Israel may hold ceasefire talks with Hamas, plans attack on Rafah

Israel-Hamas War: The Latest

• Israel is preparing to send a delegation to Qatar to negotiate a new ceasefire with Hamas over a hostage deal. Meanwhile, the main U.N. aid agency working in Gaza said on Saturday that severe malnutrition is accelerating in the northern part of the Palestinian enclave. Hamas also proposed a new ceasefire offer in exchange for hostages and prisoners.

  The delegation will be led by David Bania, the head of Israel’s Mossad intelligence agency, and Netanyahu seeks to convene the security cabinet to discuss the proposal before the talks begin, Reuters reported. Netanyahu’s office said Hamas’s latest proposal was still based on “unrealistic demands.”

• Israel said on Friday It plans new offensive against Hamas stronghold in RafahThe last relatively safe city in Gaza after five months of war. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in the This is at a time when health facilities are already overwhelmed.”

  I am seriously concerned by reports that Israel is planning a ground attack on Rafah. Further escalation of violence in this densely populated area will result in more death and suffering, especially as health facilities are already overwhelmed. #gaza pic.twitter.com/hWichKUKj9
  — Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 16, 2024

• In Jerusalem, dozens of protesters were dragged off the road by police after blocking the Paris Square intersection, chanting “No routine until the hostage deal is done.” Police then tried to divert traffic and forced the reporter onto the sidewalk. Similar scenes unfolded in Tel Aviv, where protesters demanding the release of hostages and early elections were forcibly dispersed with water cannons.

• A Syrian soldier was injured early Sunday morning after Israel fired missiles into Syria from the occupied Golan Heights. The Syrian army said in a statement that Israeli strikes targeted “several locations in the southern region.” It did not specify the location, but local media reported that the attack targeted the Damascus countryside.

  “Our air defense systems intercepted these missiles and shot down some of them. The attack injured one soldier and caused some material damage,” the statement read.

• The Israel Defense Forces said their fighter jets struck two buildings used by Hezbollah in Mes Jabal and Marwahim in southern Lebanon on Saturday. The IDF said another observation post in Marvahim was also hit. Previously, Lebanon fired artillery shells into the Dov Mountain, Markia and Misgaf Amr areas on the border. The IDF also said it bombarded the launch site with artillery.