The alliance between Israel and the United States is seriously creaking after the approval of the resolution calling for a ceasefire at the UN Security Council.
On the evening of March 25, the Israeli prime minister’s office issued a condemnatory statement: “Regrettably, the United States did not veto the new resolution, which calls for a ceasefire that is not contingent on the release of hostages.
This constitutes a clear departure from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war.
Today’s resolution gives Hamas hope that international pressure will force Israel to accept a ceasefire without the release of our hostages, thus harming both the war effort and the effort to release the hostages.
Prime Minister Netanyahu made it clear last night that should the US depart from its principled policy and not veto this harmful resolution, he will cancel the Israeli delegation’s visit to the United States.
In light of the change in the US position, PM Netanyahu decided that the delegation will remain in Israel.
The US military said it had destroyed three underground Houthi ammunition depots in Yemen, as well as four drones ready for launch on March 23.
The US army announced that it had delivered, together with the Jordanian army, 13,080 meals, as well as rice, pasta, milk, flour and canned goods to the northern Gaza Strip.
The UN Secretary-General said that: “UNRWA is doing exceptional work serving Palestinian refugees and we are determined to continue and strengthen its work.” António Guterres then added: “We renew our call for a ceasefire in Gaza, and any ground invasion of Rafah will lead to a catastrophic humanitarian crisis arguing that the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza requires an immediate ceasefire.”
The Palestinian Red Crescent said that “by targeting hospitals, Israeli forces are trying to cut the last breath of Gaza’s healthcare system.” And he added: “Any military operation on Rafah will lead to the death of thousands of people in need of healthcare”.
Jordan also intervened on the matter and stated through the voice of its Minister for Foreign Affairs: “In Gaza there is a humanitarian catastrophe and there is no justification for committing massacres and depriving children of food (…) Depriving the UNRWA funding means contributing to the killing of Palestinian children.”
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant flew to the United States for the first time since the start of the war and in the shadow of American pressure over the progress of hostilities in the Gaza Strip. He met with Secretary of Defense Austin, Secretary of State Blinken, National Security Advisor Sullivan and other senior administration officials.
The Israeli Defense Ministry said that in 24 hours the military killed more than fifty Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants in the Gaza Strip. Around five hundred other suspects were detained in Gaza City. The planes carried out strikes on fifty targets of Palestinian groups in the cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah. The defense department published footage of a clash with militants in the neighborhood of the Al-Shifa hospital complex and photographs of a UAV assembly laboratory in the central part of the enclave.
Meanwhile, Israel has begun looking for alternative weapons suppliers amid criticism from the United States over the planned Rafah operation. To prevent a possible arms embargo, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant traveled to Washington for negotiations.
The media reported that Israel agreed to a temporary ceasefire and an exchange of hostages under the formula of seven hundred Palestinians, including militants involved in terrorist attacks in exchange for forty hostages. Tel Aviv awaits confirmation of the agreement from Hamas. Israel has reportedly agreed to release 700 to 800 Palestinian prisoners as part of a ceasefire and hostage release agreement.
And yet the Israeli media say that the Israeli police have set up checkpoints on the main roads of the Gaza Strip, fearing armed infiltration from deep inside the strip.
Gaza’s Supreme Tribal Authority complains that Israel is “targeting our members because they refuse to respond.” The Supreme Commission on Palestinian Tribal Affairs reports that Israel “continues to assassinate members of tribal committees that provide aid in retaliation for their refusal to cooperate with it.”
In Geneva, the Israeli delegate to the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in front of hundreds of representatives of the International Union of Parliaments, renewed his description of the Palestinians in Gaza as animals, which angered many in Parliament. After Israel’s failure to comply with the International Court’s decision, European countries opposed it and called for the release of the detainees: Israelis without Palestinians.
The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper: “Israelis in the north live in a security belt and say: ‘We have been abandoned’”. The newspaper confirms the upheaval of life in the settlements on the border with Lebanon, underlining the government’s negligence towards this situation, as a security belt has formed since the beginning of the war.
French President Emmanuel Macron warned Netanyahu that any forced displacement of residents from Rafah would constitute a war crime.
A survey by the Palestinian Center for Research claims that 71% are satisfied with the Al-Aqsa Flood operation; 65% believe that power is a burden on the people. 84% want the Palestinian Authority president to resign. 59% believe that Hamas will become the dominant force in the future. 64% believe Hamas will defeat Israel.
In Turkey, citizens who displayed a “Stop Trade with Israel” banner during a demonstration in Ankara were arrested.
On March 25, resistance sources told the Al-Mayadeen newspaper: “Israel’s response to the resistance document is negative and does not meet our demands. Israel does not want to reach an agreement and they stress that Hamas and the resistance cannot accept an agreement that does not meet its fair and flexible demands.”
The British Maritime Trade Center provided an update on the Houthi attack on March 23. “An unidentified object hit the ship causing a fire, which was put out; there was no damage or casualties.”
The US Army Central Command reported on March 24 that the Houthis struck the Panamanian-flagged oil tanker Huang Pu and that the DDG 64 Carney destroyer intercepted six Houthi UAVs over the sea.
On March 25, the Houthis celebrated “the ninth anniversary of the steadfastness of the Yemeni leadership and people in the face of aggression from the United Arab Emirates. What is happening in Gaza in terms of massacres, destruction, hunger, oppression and injustice is the same as what has happened in Yemen since then. 2015, and the driving force and the beneficiary are one: America and Israel have set a time limit for aggression that does not exceed weeks.”
And now a look at the Israel – Hamas front updated at 3.30pm on March 25th.
The situation in the Gaza Strip has not changed much where attacks and clashes between Israel and Hamas are still recorded in all three sectors of Gaza. And tension remains high for many on the border between Lebanon and Israel.
The al-Qassam Brigades launched missile attacks, as many as 8, on the city of Ashdod in response to attacks against civilians. Israel launched the alert near the settlements “Netivot” and “Re’im” after a security alert. According to Israeli media: An explosion and smoke were reported near two military boats north of Nahariya in the Western Galilee.
Numerous missiles were launched from southern Lebanon towards the “Yiftah” area in the Upper Galilee. The Israeli army has issued an order to evacuate farmers from the Gaza Strip after suspected infiltration of militants from the Strip.
The Israeli army is examining the possibility that armed men infiltrated the Sderot area from Gaza. Settlers at Kibbutz Kfar Azza were asked to leave due to the suspected infiltration of armed men from the Gaza Strip.
Also on March 25, air defenses were activated in the Golan after a missile salvo was launched from Lebanon. Israeli drone raids on a car are recorded on March 25 near the town of Al-Suwairi in the western Bekaa.
According to the IDF: During the night, approximately 15 launches were identified from Lebanon towards an IDF position adjacent to Manara. The launches fell in open areas, no injuries were reported. The alarms were activated according to protocol. Additionally, during the night, IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah military compound where terrorists were identified in the Meiss El Jabal area of southern Lebanon.
The Islamic Resistance in Lebanon says it has targeted an occupation position on “Al-Tihat” hill with missiles.
Clashes and arrests continued in the West Bank over the weekend and continued into March 25. According to Palestinian media: The Tulkarem – Saraya Al-Quds Brigade attacked a civilian car in the village of Deir Al-Hosn, in which 5 soldiers were present, and announces their killing and wounding in the first response to the assassination of four martyrs in Nour Shams.
Firefights recorded south-west of Nablus. Israeli media confirm that a shot was fired at an Israeli military force near the “Merav” settlement opposite the city of Jalboun, in the northern West Bank.
In northern Gaza: The IDF and ISA continue to conduct specific operational activities in Shifa hospital and the Al Amal area; A terrorist identified in a tunnel near the police force was eliminated in an air strike
The IDF and ISA continue to conduct precise operational activities in the Shifa hospital area, preventing harm to civilians, patients, medical teams and medical equipment.
So far, IDF troops have arrested around 500 Hamas and Islamic Jihad affiliates and located weapons in the area.
IDF and ISA forces under the command of the 98th Division continue targeted raids against terrorist infrastructure in Al Amal, western Khan Yunis, after surrounding the area.
Over 20 Hamas male terrorists were eliminated in the Al Amal area on March 24 in close combat and airstrikes. And again we read in the IDF statement: “the IDF and the ISA facilitated the exit of hundreds of Gaza citizens from the area and interrogated dozens of suspects. Furthermore, IDF troops conducted targeted raids on several terrorist infrastructure sites in the area and located explosive devices, RPGs and military equipment.”
IDF troops continue to operate in the central Gaza Strip and have eliminated several Hamas affiliates in recent days. In an ambush by IDF snipers, an attacker was identified entering and exiting a tunnel near the troops. The man was promptly eliminated with an air strike.
Last day, IAF fighter jets struck around 50 terrorist targets across the Gaza Strip, including terrorist infrastructure and military compounds.
Further strikes carried out by IAF helicopters and aircraft eliminated around 10 terrorists and hit targets to assist IDF ground troops operations.
Palestinian sources claim that Israeli forces targeted a house of the Abu Amra family in the Al-Hakar area of Deir Al-Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip. The number of deaths of the Salman family is 18. Violent clashes between the Palestinian resistance and Israeli forces in the Al-Zahraa area, in the center of the Gaza Strip and continuous artillery bombardments north of the Nuseirat and Mughraqa camps, in the center of the Gaza Strip.
Khan Yunis and the area south of the al-Shifa complex remain the hottest areas of southern Gaza. Palestinian sources report that Israeli forces are calling through loudspeakers for the evacuation of the Al-Shifa medical complex, west of Gaza City. Fierce clashes occur in the vicinity of the Al-Shifa compound, while Israeli vehicles find themselves within range of resistance projectiles.
Palestinian sources report 9 dead and several injured in an Israeli raid that targeted a house in Yabna camp, in the center of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip. Israeli boats fire towards the coast of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
