U.S. officials have had “ongoing talks and discussions” with Hamas officials, White House press Secretary Karoline Leavitt confirmed Wednesday, as the ceasefire in Gaza between Israel and Hamas hangs in the balance.
Israel has halted the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies into the Gaza Strip, as it aims to pressure Hamas into accepting an alternative arrangement for the ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages, six weeks into the truce.
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After more than 16 months of war, Gaza’s population is entirely dependent on trucked-in food and other aid. Most are displaced from their homes, and many need shelter. Rights groups have called Israel's cutting off aid a “starvation policy.”
Here's the latest:
UN meets about the Gaza aid cutoff and Europeans urge immediate resumption
After the closed-door meeting of the U.N. Security Council, the five European members called on Israel to immediately allow food and other supplies into Gaza.
Israel’s U.N. Ambassador Danny Danon said in a statement before the council meeting that Hamas and Palestinians in Gaza are not “in distress” because thousands of aid trucks entered Gaza during the first phase of the ceasefire.
“Those who are starving are our hostages,” he said.
The five European countries – France, Greece, Britain, Slovenia and Denmark – urged Israel and Hamas to find a way forward to the second phase of the ceasefire deal and welcomed regional efforts to agree on a plan.
White House confirms ‘ongoing talks and discussions’ with Hamas officials
It’s the first known direct engagement between the U.S. and Hamas since the State Department designated the group a foreign terrorist organization in 1997.
White House press Secretary Karoline Leavitt declined Wednesday to detail the talks, which come as the Israel-Hamas ceasefire remains in the balance.
“Look, dialogue and talking to people around the world to do what’s in the best interest of the American people is something that the president ... believes is a good-faith effort to do what’s right for the American people,” she said.
Adam Boehler, President Donald Trump’s nominee to be special envoy for hostage affairs, led the direct talks with Hamas. He was a lead negotiator on the Abraham Accords team during Trump’s first term.
The talks, which took place last month, focused mainly on the release of American hostages, and a potential end of the war without Hamas in power in Gaza, according to a Hamas official who was not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office offered a terse acknowledgement of the U.S.-Hamas talks, saying, “Israel has expressed to the United States its position regarding direct talks with Hamas.”
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Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani and Sam Magdy contributed.
Palestinians scramble to save belongings before Israel blows up their homes in the West Bank
Carrying furniture, kitchen appliances and bags of clothing, Palestinians removed their possessions from Nur Shams refugee camp in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, traversing devastated roads that Israeli military bulldozers have reduced to rubble.
The built-up Nur Shams camp has stood empty since the start of Israel’s monthlong military operation across the West Bank, when the military evacuated the camp’s population. On Wednesday, some Palestinians returned to pack up around 17 homes that were apparently slated for controlled demolition by the Israeli military.
Israel says its West Bank operation is meant to root out militants. It has displaced nearly 40,000 Palestinians, per U.N. estimates, and destroyed homes and infrastructure.
It was unclear when the demolitions would occur. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Relatives of Israeli hostages held by Hamas are stepping up their push with the United Nations
They’re bringing up the hostages’ plight and working to win their release with U.N. human rights advocates in Geneva.
On Wednesday, relatives of hostages Nimrod Cohen, Omri Miran and Elkana Bohbot met with U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk, who has met with many such family members since the Oct. 7, 2023, rampage of violence and hostage-takings by armed Palestinian militants in Israel.
Leon Saltiel, a representative of the World Jewish Congress who facilitated the meeting, said they asked Türk to increase his efforts to win their immediate release such as by appealing to countries with influence with Hamas.
At the Human Rights Council on Tuesday, Idit Ohel, the mother of Alon Ohel, spoke by video about how her 24-year-old son had been chained in a dark tunnel, starved, beaten, and was at risk of losing his sight.
Israel pulled out of the 47-member-country council after the Trump administration withdrew the United States in January. The council is expected to discuss the human rights situation in Gaza and occupied Palestinian areas on March 26.
Israeli teen dies of her wounds from a car ramming attack
An Israeli teenager has died from her wounds after she was struck in a car ramming attack last week, Israeli authorities said Wednesday. She was identified as Yaheli Gur, 17.
A Palestinian driver rammed his car into people at a highway bus stop in northern Israel on Thursday, wounding at least eight in what authorities said was a militant attack.
Palestinians in Gaza welcome an Arab plan for rebuilding the territory
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip welcomed Arab leaders’ adoption of a plan to rebuild the territory without depopulating it.
“We are satisfied with these decisions and this summit,” said Atef Abu Zaher, from the southern city of Khan Younis. “We are clinging to our land.”
The plan advanced at the Arab summit in Cairo on Tuesday is seen as an alternative to U.S. President Donald Trump’s proposal to resettle Gaza’s roughly 2 million Palestinians in other countries and redevelop it as a beach destination.
Even as they welcomed the Arab plan, many Palestinians expressed doubts over whether it would be implemented.
“The important thing is that the Arab countries are serious,” said Yasser Abed. He expressed hope they would follow through on the plan, “unlike the thousands of (other) decisions they have taken about our cause.”
WFP has enough food in Gaza to run kitchens for 2 weeks
The World Food Program says it only has enough food supplies in the Gaza Strip to keep public kitchens and bakeries open for less than two weeks.
Israel halted the entry of food, fuel, medicine and other supplies to the territory, home to some 2 million Palestinians, over the weekend to try and pressure Hamas to accept an alternative ceasefire arrangement six weeks into their fragile truce.
Israel allowed a surge of humanitarian aid during the first six weeks of the ceasefire. But the WFP said Wednesday that its stocks are low because it prioritized delivering food to the population. The U.N. agency also warned that its fuel stocks would only last for a few weeks.
Palestinians said prices spiked as people rushed to markets to stock up on supplies after Israel announced the tightening of its blockade. After more than 16 months of war, Gaza’s population is entirely dependent on trucked-in food and other aid. Most are displaced from their homes, and many need shelter.
Israelis bid farewell to hostage Ohad Yahalomi
Israelis lined the streets for the funeral procession of hostage Ohad Yahalomi, the last of eight Israelis whose remains were returned during the first stage of the ceasefire with Hamas.
Yahalomi, who was 49 when he was kidnapped, was shot in the leg as he and his family were taken from Kibbutz Nir Oz. His wife and two daughters, one 10 and the other almost 2, escaped from militants attempting to take them into Gaza after running through fields for hours. Ohad and his oldest son, Eitan, then 12, were taken into Gaza but held separately. Eitan was released as part of a ceasefire in November 2023. Netanyahu’s office said Yahalomi was killed in captivity without releasing more details.
Yahalomi worked for decades with Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority, and dozens of park rangers from across the country created a convoy from central Israel to the cemetery in Kibbutz Nir Oz.
“We always felt safe and protected when you were by our side,” his wife, Bat-Sheva Yahalomi, eulogized him. “We never imagined that the darkness would come in the shape of hundreds of terrorists full of hate and it will succeed to extinguish you strong and precious spirit.”
Israeli military's new chief of staff is sworn in
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu oversaw the swearing-in ceremony of the new military chief of staff, reiterating the determination to achieve “total victory” against Hamas and other Iran-backed armed groups.
Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir will replace Lt. Gen. Herzi Halevi, who resigned in part over the army’s failures during the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas' attack on southern Israel that ignited the war in Gaza.
“For many years, the IDF has fulfilled its missions. On October 7, the IDF failed,” Halevi said at the ceremony. He called on Israel to establish a state commission of inquiry to fully investigate the failures that led to the deadly attack.
The Israeli military and Shin Bet have recently released their own inquiries, but Halevi stressed a national commission that includes the political leadership is needed to “get to the root of the problems and enable corrections.”
Israel demolished 181 Palestinian homes in annexed east Jerusalem last year
Ir Amim, an Israeli rights group, says Israel demolished a record number of Palestinian homes — 181 — in annexed east Jerusalem last year.
It said that more recently, Israel appears to have dropped a longstanding policy against demolishing homes during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began last weekend. It said a residential building and three apartments have been destroyed over the past week.
The Israeli authority that carries out housing demolitions of structures it deems illegal, which is run by Israel’s Public Security Ministry, said there was no policy of a freeze on demolitions for Ramadan, according to a spokesperson. Until January of this year, the ministry was headed by far-right politician Itamar Ben-Gvir, who argued for stronger police enforcement of Palestinians and arming Israeli civilians.
Israel captured east Jerusalem, along with the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for their future state.
Rights groups say discriminatory policies make it nearly impossible for Palestinians to expand or redevelop their neighborhoods in east Jerusalem, forcing many to build without permits. Israel also demolishes the family homes of Palestinians who carry out attacks.
Arab leaders approve a counterproposal to Trump’s postwar Gaza plan
Arab leaders meeting in Cairo on Tuesday endorsed a counterproposal to U.S. President Donald Trump’s call for the Gaza Strip to be depopulated of Palestinians and transformed into a beach destination, even as the continuation of the Israel-Hamas ceasefire is uncertain.
Israel is again blocking food, fuel, medicine and other desperately needed supplies from entering Gaza to try to get Hamas to accept an alternative U.S. proposal for the ceasefire and the release of hostages. The suspension of aid drew widespread criticism, with human rights groups saying that it violated Israel’s obligations as an occupying power under international law.