Live: Gaza death toll nears 50,700

Yemen's Houthis claimed in a statement that they carried out Monday evening’s ballistic missile attack on Israel, targeting Ben Gurion Airport.

Israeli forces raided the occupied West Bank city of Qalqilya overnight, killing a wanted Palestinian and two others, the Israeli military, Shin Bet and police said in a joint statement, as reported by Israeli media.

The statement blamed the Palestinian for opening fire on the Israeli forces, saying they killed him and two others with live fire, shoulder-launched rockets and an explosive drone.

The Wafa news agency reported that Israeli forces have also arrested eight Palestinians in early morning raids in Nablus city and the nearby Balata and al-Ain refugee camps.

US embassies in at least 17 European countries warned those seeking visas that engaging in behaviour deemed harmful by the government could lead to deportation.

“When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest. Now, if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would have let you in if we had known that. You lied to us. You’re out," the post put up by the US embassy in Sweden read.

When you apply to enter the United States and you get a visa, you are a guest. Now, if you are in this country to promote Hamas, to promote terrorist organizations, to participate in vandalism, to participate in acts of rebellion and riots on campus, we never would have let you… pic.twitter.com/RDPLL5EDuW

— US Embassy in Sweden (@usembsweden) March 21, 2025

A Korean-American Columbia University student, who is a legal permanent US resident and has participated in pro-Palestinian protests, sued the administration of President Donald Trump on Monday to prevent her deportation, a court filing showed.

Yunseo Chung, 21, has lived in the US since she was seven, but her legal team was informed two weeks ago that her lawful permanent resident status was being revoked, according to the court filing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Chung has not yet been arrested. Immigration agents have made multiple visits to her residences looking for her.

Actions against Chung "form part of a larger pattern of attempted US government repression of constitutionally protected protest activity and other forms of speech," Monday's lawsuit said.

"The government's repression has focused specifically on university students who speak out in solidarity with Palestinians and who are critical of the Israeli government's ongoing military campaign in Gaza."

Protesters, including some Jewish groups, say the administration wrongly conflates their criticism of Israel and support for Palestinian rights with antisemitism and support for Hamas.

Israeli soldiers wounded one person in the foot as they stormed the town of Beit Fajjar, near the city of Bethlehem, and opened fire on its residents, according to the Wafa news agency.

The soldiers also raided the village of Deir Ghassana, near Ramallah, and the city of Dura and the town of Idhna, near Hebron.

Good morning, Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates from the Israeli war on Gaza, now in its 536th day:

• Israeli attacks have killed at least 23 Palestinians, including seven children, overnight in Gaza. A two-year-old Palestinian girl named Salma and her other family members were among those killed in the air strike, according The Associated Press.

• US bombing on Yemen wounded two people and destroyed a newly built cancer hospital in the northern province of Saada, Yemeni media reported.

• The Israeli military says it launched air attacks on the Syrian air bases of Tadmur and T-4 near the city of Palmyra in Homs.

• The Qatari foreign ministry has condemned the Israeli cabinet’s plan to establish a government agency to relocate the residents of Gaza, and its recognition of 13 new illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

• The United Nations humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, has shared a video showing the destruction at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis after Israel’s deadly attack on Sunday as it invited the world to undo the "bloody stain on our collective consciousness".

• Doctors Without Borders condemned the Israeli attack on Nasser Hospital on Sunday, saying it “shows a total disregard for the protection of medical facilities, endangered patients and medical staff and the very provision of healthcare.”

Good evening Middle East Eye readers, 

Israel escalated its attacks across the Gaza Strip on Monday with at least 3 Palestinians killed in strikes on Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip.

Meanwhile, the UN accused an Israeli tank of shelling one of its compounds last week. The UN announced it was downsizing its presence in Gaza as a result of Israeli attacks. Israel confirmed that its troops fired on a Red Cross building in southern Gaza as well. 

Here is what else you need to know: 

• The Israeli army confirmed on Monday that it had arrested Palestinian film director and Academy Award-winner Hamdan Ballal after he was attacked by a settler mob in the occupied West Bank
• The World Health Organisation has slammed Israel's strikes on Nasser hospital in Gaza, saying they resulted in deaths, injuries, and extensive damage to the surgical department
• Israel said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen
• At least 31 percent of Palestinians killed by Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip are children, according to statistics released by the Palestinian Ministry of Health
• European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said that the bloc rejects any role for Hamas in the future governance of the Gaza Strip

The Israeli army confirmed on Monday that it had arrested Palestinian film director and Academy Award-winner Hamdan Ballal.

Ballal was co-director of the film "No Other Land." 

A colleague described a "lynch mob" of Israeli settlers on Monday night attacking Ballal in the Palestinian village of Susya, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank. 

He was arrested later for "throwing stones."

At least three Palestinians have been killed in an Israeli air strike on Beit Lahia in northern Gaza on Monday, Al Jazeera Arabic reported.

Several Palestinians have also been wounded. 

The Israeli military has ordered a new forced displacement of Palestinians from Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. 

“To all those present in the area of Jabaliya, this is an early warning before a strike. Terrorist organizations are once again returning to and firing rockets from populated areas… For your safety, head south toward the known shelters immediately,” Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee said on X.

Similar orders for a forced displacement were ordered for the northern towns of Beit Lahia and Beit Hanoun.

The World Health Organisation has slammed Israel's strikes on Nasser hospital in Gaza, saying they resulted in deaths, injuries, and extensive damage to the surgical department.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director of the WHO, said on Monday the strikes destroyed 35 beds at a time when Gaza's health system has already collapsed. 

Israel has been ramping up its attacks on Gaza throughout Monday, including striking the northern half of the enclave. 

Rockets were fired from the Gaza Strip towards Israel for the second time in one day on Monday, according to the Israeli Broadcasting Authority.

The rockets were intercepted, according to the report.

Hamdan Ballal, the co-director of the Academy Award-winning film, No Other Land, has been attacked and lynched in the occupied West Bank by Israeli settlers, according to media reports. 

Ballel is alive, according to reports on X, but his whereabouts are not known.

Israeli soldiers took him from an ambulance that he called after the attack. 

Israel confirmed its military fired at a Red Cross building in southern Gaza, according to a military statement.

“No injuries were reported, but the building was slightly damaged,” the statement said.

“After an investigation, it emerged that the identification was incorrect and that the building belonged to the Red Cross,” the army said. 

The statement said Israel did not know the building belonged to the Red Cross. Earlier on Monday, the UN said an Israeli tank shelled one of its complexes in Gaza last week, killing a UN employee. 

The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said on Monday that its office in Rafah was hit by an explosive projectile. 

The UN said an Israeli tank was responsible for a strike on its buildings in Gaza last week that killed one employee and injured several others. 

“Based on the information currently available, the strikes hitting a UN compound in Deir Al Balah on March 19 were caused by an Israeli tank,” UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.