Casualties
- 32,916+ killed* and at least 75,494 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 451+ 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.
- 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed since October 7, and at least 6,800 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
- Israel kills 71 Palestinians and wounds 102 in the Gaza Strip in 7 different massacres, according to the Palestinian health ministry.
- Israeli army kills seven aid workers of British, Polish, and Australian nationalities belonging to the World Central Kitchen (WCK) in Deir al-Balah. WCK announces halt of operations in light of attack.
- Israeli government votes on a bill to ban Al Jazeera and other media outlets, Netanyahu accuses Al Jazeera of incitement against Israel.
- Gaza’s health ministry calls upon Palestinians to evacuate hospitals unless they are patients or wounded.
- In the West Bank, one Palestinian dies of wounds sustained during Israeli army raid in Jenin.
- Israeli army raids Qalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem, arresting seven people.
Israeli forces kill 71 Palestinians, wound 102 across Gaza
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said in a statement Tuesday that Israeli forces committed seven massacres against families in the Gaza Strip since Monday, killing 71 Palestinians and wounding 102, bringing the death toll of Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip since October 7 to 32,916.
The ministry pointed out that medical teams haven’t been able to recover many more bodies buried under the rubble.
In Gaza City, Israel’s withdrawal from al-Shifa Hospital revealed the total destruction of the medical complex and its facilities. Accounts from residents in the area describe dead bodies with tied hands, indicating potential cases of execution.
In a statement, Gaza’s Government Media Office said that at least 400 Palestinians were killed and 900 were wounded during the two-week-long Israeli raid on Gaza’s largest hospital.
In the central Gaza Strip, Israeli forces bombed the al-Bashir mosque, killing one child and wounding 20 more people. Israeli artillery also bombed the village of al-Mighraqa north of the Nuseirat refugee camp.
In the southern Gaza Strip, two separate Israeli bombings killed 12 Palestinians in Rafah, including six people, in a bombing of the Zuurub family home. Meanwhile, Israeli artillery continued bombing the western neighborhoods of Khan Younis.
Israeli strike kills seven international aid workers in Deir al-Balah
Seven international aid workers were killed by an Israeli strike in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza Strip on Monday. The aid workers belonged to the U.S.-based international humanitarian organization, the World Central Kitchen.
The victims were of British, Canadian, Polish, and Australian, nationalities, and some had dual U.S. and Palestinian citizenship.
The World Central Kitchen said in a statement that its workers were leaving the organization’s warehouse in Deir al-Balah, moving through a “deconflicted zone” in three vehicles when the Israeli strike occurred, “despite coordinating movements” with the Israeli army.
“This is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war, this is unforgivable,” said the WCK statement. The organization also announced the suspension of its operations in the Gaza Strip.
The World Central Kitchen had been engaged in delivering meals to Palestinians in the besieged Gaza strip, where the UN has warned of famine induced by Israel’s blocking of humanitarian aid from entering the Strip. At least 31 people have died of starvation.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confirmed the death of a 44-year-old Australian citizen among the team, calling the killing “completely unacceptable.” Albanese also said that his cabinet will call in Israel’s ambassador.
Israeli media quoted the Israeli army as saying that it will open an investigation into the incident.
Since October 7, Israeli strikes killed at least 170 international humanitarian workers in the Gaza Strip, according to Human Rights Watch.
Israeli government votes bill into law banning Al Jazeera
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Monday to shut down the Qatari media network Al Jazeera’s operations in Palestine soon.
The law, dubbed the “Al Jazeera law,” was introduced after the Israeli army claimed it found one Al Jazeera worker to be a member of Hamas, without providing more details.
The law sets the ground for the Israeli war cabinet to put a ban on the Qatari media network into effect. However, according to the Israeli daily newspaper Israel Hayom, Netanyahu and his cabinet “are not in a rush” to ban Al Jazeera from broadcasting, given Qatar’s role in mediating negotiations with Hamas.
On Monday, Netanyahu accused Al Jazeera of incitement against Israel and “actively taking part in the October 7 attack.”
Since October 7, Israeli strikes have killed 139 journalists in the Gaza Strip, including Al Jazeera cameraman Samer Abu Daqa. Back in December, only two months into Israel’s assault on Gaza, the Committee for the Protection of Journalists said that the Strip was the most dangerous place for journalists in the world.
One Palestinian killed in Jenin as Israel continues raids across the West Bank
A Palestinian was pronounced dead in Jenin on Tuesday after succumbing to his wounds caused earlier by Israeli forces during a military raid on the town of Qabatiya, south of Jenin.
The martyr was identified as 20-year-old Rabea Faisal Zakarna, who was wounded on Saturday by Israeli forces that raided his town.
Meanwhile, Israeli forces raided the Qalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem late on Monday, where they were confronted by local youth throwing stones as well as armed clashes with Palestinian fighters. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society reported several injuries in Qalandia by Israeli fire.
Across the West Bank, Israeli forces raided several towns in the Nablus, Hebron, and Jericho governorates, arresting at least 40 Palestinians, according to the Palestinian Prisoners’ Club.
Since October 7, Israel has arrested more than 7,600 Palestinians. Currently, Israel continues to hold 9,100 Palestinians in its jails, including 50 women, 200 children, and at least 3,500 detainees without charge or trial as part of its policy of administrative detention.
With the death of Rabea Zakarneh, the number of Palestinians killed by Israeli forces in the West Bank rose to 456 since October 7 and 139 since the beginning of the year.
Bernie Sanders on the attack on Word Central Kitchen aid workers –
7 brave aid workers w/ @WCKitchen were killed by an Israeli airstrike today while trying to feed starving people in Gaza.
Netanyahu called it an accident.
Israel has killed more than 200 aid workers in 6 months. That’s not an accident. No more aid for Netanyahu’s war machine.
https://twitter.com/SenSanders/status/1775163937362682160?s=20
RE: “Israel kills 7 international aid workers in central Gaza . . .”
BIDEN’S SWAN SONG:
P.S. If Joe Biden actually cares about this country (which is highly debatable), the decent thing for him to do is to resign and turn the presidency over to Kamala Harris.
He can always feign a stroke or heart attack to save face!
Israeli troops withdraw from al-Shifa hospital, leaving piles of dead bodies
Two week siege of Gaza’s largest medical complex ends in destruction of all buildings and hundreds of deaths
April1, 2024
“The complex – the largest medical facility in all of Palestine – was left in complete ruins. Military officials said on Monday that its forces killed 200 people and arrested 900 during its 15-day military assault on the hospital. Gaza’s civil defence put the figure of those killed at around 300.
The army said it conducted its raid without harming civilians and medical personnel, but medical organisations and eyewitnesses have strongly rejected the claim.
The World Health Organisation said at least 21 patients died during the siege. Survivors told Middle East Eye that scores of civilians were killed during the fortnight-long siege.
The structure of the complex was damaged in every building, with destroyed equipment and paperwork strewn everywhere.”
“Scores of dead bodies, including of children, women and the elderly, filled the streets near the complex. Medical sources said hundreds of bodies were found.”
https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israel-troops-withdraw-al-shifa-leaving-pile-dead-bodies
This sad happening reaffirms my stand: ANTI ZIONIST!!!
This massacre of innocent WCK workers seems to be deliberate. Despite coordinating with the genocidal forces, and having the WCK LOGO on the roof of the vehicle, the genocidal forces bombed the vehicle three times apparently. They just wanted to kill these brave aid workers who were only helping to save lives, so that just like UNWRA and other aid organizations, they can be shut down, and stopped from feeding the people that the zionists are deliberately starving. The zionists have shown the world that they are very violent and evil.
They have also banned Al Jazeera, trying to block them from reporting, and showing the world the brutal genocide taking place inside Gaza. They do have a lot to be guilty of, and the less the world sees their war crimes, they must presume they can get away with doing just about anything. It is however too late, the world has witnessed their terrible atrocities against the Palestinian people, and it has made them one of the most cruel and hated nations today.