Palestine summary for March 16 to March 28, 2024. (From "Lets Talk Palestine" broadcast channel). Quote.
March 16, 2024.
Day 162
• 1st aid shipment departing Cyprus arrived in Gaza yesterday carrying 200 tons of food, marking 1st Gaza sea shipment since 2005 + planned 2nd ship coordinated by US, UAE, Spain & Japan; but unclear on distribution of aid across Gaza
• Massacre in central Gaza as Israel destroys home, killing 36 Palestinians, incl. kids & pregnant women
🔻 Senior Hamas & Houthi officials hold rare meeting to discuss coordinated action against an Israeli Rafah ground invasion
• Israeli settlers attack homes in Nablus (West Bank), throwing stones & shooting the air + 20 Palestinians abducted in West Bank, incl. some released in Nov. hostage exchange deal
• Palestinian Authority (PA) president Abbas accuses Hamas of causing “return of Israeli occupation of Gaza”, essentially blaming Hamas for the ongoing genocide. Was prompted by Hamas criticism of ‘unilateral’ appointment of new PM of the PA (see our last broadcast)
• 63 Palestinians killed, 112 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
March 17, 2024.
Day 163
🇺🇸 NBC: Biden frustrated over drop in poll numbers in swing states Michigan & Georgia due to his handling of Gaza genocide. Shouting and swearing in a White House meeting, saying he’s doing what is right
• 19 aid trucks arrive in north Gaza — first convoys to reach the north without incident in 4 months. But aid remains scarce as Israel keeps blocking entry of aid as trucks pile outside Rafah crossing + rate of malnutrition among children under 2 in north doubles in past month
• 14th Palestinian dies since Oct 7 in Israeli prison following multiple allegations of extreme abusive conditions for Palestinian hostages
🇪🇺 EU President condemns an Israeli Rafah invasion, joining countless nations to do so like the US & Arab countries
• Israeli forces abduct 25 Palestinians, incl. a woman with cancer from Gaza & a child in overnight raids in West Bank
• 92 Palestinians killed, 130 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
(No specific summary for March 18)
March 19, 2024.
Day 165
🇨🇦 Canada to halt all further arms exports to Israel in support of ceasefire and 2-state “solution”, recognizing ICJ ruling. This came after a non-binding parliamentary resolution which called for ending arms sales. But resolution’s language was watered down during amendment, denoting Hamas as a “terror organization” + removing call to sanction Israeli officials
• 93 Palestinians killed, 142 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
• Israel escalates attacks across Gaza with 1 attack on Rafah killing 14 Palestinians + ongoing raid of al-Shifa hospital killed & injured dozens
• Israel issued 100,000 new gun licenses to Israeli’s since Oct 7 out of the 299,354 applications
• Israel massacred aid distribution committee at Kuwaiti roundabout (north Gaza), killing at least 23 people
• Israeli settlers, w/ ongoing genocide as a distraction, accelerated building of 18 new illegal roads + 15 outposts (unauthorized settlement illegal under Israeli law) in West Bank since Oct
March 20, 2024.
Day 166
• 104 Palestinians killed, 162 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
🇺🇸 Reuters: US Congress & White House reach deal on funding bill that includes blocking UNRWA donations until March 2025, based on Israel’s unverified allegations
🏥 IOF siege on al-Shifa hospital enters 3rd day, as forces surround the complex trapping hundreds inside & block rescue efforts
• 8 Israeli attacks kill 100+ aid workers in 1 week + IOF massacred 23 aid seekers in north Gaza
🚢 Israel Hayom: Israel plans to buy port in Cyprus amid fears of Haifa port closure from Hezbollah strikes, hindering military & commercial imports
⚓️ Israel’s Eilat port will fire half its employees due to Red Sea blockade
• Israeli High Court approves demolition of a Palestinian’s home for carrying out a non-lethal resistance operation in West Bank; marking first authorized home demolition by court for an operation without fatalities — an escalation in Israeli repression
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia pledges $40m to UNRWA
March 21, 2024.
Day 167
• As Arabs celebrate Mother's Day today, we remember that on average 37 mothers are exterminated everyday in Gaza, meanwhile mothers from Gaza make up 28 of the 67 female detainees in Israeli prisons
• 65 Palestinians killed, 92 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
🏥 Israel continues 4th day siege on al-Shifa Hospital, killing 140+ Palestinians & abducted 600 people, incl. medical staff. 13 patients killed as Israel cut off electricity, depriving oxygen, medicine & food
• 18-year-old Ubai Abu Maria abducted by Israeli forces in West Bank for 7th time, impeding treatment for bullet wound requiring surgery
• Poll finds 71% of Palestinians in Gaza & West Bank support Hamas's Oct 7 resistance operation; compared to poll 3 months ago, support among West Bank residents dropped by 11% but amongst Gazans rose by 14%
• Israel ordered 25 patients receiving care in West Bank to return to Gaza. They're among the 400 patients from Gaza who were left stranded in West Bank after Oct 7
March 22, 2024.
🚨Russia & China veto US UN Security Council ceasefire resolution
The resolution showed a shift: US had vetoed every ceasefire proposal, most recently Algeria’s as the US opposed language of “immediate” ceasefire, preferring “humanitarian pause”. But now the US draft states “the imperative of an immediate and sustained ceasefire”.
The problem? It’d last only 6 weeks, is conditional on release of Israeli hostages, and condemns both Hamas’ op & the Houthi naval blockade. The wording of “determines the imperative” is also weak, implying the importance of a ceasefire, not demanding one.
The result? It wouldn’t obligate Israel to end the genocide + let it continue on the pretext that there’s no “acceptable” hostage deal.
It was vetoed by 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳 who said it’d let Israel continue attacks & invade Rafah. Algeria also voted against it.
10 states are planning alternative resolution calling for Ramadan ceasefire, including but not conditioned on release of Israeli hostages. US likely to veto.
Day 168 - IMPORTANT
• Gaza death toll surpasses 32,000 not including the thousands buried under rubble
‼️ Israel seized 1,977 acres of West Bank land for settlements, the largest land theft since 1993
🇺🇸 Congress passes bill that bans funding to UNRWA until 2025; expected for Senate to pass before midnight deadline
🏥 Israel’s siege on Shifa Hospital enters 5th day as they bomb & demolish buildings with bulldozers; abducting 240+ patients & 10 medical staff from radiology unit. IOF forces ordered trapped patients to surrender despite continuous heavy gunfire
• 50 Palestinians abducted incl. 4 kids during 60+ Israeli military raids across West Bank in 2 days. Marking March 20 “one of the deadliest nights recorded to date” in 2024 in West Bank w/ 7+ Palestinians killed. Israeli settlers also took over 20+ Palestinian residential structures
• UN aid mission to north Gaza for 7,500 people was denied by Israel
🇫🇮 Finland to resume UNRWA funding
March 24, 2024.
Day 170
🚨 Israeli forces lay siege to 3 hospitals, surrounding al-Amal Hospital forcing Palestinians to strip naked & leave; currently carpet bombing near Nasser Hospital & sniping anyone moving, while continuing aggressive 7-day seige on al-Shifa
• 84 Palestinians killed, 106 injured in Gaza in past 24 hours
• Israel denied thousands of Christians from West Bank entry to Jerusalem on Psalm Sunday, heightening military checkpoints. Israel’s apartheid system discriminates Palestinians’ freedom of movement, requiring permits for West Bank residents to enter, which is rarely granted. More info on Israeli apartheid: https://rb.gy/vjocrd + checkpoints: https://rb.gy/rabxt6;
• Israel to deny all UNRWA aid convoys to north Gaza, despite 70% of population subject to “catastrophic starvation”
• BDS launches boycott of tech company Intel due to its $25bn investment in new factory in Israel, the “largest investment ever”; on top of Intel’s $50bn+ investments in Israel in past 50 years
March 25, 2024.
UNSC CEASEFIRE MOTION PASSES
For the 1st time the Security Council managed to pass a ceasefire resolution. The US abstained while all 14 others voted yes
The US planned to veto if it didn’t mention the hostages so it “demands an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan respected by all parties leading to a permanent sustainable ceasefire, and also demands the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages.”
But it doesn’t condition the ceasefire on a hostage swap the way done by the US draft that got vetoed by 🇷🇺 & 🇨🇳
It doesn’t condemn Hamas explicitly as the US wanted but it “deplores” all attacks against civilians & “all acts of terrorism” noting that it’s illegal to take hostages under int’l law. So it’s indirect condemnation
It expresses deep concern “about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip,” calling for more efforts for more aid & to protect civilians. This is weak language
Better than nothing but not enough as people are slaughtered & raped.
Day 171 — Attacks on 3 hospitals
🚨 Israel escalates attacks on “safe zone” Rafah killing 30+, including women and children amid threats of looming ground invasion
• 107 Palestinians killed, 176 injured in past 24 hours
🏥 22,000 displaced Palestinians face worsening conditions in the European Hospital, one of the last functioning in Gaza, overcrowded with patients awaiting critical care
🏥 Israeli forces lay siege to further hospitals in Khan Younis forcing critically ill patients to evacuate the premises surrounded by complete destruction
🏥 Israeli forces open fire on medical staff forced to evacuate al-Amal Hospital amid continuous attacks on the premise leaving patients in critical condition, deprived of medical supervision
• Netanyahu cancels Israeli delegation trip to US over its abstention in today’s UNSC vote, calling it a departure from their long-standing support of Israel. Biden called the move “disappointing”
• Israeli assaults targeting homes in central Gaza kill 18
(No march 26 summary)
March 27, 2024
Day 172
🚨 Gaza Gov’t Media Office demands end to aerial aid drops after one today killed 6 & caused 12 to drown in north Gaza
• 81 Palestinians killed, 93 injured in the last 24 hours
🇯🇴 100+ protesters arrested & teargassed outside Jordan’s Israeli embassy amid demands to end Jordan’s military & economic ties with Israel
🇧🇪 Brussels City Council passes motion to ban council purchases of products from Israeli settlements in the West Bank on the basis of international law violations
• Israel bombs residential building in Rafah, killing 15+ displaced Palestinians incl. 4 kids. Analysts say the Rafah bombings mark the start of a “silent” invasion
🏥 Ongoing Israeli attacks on Shifa Hospital kill 30+ people incl. a family living in a residential building near the besieged complex
• IOF abducts 30 Palestinians in overnight raids in West Bank cities
🇱🇧 Israeli airstrike in eastern Lebanon kills 2 people, an escalation as the bombing was far from south Lebanon, the usual battleground
March 28, 2024.
Day 173
🇮🇪 Ireland to follow Nicaragua and join South Africa’s ICJ case against Israel
• Israeli attacks on residential homes in Rafah kill 25 displaced Palestinians, incl. multiple children
• 76 Palestinians killed, 102 injured in the last 24 hours
• IOF kills 4 in central Gaza, forcefully burying them by bulldozers
🇺🇸 US state department report claims Israel is complying with international law, as US reviewed Israeli usage of US weapons in order to validate future arms exports
🇱🇧 Israeli attacks on southern Lebanon residencies kill 12 in past 24 hours with many still trapped under the rubble
• Two aid seekers remain in critical condition as Israeli snipers target the Kuwait Roundabout aid distribution point
🇺🇸 Poll: 55% of Americans disapprove of Israel’s actions in Gaza — a 10% increase from November’s poll
• Israeli drone attack kills 8 in West Bank; IOF abducts 20 Palestinians in overnight raids
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