Here’s how things stand on Friday, March 15, 2024:
Fighting and humanitarian crisis
- OpenArms, an aid ship bound for Gaza is close to the coast, according to MarineTraffic.com data. The aid ship departed from Cyprus on Tuesday, towing a barge containing about 200 tonnes of flour, rice and protein.
- Separately, at least 20 Palestinians were killed and more than 150 injured in northern Gaza City on Thursday, after Israel attacked a crowd of people waiting for humanitarian assistance.
- Mohammed Ghurab, director of emergency services at a hospital in northern Gaza, reportedly said on Thursday that people were wounded by gunshots at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City. He told the AFP news agency that there were “direct shots by the occupation forces” on people waiting for a food truck.
- Meanwhile, according to a Reuters report, Hamas has submitted a new Gaza ceasefire proposal that includes the release of Israeli captives in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences.
- In a post on X, the Israeli prime minister’s office said Hamas was “continuing to hold to unrealistic demands”, adding that a new update will be released on Saturday.
The Prime Minister's Office this evening:
Hamas is continuing to hold to unrealistic demands.
An update on the issue will be submitted to the War Cabinet and the Security Cabinet tomorrow.
— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) March 15, 2024
Regional tensions
- President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said on Friday that Egypt is pushing for a ceasefire in Gaza, to increase the amount of aid entering the Strip and to allow displaced people in the south of the enclave to move to the north.
- El-Sisi also warned against an Israeli incursion into the city of Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million people are sheltering close to Gaza’s border with Egypt.
- US Senator Chuck Schumer called for new elections in Israel on Thursday, calling the “extremist” government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “obstacles to peace”. Israeli ambassador Michael Herzog responded, saying that Israel’s “democratic ally” should not comment on the country’s “domestic political scene”.
- On Friday, UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini thanked Australia for becoming the latest country to restore funding to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
- Armed Israeli settlers carried out attacks in the occupied West Bank on Friday, setting a car on fire and raiding a school, according to local media reports.
- Israeli military vehicles entered the West Bank city of Tulkarem where three Palestinians were arrested, the Wafa news agency reported on Friday.
- Israeli forces also raided the nearby town of Bal’a, north of the city.
- Israeli forces have also arrested a Palestinian man during a raid on the town of Arraba, south of Jenin, according to local media.
