Now that we are in the holy month of Ramadan, some people are starting to starve to death in Gaza, as famine bites. The video above was sent to us a few days ago by the Head of the Next Century Foundation inside Gaza, Mr Adel Zaanoun. His is the voice you hear. The woman he is speaking to has gathered some herbs for her supper. But even herbs are hard to find in Gaza now. Other recent developments of note are as follows: 

Current Casualty Figures

As of March 24th, 2024 at 14:30 GMT, the latest casualty figures since October 7th are as follows: 

• In Gaza, at least 32,226 Palestinians have been killed and 74,518 have been injured, and over 8,000 are reported missing (presumed dead) according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
• In the West Bank, at least 437 people have been killed and over 4,650 have been injured according to the West Bank Ministry of Health. 
• In Israel, estimates vary considerably but significantly more than 1,139 people have been verifiably killed and at least 8,730 have been injured. However, if Israel’s soldiers subsequently killed in Gaza are included the number is higher. Israel has lost 252 soldiers since it moved into Gaza as of 24 March 2024.

At the UN Security Council

Russia and China vetoed a U.S. resolution at the UN Security Council calling for the “imperative” of an immediate cease-fire in Gaza and hostage release. The BBC slightly disingenuosly headlined the news as “Russia and China block US calls for an immediate ceasefire” and most of the Western press followed the same line. The US resolution did not demand a permanent ceasefire but a temporary six-week truce and gives a possible green light for a resumption of the war, referring to Israel’s “future operations”. The security council representative on behalf of the Arab World, Algeria, also voted no. “It tacitly allows for continued civilian casualties and lacks safeguards to prevent further escalation,” declared the U.N. envoy from Algeria.

However there was finally agreement. As a consequence, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday canceled a trip to Washington by an Israeli delegation of top officials. This was after the United Nations Security Council passed its first resolution calling for a Gaza cease-fire. The United States abstained, allowing it to pass. The resolution, backed by 14 nations including China and Russia, demands an immediate cease-fire during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan and the release of all hostages. Four previous cease-fire resolutions had failed, including the one proposed by the United States on Friday.

Gaza – New Attempts at Providing Aid via Air and Sea

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited the Rafah border crossing along Egypt’s border with Gaza, and said that the long line of blocked relief trucks there is a “moral outrage.” Guterres added that it was time for Israel to give an “ironclad commitment” for unfettered access to humanitarian goods throughout the Strip, and that the United Nations would continue to work with Egypt to “streamline” the flow of aid into Gaza. Guterres, said that the only effective and efficient way to deliver heavy goods to meet Gaza’s humanitarian needs is by road. Responding to the UN chief’s remarks during a visit to the Rafah crossing, Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz wrote on X that the organization led by UN Secretary-General Guterres “has become antisemitic, anti-Israel and supports terror.”

Josep Borrell, the European Union’s Foreign Policy Chief, stated that “starvation is being used as a weapon of war” in Gaza. The World Health Organization has called for Israel to open more border crossings and to accelerate the border-crossing process. The border crossings have endless checking procedures, making it difficult for trucks to pass through. The IDF said it opened a new entry point for aid and that there is no starvation in Gaza. The UN says otherwise. Israel has stated that they are not limiting humanitarian aid, but the Association of International Development Agencies has stated that the Welfare Ministry of Israel has stopped renewing visas for humanitarian workers. The Association also stated that Israel’s post-October 7th policies that no longer allow aid agencies to purchase goods in the West Bank or Israel and import them to Gaza and the fuel cap that is now imposed further affect the flow of aid. 

Josep Borrell also stated that as the humanitarian crisis is “man-made”, alternative ways to support the citizens of Gaza must be utilized if land-based delivery is still limited. Attempts to alleviate the situation via sea and air-based deliveries have begun being conducted. Jordan has started airdropping food into Gaza on behalf of the US and UK. The air deliveries are costly, inefficient, and have even led to accidental deaths (five were killed and ten injured when aid packages fell on them in the Al Shati camp west of Gaza City).

UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said that Israel’s Authorities informed the UN that they will no longer approve any UNRWA food convoys to the north of Gaza, adding that this was done “to obstruct lifesaving assistance during a man-made famine.”

17 Senate Democrats warned the Biden administration that Israel does not meet the “credible and reliable” test detailed by a national security memorandum that requires recipients of U.S. weapons to assure unobstructed delivery of humanitarian aid in conflict zones. They called on the administration to “use this tool” to secure delivery of aid to Gaza by ensuring the Netanyahu government is in “compliance with its terms.” A group of U.S. House Democrats also warned Biden that “so long as Israel continues to restrict the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, the continued provision of U.S. security assistance to Israel would constitute a violation of existing U.S. law and must be restricted.”

On March 12th, the World Central Kitchen, an American aid organization, partnered with Spanish aid group Open Arms to send a ship with 200 tons of food (funded by the United Arab Emirates) from Cyprus to Gaza to test a possible maritime aid corridor and to build a floating jetty to assist in the process. A move repeatedly promoted during the past year by the Next Century Foundation’s Lord Stone who has been a lone voice in repeatedly raising the Gaza Port / Cyprus link in the House of Lords with the assistance of NCF intern Shristi Sharma (See this intervention in September 2023 / And then this in October 2023 / And this in November 2023

President Biden previously announced during his State of the Union Address that the US Military would lead an emergency mission to build a temporary pier on the Gaza coast to receive large ships carrying humanitarian aid. 

The New Ceasefire Proposed by Hamas

Hamas presented a new three-phased ceasefire plan to end the war on Gaza. Under this plan, during the first phase Israel’s forces must withdraw from al-Rashid and Salah al-Din streets, a coastal road in Gaza City and the main arterial road that runs north to south in the Gaza Strip respectively, to allow for the return of displaced Palestinians and the passage of aid. Initially, Israeli hostages who were children, women, elderly, and ill would be released in exchange for 700 to 1,000 Palestinian prisoners. During the second phase, Hamas stated that a permanent ceasefire must be declared before the exchange of any captured soldiers. The third phase would involve initiating a reconstruction process in Gaza. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the proposal, stating that it is still based on “unrealistic demands”. By way of a counteroffer, Israel agreed to an American ratio proposal for the next Palestinian prisoner release to take place after the release of the 40 first hostages. Hamas regards the counteroffer as ‘Israeli manipulation to justify the continuation of the war’.

Attacks in Gaza

Israel said at least 800 suspects have been detained and 170 Hamas members killed in the military operation at the Al-Shifa Hospital compound in Gaza City. Israel’s troops also located munitions and tunnel shafts at the site, according to the IDF. According to IDF spokesman Daniel Hagari, a number of those arrested at the compound are “very important [Hamas] officials.”

On the morning of March 14th, forces of Israel opened fire on crowds waiting for aid at Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City. At least six Palestinians were killed and during a later attack that afternoon, 21 were killed and some 150 were wounded. Those attacks followed five separate attacks on aid distribution centers, killing 56 people and injuring over 300, in the span of two days. In a more recent incident 19 were killed, 23 wounded from IDF tank fire while ‘waiting for humanitarian aid’. Israel’s military denied involvement, claiming that armed Palestinians were responsible. The Israel army said it is investigating footage published by Al Jazeera in which four unarmed Palestinian males walking abreast in open ground are struck from the air and killed in Gaza. The IDF claims the incident occurred in “an active combat zone in the Khan Yunis area, from which all civilian populations have been thoroughly evacuated.”

West Bank

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resisted calls from far-right ministers this year to limit al-Aqsa access for Jerusalem residents. But for West Bank Palestinians, only men over 55, women over 50, and children under 10 are allowed to make the trip to pray there.

Israel bit off nearly 2,000 more acres in the West Bank for Israel’s settlers, drawing Palestinian condemnation. Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, announced the seizure of 10 square kilometers (3.8 square miles) of Palestinian territory in the West Bank on Friday. The move marks the single largest land seizure by Israel’s government since the 1993 Oslo Accords.

The loss of Palestinian workers at Israel’s building sites is causing economic pain on both sides of the border.

Other States follow Australia to Unfreeze UNRWA Funding

On March 15th, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong announced that the state was “unpausing” their $6 million in funding to the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). She also stated that Australia would send an additional $2.6 million to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and would send a C-17 Globemaster plane to deliver parachutes to help with the airdropping of humanitarian supplies to the area. Of the roughly fifteen countries that froze their funding following Israel’s unsubstantiated accusations that members of the agency’s staff were involved in the October 7th attacks, Canada, Sweden, and the European Union have also now resumed their funding to UNRWA. However the U.S. now officially bars UNRWA funding for another year through to March 2025 after Biden signed the government funding bill into law. A post on X by Israel’s Foreign Minister Israel Katz urged more countries to follow the U.S.’s one-year ban.

Lebanon

Lebanon’s Foreign Ministry said Beirut will file a complaint with the UN Security Council over Israel’s “deliberate policy of jamming air and ground navigation systems, and deliberately disrupting signal receiving and transmitting devices.”

Israel’s army said it attacked Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon, including Hezbollah military buildings and surveillance posts.

Netanyahu Approves Plans for an Attack on Rafah 

Prime Minister Netanyahu has approved plans for an attack on Rafah. A statement from his office said Israel was “preparing operationally and for the evacuation of the population” of Rafah, but no timeframe was provided. Despite these statements, talks still resumed this week in Qatar to find a truce. 

Those that have voiced their concern and lack of support for this operation include the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland Lord Cameron, Dutch Foreign Minister Hanke Slot,  EU President Ursula von der Leyen, and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk. 

There has been growing tension between the Biden administration and Premier Netanyahu over the scale of civilian casualties and restrictions on humanitarian aid in Gaza. President Biden stated that the invasion of Rafah would be a “red line” if there were no clear, credible civilian protection plans in place; but also stated that there is no “red line” where he would cut off weapons aid to Israel. 

Touring the region, the U.S. Secretary of State was in Saudi Arabia on Wednesday, Egypt on Thursday, and Israel on Friday. PM Netanyahu said he told U.S. Secretary of State Blinken that Israel would launch a ground offensive in Rafah with or without Washington’s support. Blinken said a Rafah offensive risks further isolating Israel and harming its long-term security. White House spokesperson John Kirby said Washington would share alternative options with Israeli officials when they visit Washington soon on how to eliminate Hamas in Gaza without a ground offensive in Rafah. “There’s a million-and-a-half people there,” Kirby told a regular news briefing. “We believe a major ground offensive [in Rafah] is a mistake” and would be a “disaster.”

Chuck Schumer’s call hits consciences in Israel

President Biden has expressed support for Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer after he called for new elections in Israel, further demonstrating potential growing tensions between the two states. On March 14th, Schumer, the first Jewish Majority Leader in the Senate, stated in a speech on the Senate floor that he believed Netanyahu “has been too willing to tolerate the civilian toll in Gaza, which is pushing support for Israel worldwide to historic lows”. Schumer also stated that Netanyahu has “lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel” and placed further blame on ring-wing Israelis, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, and Hamas. He further warned that Israel would not be able to survive if it became a pariah. During a later meeting with Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, President Biden stated that Schumer “made a good speech” and that he thought that Schumer “expressed a serious concern shared not only by him, but by many Americans”. Prime Minister Varadkar stated that they “need a ceasefire as soon as possible to get food and medicine in, to get hostages out” and that there need to be talks to make that occur and move toward a two-state solution. 

A New Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority

On March 14th, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas appointed Mohammed Mustafa as the next Prime Minister following the former Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and his government’s resignation in February. Mustafa, a loyalist to the Palestinian Authority President, has been his longtime economic advisor and has also held positions as chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund and deputy prime minister for economic affairs. He has also held senior positions at the World Bank. Abbas asked Mustafa to draft plans to unify the administration in Gaza and the West Bank, fight corruption, and lead reform in the government, economy, and security services. 

The White House Security Council welcomed the appointment, urging the formation of a reform cabinet as soon as possible, it is important to note that a majority of Palestinians are not supportive of the Palestinian Authority. General consensus appears that the Palestinian Authority has done little in response to Israel’s attack on the Gaza Strip after October 7th. A poll conducted by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip between November 22nd and December 2nd, 2023 found that some 60% of Palestinians want the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority and 90% of Palestinians call for the resignation of Abbas. The Palestinian Authority has lost all credibility in the eyes of Palestinians. 

Recognition

As long advocated by the Next Century Foundation, Spain has agreed along with Ireland, Malta, and Slovenia to take the first steps toward recognizing a Palestinian state.

Image featured first above by Save_Palestine from Pixabay