David Barnea, head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence service, is set to join cease-fire negotiations in Doha with CIA Director William J. Burns, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdel al-Thani and Egyptian Intelligence Minister Abbas Kamel. Blinken told reporters Thursday that the gap between Israel and Hamas on negotiations was “narrowing.”
In a joint statement Friday, Britain and Australia called for an “immediate cessation of fighting in Gaza to allow aid to flow and hostages to be released as a crucial step toward a permanent, sustainable cease-fire.” European Union leaders also called for an “immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable cease-fire” on Thursday — the first time E.U leaders jointly agreed on such language.
Separately, the Prime Ministers of Ireland, Malta, Slovenia and Spain “discussed together our readiness to recognise Palestine,” according to a Friday statement released by the four after meeting at the European Council. The group said they would take “concrete steps” toward that goal, without setting a timeline.
Finland’s Foreign Ministry said Fridaythat it would resume funding to the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), weeks after the embattled agency faced allegations of ties with Hamas that prompted more than a dozen countries, including the United States, to pause payments. Sweden, Canada and Australia have also resumed funding in recent weeks.
At least 31,988 people have been killed and 74,188 injured in Gaza since the war began, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel estimates that about 1,200 people were killed in Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack and says 251soldiers have been killed since the start of its military operation in Gaza….
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Mar 23, 2024 – ISW Press
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) concluded a weeklong operation in and around al Shifa Hospital on March 23. Israeli forces engaged Palestinian fighters during a raid targeting an unspecified “wanted individual” in Tulkarm in the West Bank on March 22. Lebanese Hezbollah has conducted at least eight attacks from southern Lebanon into northern Israel since CTP-ISW’s last data cutoff on March 22. CENTCOM reported that the Houthis launched four anti-ship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea but added that the Houthi attacks did not damage any military or commercial vessels.