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Photos:
Scene. Published by IMEMC News

Palestinians queue for water next to a distribution truck at a displacement camp west of Jabalya city in the northern Gaza Strip Tuesday. Credit: AFP/BASHAR TALEB. Published by Haaretz
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by IMEMC News
March 22, 2025

On Friday, the Acting Director of UNRWA Affairs in Gaza, Sam Rose, highlighted that no aid has entered the Gaza Strip since the beginning of this month, March 2025, marking the longest such period since October 2023.

Rose shared these remarks during an online briefing at the United Nations’ weekly press conference held in Geneva.

Rose described the intense bombing of Gaza that followed the breach of a ceasefire on Tuesday, with medical sources reporting approximately 600 fatalities, including 200 women and children.

He also referred to ongoing evacuation orders issued by the Israeli occupying forces, which have triggered significant displacement, forcing many civilians to flee.

The bombings have disrupted essential services, making it difficult for civilians to access aid distribution centers and medical facilities.

Rose emphasized that the progress achieved during six weeks of ceasefire has been undone.

If the ceasefire isn’t reinstated, it will result in catastrophic human losses, further destruction of infrastructure and property, heightened risks of infectious diseases, and profound psychological trauma for Gaza’s two million residents, including one million children.

During the ceasefire, aid deliveries to Gaza had increased, surpassing the volume recorded in the previous six months. However, it remained below what is needed, and the current situation has deteriorated drastically.

Israeli occupation forces advanced on Friday morning into the western areas of Beit Lahia city, north of the Gaza Strip, amidst gunfire and artillery shelling of the area. The city of Beit Lahia is almost completely rubble after sixteen straight months of Israeli bombardment.

But after breaking the ceasefire agreement three days ago, Israeli forces returned to their relentless bombardment and now ground invasion to continue their stated objective of ethnically cleansing Gaza of its 2.4 million Palestinian residents.

Since Tuesday’s Israeli resumption of Gaza bombing, the Israeli strikes have claimed around 600 lives and injured over a thousand individuals, 70% of whom are children, women, or the elderly.

The genocide, ongoing since October 7, 2023, has left over 162,000 dead or injured, with the majority being women and children, and over 14,000 people reported missing.

The number of slain Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has surpassed 49,547, including more than 17,881 children and 12,298 women.
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Israel Halts Gaza Aid After Hamas Rejects Witkoff's Cease-fire Extension Proposal, Netanyahu Says

Netanyahu's office warned of 'further consequences' if Hamas continues rejecting Witkoff's proposal to release half of the hostages on the first day of the truce; Hamas says Israel's Gaza aid halt 'clear violation' of cease-fire deal, U.S. 'will bear full responsibility' for escalation

by Jonathan Lis, Yaniv Kubovich, Jack Khoury and Rawan Suleiman for Haaretz
Mar 2, 2025

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the IDF to close all crossings into the Gaza Strip on Sunday and halt humanitarian aid from entering the territory after Hamas rejected U.S. President Donald Trump's envoy for Middle East Affairs Steve Witkoff's new cease-fire proposal.

The Prime Minister's Office announced that Netanyahu made the decision at the end of the first stage of the deal, "in light of Hamas' refusal to accept the Witkoff outline for continuing the talks – which Israel agreed to."

Netanyahu's office added that "Israel will not allow a cease-fire without the release of the hostages," and that there would be "further consequences" if Hamas continues its refusal.

In a post on the social media platform X, Netanyahu's spokesperson, Omri Dostri, wrote, "No trucks entered Gaza this morning, and none more will enter at this time."

Clause 14 of the cease-fire agreement states that the cease-fire and the introduction of humanitarian aid outlined in it are to continue being implemented during negotiations between the parties for stage two.

The head of Hamas' media office in Gaza said in an interview with Qatari Al-Araby news outlet that "Israel is disregarding international law and blocking the entry of medicine and food. Halting the aid means the occupation has decided to starve the people of the Gaza Strip." He added, "There is a need for a strong international stance to pressure Israel to stop starving the people of Gaza."

A top Hamas official, Bassam Naeem, told Al-Araby that "what Netanyahu is doing with the support of the current U.S. administration is a clear violation of the cease-fire agreement. Netanyahu and the U.S. administration bear full responsibility for the escalation in the Gaza Strip. Halting aid and closing borders is a war crime, and Netanyahu and his government should be held accountable," he said.

The U.S. National Security Council said later Sunday that it would support any decision Israel makes for it's "next steps" regarding a cease-fire and hostage release deal, "given Hamas has indicated it's no longer interested in a negotiated cease-fire."

"Israel has negotiated in good faith since the beginning of this administration to ensure the release of hostages held captive by Hamas terrorists," NSC spokesperson Brian Hughes said in a statement.

Israel's Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich wrote in a post on X that "the decision we made [Saturday night] to completely halt the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, until Hamas is destroyed or completely surrenders and all our hostages are returned, is an important step in the right direction. A precipice to the 'gates of hell.'"

"Now we need to open these gates as quickly and deadly as possible onto the enemy, until complete victory."

According to his social media statement, Smotrich remained in the government to ensure Hamas' capitulation.

Standing Together, an Israeli non-governmental organization responsible for sending 180 aid trucks of humanitarian aid into Gaza, said that Netanyahu's refusal to hold talks for the second stage of the cease-fire means Israel is "sacrificing the hostages in favor of submitting to Smotrich's demands to restart the war."

"Halting the entry of food and medicine does not hurt Hamas, but rather the civilian populations, and as we heard from the hostages that came back alive – it hurts them too."

The first stage of the hostage release and cease-fire deal ended on Saturday night, the 42nd day of its implementation. According to the non-confidential sections of the cease-fire, Israel will allow the daily entrance of substantial humanitarian aid into the Strip starting from day one of the cease-fire.

The cease-fire stated that 600 trucks would enter Gaza per day, 50 of them containing fuel. Half of the aid was destined for the northern part of the strip. Israel said that the aid that entered up to this point should last Gaza for five months.

The agreement ordained the entrance of equipment for hospitals and power plants, along with materials meant for the initial reconstruction of infrastructure destroyed during the war.

Moreover, Israel committed to allow the entrance of 60,000 mobile homes and 200,000 tents into the Strip.

According to the signed agreement, Israel is meant to withdraw from the Philadelphi corridor, the route straddling the Gaza-Egypt border as part of the second stage of the cease-fire, but it has yet to do so.

The decision to halt the aid to Gaza was made after Netanyahu's office said on Saturday night that Witkoff offered a new framework for a temporary cease-fire during Ramadan and Passover. According to the proposal, half the Israeli hostages would be released on its first day, and if a permanent cease-fire is reached, the rest of the hostages will be freed.
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Israel's Power Cutoff Threatens to Devastate Gaza's Water Supply

By cutting power, the supply of desalinated water in the strip will drop by 70 percent for Gazans already suffering from a shortage of water since the war began and now find themselves – at the height of Ramadan – with almost no sources of drinking water

by Jack Khoury, Rawan Suleiman, Chen Maanit for Haaretz
Mar 13, 2025

By cutting power, the supply of desalinated water in the strip will drop by 70 percent for Gazans already suffering from a shortage of water since the war began and now find themselves – at the height of Ramadan – with almost no sources of drinking water

Energy Minister Eli Cohen's announcement Sunday that Israel was cutting off the electricity supply to the Gaza Strip was considered a trivial matter. Power to Gaza was cut off on October 7, except to the Strip's desalination plants. But this latest move has serious implications.

In central and southern Gaza, for example, the supply of desalinated water will drop by 70 percent following this decision. Gaza residents, who in any event have been suffering from a shortage of water since the war began, now find themselves – at the height of the Ramadan month of fasting – with almost no sources of drinking water.

On Wednesday, the Union of Gaza Strip Municipalities issued a warning regarding what it called serious health and environmental disasters due to the withholding of electricity and water, and called for immediate international intervention.

According to this organization, cutting power to the desalination plant in Deir al-Balah has completely terminated the provision of basic humanitarian services in the area, and will cause an accelerated spread of disease and epidemics. UNICEF also warned that the Strip is suffering from a dire water shortage, saying that only 10 percent of Gaza's residents receive water suitable for drinking.

Rosalia Bollen, UNICEF's representative in Gaza, said that in November, 600,000 Gazans began receiving clean drinking water again but access to clean water has since been cut off. Given this fact, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement on Tuesday that there is an urgent need to providing lifesaving humanitarian aid to Gaza.

The agency's humanitarian coordinator, Muhannad Hadi, stressed that the population's essential needs, including clean drinking water, must be supplied.

The lack of water also affects the Israeli hostages in Gaza. Forty-seven family members of hostages – living, deceased and released back to Israel – have filed a petition with the High Court of Justice over the government's decision to completely stop the flow of electricity to Gaza. The families wrote in their petition that this decision was taken with "an explicit disregard for the direct impact on the lives of the hostages."

They said that the suspension of electricity supply directly endangers the lives, health and bodies of the hostages. Their condition will worsen to the point of constituting an immediate risk to their lives," says the petition. The petitioners noted the testimonies of hostages who returned recently, including Eli Sharabi and Arbel Yehoud, who said that every government decision to harm Gazans leads to revenge and severe abuse of hostages by Hamas.

Like the electricity crisis, the water crisis in Gaza is not a new one. When the cease-fire took effect, Gazans expected to see an improvement in their situation, especially after fresh water was brought in, with desalinated water meant to be used for bathing and laundry. During the months of crisis, residents tried to collect water on rainy days or to build private desalination facilities, but the quantities obtained this way were very small, not fulfilling the needs of the population.

Wael al-Sayed, a resident of Deir al-Balah, told the Palestinian Media Center that municipal water is not reaching his home following Israel's decision. He lives in a low-lying area and his family has been using a neighbor's well for obtaining water. The neighbors take money for the fuel used in operating the well's pump. He said that the price of 1 liter (quart) of diesel fuel has jumped to 50 shekels ($13.65) on the black market, following Israel's move. He pays 200 shekels a week for 2,000 liters of water for bathing.

The water reaches ruined areas by designated tankers, which wait in long lines for filling up. The water is transferred in food containers, in small vessels and buckets, and Gazan residents need to ration its use.

Jamil Inshasi, one of the truck drivers, told the media center that he too relies on black market diesel fuel when getting desalinated water from the plant. He estimates that if Israel continues to close the border crossing to tankers, the price of 1,000 liters of drinking water obtained from wells will spike to 125 shekels in the coming days.

Mundar Shablak, the director of the water authority for Gaza's coastal towns, told the Qatari newspaper al-Araby al-Jadeed that when power to the desalination plant was switched off, it started using diesel-fueled generators, with production dropping from 18,000 cubic meters a day to 3,000. He said that the water authority was heavily dependent on the line Israel cut off, and that Israel's move earlier this week could greatly impact the availability of drinking water and the daily consumption of water. Shablak estimated that wells operating on diesel fuel could be idle within a week to 10 days at most.
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State Tells Israel's Top Court It Shouldn't Deal With Issue of Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

For a year, lawyers from the State Prosecutor's Office representing the state had attended hearings at the top court regarding claims that Israel isn't meeting int'l obligations in regards to Gaza aid

by Chen Maanit for Haaretz
Mar 14, 2025

For a year, lawyers from the State Prosecutor's Office representing the state had attended hearings at the High Court of Justice on petitions claiming that Israel hasn't met its international legal obligations with regard to the scope of humanitarian aid that was entering the Gaza Strip in the course of the war.

But now that the cabinet has passed a resolution barring all humanitarian assistance from Israel into Gaza, the state is claiming that the High Court doesn't need to deal with the cabinet resolutions at all, on the grounds that it goes beyond a legal question.

"The considerations that need to be weighed in the context of a resolution of this kind adopted by the cabinet go beyond and are outside the realm of law, " the state wrote in a court filing submitted to the court on Wednesday.

In March 2024, a coalition of five human rights organizations led by the Gisha Legal Center for Freedom of Movement petitioned for a court order requiring that shipments of humanitarian aid be permitted to enter Gaza and that the scope of the assistance be increased. The petition was filed against the cabinet, the prime minister, the defense minister and COGAT, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories.

In April, an initial hearing on the case was held, at which Justice Isaac Amit, who is now the Supreme Court's president, called the case "an important petition." In June, the court issued a show cause order requiring the state to explain its position so that the court would have a complete factual basis on which to make a decision.

The court held four additional hearings on the petition, and the State Prosecutor's Office submitted legal briefs on the issue and updated the court on the situation. The lawyers for the state told the court that Israel wasn't limiting the amount of aid entering the Strip and was persisting in its efforts to see to it that humanitarian assistance was getting in. The state also said that, even though Israel had no legal obligation to do so, the aid was wide in scope, out of diplomatic and security considerations.

Representatives of the Israel Defense Forces, including the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, Maj. Gen. Ghasan Alyan, appeared in court to defend the state's position.

The court has not issued an operative decision in the case and in early March, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered a complete halt to the entry of humanitarian assistance into Gaza. The Prime Minister's Office said that the decision was taken at the end of the first phase of the cease-fire and hostage and prisoner release agreement that Israel and Hamas had entered into.

The statement also made reference to U.S. President Donald Trump's Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, saying that the decision was also due to "Hamas' refusal to accept the Witkoff plan for a continuation of the talks, which Israel has agreed to."

Following Netanyahu's decision, the five petitioner organizations filed a request for an interim order prohibiting the state from preventing the passage of assistance into Gaza. The organizations claimed that the aid couldn't serve as an instrument of war or a means of applying pressure, and that withholding the aid was a violation of international law.

It was in the state's response filed on Wednesday that it argued that the request should be denied out of hand, in part, because the cabinet's decision "deals with a subject that is at the heart of its discretion – the State of Israel's foreign and security relations. In such [cases], the court adopts a restrained or very restrained policy."

The state's brief went on to state that the considerations that are taken into consideration in a decision such as that made by the cabinet "go beyond and are outside the realm of law. It is the role of the cabinet to adopt a resolution of this kind. It has the authority, the information and the discretion."

"The petitioners have not laid a minimal factual and legal foundation in support of their request that the High Court issue highly exceptional judicial relief [involving] intervention in the policy of the respondents [the cabinet, prime minister, defense minister and COGAT] during wartime, which is based on clearly security and diplomacy-related aspects," the state's brief said.

Even if during the past year, particularly during the recent period of hostage releases, government policy had been to permit supplies and goods to enter the Strip on a large scale, the state's brief says that "it doesn't change the legal context" in which the case should be considered or to "decide that this policy also has to continue at the present time."