Israel's War on Gaza Live: Israel pounds Rafah in overnight strikes

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knew exactly what he was doing when he ordered the attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus two weeks ago, killing Iran’s top soldier Brigadier General Mohammad Reza Zahedi, among other Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) commanders.

This attack went well beyond the existing tactics of limiting the arms flow to Hezbollah, the Lebanese movement, or pushing back Iranian-backed groups from its northern border.

This was an attempt to eliminate the Iranian leadership in Syria.

After six months, the war in Gaza is going badly. Israeli ground forces are facing stubborn Palestinian resistance which shows no sign of surrendering or fleeing, amid the biblical scale of destruction and the real suffering of its people. 

If anything, the mood among Hamas fighters has hardened. They feel they have survived the worst and have nothing to lose. The people of Gaza have not turned against them and the occupation of Rafah, they claim, would make no difference to them. They pour scorn on Israel counting their strength in battalions. After such an onslaught, they have a limitless supply of recruits and weapons.

Opinion By David Hearst.

READ MORE: How Iran attacks exposed Israel's weakness

Lebanese Iran-backed group Hezbollah said its fighters planted "a number of explosive devices" in the Tal Ismail area, on the Lebanese-Israeli border.

The group the bombeds exploded when a patrol from Israel's Golani forces passed by, and claims to have killed and injured soldiers.

The Israeli army said four soldiers were hurt, one of them seriously.

Gaza's health ministry said that 68 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attack son the enclave in the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 33,797 killed since 7 October.

76,465 people have been wounded since the start of the war, 94 of them in the past 24 hours.

Iran's foreign ministry spokesperson, Nasser Kanani, said that "[Western] countries should blame themselves and answer to public opinion for the measures they have taken against the … war crimes committed by Israel" instead of "making accusations" against Iran.

He added that countries "should appreciate Iran’s restraint in recent months".

On an interview with Sky News, the UK's Foreign Secretary David Cameron said the weekend attack on Israel was "a reckless and dangerous thing for Iran to have done", calling it a "double defeat" for the Islamic Republic.

"they’ve revealed to the world that they are the malign influence in the region," he added.

Cameron, however, urged Israel not to retaliate and hoped the region wouldn't see further escalations.

"if you’re sitting in Israel this morning, you’re thinking quite rightly, we have every right to respond to this, and they do, but we are urging that they shouldn’t escalate," he said.

"our hope is that there won’t be a retaliatory response, and instead, the world’s focus should shift to Hamas. They still hold those hostages. They’ve been offered a deal that prisoners can be released from Israeli jails in return for some of those hostages, and there’ll be a pause in the fighting. That’s what needs to happen next."

Amid leaden March skies in the UK, bus passenger Faisal Alam looks up at a Palestinian flag flying at the 309 stop in Langdon Park, east London. Wearing a cream thobe and brown skullcap, Alam said the flag symbolises many things, most notably, solidarity with the Palestinian people.

"They are suffering a genocide, and no one is doing anything to protect them in Gaza," he said. "It's a small gesture, but one that I hope shows the Palestinian people that we have not forgotten them."

Across the UK, communities have shown their backing for Palestine, from producing murals to protesting outside companies which profit from Israel's illegal occupation of the Palestinian territories.

In the borough of Tower Hamlets and other neighbourhoods of east London, residents and activists from the newly formed Palestine Solidarity Network have raised Palestinian flags on lampposts and other street installations, outside shop fronts and in their front windows.

But it has proved controversial for those who support Israel. And one incident especially, caught on video, has received global attention.

READ MORE: What happened to the right to fly Palestine flags in east London?

British Foreign Minister David Cameron said his country will consider more sanctions against Iran following the latter's drone and missiles attack on Israel.

When asked whether his government would consider more sanctions on Iran, Cameron told the BBC: "Yes, absolutely. We already have 400 sanctions on Iran. We put in place a whole new sanctions regime at the end of last year, which is proving very effective.

"We’ve sanctioned the IRGC, the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, in its entirety, and we’ll continue to look at what further steps we can do."

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said that Israeli forces released two members of the society's ambulance crews following a 50-day detention.

The members were arrested at a military checkpoint in Khan Younis while evacuating patients from al-Amal hospital, the PRCS said.

"The Israeli occupation continued to detain six PRCS crews until now, and their fate remains unknown," they added.

Iran resumed operations at Tehran's Imam Khomeini international airport and the Mehrabad airport.

The airports were closed on Sunday due to Iran's retaliatory attack on Israel, which comprised of an unprecedented swarm of drones and missiles launched at the country.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• Israel's operation in central Gaza continues, as an air strike on a home in the Nuseirat refugee camp killed five people overnight according to the Wafa news agency
• Displaced Palestinians attempting to return to the north of Gaza were reportedly shot at by Israeli forces
• US President Joe Biden reportedly told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the US will not take part in any counteroffensive against Iran
• Following the Iranian attack, Biden is also urging congress to pass a bill that includes over $14bn in security aid to Israel
• Israel's war cabinet met to discuss their response to Iran's attack, but were reportedly divided over the kind and timing of the response

Hello MEE readers, 

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Sunday warned members not to further escalate tensions with reprisals against Iran, while the United States warned the Security Council it would work to hold Tehran accountable at the UN. 

Guterres, speaking to a meeting of the UN Security Council, told member states that the UN charter bars the use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state as he also condemned Iran's attack on Israel.

"The Middle East is on the brink. The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict. Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate," Guterres told the meeting, which was called after Iran's attack.

Meanwhile, Thousands of Palestinians flooded the coast road north after hearing that some people had managed to cross a closed checkpoint towards Gaza City, despite Israel denying it was open.

Other updates from Sunday include: 

• The Israeli military will be calling up two reserve divisions for operations in Gaza.

• Israeli forces shot and injured seven Palestinians in two incidents near the West Bank city of Ramallah.

• Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei posted to X: "Jerusalem will be in the hands of the Muslims, and the Muslim world will celebrate the liberation of Palestine".

• The French military carried out interception missions during Iran's attack on Israel, French Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Sejourne said.

• Jordan's foreign minister Ayman Safadi said his country had summoned the Iranian ambassador to protest against Iranian comments that were an interference in the kingdom's internal affairs.

• Israeli settlers were filmed lighting a car on fire in the West Bank village of Deir Dibwan while soldiers stood by. The video was filmed by a private security camera in the car's parking garage and shared widely over social media. 

Thousands of Palestinians flooded the coast road north on Sunday after hearing that some people had managed to cross a closed checkpoint towards Gaza City, despite Israel denying it was open.

Journalist reported mothers holding their children's hands and families piling onto donkey carts with their luggage as they made the journey.

They hoped to cross a military checkpoint on al-Rashid road south of Gaza City, but the Israeli army has said that reports the route was open were "not true".

On the other side, desperate families waited for their loved ones in the rubble of the battered main city in Gaza.

Read More: Palestinians in Gaza head north en masse after 'open checkpoint' rumours

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a warning on X social media calling for world powers to "step back from the brink".

"The Middle East is on the brink," Guterres said. "The people of the region are confronting a real danger of a devastating full-scale conflict."

"Now is the time to defuse and de-escalate. Now is the time for maximum restraint. Now is the time to step back from the brink." 

Israeli forces shot and injured seven Palestinians in two incidents near the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian Health Ministry said in a statement.

According to the statement, five of the wounded were shot in the Jelazoun refugee camp. Three of those injured are in serious condition.

Another two people were shot in the village of Mazraa al-Sharqiya, with one in serious condition. 

Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei posted a video of Israel's air defences responding to Iran's attack over the skies of Jerusalem and the Dome of the Rock, writing in Hebrew: "Jerusalem will be in the hands of the Muslims, and the Muslim world will celebrate the liberation of Palestine".

Translation: Jerusalem will be in the hands of the Muslims, and the Muslim world will celebrate the liberation of Palestine.