Reuters reports that according to the deputy director of UNRWA in the Gaza Strip: “our flour supplies are only enough for 6 days”. Hamas has rejected the accusations of having interrupted negotiations for the release of prisoners. “We deny the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper’s report about the interruption of communications or the interruption of talks regarding the prisoner exchange agreement. We are still in negotiations and deliberating with the mediators on Witkoff’s proposal and the various ideas presented to reach the completion of the exchange agreement”.
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz: “We adhere to Witkoff’s proposal to release all hostages alive and dead early and in two phases, with an intermediate ceasefire, without endangering Israeli security interests”. But for now the operation in Gaza is expanding.
It was a long night in Israel and everyone stayed up this time to follow the government’s decisions on whether or not to fire the head of the Shin Bet.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu officially announced that next Sunday he will propose the dismissal of the government’s judicial adviser. Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar in a letter to the Israeli government: The State of “Israel” is going through a particularly difficult and complex period. 59 prisoners are still in the heart of the Gaza Strip, Hamas has not yet been defeated, we are in the midst of a war on several fronts and the Iranian hand is deeply rooted in the country. He did not appear before the government for a hearing on his responsibility for the October 7 attack.”
Haaretz: Says Israeli police found no evidence of sexual assault on October 7. The newspaper says police are having difficulty finding eyewitnesses to confirm that sexual assaults were committed on October 7. Protesters, however, have broken through barriers on Gaza Street in Jerusalem to protest the Israeli government and demand the return of prisoners, and are advancing toward the entity chairman’s house in the city. Israeli sources report clashes between police and protesters who tried to break through barriers during a protest march to Netanyahu’s residence in Jerusalem.
Amichai Stein, a journalist, reported that the Supreme Court has blocked the dismissal of the Shin Bet chief pending a hearing.” Israel’s Communications Minister has been outraged and said: “The Supreme Court’s decision to freeze the dismissal of the Shin Bet director is invalid and has no authority to interfere in the matter.” The President of the Association for Quality Governance in Israel: “We will continue to fight with all means against attempts to undermine the rule of law.”
From Lebanon, news comes that Lebanese President Aoun chaired a security meeting to review the current security situation and measures taken to preserve stability and security throughout the country. A US-European military and diplomatic delegation, accompanied by members of the Ceasefire Agreement Monitoring Committee and a high-level delegation from the Lebanese Army, conducted a tour of Lebanon’s southern border after a meeting at UNIFIL headquarters to discuss the needs of the Lebanese Army.
And now a look at the military scenarios updated at 15:00 on March 21.
Intense US intelligence activity recorded along the Iranian coast.
Israeli raids in the western countryside of Damascus. Israeli warplanes targeted several military points that were again under military construction for the militants of Al-Jawlani/al Shara in the western countryside of Damascus. 5 explosions reported in the governorate of Damascus in Syria.
Israeli airstrikes were recorded overnight targeting the area of Iqlim al-Tuffah in southern Lebanon, three attacks recorded in Nabi Sheet in the eastern Lebanese mountain range in Al-Rayhan Heights and Iqlim Al-Tuffah. Al Taraya in the district of Baalbek was also bombed. Three more attacks hit Al-Burij on the outskirts of Jbaa, southern Lebanon.
On the night of March 21, Houthi forces announced that they had hit a military target in Yaffa (Tel Aviv) with a Palestine 2 hypersonic ballistic missile. Ben Gurion Airport was closed to take-offs and landings after a missile was launched from Yemen. The Israeli Air Force shot down the missile before it entered Israeli airspace. Sirens sounded in Jerusalem, surrounding areas and several West Bank settlements.
Hamas’s Khan Younis Brigade’s eastern Khan Younis battalion commander Osama Tabash was killed in an Israeli airstrike. Two more Golani Brigade battalions were sent into Gaza. Israeli forces launched a “limited” ground invasion of the northern Gaza Strip, with IDF troops operating near the town of Beit Lahiya.
This comes as Israeli forces begin to reoccupy the Netzarim corridor. According to Channel 12: “The IDF is expanding its military operations in Gaza, particularly in the northern part of the Strip.” Overnight, a ring of fire launched by occupation aircraft northwest of the town of Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, later a number of IDF vehicles stormed the Atatrah area of Beit Lahia. The shelling continued throughout the day on March 21.
In the late morning of March 21, Israeli aircraft launched two raids on the town of Al-Mughraqa, in the central Gaza Strip. Artillery shelling was recorded northeast of Bureij camp, in the central Gaza Strip. Palestinian sources reported Israeli enemy vehicles firing at Al-Maghazi camp in the central Gaza Strip
Airstrikes were recorded south of Al-Zaytoun neighborhood, east of Gaza City. IDF expands ground attack on Gaza to Rafah. Heavy shelling by Israeli military vehicles targeting the towns of Khazaha and Abbasan east of the city of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, Israeli forces have expanded their military operations in the city of Tulkarm to include the suburb of Kataba in the eastern part of the city. Israeli forces are also operating in the Tulkarm and Nour Shams refugee camps. An army reserve soldier was seriously injured after being exposed to gunfire in Nablus tonight. The gate of the Qalandiya checkpoint was closed to prevent Palestinians from the West Bank from arriving for Friday prayers at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Antonio Albanese e Graziella Giangiulio
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