Casualties
- 30,320+ killed* and at least 71,533 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 380+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
- Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147.
- 582 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.**
* This figure was confirmed by Gaza’s Ministry of Health on Telegram channel. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 38,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.
** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.”
Key Developments
- At least seventeen killed as Israeli warplanes bomb two homes in Central Gaza
- Israel braces for a day of protests, where anti-government protestors will be calling for new elections and families of hostages will demand the release of Israeli captives
- UN Human Rights office calls for swift and independent probe into Israeli military attack on Palestinians seeking food in Gaza City
- Hamas: Seven Israeli captives killed in recent Israeli bombing of Gaza
- OCHA: Many of those injured in Israel’s “flour massacre” suffered gunshot wounds
- Patriarchs and Heads of Churches in Jerusalem have condemned Israel’s “flour massacre” in Gaza
- WHO: Ten children have now died in Gaza as a result of malnutrition and dehydration
- UN Women: Gaza war is also a war on women
- U.S. President Joe Biden announces a plan to airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza, to widespread criticism
- U.S. President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met to discuss humanitarian aid in Gaza and reiterate Israel’s “right to self-defense”
- Israeli, Hamas delegations expected in Cairo on Sunday for new round of ceasefire talks
- UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak refers to Palestine solidarity protestors as “extremists undermining democracy.”
- Three people killed in an Israeli drone strike in Lebanon
Increased scrutiny on aid distribution in Gaza, as more children succumb to malnutrition and dehydration
At least seventeen have been killed as Israeli warplanes bomb three houses in central Gaza, including a home in Jabalia refugee camp where at least 70 people were sheltering. Rescue crews are still trying to determine how many people are buried beneath the rubble.
Israel’s handling of aid deliveries is under increased scrutiny following the now infamous “flour massacre” on Thursday, where Israeli troops opened fire on hundreds of Palestinians waiting for food distribution in Gaza City, killing at least 115 and injuring more than 760 others.
“Since there is no third side realistically, and there is a complete mistrust between the [Israeli Army] and the Palestinian resistance, what we are seeing – and what we should expect, actually – is more and more possible war crimes or accidents, whichever way you want to put it,” Omar Ashfour, a professor of security and military studies at the Doha Institute for Graduate Studies told Al Jazeera.
Meanwhile, the United Nations has called for a “prompt…impartial and effective” investigation into the killing, saying that it has recorded at least fourteen incidents of Israeli forces shooting or shelling people who were gathered to receive desperately-needed humanitarian aid over the past two months, and that a majority of these incidents resulted in casualties. It is a stunning announcement, given the fact that Israel attempted to first blame the incident on the victims for inciting a “stampede” and then later admitted that they had opened fire, but only to disperse the crowd. Now, more and more injured survivors are coming to nearby hospitals with gunshot wounds, proving that the shooting was deliberate.
The question of how to safely and effectively deliver aid to Palestinians in Gaza becomes even more dire as the threat of starvation and malnutrition in northern Gaza worsens—according to the World Health Organization, ten children have now died of either malnutrition or dehydration, and there continue to be reports of civilians foraging for leaves and grass, or making bread out of animal feed in order to survive.
“These are official records and as you all point out, exactly, the unofficial numbers can unfortunately be expected to be higher,” WHO spokesperson Christian Lindmeir said in a video posted to X.
“Once we see them registered in hospitals, once we see them registered officially, it is already further down the line.”
Even in places where there is food, like Rafah, the prices are soaring making it inaccessible—a kilo of tomatoes that once cost half a dollar is now three dollars, and unaffordable for most families.
“From the moment we wake up until the moment we sleep, we are battling to survive,” one man in Rafah told Al Jazeera.
“We are fighting to get our hands on some water, to get hold of a loaf of bread for our children. We are exhausted, mentally and physically. This is unbearable.”
As International Women’s Day approaches, UN Women has pointed out that the war in Gaza is “also a war on women,” with an estimated 9,000 Palestinian women killed by Israeli forces since October, and an average of 63 women expected to be killed each day that the war continues.
“As the war on Gaza approaches its five-month mark, Gazan women continue to suffer its devastating impact,” the agency said in a statement on Friday. According to UN data, women are also more likely than men to report difficulties in finding food, putting them even more at risk of experiencing starvation and malnutrition.
“While this war spares no one, UN Women data shows that it kills and injures women in unprecedented ways.”
Israel braces for a day of protests, Hamas claims Israeli captives killed in recent Israeli assault on Gaza
Israel is bracing for a day of protests, as anti-government demonstrators call for new elections and families of the hostages—and those in solidarity with them—continue to demand the release of Israeli captives.
Along with the Israeli government’s general mishandling of the war, one of the reasons that more Israelis are starting to protest the ongoing war in Gaza is that more and more Israeli hostages are actually being killed in the shelling. According to the Hamas military wing Qassam Brigades, seven captives have been killed in Israeli attacks, and three of those seven have been identified. The resistance group estimates that a total of 70 Israeli captives have been killed in Israeli shellings since the war began. Many wish to know how many captives are still alive, and be reassured that their loved ones are among them.
Meanwhile Israeli raids across the West Bank continue, as Palestinian youths attempting to resist the raids in Arraba, Silat ad-Dhahr, Al-Jalama, Arbouna, Faqqua and Deir Ghazala are met with teargas and rubber bullets. Just last night, Israeli forces shot sixteen-year-old Muhammad Murad al-Deek during a raid on the Kafr Nima village–this morning, he succumbed to his wounds.
Widespread criticism for Biden’s plan to “airdrop” humanitarian aid into Gaza
As international condemnation of Israel’s actions grows, US President Joe Biden and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni met at the White House to discuss the urgent need for humanitarian aid in Gaza, while reiterating Israel’s right to “self-defense.”
While US President Joe Biden has recently announced a plan to airdrop humanitarian aid into Gaza, David Harden, a former director of the US Agency for International Development has criticized this plan as “ineffective” in practice, and a symbol of the Biden administration attempting to “paper over a massive failure.”
“The United States has the leverage to have the Israelis open up [border crossings],” he told Al Jazeera, pointing out that the proposed high-altitude airdrop could actually cause more chaos and harm for people on the ground.
“So the fact of the matter is the United States has the ability to compel Israel to open up more aid into this very small enclave, and by not compelling the Israelis to do this, we are putting our assets and our people at risk.”
Oxfam has echoed these criticisms and concerns, pointing out that instead of indiscriminate and inefficient humanitarian aid drops in Gaza, the United States should cut the flow of weapons to Israel and push for an immediate ceasefire and release of hostages that would permanently end the conflict.
Israeli and Hamas delegations are reported to be planning to meet in Cairo on Sunday for a new round of ceasefire talks. While both the Palestinian Authority and the Biden administration hope that an agreement is met in time for the beginning of the Holy Month of Ramadan on March 10th, the Biden administration has conceded that “we may not get there.”
Meanwhile in Southern Lebanon, there is a palpable fear of military escalation as more and more Israeli strikes target Hezbollah, in some cases, killing Lebanese civilians.
