Casualties
- 32,490 + killed* and at least 74,889 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 449+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.**
- Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,139.
- 594 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 estimate the death toll to be much higher when accounting for those presumed dead.
** The death toll in the West Bank and Jerusalem is not updated regularly. According to the PA’s Ministry of Health on March 17, 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
- 76 Palestinians killed and 102 wounded in 8 massacres committed by Israeli forces across the Gaza Strip, says Palestinian health ministry.
- Israeli forces raid Nasser Hospital, force medical staff and displaced Palestinians to evacuate.
- Lebanon: 7 Lebanese killed in Israeli airstrikes on Habaryeh in southern Lebanon.
- One man killed in Kiryat Shmona as Hezbollah fires dozens of rockets on northern occupied Palestine.
- West Bank: Israeli forces arrest 20 Palestinians, raising number of Palestinians detained since October 7 to 7,820.
- One Palestinian, aged 20, killed by Israeli forces during a raid on Jenin in the northern West Bank. Fatah’s al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades announces in a statement that its fighters confronted the raiding Israeli forces in Jenin and Qabatiya, west of Jenin. Local sources report one Israeli vehicle was targeted with an explosive device.
- Israeli Broadcasting Corporation: Negotiations with Hamas continue through intermediates with differences over the return of displaced Palestinians to the northern Gaza Strip.
- Pentagon says that Israel will play a role in ensuring the security of the U.S.-built shore dock in Gaza.
- UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini says that the agency has enough funds to operate until next May.
- Jordanian security forces arrest several protesters against the Gaza war near the Israeli embassy in Amman.
76 Palestinians killed and 102 wounded in 8 massacres across the Gaza Strip
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza announced that 76 Palestinians were killed and 12 were wounded in Israeli bombings in different parts of the Gaza Strip, raising the number of Palestinians killed by Israel in the coastal enclave ever since October 7 to 32,490.
In Khan Younis, Israeli forces killed 12 Palestinians in airstrikes in the Mawasi area. According to local sources, children were among the casualties.
In Rafah, nine Palestinians were killed in Israeli bombings on Khirbet al-Aadas, north of the city. More Israeli bombings targeted two family homes in the center and south of Rafah. Palestinian journalist Ula Libbad, her husband, and her children were identified among the victims.
In the Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip, Israeli warships bombed the seashore of the camp.
Israel raids Nasser hospital, continues to besiege al-Shifa hospital
Palestinian health authorities in Gaza said on Wednesday that Israeli forces forcibly evacuated the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, south of the Gaza Strip.
According to sources, Israeli troops forced medical staff, patients, and families taking refuge to leave the hospital’s premises and detained several medical workers.
The Nasser Hospital is one of three remaining hospitals that are operational in Gaza, after the Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced on Tuesday that the al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis went out of service following an Israeli military raid that forcibly evacuated the hospital.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces continue to besiege the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City for the tenth day in a row. Local sources reported that Israeli forces had detained 160 civilians, including medical workers, in the hospital’s Human Development building.
Israeli forces also burned at least ten residential buildings in al-Shifa’s surroundings, local journalist sources reported, as fighting between the Palestinian resistance and Israeli troops continues in the vicinity of the medical compound. On Tuesday, the al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, released video footage of its fighters targeting two Israeli tanks, claiming it was taken in al-Shifa’s vicinity.
7 Lebanese, 1 Palestinian killed in cross-border fighting
The Lebanese Civil Defense announced on Wednesday that 7 Lebanese citizens were killed by Israeli airstrikes on the southern Lebanese town of Habariyeh. The victims were identified as paramedic volunteers who were targeted by Israeli planes.
Later in the night, Israeli sources announced that a barrage of rockets struck the Israeli settlement of Kiryat Shmona in northern Galilee, killing one man.
The man was identified as a 25-year-old Palestinian citizen of Israel. Sources indicated that he was killed after a rocket directly hit an industrial building. Another 30-year-old Israeli was rescued from the building, according to Israeli reports.
For its side, Hezbollah announced that it launched “dozens of rockets” on northern occupied Palestine in response to Israel’s airstrike on Habbriyeh. Hezbollah also said that its fighters attacked 6 Israeli military positions across the border on Tuesday.
The number of Lebanese citizens that Israel has killed since October 7 rose to 249 people, including civilians. Israel has not disclosed its casualties in its fighting with Hezbollah.
3 Palestinians killed in Jenin, 20 arrested across the West Bank
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians during an airstrike on the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank early on Wednesday. They were identified by the Palestinian health ministry as 19-year-old Muhammad Bani Gharra and 19-year-old Ayman Ghazouqa, both from Jenin, and 27-year-old Hamza Ararawi, from al-Ain refugee camp in Nablus.
Medical sources in the Jenin public hospital said on Wednesday that the three men arrived at the hospital after being targeted by an airstrike in front of a house in the al-Damaj neighborhood in the Jenin refugee camp.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided parts of Jenin City and the town of Qabatiya, west of Jenin, exchanging fire with local Palestinian resistance fighters.
The “Hornets’ Nest” local resistance group in Jenin said in a statement on Telegram that its fighters confronted Israeli troops on Nablus Street and the Jabriat area in Jenin city. Armed confrontations were also reported in Qabatiya, where at least one Israeli military vehicle was targeted with an explosive device, according to local media sources.
Early on Wednesday, Israeli forces arrested 20 Palestinians across the West Bank, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club. Arrests took place in Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Salfit, and Tulkarem.
The Prisoners’ Club added in a statement that the number of Palestinians arrested by Israeli forces since October 7 reached 7820. Currently, Israel holds around 9100 Palestinians in its prisons, including 200 children, 50 women, and at least 3500 administrative detainees held under the administrative detention system, the imprisonment of people under military law without charge or trial.
The number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank by Israeli forces or settlers reached 134 since the beginning of the year and 450 since October 7.
Meanwhile, on the home front, WaPo reports “State Dept. human rights staffer quits over Biden’s Gaza policy.” The story gives her name as Annelle Sheline. It says that her departure “is the most significant protest resignation over the Gaza conflict since the exit of Josh Paul.” The story also notes that “an active-duty member of the U.S. Air Force set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington after saying he could ‘no longer be complicit in genocide.'” The story does not give his name, nor does the Post’s earlier story about him which is linked. That earlier story said “The incident [sic] may force the Air Force into balancing caring for an individual with severe injuries with addressing political actions that go against military guidelines.” One infers that the Post thought the unnamed protestor might need to be disciplined, had he not died. One also infers that the Post didn’t think America’s violations of law on weapons transfers and other complicity in war crimes needed to be balanced by the military.
“Currently, Israel holds around 9100 Palestinians in its prisons, including 200 children, 50 women, and at least 3500 administrative detainees held under the administrative detention system, the imprisonment of people under military law without charge or trial.”
U.S. raises treatment of imprisoned Palestinian leader Barghouti with Israel….Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said the United States should specifically warn Israel about its treatment of Barghouti….“The Biden administration should make it very clear to the Netanyahu government that if Barghouti is harmed or killed in prison, it would throw gas on a raging fire,” he said in an interview. “Barghouti is probably the most popular Palestinian leader. That’s true in the West Bank and in Gaza.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/u-s-raises-treatment-of-imprisoned-palestinian-leader-barghouti-with-israel/ar-BB1kDc4L
Finally, looks like Americans are doing the rest of the world, and disapproves of Israel’s war in Gaza.
About time.
“Most Americans now disapprove of Israel’s war in Gaza, poll findsIt is the first time a majority of Americans have been found to disapprove of the war
Most Americans now disapprove of Israel’s war in Gaza, a new poll has found.
Some 55 per cent disapprove of Israel’s ongoing offensive in the besieged territory, while 36 per cent approve, according to the Gallup poll released on Wednesday.
It is the first time a poll has found that a majority of Americans do not support the war, a significant shift from when the same survey in November found most were in favour.”
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/americans-poll-gaza-disapprove-biden-b2519611.html?loginSuccessful=true#comments-area
So much for the corrupt PM of Israel claiming most Americans supports his genocide.
“Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday responded to President Biden’s mention of a possible cease-fire in Gaza, saying a majority of Americans support Israel continuing its campaign until victory.”
The apartheid nation has also lost support around the world.
“New data shared with TIME from the business intelligence company Morning Consult shows that support for Israel around the world has dropped significantly since the war in Gaza began.
Net favorability—the percentage of people viewing Israel positively after subtracting the percentage viewing it negatively—dropped globally by an average of 18.5 percentage points between September and December, decreasing in 42 out of the 43 countries polled.”