Gaza facing 'catastrophic hunger;' US says Israel killed Hamas' No. 3: Updates
Editor's Note: This page is a summary of news on the Israel-Hamas war for Monday, March 18. For the latest news on the conflict in the Middle East, view our live updates file on the war for Tuesday, March 19.
Famine is "imminent" in the northern Gaza Strip and is projected to affect more than 200,000 Palestinians by May, the U.N.'s World Food Program warned, based on a report released Monday.
The report was unveiled hours before President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in their first call in more than a month, discussed efforts to increase humanitarian assistance to the war-battered enclave.
The report says 70% of the 300,000 Palestinians in northern Gaza face "catastrophic hunger." The almost complete lack of access that humanitarian aid organizations face in northern Gaza will likely compound the problems of hunger, healthcare, water and sanitation, the report said.
The U.N. says 1.1 million Palestinians ? nearly half of Gaza's population ? is experiencing the highest levels of hunger and starvation on a scale known as the IPC, twice as many people as three months ago.
“We must act now to prevent the unthinkable, the unacceptable and the unjustifiable,” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said, calling again for a cease-fire. “The world’s leading experts on food insecurity clearly document that famine in the northern part of Gaza is imminent.”
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Monday called on Israel to open more land crossings and to accommodate greater efficiency at the ones already available: "Hunger can’t be used as a weapon of war. ... We urge Israel to allow free, unimpeded, safe humanitarian access."
Israel has repeatedly blamed the delays on distribution issues created by the U.N. and other aid agencies. Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said Monday that it was time for Borrell to stop blaming Israel and to recognize the nation's right to self defense. "Israel allows extensive humanitarian aid into Gaza by land, air, and sea for anyone willing to help," Katz wrote on a social media post.
Netanyahu blasts Sen. Schumer: 'We're not a banana republic': Updates
Developments:
? Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi on Monday called for war crimes prosecution of Israel, accusing the Israelis of starving children to death and "taking more than 2 million Palestinians hostage” in Gaza.
? Israel asked the top U.N. court to reject South Africa's latest request for interim orders to prevent starvation in Gaza as part of a case accusing Israel of genocide in its military campaign against Hamas.
? The European Union agreed Monday to expand sanctions on Hamas and also to impose them on Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians in the West Bank, Borrell said in Brussels. The U.S. and Britain are already sanctioning violent settlers.
? Israel has agreed to send a delegation to Washington to discuss the planned offensive in Rafah and possible alternatives with Biden administration officials, the White House said.
? The Israeli military said the death of Staff Sgt. Matan Vinogradov, 20, in fighting early Monday raised the death toll of it ground troops to 250 since the offensive began. The Gaza Health Ministry says more than 31,000 Palestinians have died; Israel says more than 13,000 of them were Hamas militants.
White House official confirms death of Hamas' No. 3 leader
White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan confirmed Monday that Marwan Issa, deputy commander of Hamas' military wing and one of the architects of the Oct. 7 attacks, was killed by Israel. Issa would be the highest-ranking Hamas leader to have been killed in Gaza since the war began Oct. 7.
The presumed death of Issa, Hamas' No. 3 leader in Gaza, had been reported since shortly after the Israeli military bombed an underground compound he used on March 9. Israeli officials have hinted at the possibility without publicly acknowledging it.
Sullivan became the first high-level official to announce Issa's demise, in a briefing with reporters addressing Biden's call with Netanyahu.
"Hamas' No. 3, Marwan Issa, was killed in an Israeli operation last week,'' Sullivan said. "The rest of the top leaders are in hiding, likely deep in the Hamas tunnel network, and justice will come for them too. We are helping to ensure that.
? Contributing: Swapna Venugopal
Netanyahu says criticism from Washington 'deliberately false'
Speaking to a delegation of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee in Jerusalem, Netanyahu appeared to slam the Biden administration and some Democrats on Monday for suggesting he is a roadblock to peace and does not represent the best interests of his country. But he said Israelis are unified behind his goal of crushing Hamas and freeing the hostages.
“The description (from Washington) is you have an outlier prime minister with some extreme fringe groups and that’s what’s driving the policy,” Netanyahu says. “False. I would say deliberately false. They know it’s false. But that falsehood is perpetrated and it’s wrong.”
Biden, Netanyahu discuss humanitarian aid in first call in weeks
Biden spoke Monday with Netanyahu for the first time in more than a month amid rising tensions between the two leaders over how Israel has conducted its war with Hamas. The phone call marked the first time they have spoken since Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in the U.S., called last week for Israel to hold new elections to replace Netanyahu.
"President Biden spoke with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel to discuss the latest developments in Israel and Gaza, including the situation in Rafah and efforts to surge humanitarian assistance to Gaza," the White House said. Netanyahu released a video saying they also discussed “Israel’s commitment to achieving all the goals of the war," including the elimination of Hamas, the release of all hostages and long-term security for Israel. Read more here.
? Michael Collins
Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu speak for first time in a month as tensions rise over Gaza war
Israel sends team to latest talks but doesn't expect breakthrough
Israeli officials don't have high hopes for this next round of cease-fire and hostage negotiations, but at least they're willing to send representatives. They didn't bother doing that for the previous round in Cairo two weeks ago.
The talks began Monday in Doha, Qatar, where the Israeli and Hamas delegations are staying in the same hotel but won't face each other directly, Hebrew media reported. Negotiations have been conducted through mediators from the U.S., Qatar and Egypt.
The warring sides have failed to reach agreement on a deal to halt the fighting at least temporarily, and Israel is not optimistic about achieving much progress in these talks, which are expected to last at least two weeks, the Times of Israel reported.
The Biden administration had hoped for a truce before the beginning of Ramadan early last week. Sullivan acknowledged an agreement “has been more elusive than we would have hoped,” but said the U.S. “will keep pressing because we regard this as an urgent priority.”
Israel kills senior Hamas official in attack on hospital
Israeli forces launched another raid Monday on Gaza’s largest hospital compound, where Palestinian officials say tens of thousands of people have been sheltering. The Israeli military said Hamas militants fired on them from the Shifa Hospital complex, and that in an exchange of gunfire a top Hamas operative was killed. Faiq Mabhouh, head of operations in the Hamas internal security force, was at the facility "working to promote terrorist activities," the Israeli military said.
Israel also attacked the hospital in November after claiming that Hamas maintained an elaborate command center there. The military later revealed a tunnel leading to some underground rooms and weapons, but critics accused the military of recklessly endangering the lives of civilians.
Hamas accused the Israelis of targeting the compound with "indifference to the patients, medical crews and displaced" Palestinians living there. The Hamas statement said the failure of the international community and the UN to take measures against the Israeli military was a "green light" for Israel to continue the war.
Aid groups back UN report on hunger in Gaza
International aid groups were quick to confirm Monday the World Food Program report. Tjada D’Oyen McKenna, CEO of Mercy Corps,said the report sheds light on the "undeniable extent of starvation and deprivation for civilians" after more than five months under siege and bombardment. She described Israel's "denial" of access as a "grave violation" of international humanitarian law.
“Today’s report lays bare that people across Gaza are suffering from starvation, and are truly desperate as they seek any way possible to feed their families," McKenna said.
Another aid group, Oxfam, issued a statement accusing Israel of using "starvation as a weapon or war" and causing "these horrifying figures by deliberately blocking food and aid" from getting into Gaza.
"Israel’s deliberate manufacturing of suffering is systemic and of such scale and intensity that it creates a real risk of a genocide in Gaza," the Oxfam statement said.
Contributing: The Associated Press
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Israel war updates: 'Catastrophic hunger' in Gaza, UN warns
