Live: Trump threatens Gaza residents with death as his team holds direct talks with Hamas about captives

The UN’s humanitarian agency (OCHA) reports that over 3,000 children and 1,000 pregnant or breastfeeding women in Gaza have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition since 19 January, requiring urgent treatment.

While a slight improvement in food consumption was noted during the ceasefire due to increased market availability, Israel’s renewed blockade now threatens to undo this progress, endangering lives once again.  

OCHA warns that the blockade is directly undermining efforts to deliver critical, life-saving aid. “If aid disruptions persist, at least 80 community kitchens could soon exhaust their supplies. Those still operational may have to reduce meal portions or adjust content to cope with shortages,” the agency stated.  

Aid organisations face the grim reality of cutting food rations. Although the distribution of existing food parcels continues, these supplies—supporting 500,000 people—are rapidly depleting.

The UN’s humanitarian agency, OCHA, reported that over 150,000 students have enrolled in 165 government-run schools across Gaza following the Ministry of Education’s launch of a compressed academic year on 23 February.

More than half of these schools are forced to operate in three shifts daily due to the severe destruction caused by Israel’s assault.

Over 7,000 teachers have been mobilised to support the disrupted education system, with 30 schools in northern Gaza, 52 in Deir el-Balah, 57 in Khan Younis, and 26 in Rafah.

Despite the efforts to restore education, Israel’s blockade and destruction of infrastructure continue to hinder the basic right to learning for Gaza’s children.

Israel has approved the construction of over 1,000 housing units in occupied East Jerusalem, further entrenching its illegal settlement expansion on Palestinian land.

According to the Israeli Broadcasting Corporation, the Planning and Building Committee in Jerusalem has greenlit the project, disregarding international law and ongoing global condemnation. 

US National Security Spokesperson Brian Hughes dismissed the Arab states' reconstruction proposal for Gaza, claiming it fails to acknowledge that the enclave is "uninhabitable" and littered with debris and unexploded ordnance, making life impossible for its residents.

Instead of addressing Israel’s total destruction of Gaza, Hughes reiterated Trump’s plan to rebuild the territory "free from Hamas," a vision that has been widely criticised as a thinly veiled attempt at a US-backed takeover.

He stated that Washington looks forward to further discussions on bringing "peace and prosperity" to the region.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are some of the latest updates on Israel's war on Gaza: 

• Palestinians in Gaza are urging global intervention to force Israel to lift its renewed blockade, describing it as a deliberate attempt to kill them.

• The UN reports that over 3,000 children have been diagnosed with acute malnutrition since the Israel-Hamas ceasefire, warning that the blockade could reverse efforts to deliver lifesaving aid.

• The White House dismissed an Arab plan for Gaza’s reconstruction, claiming it ignores the fact that the enclave is now “uninhabitable,” while continuing to promote Trump’s takeover proposal.

• A child rights group revealed that Israel is holding a 14-year-old Palestinian from the occupied West Bank in “administrative detention” without charge or trial, making him the youngest detainee under the policy.

• Amnesty International has called for a war crimes investigation into Israel’s repeated and unlawful attacks on Lebanon’s healthcare workers during last year’s war.

Our liveblog will shortly be closing until tomorrow morning.

Here are the day's key developments:

- Arab leaders meeting in Cairo have adopted an Egyptian plan for the governance and reconstruction of Gaza to counter the widely condemned displacement proposal presented by US President Donald Trump. The proposal includes a $53bn reconstruction plan for Gaza, and involves the Palestinian Authority (PA) overseeing the process through a Gaza Administration Committee for the first six months, followed by the PA's full return to Gaza.

- Hamas has made it clear that it will not participate in any administrative structure governing post-war Gaza unless it is built on national consensus. Any future governance must be shaped by Palestinians alone, the group said, rejecting outside interference.

- After Israel's foreign minister insisted on the total demilitarisation of Gaza before moving to the second phase of the ceasefire deal, Hamas leader Sami Abu Zuhri dismissed the demand as unacceptable. "Any talk about the resistance’s weapons is nonsense. The resistance’s weapons are a red line for Hamas and all resistance factions," Abu Zuhri told AFP news agency.

- Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Tuesday made his first public statements on the Palestinian cause, saying the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza would be a "test of Arab unity," and "a stain on humanity."

- Israeli forces say they killed a Hamas commander, Aysar al-Saadi, in the West Bank city of Jenin on Tuesday, as they pushed ahead with a weeks-long operation against groups in the area that has sent tens of thousands of Palestinians fleeing their homes, the Reuters news agency reported.

- A long-awaited investigation by Israel's internal law enforcement agency, the Shin Bet, found on Tuesday that both political and intelligence failures led to the Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, including a lack of coordination between the Israeli military and the Shin Bet itself, Haaretz reported. The Shin Bet largely blames the attacks on the government's policy of maintaining "quiet" in Gaza, as well as what it describes as the transfer of Qatari funds to Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in order to build up its ranks.

- The US State Department said on Tuesday that it was re-designating Yemen's Houthis, known formally as Ansar Allah, as a "foreign terrorist organisation".

- US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to slash the federal funding of colleges that allow what he called "illegal protests" - a reference to the pro-Palestine university encampments and similar movements that swept across the US last year.  

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to slash the federal funding of colleges that allow what he called "illegal protests" - a reference to the pro-Palestine university encampments and similar movements that swept across the US last year. 

"All federal funding will STOP for any College, School or University that allows illegal protests," Trump wrote on his social media platform TruthSocial.

"Agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came," he said. "American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on the crime, arrested. NO MASKS!"

The Israeli foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the statement from the Arab summit held in Cairo to discuss Gaza's reconstruction "failed to address" the realities of the situation.

"Hamas' brutal terrorist attack, which resulted in thousands of Israeli deaths and hundreds of kidnappings, is not mentioned, nor is there any condemnation of this murderous terrorist entity," the foreign ministry said.

It also reiterated support for US President Donald Trump's idea, which aims to forcibly displace the Palestinians and relocate them to Jordan and Egypt, saying Arab states rejected it without giving it a chance.

Representatives from Arab states met in Cairo on Tuesday and adopted Egypt's alternative plan for Gaza's reconstruction that would cost $53bn and avoid resettling Palestinians.

Israel also criticised the statement's reliance on the Palestinian Authority and Unrwa, which it said had previously "demonstrated corruption and support for terrorism".

Reporting by Reuters

The Israeli military on Tuesday announced that it opened up a Turkish language account on X. 

"Welcome to the official X account of the Israel Defense Forces! This platform will be used to provide reliable and instant updates on developments regarding the IDF," the message said, accompanied by a video of a Turkish-speaking member of the military's public affairs team. 

Israil Savunma Kuvvetleri’nin resmi X hesabına hoş geldiniz! Bu platform, ISK ile ilgili gelişmeler hakkında güvenilir ve anlık güncellemeler sağlamak amacıyla kullanılacaktır. pic.twitter.com/EknF0c6xno

— IDF Türkçe (@TurkishIDF) March 4, 2025

During an Arab summit convened in Cairo on Tuesday, an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of Gaza was adopted, Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said during a closing statement.

The plan aims to counter President Donald Trump's proposals for a "Middle East Riviera" by presenting a scheme for rebuilding the devastated strip without forcibly displacing its population.

Reporting by Reuters

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio held a phone call with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday "to underscore that the United States’ steadfast support for Israel is a top priority for President [Donald] Trump," the State Department said in a readout.

Rubio referenced the Trump administration's expediting of the delivery of nearly $4bn in weapons transfers to Israel. 

Rubio "thanked the Prime Minister for his cooperation with Special Envoy Steve Witkoff to help free all remaining hostages and extend the ceasefire in Gaza" and "conveyed that he anticipates close coordination in addressing the threats posed by Iran and pursuing opportunities for a stable region", the State Department said. 

A long-awaited investigation by Israel's internal law enforcement agency, the Shin Bet, found on Tuesday that both political and intelligence failures led to the Hamas attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023, including a lack of coordination between the Israeli military and the Shin Bet itself, Haaretz reported. 

The Shin Bet largely blames the attacks on the government's policy of maintaining "quiet" in Gaza - given the lack of any rocket launches or other activity by fighting factions in Gaza for more than a year - as well as what it describes as the transfer of Qatari funds to Hamas's military wing, the Qassam Brigades, in order to build up its ranks. 

The Shin Bet further pointed to "disturbances on the Temple Mount, the treatment of Palestinian prisoners, and the perception that Israeli society had weakened due to the erosion of social cohesion [in the wake of the judicial overhaul]" as factors that led to the attacks. 

While the Shin Bet itself said it had long criticised the "arrangement-based reality" that Hamas was deterred and therefore quiet in Gaza, it failed to identify Hamas's plan to attack Israel despite possessing relevant information about its growing strength. 

The investigation also revealed that the division of responsibility between the Shin Bet and the Israeli military "was not suited to the situation on the ground", Haaretz reported.

Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa on Tuesday made his first public statements on the Palestinian cause, saying the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza would be a "test of Arab unity".

Sharaa spoke at the Arab leaders summit in Cairo, which is a meeting meant to respond to the US threat to turn Gaza into a "riviera" for tourists. 

"It is time for us all to stand up to these plans and reject them forcefully," Sharaa said in his first remarks on the international stage. 

"The call for the forced displacement of Palestinians is a stain on humanity."

In his first remarks at an international leaders' summit, Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa told fellow Arab leaders in Cairo on Tuesday that Israel's "aggressive expansion" threatens not only Syrian sovereignty but the security of the entire region. 

Sharaa urged the international community to "fulfill its obligations and pressure Israel to withdraw from southern Syria".

Bringing Syria back to its "Arab home" is a unifying step to help "confront common crises and challenges", he added. 

Video from the Arab Summit in Egypt on Tuesday shows what appear to be warm greetings exchanged between Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and Syria's Interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa. 

Both leaders are in Cairo for talks on the future of Gaza, in a bid to counter the Trump administration's proposal to turn the Strip into a beach resort and expel its residents. 

الرئيس الفلسطيني يزور نظيره السوري أحمد الشرع في مقر إقامته بالعاصمة الإدارية المصرية قبل بدء أعمال القمة العربية الطارئة حول فلسطين#فلسطين#سوريا#الحدث pic.twitter.com/u0mnNU8atB

— ا لـحـدث (@AlHadath) March 4, 2025