Compilation of news reports – IAK staff
The Palestinian health ministry said Israeli strikes had killed four Palestinians and wounded five others on Sunday.
NOTE: The 42-day ceasefire (“Phase One”) between Israel and Gaza ended on Saturday night, but Phase Two has not begun. Phase Two, which all parties agreed to in January, would include a permanent end to the war, the return of all remaining living Israeli hostages and a number of Palestinian prisoners, and the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza.
Netanyahu: no aid to Gaza until Hamas agrees to sinister new proposal
Israel has accepted a proposal allegedly brought by US envoy Steve Witkoff to extend the first phase of the Gaza ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement for another 42 days, a proposal that Hamas rejected, insisting on abiding by the terms of what was initially agreed upon.
Consequently, Israel announced on 2 March that it halted the entry of aid and supplies into the Gaza Strip.
According to Hebrew media reports, additional measures under consideration by Jerusalem include cutting off electricity and water supplies, targeted strikes on Hamas assets, blocking the entry of temporary shelters and heavy machinery for rubble clearance, and maintaining Israel’s presence along the Philadelphi Corridor.
Moving the Gazan population from the north to the south of the Strip again and resuming the war at full force are also being considered.
Netanyahu openly admitted the use of starvation as a tool against Hamas, saying: “I want to make one thing clear: There will be no free meals. If Hamas believes it can extend the ceasefire or benefit from the conditions of the first phase without us recovering our hostages, it is gravely mistaken.
“If Hamas continues to entrench its position and refuses to release our captives, there will be additional consequences, which I will not elaborate on here,” he threatened.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid blasted the government’s decision.
“The prisoner exchange deal has been halted. Humanitarian aid to Gaza has been stopped. The government has approved the mobilization of 400,000 reserve soldiers. What is the goal? What objective has Israel set for itself? Has the government decided to abandon the prisoners, and if so, why? For what greater national purpose? If we return to war, what is the objective of the war? Who will replace Hamas in the end?” Lapid said.
“Once again, the government is acting without a plan, without a vision. We can only hope things turn out okay—because that seems to be the extent of their planning.”
The United States has given its support to Israel’s announcement on Sunday morning that it is suspending all humanitarian aid to Gaza after the Hamas terrorist organization rejected a ceasefire extension proposed by Washington.
“Israel has negotiated in good faith since the beginning of this administration to ensure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists. We will support their decision on next steps given Hamas has indicated it’s no longer interested in a negotiated ceasefire,” U.S. National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes told Axios on Sunday night [see note below].
Hamas said of the new proposal, “The statement issued by the office of the terrorist occupation Prime Minister Netanyahu, regarding his approval of American proposals to extend the first phase of the agreement under arrangements that violate the ceasefire agreement in Gaza is a blatant attempt to evade the agreement and avoid entering negotiations for its second phase.
“Netanyahu’s decision to halt humanitarian aid is a form of blackmail, a war crime, and a blatant violation of the agreement,” it went on to say.
The European Union’s diplomatic service has condemned “the refusal of Hamas to accept the extension of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza”.
In a statement on Sunday, the service did not condemn Israel’s decision to block aid from entering Gaza, but said that “Israel’s subsequent decision to block the entry of all humanitarian aid into Gaza could potentially result in humanitarian consequences.”
Oxfam said: “Israel’s decision, to block aid to over 2 million Palestinians in the Gaza Strip as Ramadan begins, is a reckless act of collective punishment, explicitly prohibited under international humanitarian law. The government of Israel, as occupying power, has the responsibility to ensure that humanitarian aid can reach the population in Gaza.”
The international court of justice, weighing an allegation of genocide brought against Israel, has instructed Israel to facilitate aid deliveries to Gaza and its remaining population of 2.2 million.
The international criminal court said when it issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu last year that there was reason to believe Israel had used “starvation as a method of warfare”.
Israel has consistently denied allegations by aid organizations during the 15-month military campaign in Gaza that it was using food as a weapon of war, insisting that blockages in supplies were a result of other factors. Sunday’s announcement by Netanyahu’s office made no attempt to disguise the government’s actions or the goal behind them, which is to gain advantage at the negotiating table.
Israel has accused Hamas of violating the deal with delays in providing the names of hostages.
In the words of Robert Inlakesh, “Witkoff’s proposal essentially scrapped the original ceasefire agreement, but is now being presented as if it is some kind of gift that Hamas is irrationally rejecting.”
Rubio signs declaration to expedite delivery of $4B in US military assistance to Israel
“I have signed a declaration to use emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of approximately $4 billion in military assistance to Israel,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement on Saturday.
“The decision to reverse the Biden Administration’s partial arms embargo, which wrongly withheld a number of weapons and ammunition from Israel, is yet another sign that Israel has no greater ally in the White House than President Trump,” he added.
His statement came one day after the State Department said it approved potential foreign military sales to Israel worth $3 billion, which include munitions, guidance kits and Caterpillar D9 bulldozers.
In a statement Friday, the agency stated that Rubio determined “emergency exists,” requiring the immediate sales to Israel, waiving congressional review requirements.
Rubio said since Trump took office in late January, his administration has approved nearly $12 billion in major foreign military sales to Israel.
‘Stop the Ethnic Cleansing’: Watch and Read the Most Powerful Oscars Speech for Years
Basel Adra is the Palestinian co-director of ‘No Other Land,’ which won the Oscar for Best Documentary on Sunday. The film was made by a Palestinian-Israeli collective of four activists – Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor – and tells the story of the destruction of Masafer Yatta, in the occupied West Bank, by the Israeli military. The title, ‘No Other Land,’ comes from a woman in the film who asks where else the Palestinians of the West Bank are supposed to go.
Abraham, in his acceptance speech, not only highlighted the “ethnic supremacy” instituted by his country in the Occupied Palestinian Territories but also challenged the destructive role of the United States: “I have to say, as I am here, the foreign policy in this country is helping to block this path [to peace].”
Got that? Not only did a film about occupied and persecuted Palestinians win an Oscar, but the great and the good of Hollywood put their hands together for two speeches slamming “ethnic cleansing” and “ethnic supremacy” in Palestine.
As the New York Times noted on Sunday night, the film’s Oscar win represents “a landmark and a rebuke. Despite a string of honors and rave reviews, no distributor would pick up this film in the United States, making it nearly impossible for American filmgoers to see it in theaters or to stream it.” (Read a transcript of the speeches here; watch a trailer for the film here).
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IMEMC Daily Reports
STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 – MARCH 2, 2025 (ongoing count):
- At least 49,262 Palestinians killed, 119,455 injured – including:
- at least 48,339 killed in Gaza (~14,550 children)
- at least 923 killed in the West Bank (~186 children)
- at least 111,753 injured in Gaza
- at least 7,702 injured in the West Bank
WAR STATISTICS OCTOBER 7, 2023 (Hamas attack) – JANUARY 22, 2025 (Ceasefire):
Palestinian death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 19, 2025: at least 48,143 – including at least 47,283 in Gaza (~20,600 children), and 916 in the West Bank (~183 children). Palestinian injuries: at least 118,472 – including at least 111,629 in Gaza, and 7,000 in the West Bank.
Thousands of those killed in Gaza have yet to be identified, and an estimated 11,000 more are still buried under rubble.
Reported Israeli death toll from October 7, 2023 – January 19, 2025: ~1,616 (or 1,590) – including ~1,139 on October 7, 2023 (~36 children), 436 (or 405) military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza, 46 military and civilians in the West Bank, East Jerusalem, and Israel.
NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries of Israelis on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.
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