has become hell on earth. When will the world say "enough"? https://t.co/7Nh1GPKD4T
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) March 3, 2024
Ten killed in Israeli attack on Nuseirat refugee camp
The majority of those killed were women and children, reports Palestinian news agency Wafa, citing local sources, after Israeli forces bombed a house where displaced Palestinians were sheltering in the central Gaza refugee camp.
At least 10 were killed and many others wounded, Wafa said.
Iran says executed ‘Mossad terrorist’ was arrested abroad
Iran’s state television says the still-unnamed “terrorist” who was executed this morning for allegedly working for Israel’s intelligence agency Mossad was arrested in a neighbouring country.
It did not say which country or whether Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or Ministry of Intelligence were aided by the other country’s government in bringing him back.
But state television showed footage of the hooded man being taken by Iranian officers from the plane that brought him back 13 days after leaving Iran.
The individual, only identified as Saeed, was allegedly recruited online by Mossad four years ago, Iran alleges.
He was said by state television to have set up a warehouse some 1.6 kilometres (1 mile) away from a Ministry of Defence site in Isfahan that came under attack by four quadcopters guided remotely by “Israeli satellites” on the night of January 28, 2023.
Death of children from malnutrition ‘unlawful’: Amnesty International chief
Agnes Callamard says the deaths of children succumbing to dehydration and malnutrition are the “result of acts by Israeli authorities which engineered famine”.
“They knew the likely outcome of their actions but persisted,” she said in a post on X, adding that countries which halted funding to United Nations aid agency UNRWA also “bear responsibility”.
These deaths are unlawful, the result of acts by Israel authorities which engineered famine. They knew the likely outcome of their actions but persisted. Over weeks and months. And all States that cut UNRWA funding, sold weapons and supported Israel bear responsibility too. https://t.co/nA0DQrkggp
— Agnes Callamard (@AgnesCallamard) March 3, 2024
Israeli soldiers hit in Gaza City: al-Quds Brigades
The armed wing of the Palestine Islamic Jihad says its fighters attacked a group of Israeli soldiers with mortar shells in the Zeitoun neighborhood.
Earlier, we reported that the armed group, Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, shot dead an Israeli soldier near the Zeitoun area.
Israeli strike scatters bodies after hitting Jabalia cemetery
The Israeli military, in the last hours, targeted a cemetery in the Jabalia refugee camp that was recently built by the residents of the repeatedly bombed area in northern Gaza.
Al Jazeera’s Anas al-Sharif confirmed that the cemetery was hit.
Videos and reports from the site indicate that human remains came out of the soil as a result of the explosion, and residents are trying to bury them again at another site.
The video below, posted by Palestinian journalist Momin Abu Owda – and verified by Al Jazeera’s fact-checking unit, Sanad – shows the large crater left by the strike, and the shrouded bodies of the dead that were displaced by the explosion.
Translation: Targeting a [cemetery] where the martyrs were buried in Aladd Street, Jabalia Camp
Former Israeli defence minister Gantz to meet US’s Blinken
Benny Gantz will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington, DC in the United States on Tuesday, his office said in a statement.
Gantz is also due to meet Vice President Kamala Harris and National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as well as Republican and Democratic members of the US Congress.