Live: Israel kills more than 430 Palestinians on Tuesday
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Hamas has said in a statement that Israel's decision to halt aid to Gaza for the seventh day is tantamount to the "war crime of collective punishment".
Israel blocked all aid entering Gaza following the end of the first phase of the ceasefire agreement after Hamas refused to accept the extension of the first stage of the truce.
On Saturday, the group said in a statement that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government was "committing the war crime of collective punishment against over two million Palestinian civilians through starvation and the deprivation of basic life necessities for the seventh consecutive day".
It added that the repercussions of this are also felt by Israeli captives "who are also affected by the lack of food, medicine and healthcare"
The death toll of Palestinians killed in Gaza since October 2023 has risen to 48,453, the Palestinian health ministry said.
Rescue teams recovered seven more bodies from the rubble, while six Palestinians were killed by Israeli gunfire over the past two days.
Eight more wounded people were admitted to hospitals in that time, increasing the overall number of wounded over the past sixteen months to 111,860.
Hamas sees "positive indicators" for launching talks over the second phase of Gaza ceasefire, the group's spokesperson said on Saturday.
A high-level Hamas delegation has been in Cairo since Friday to advance efforts to prolong the fragile truce agreement.
Maysa al-Natour never imagined she would spend the month of Ramadan far from her home in the Jenin refugee camp.
But since the Israeli invasion of the occupied West Bank city began in January, the Palestinian mother and her family have been internally displaced to a nearby neighbourhood.
Like tens of thousands like her, displaced people from the northern West Bank camp have been facing dire conditions this Ramadan.
Their needs remain unmet, and many are still living in shelter centres.
“I spent more than 40 days without gas for cooking, and until now I have no washing machine and I have to wash clothes at a neighbour’s house,” al-Natour told Middle East Eye.
“There are no simple ingredients, not even suitable food for my children, and everyday iftar and suhoor pose a great challenge,” she added.
The uncertainty of the future is another source of suffering for the displaced, as they hear the constant sounds of bombings, demolitions, and home burnings within the camps.
They are left in the dark about whether they will ever return to their homes or if their lives will continue in this state of turmoil for the foreseeable future.
Read more: Displaced families in West Bank camps face Ramadan of ‘humiliation and uncertainty’
Israeli settlers have attacked Palestinians, their properties and their agricultural lands in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, under the protection of Israeli security forces.
According to Wafa news agency, Palestinian residents confronted the settlers on Saturday and drove them away from their farms.
However, Israeli forces intervened and conducted searches in the village, detaining three Palestinians after assaulting them.
A man has been killed by an Israeli strike on a vehicle in southern Lebanon, Al-Akhbar reported on Saturday.
Israel's military responded to the reports by stating that it had targeted a Hezbollah militant.
The area around Big Ben in London has been cordoned off by emergency services after a man scaled one of the buildings in the Palace of Westminster holding a Palestine flag.
A barefoot man was filmed on Saturday morning holding a flag stood on a ledge up the Elizabeth Tower, which houses the famous clock.
BREAKING: An activist with a Palestine flag has scaled Big Ben, and is calling for the freedom of political prisoners including Palestine Action's #Filton18.
— Palestine Action (@Pal_action) March 8, 2025
The 18 are in prison under counter-terror powers for allegedly costing Israel's weapons trade £millions in damages. pic.twitter.com/2CFqY0WjyK
A journalist at LBC reported that the protester had been on the Elizabeth Tower for almost three hours.
The man reportedly said “peaceful protesters are being brutally arrested” and “I’ve brought the protest to the so-called hub of democracy in the UK”.
Also on Saturday, Palestine Action campaigners spray-painted the clubhouse in Donald Trump's Turnberry golf course in Scotland and dug up some of the greens.
The words "Gaza is not 4 sale" was painted on the grass.
"Palestine Action rejects Donald Trump’s treatment of Gaza as though it were his property to dispose of as he likes," a spokesperson said.
"To make that clear, we have shown him that his own property is not safe from acts of resistance. We will continue to take action against US-Israeli colonialism in the Palestinian homeland."
The foreign ministers of France, Germany, Italy and the UK have said they support the Egypt-led Arab plan for the reconstruction of Gaza.
"The plan shows a realistic path to the reconstruction of Gaza and promises – if implemented – swift and sustainable improvement of the catastrophic living conditions for the Palestinians living in Gaza," the ministers said in a joint statement on Saturday.
The 91-page proposal, published this week, sets out a $53bn budget and a five-year timescale for the reconstruction of the Palestinian enclave, devastated by 15 months of Israeli war. It also outlines a vision for post-war governance in Gaza.
It was proposed as an alternative to a plan to forcibly expel Palestinians from Gaza proposed by US President Donald Trump.
The US and Israel have both rejected the Arab proposal.
“We are a people who make use of everything we can find, even missile remnants, turning them into tents.”
— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) March 8, 2025
Journalist Hani Abu Rezeq explains how Palestinians are repurposing Israeli missile remnants to build tents in Gaza pic.twitter.com/RsvvqLMYwI
Two Palestinian civilians were killed and more wounded on Saturday morning in an Israeli drone strike targeting a group of people east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, in a clear breach of the ceasefire agreement.
According to Wafa news agency, the two killed Palestinians were identified as Mahmoud al-Hassi and Mahdi Jargoun.
Since Friday, Rafah has been subjected to Israeli shelling and drone strikes, with reports of bombardment in several residential neighbourhoods.
Israel has been accused of violations of the ceasefire agreement almost every day since it came into effect on 19 January.
At least 48,446 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the war began in October 2023, with an additional 111,852 people wounded.
Good morning MEE readers,
Here are some of the key developments over the past few hours:
- Two Palestinian civilians have been killed and others wounded this morning from an Israeli drone strike east of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip
- Israel's offensive on the occupied West Bank city of Tulkarm entered its 41st day, with reinforcement forces deployed in Tulkarm and Nour Shams refugee camps on Saturday
- The Organisation for Islamic Cooperation, which has 57 members across the Muslim world, has endorsed the Egypt-led proposal for the reconstruction of Gaza during an emergency meeting in Saudi Arabia
- Columbia University has suspended four students who were arrested during a pro-Palestine protest earlier this week, after the Trump administration cut $400m to the university over allegations of anti-Semitic harassment during such protests
- A high-level Hamas delegation is still in Cairo Friday to advance efforts to prolong the fragile ceasefire in Gaza
- The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has said that Israel’s blockade of aid into Gaza and killing of Palestinians who go into so-called "no-go zones" are war crimes. Since the truce began, Israeli forces have killed at least 58 Palestinians, including 10 children and three women, near areas it has designated no-go zones
Our liveblog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.
Here are the day's key developments:
- A high-level Hamas delegation was in Cairo Friday to advance efforts to prolong the fragile ceasefire in Gaza, which has largely paused hostilities with Israel, two senior Hamas officials said.
- Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer "lashed out" at US captive envoy Adam Boehler during a phone call on Tuesday over his direct meeting with a Hamas delegation, a western official told the Times of Israel.
- Hamas released on Friday a video of an Israeli captive soldier seen alive and addressing his family after identifying himself. In the footage, which is believed to have been shot last week, Matan Angrest is heard urging Israeli authorities to implement the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire deal.
- The leader of Yemen's Houthis warned Israel on Friday that if aid isn't allowed back into Gaza within four days, the group will resume its naval operations in the Mandab Strait and Red Sea.
- Palestinian aid groups and their international counterparts working in the West Bank and Gaza released a joint statement on Friday calling Israel's blocking of aid into Gaza "a reckless escalation and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law", and that it is only a "matter of will" for Israel to re-open the crossings to trucks again.
- Nearly 90,000 Muslim worshippers gathered at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem's Old City for the first Friday prayers of Ramadan, according to the Jerusalem Islamic Waqf, as reported by Wafa news agency. Israeli forces were heavily deployed at military checkpoints leading to the mosque, preventing many West Bank worshippers from entering and conducting extensive ID checks.
- Israeli jets carried out a bombing raid late on Friday local time in the vicinity of al-Hamdaniyeh in southern Lebanon, reportedly targeting Hezbollah's weapons depots.
Palestinian aid groups and their international counterparts working in the West Bank and Gaza released a joint statement on Friday calling Israel's blocking of aid into Gaza "a reckless escalation and a blatant violation of international humanitarian law", and that it is only a "matter of will" for Israel to re-open the crossings to trucks again.
"The international community must act to end Israel’s deliberate obstruction of humanitarian relief, which amounts to collective punishment and the use of starvation as a weapon of war – a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions and a war crime under international law," the statement by the The Palestinian NGO Network and The Association of International Development Agencies said.
"The recent ceasefire, though imperfect, provided a brief window for humanitarian operations to scale up... [and] Israel proved that enabling the delivery of aid was only a matter of will," the statement continued.
"The claim that Gaza was 'flooded with aid' is both misleading and dangerous – while humanitarian actors worked to expand operations, the assistance that reached Gaza was nowhere sufficient to meet the overwhelming needs," the statement reads.
"Humanitarian aid is not a bargaining chip. It is a fundamental right."
The 110 Palestinian detainees in Israel's Ofer Prison are experiencing repression, beatings, denial of food, and being prevented from bathing, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs said this week in a report from the news outlet Wafa.
The agency operates under the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
Israeli officials have ramped up intimidation tactics, the agency said, and ordered up to three raids a week, targeting three to four cells during each raid.
All the detainees have been beaten, a lawyer who visited them said.
They have also been deprived of hot water for the past 45 days, and most have not bathed for well over a month, the lawyer was told.
For the suhoor meal in Ramadan, detainees were only provided three slices of bread, a small spoonful of jam or a small carton of yogurt to share among a dozen people.
The Trump administration's plan to use artificial intelligence to deport international students that are deemed "pro-Hamas" has received a wide range of reactions this week from across the political spectrum, stirring fears of what this could mean for free speech in the US.
The US State Department reportedly plans to use AI to revoke the visas of foreign students who are deemed "pro-Hamas", Axios reported on Thursday, citing senior State Department officials.
The “Catch and Revoke” project, launched by Secretary of State Marco Rubio according to Axios, will see "AI-assisted reviews of tens of thousands of student visa holders' social media accounts [and] marks a dramatic escalation in the US government's policing of foreign nationals' conduct and speech”.
