‘Operation Al-Aqsa Flood’ Day 161: Hamas proposes new prisoner exchange deal, Netanyahu’s office calls it ‘unrealistic’

Casualties

• 31,490+ killed* and at least 73,439 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
• 427+ 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.
• 590 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.***

*Gaza’s Ministry of Health confirmed this figure on its Telegram channel. Some rights groups put the death toll number at more than 40,000 when accounting for those presumed dead.

** The death toll in West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. According to PA’s Ministry of Health on March 6, this is the latest figure.

*** This figure is released by the Israeli military, showing the soldiers whose names “were allowed to be published.”

Key Developments

• Israeli warplanes and drones open fire on a group of Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid in Gaza City
• Spanish aid vessel “Open Arms” visible off coast of Gaza.
• Israeli military installs iron barriers at the gates of al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem.
• Israeli security forces turn away thousands of Palestinians traveling from West Bank to East Jerusalem the first Friday prayers of Ramadan.
• New ceasefire proposal put forward by Hamas, calls for release of Israeli captive women, children, elderly and the ill in exchange for release of 700 – 1,000 Palestinian prisoners.
• Israeli Office of the Prime Minister describes Hamas plan as “unrealistic.”
• Australia becomes latest country to restore funding to UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA).
• Lebanon submits response to French proposal to end border hostilities

Thousands of Palestinian worshippers denied access to al-Aqsa Mosque

Most Palestinians are unable to reach the al- Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem for the first Friday prayers of the Holy Month of Ramadan.

“The portion of the community that is allowed is very small — people who are above the age of 55,” Mustafa Barghouti, secretary general of the Palestinian National Initiative, told Al Jazeera from Ramallah, adding that even they had to go through a hard process to enter the holy site. Given that only men ages 55 and older and women aged 50 and older could be given permission to enter East Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa Mosque compound, the percentage of Palestinians who have a hope of accessing the holy site is extremely small. 

“First of all, they have to get a special magnetic security card from the Israelis, which takes a lot of time to acquire. Not everybody can get it and many people are deprived from it,” Barghouti added. “They also have to get a special permit from the Israelis directly. These complications prevent many people.”

As a result, Palestinians across the West Bank are being turned away at checkpoints, and even those who are granted permission must prove that they are leaving East Jerusalem by 5 p.m., either by supplying paperwork at the checkpoint or a selfie proving that they left. 

“I’ve been sent away several times. Each time, they check our documents as if we’re terrorists,” one person who did not wish to be identified told Al Jazeera. “All we want is to pray in our al-Aqsa Mosque. It’s the Friday prayer. May Allah grant us patience to face all that we have to endure.”

“The number of soldiers is greater than the number of worshippers,” another worshipper told Al Jazeera. “I’m 62, and I presented my ID, but my access was denied… although [the Israeli army] said that those who are over 55 can enter the mosque without a permit.”

Even once they reach the compound, worshippers are greeted with iron barriers at the King Faisal, Al-Ghawanmeh, and Al-Hadid gates, which were installed yesterday, signaling an increase in security ahead of Friday prayers. Israeli security forces have even prevented Red Crescent staff — who always station themselves in the courtyard during Ramadan — from entering the compound.

The Palestinian Foreign Ministry has accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of lying when he said that there would be no additional restrictions imposed to limit Palestinians’ access to the al-Aqsa Mosque during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Another massacre against Palestinian aid-seekers in Gaza City

The Israeli military has once again attacked a group of Palestinians waiting for desperately needed humanitarian aid in Gaza City, Wafa reported. This time, the Israeli army targeted the aid-seekers through warplanes and drones that fired on a crowd that had assembled at the Kuwait roundabout, killing at least 14 people and wounding several others.

While the Israeli military has denied the attack, Muhammad Ghurab, the director of emergency services at a hospital in northern Gaza, told the AFP that people were wounded by “direct shots” by the Israeli security forces. According to the Gaza Health Ministry, at least 20 dead bodies and 155 injured people arrived at al-Shifa’ Hospital — which is already operating at reduced capacity given Israel’s ongoing assaults on Gaza’s healthcare sector — following the incident. 

“The failure of the international community and the United Nations to take action against the occupation army was a green light to commit more horrific crimes,” said the Gaza Health Ministry in a statement. 

Meanwhile, the humanitarian sector is pointing out that this incident — following the now infamous “flour massacre” at the end of February — shows that the current system where aid groups liaise with the Israeli authorities to deliver aid into Gaza is clearly not working.

“It is a clear sign that the deconfliction system, in which humanitarian agencies and the UN notify and correspond with Israel is completely failing,” Shaina Low, the communications advisor for the Norwegian Refugee Council, told Al Jazeera. 

“This is something that is preventable and shouldn’t be happening,” Low said.

Australia is set to reinstate its contribution to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) following the decision of countries like Sweden to resume funding to the agency after having withdrawn it following allegations that staff members were involved in the October 7 attacks. The Spanish humanitarian aid vessel, Open Arms, is now approaching the coast of Gaza, and the U.S. military is going ahead with a plan to build a temporary pier to deliver humanitarian aid through a maritime corridor. 

Hamas ceasefire deal ‘unrealistic,’ says Israeli Prime Minister’s office

After weeks of negotiating with no ceasefire deal in sight, Hamas has put forward a ceasefire proposal that calls for the release of Israeli captives who are “women, children, elderly or ill” in exchange for the release of between 700 and 1,000 Palestinian prisoners who are currently being held in Israeli prisons. One hundred of these prisoners are currently serving life sentences.

Hamas has also said that it would agree on a date for a permanent ceasefire after this initial exchange and anticipates that agreeing on a deadline for Israel’s withdrawal from the Gaza Strip would be agreed upon following its success. During the second stage of the plan, all detainees would be released.

Israel’s war and security cabinets will meet later today to discuss the proposal, but the Office of the Prime Minister has characterized Hamas’s demands as “unrealistic” in a post on X. 

One of the main roadblocks to reaching a deal has been Israel’s insistence on a “complete and utter victory” over Hamas as a prerequisite to withdrawing from Gaza — which, at this point, seems impossible without completely annihilating the coastal enclave. If an agreement is not reached, Israel could still launch a ground invasion of Rafah, which governments and aid agencies alike have both said would be “catastrophic.”

Military raids and restrictions across the West Bank

Meanwhile, raids and restrictions continued across the West Bank as the Israeli army stormed al-Fara’a refugee camp in the northern West Bank, Wafa reported. The army invaded the camp with a military bulldozer, while Israeli sniper units took positions at the entrance of the camp and in its surrounding areas. Over the past four months, 14 residents of al-Fara’a refugee camp have been killed by the army in these kinds of raids, which in the West Bank have taken the lives of over 400 people.