Live blog: Hamas calls on Muslims to liberate Al Aqsa Mosque

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

1845 GMT — Hamas has released a rare recording of what it says is the head of its military wing calling on Muslims around the world to liberate Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa Mosque.

Mohammed Deif delivered the message in a voice recording posted on the group’s channel in the messaging app Telegram.

"Start marching today, now, not tomorrow, toward Palestine," Deif says in a message aimed at Muslims globally, calling them to join "the honour of jihad and participation in the liberation of Al Aqsa Mosque."

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1845 GMT — Hezbollah launches rockets into Israel after an Israeli strike kills 7 in Lebanon

Israel's deadly air strike in southern Lebanon targeting a paramedic centre linked to a group triggered a barrage of rockets Wednesday into northern Israel that was claimed by Hezbollah, killing at least one person.

The overnight Israeli strike killed seven people who were “waiting to respond to a rescue call, and ended up getting hit by missiles,” said Muheddine Qarhani, head of the Emergency and Relief Corps.

1845 GMT — Palestinians can 'just move' away from Rafah invasion: Netanyahu

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel has downplayed US fears of a humanitarian catastrophe if Israel launches a planned ground invasion into Gaza’s southernmost city, saying civilians would be able to flee the fighting into other parts of the war-torn territory.

"People just move, they move with their tents,” Netanyahu said. “People moved down (to Rafah). They can move back up."

1835 GMT — White House expresses condolences to people who drowned in air drops

The White House has expressed condolences to the people who drowned while trying to retrieve aid dropped by a plane into the water off a Gaza beach.

Twelve people drowned trying to reach the aid, Palestinian health authorities said, amid growing fears of famine nearly six months into Israel's war on the Palestinian enclave.

1825 GMT — Gaza ceasefire resolution 'should be implemented': US

The US has said that the UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan "should be implemented" although it maintained its position that it is "non-binding."

"We believe it's non-binding that it doesn't impose any new legal obligations on any of the parties, but we do believe it should be implemented," State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said when asked by Anadolu about the implementation of the resolution adopted this week.

"And we are working to try and see that is implemented through a cease-fire agreement that secures the release of hostages," he added.

1654 GMT — Gaza truce, hostage talks between Israel, Hamas not over: US

The US State Department does not think hostage talks with Israel and Hamas are over, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said, adding that Washington thinks there is an ability to continue to pursue the release of hostages.

Miller, speaking to reporters at a regular news briefing, said "we do" when asked if a limited military assault in Rafah can take out the remaining commanders of the Palestinian group.

1646 GMT — Israel wants to reschedule cancelled Rafah talks in Washington: US

Israel wants to reschedule a delegation to Washington to discuss a possible offensive in Gaza's Rafah, days after it cancelled the trip in protest at a UN ceasefire resolution, a US official has said.

"The prime minister's office has said they'd like to reschedule the meeting dedicated to Rafah. We are now working with them to set a convenient date," the senior administration official told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

1547 GMT — Influent Republican senator urges Biden admin to greenlight Rafah assault

Republican US Senator Lindsey Graham wants the Biden administration and Congress to allow Israel to militarily defeat all remaining Hamas in the southern Gaza city of Rafah — which is overflowing with more than a million displaced civilians.

Defeating Hamas in Rafah is "non-negotiable", Graham told reporters in Jerusalem.

"I urge the Biden administration, the Congress to make sure that Israel has the time and space to achieve victory over Hamas militarily."

1533 GMT — Americans reject killing of Palestinian children in Gaza: US Senator

Americans do not want to see Palestinian children killed in Gaza, Independent Sen. Bernie Sanders has said.

"The American people, in my view, no matter what your politics may be, do not want to be complicit in the slaughter of small kids who are bombed to death while they sleep.

"The American people, in my view, do not want us to continue funding (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu's cruel war. And I think maybe it's time we start listening to the American people," he said on the Senate floor.

1455 GMT — Türkiye calls for global pressure on Israel for Gaza ceasefire

Pressure needs to be ramped up on Israel for it to comply with a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.

"Pressure must be increased on Israel, the spoiled and lawless child of the West, for it to comply with this decision," Erdogan said at an election rally in eastern Türkiye.

Speaking in the province of Batman, he also vowed that Türkiye would "do its part" for the Security Council decision to be fulfilled.

"As Türkiye, we will do our part for this decision, which we welcome, to be fulfilled," he said.

1451 GMT — Spain air drops 26 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza

Spanish military planes air dropped 26 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in besieged Gaza and Madrid called on Israel to open land border crossings to prevent a famine, the Foreign Ministry has said.

The operation, carried out in coordination with Jordan and co-financed by the European Union, dropped more than 11,000 food rations to alleviate the "catastrophic levels of food insecurity" faced by up to 1.1 million people in Gaza, the ministry said in a statement.

"Spain insists on the opening of the land crossings as an indispensable measure to avoid a famine situation," it added.

1450 GMT — NGOs question Gaza aid airdrops after 18 more die on the ground

Even before 18 people were killed when air drops of aid into Gaza went disastrously wrong, many had questioned the sense of using planes when food can be delivered far more rapidly by road.

With only a trickle of aid getting into the starving north and the United Nations warning of "imminent famine" as it accuses Israel of blocking deliveries, foreign governments have turned to airdrops as "a way to show that they're doing something", said Shira Efron of the Israel Policy Forum.

The problem is that "airdrops are as inefficient as they are dangerous", according to a source from an international NGO working in Gaza who asked to remain anonymous.

1435 GMT — Israel kills multiple Palestinians in West Bank raid

Israeli forces have killed three people in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin during a pre-dawn military operation, the Palestinian Health Ministry has said.

Residents told AFP news agency that Israeli troops entered Jenin and its neighbouring refugee camp shortly after midnight and conducted searches in numerous residences.

The area in the occupied northern West Bank is a stronghold of Palestinian armed groups and a frequent target of Israeli military raids.

1430 GMT — Ireland to intervene in South Africa's genocide case against Israel

Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin is poised to draft a declaration of intervention in South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), according to media reports.

The Tanaiste, or foreign minister, is expected to apprise the Cabinet of the decision.

Pending approval, the Irish government will formally intervene in the case under the auspices of the 1948 Genocide Convention, presenting its stance at the ICJ at The Hague.

1414 GMT — 'Unprecedented set of war crimes' committed in Gaza: UN rapporteur

An "unprecedented set of war crimes" are being committed by Israel in Gaza, the UN rapporteur on Palestinian territories has said, saying there are "reasonable grounds" to believe that "genocide" is happening.

"After five months of monitoring and analysing Israel's onslaught on Gaza, my report finds that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the threshold indicates that Israel is committing the crime of genocide against the Palestinians," Francesca Albanese told a press briefing in Geneva.

Albanese, who presented her report to the Human Rights Council recently, said one of the key findings of her report is that Israel has "intentionally distorted" international humanitarian law "in an attempt to legitimise genocidal violence against the Palestinian people."

1411 GMT — Israeli minister accuses Biden of favouring Hamas

Israel's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has accused US President Joe Biden of aligning with Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar following the passage of a UN Security Council resolution demanding a ceasefire in Gaza.

''Presently, Biden prefers the line of (US Representative) Rashida Tlaib and Sinwar to the line of (Israeli Prime Minister) Benjamin Netanyahu and Ben-Gvir,” he told The New York Times.

''I would have expected the president of the United States not to take their line, but rather to take ours.''

1126 GMT — Indirect Hamas, Israel truce talks still ongoing: Israeli media

Indirect talks between Israel and Hamas for a Gaza ceasefire are still ongoing amid differences over the return of displaced Palestinians to northern Gaza, according to Israeli media.

Israeli Channel 12 has reported that Tel Aviv pulled out its negotiating team to the talks from Qatar, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accusing Hamas of being "not interested in talks."

The Israeli public broadcaster KAN, however, said that the talks are still ongoing with the return of the displaced Palestinians to Gaza’s north remaining a sticking point in the negotiations.

"Despite Hamas’ negative response to the hostage-prisoner swap proposal, the negotiations with the group are still ongoing," KAN said, citing Israeli sources.

1334 GMT — International pressure on Israel will not work: Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said his cancellation of a planned visit to Washington by top aides this week was meant to show Hamas that Israel would not bend to growing international pressure to halt the war in Gaza.

"It was a message first and foremost to Hamas: 'Don't bet on this pressure, it's not going to work,'" he said in video comments at a meeting with visiting US Senator Rick Scott.

1321 GMT — Death toll rises to 18, trying to recover air-dropped aid in Gaza

Palestinian officials said at least six people drowned earlier this week while trying to recover airdropped food aid in northern Gaza.

Mahmoud Bassel, a spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence rescue service, said a large group of men swam out into the Mediterranean Sea on Monday to try to recover aid parcels. Six bodies were later recovered and transferred to a nearby hospital.

He said Wednesday that a total of 18 people have died while trying to recover airdropped aid in scenes of chaos and desperation. "Sometimes it falls into the sea, sometimes on civilians, sometimes on houses, sometimes on Israeli territory beyond the border fence," he said.

1252 GMT — Hamas 'won’t release Israeli hostages' until demands met

Hamas has vowed that it will not release any Israeli hostage in its captivity until its demands are fulfilled.

The Palestinian resistance group demands an end to Israel’s deadly offensive on Gaza and the withdrawal of the Israeli forces from the territory for any hostage-prisoner swap deal with Tel Aviv.

"Hamas will not release any Israeli hostage until all its goals are achieved," former group chief Khaled Meshaal told an event in Jordan as cited by a Hamas statement. He said the resistance group wants Israel’s deadly offensive halted and Israeli forces withdrawn from Gaza.

"We also demand the return of the displaced people to their homes and provision of all necessary relief and shelter, reconstruction of the enclave, and ending the siege," Meshaal added.

1233 GMT — Lebanon files 22 UN complaints against Israel over border attacks

Lebanon has lodged 22 complaints at the United Nations over Israel's attacks and violations since last October, according to the country’s Foreign Ministry.

A ministry statement said the UN complaints "documented Israel’s violations of the UN Security Council Resolution 1701." The ministry urged the UN Security Council to condemn Israeli attacks and “to curb the Israeli violations of the Lebanese sovereignty.”

The complaints included Lebanon’s roadmap and vision "on achieving sustainable stability in south Lebanon through the full and complete implementation of Resolution 1701," the ministry said.

1049 GMT — Israeli army detains 20 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank

At least 20 Palestinians were detained in fresh Israeli military raids in the occupied West Bank late Tuesday and early Wednesday, according to prisoners’ affairs groups.

Most of the arrests took place in the cities of Ramallah, Hebron, Nablus, Salfit, Tulkarem, and Jenin, the Commission of Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a joint statement.

The new arrests brought to 7,820 the number of Palestinians detained by Israeli forces in the occupied territory since Oct. 7, 2023, according to Palestinian figures.

At least 453 Palestinians have since been killed and more than 4,750 others injured by Israeli fire, according to the Health Ministry.

1044 GMT –– Palestinian death toll in Israel's war on Gaza reaches 32,490

At least 32,490 Palestinians have been killed and 74,889 injured in Israel's military offensive on Gaza since October 7, 2023, Palestine's Health Ministry in the enclave said in a statement.

There have been 76 Palestinians killed and 102 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry statement added.

1004 GMT –– Hezbollah launches rockets into Israel in retaliation

Lebanon's Hezbollah movement fired a barrage of rockets into northern Israel killing a civilian, after Israel carried out a deadly strike in south Lebanon.

Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily cross-border fire with the Israeli army since Hamas fighters launched an unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023.

Israeli rescue teams searching a building that had been hit in the border town of Kiryat Shmona "found a 25 year old who was unconscious, with no pulse and not breathing," and pronounced him dead at the scene, the Magen David Adom emergency service said.

0950 GMT –– Russia sends over 29 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza

Russia said it sent over 29 tonnes of humanitarian aid for besieged Gaza, where more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 74,000 injured since October 7 last year.

A statement by Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said on Telegram that a special flight it dispatched earlier in the day has delivered the 20th batch of humanitarian aid to representatives of the Egyptian Red Crescent in the city of El Arish, who will then redirect the aid to Gaza residents.

The ministry said earlier that the humanitarian aid consists of cereals, flour, sugar and other long-term storage products, as well as personal hygiene products, most of which were collected at the initiative of authorities from the Russian Republic of Karachay-Cherkessia.

0941 GMT –– Poland joins countries condemning Israeli seizure of 800 km² of land in occupied Palestinian territory

Poland joined several countries that condemned the Israeli seizure of 800 km² (1,976 acres) of land in the Jordan Valley in the occupied West Bank.

Emphasising the move is the largest appropriation of Palestinian land by Israel since the Oslo Accords, the Polish Foreign Ministry said on X: "This runs counter to international law and also to efforts to deescalate the current situation."

The Israeli government reportedly seized 800 km² of land in the Jordan Valley region of the occupied West Bank, claiming it as "state land," according to a report on Israel's state television channel KAN.

0830 GMT –– Israeli army kills three more Palestinians in Jenin

An Israeli army air strike killed three Palestinians in the Jenin refugee camp in the northern occupied West Bank.

In a statement, the Palestinian Health Ministry said, "Three Palestinians were martyred and four others injured in the (Israeli) occupation aggression on Jenin."

Eyewitnesses told Anadolu news agency that an armed Israeli army drone struck the Al Damj neighbourhood of the Jenin refugee camp while Israeli forces, escorted by bulldozers, raided Jenin, and the adjacent towns of Qabatiya and Burqin, and started to destroy the infrastructure there.

The Israeli army arrested at least three Palestinians from Jenin, and withdrew from the area after nine hours of raids there, the eyewitnesses added.

0758 GMT –– Israel unlikely to comply with UN ceasefire call in Gaza: Law expert

Israel is not expected to comply with the UN Security Council's recent call for a ceasefire in Gaza, according to an international law expert.

"Israel has a significant record of non-compliance with international law," Lima Bustami, director of the Law Department at the Geneva-based civil society organisation Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, told Anadolu.

Bustami stressed that Tel Aviv disregards international organisations, including the UN and the UN Security Council.

"Although compliance with the UN Security Council resolution is mandatory, there are no direct measures or sanctions in case of non-compliance because it is a decision made under Chapter 6 of the UN Charter," Bustami said.

0639 GMT –– Intense Israeli bombardment hits southern Gaza, calls for more aid grow

Southern Gaza came under intense Israeli bombardment overnight, despite international pressure for an immediate ceasefire in the Palestinian territory where famine is looming.

Besieged Gaza is in desperate need of aid and the United States said it would continue air drops, despite pleas from Hamas to stop the practice after the group said 18 people had died trying to reach food packages.

A fireball lit up the night sky in the southern city of Rafah, the last remaining urban centre in Gaza not to have been attacked by Israeli ground forces. About 1.5 million people are crammed in the area, many having fled south towards the border with Egypt.

0408 GMT –– Hamas-linked group says Israeli strike in south Lebanon killed 7

A Lebanese organisation closely linked to Palestinian resistance group Hamas said that at least seven people were killed in an overnight strike in south Lebanon.

Speaking to AFP news agency on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media, a Jamaa Islamiya official said "seven rescuers" were killed in a strike on an emergency centre in Habariyeh near the Israeli border.

Jamaa Islamiya's emergency responders said in a statement that "a number" of people had been killed, and called the strike a "heinous crime."

0407 GMT –– Families of Israeli hostages in Gaza block highway in Tel Aviv

Families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza blocked a highway in central Tel Aviv late Tuesday before police forcefully intervened and dispersed them, according to Israeli media.

Dozens of demonstrators and relatives of the hostages blocked the Ayalon Highway near Hashalom Interchange, Haaretz reported.

Police forcefully removed the protesters, who were sitting in the road, and arrested two family members of hostages, it added.

0228 GMT –– Russia says UN resolution on Gaza binding for all sides

Russia's Foreign Ministry said that UN Security Council Resolution 2728 on Gaza, which calls for an immediate ceasefire and access for humanitarian aid, is binding for all sides, including Israel.

Russia and China vetoed a US-sponsored resolution on Gaza because it contained "only a general imperative" to stop the fighting under the strict condition of the release of hostages, the ministry said in a statement.

"The Russian side expects that the binding UN Security Council Resolution 2728 will contribute to de-escalating violence in Gaza, including preventing the Israeli operation in Rafah, freeing hostages, (and) increasing humanitarian assistance to civilians in the sector," it said.

0010 GMT –– Israel's decision to block UNRWA aid 'unacceptable': Norway

Israel's decision to deny access to food convoys from the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to northern Gaza is unacceptable, Norway's Foreign Ministry said.

"Famine is imminent. More life-saving humanitarian assistance is crucial & urgent," the ministry wrote on X, citing Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide.

Several countries have suspended their funding to UNRWA following Israeli accusations on January that 12 of the agency's thousands of employees took part in the October 7 attack led by the Palestinian group Hamas on Israel.

The agency is investigating the claims but has warned that cutting off funding risks a catastrophe.

Some countries including Canada later revised their decision and resumed funding to the agency amid the crippling humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave.

"Israel must ensure increased access of vital food supplies and aid into and within Gaza," said Barth Eide.

2237 GMT –– Israel has destroyed Gaza: UN expert

Israel has destroyed Gaza during five months of military offensive, the Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, told the UN Human Rights Council.

"The harrowing number of deaths, the irreparable harm done to those who survive, the systematic destruction of every aspect necessary t o sustain life in Gaza – from hospitals to schools, from homes to arable land – and the particular harm to hundreds of thousands of children and to pregnant and young mothers," said Albanese.

She said in a report to the council that Israel's actions can only be interpreted as constituting "prima facie evidence of an intention to systematically destroy the Palestinians as a group."

2100 GMT — Biden says Gaza protesters 'have a point' as tensions heighten with Netanyahu

President Joe Biden has said that pro-Palestinian protesters demanding a ceasefire in besieged Gaza "have a point" as tensions between him and hawkish Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu hit a boiling point.

The president was speaking at a healthcare-focused campaign event in North Carolina when he was interrupted by demonstrators who asked "What about the healthcare in Gaza?"

"Hospitals in Gaza are being bombed," one protester yelled. Another accused Biden of being "complicit in genocide" while others shouted now-familiar refrains demanding a cease-fire in the coastal enclave.

"Be patient with them," Biden said, apparently speaking to staff at the event in Raleigh. "They have a point. We need to get a lot more care into Gaza," the president added to applause from the crowd of supporters.

2025 GMT — UN ceasefire resolution 'binding' on Israel

China and Pakistan have emphasised that "UN Security Council resolutions are binding" on Israel — specifically concerning Gaza and rejecting US claims to the contrary.

China "calls on the parties concerned to fulfill their obligations under the UN Charter and to take due action as required by the resolution," a Chinese government official said in response to a question by Anadolu Agency about comments by the US top envoy to the UN who claimed a resolution passed Monday was "non-binding" on parties to the conflict in Gaza, which has been under an onslaught by Israel since October last year.

Pakistan's top diplomat at the UN also doubled down on the need to follow the UN Charter with regard to the Council resolution on a ceasefire in Gaza.

"All resolutions adopted by the UN Security Council are binding in nature under provisions of the UN Charter," Munir Akram told the Xinhua news agency. "If Israel doesn't implement the resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, the Security Council needs to consider measures to enforce compliance."

2019 GMT — Rafah invasion 'must account' for more than one million people: Pentagon

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has noted any Israeli invasion into Gaza's southern city of Rafah that does not take into account more than one million people would be a "mistake."

"What we continue to reiterate, both publicly and privately, is that any type of operation into Rafah must account for over 1 million people that are sheltered there and take into account innocent civilian lives.

"So, what we've said is going forward with an operation in Rafah would be a mistake if those lives aren't taken into account," Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh told reporters.

"The secretary stressed that the US and Israel have a moral imperative and a shared strategic interest in safeguarding civilians, noting that any assault on Rafah should not proceed without a credible and implementable plan that ensures the safety and humanitarian support for civilians sheltering there," she said.

2015 GMT — Israel kills 12 more in Gaza strike

Israel has targeted a displacement camp in southern Gaza, killing at least 12 Palestinians including children, Gaza's Health Ministry said.

The ministry in a statement reported "12 martyrs including children in an air strike that hit a tent for displaced people" in the coastal al Mawasi area, west of Khan Younis city.

The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident.

For our live updates from Tuesday, March 26, click here.