Israel's bloodbath in Gaza soars Palestinian death toll
Israel resumes ground invasion in Gaza's Rafah
Hamas fires rockets at Tel Aviv
Gaza nears famine
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March 21, 2025
Israel expands Gaza ground invasion after deadly air strikes
summary
March 21, 2025
Israel defence minister threatens to annex parts of GazaIsraeli Defence Minister Israel Katz threatened to annex parts of Gaza unless Hamas fighters release the remaining Israeli hostages held in the war-battered Palestinian enclave.
"I ordered (the army) to seize more territory in Gaza... The more Hamas refuses to free the hostages, the more territory it will lose, which will be annexed by Israel," he said in a statement.
Should Hamas not comply, Katz also threatened "to expand buffer zones around Gaza to protect Israeli civilian population areas and soldiers by implementing a permanent Israeli occupation of the area".
March 21, 2025
UN chief 'outraged' over recent Israeli attacks in Gaza that killed hundredsUN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres voiced outrage over the latest Israeli attacks in Gaza that has killed hundreds of people, calling for an immediate restoration of the ceasefire and urgent humanitarian assistance.
"I am outraged at this week’s Israeli attacks in Gaza, which killed hundreds of people," Guterres said in remarks delivered in Leuven, Belgium, where KU Leuven and UC Louvain universities jointly awarded an honorary doctorate to the UN.
March 21, 2025
Israeli soldier seriously injured in shooting incident in northern West BankAn Israeli soldier was seriously injured after a shooting incident in the northern West Bank city of Nablus, according to the Israeli army.
"During an operation conducted by the Israel army in the city of Nablus on Thursday night, a gunman opened fire on the forces. The army responded by shooting toward the source of the fire," the Israeli army said in a statement.
March 21, 2025
Israel restricts Palestinians' access to Al-Aqsa Mosque for 3rd consecutive Friday of RamadanFor the third consecutive Friday during Ramadan, Israeli authorities continued to impose restrictions on Palestinians' access to Jerusalem to pray at the Al-Aqsa Mosque, despite having obtained permits.
Israeli forces at the Qalandiya checkpoint north of Jerusalem inspected personal identification cards and prayer permits. Dozens of Palestinians, despite having the necessary permits, were reportedly blocked from entering Jerusalem.
March 21, 2025
Hamas: Netanyahu sabotaging ceasefire, prisoner swap talks for political gainHamas reacted to the recent statements made by Israeli Shin Bet chief, Ronen Bar, stating they reveal Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s deliberate manipulation of the ceasefire and prisoner exchange negotiations.
Bar's comments, made Thursday, revealed that Netanyahu had blocked him from meeting with Israeli ministers throughout 2024 to keep information about the negotiations hidden from the Israeli government. Bar claimed that Netanyahu’s actions were intended to "carry out negotiations that would not lead to an agreement."
In response, Hamas said that “Bar’s admissions, coming from within the Israeli occupation’s leadership, confirm that Netanyahu is actively obstructing any negotiations, even after an agreement is reached, for his own political purposes.”
March 21, 2025
Iran's leader says Yemen's Houthis act independently, warns against US actionIran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei said that Tehran does not need proxies in the region and that Yemen's Houthis, who are among the groups in the Middle East that Iran is aligned with, act on their own motivations.
US President Donald Trump said on Monday he would hold Iran responsible for any attacks carried out by the Houthis, as his administration expanded the biggest US military operation in the Middle East since he returned to the White House.
March 21, 2025
Israeli forces launch assault on Beit Lahia, northern GazaIsraeli army forces launched an assault on the western areas of Beit Lahia in northern Gaza, accompanied by heavy gunfire and artillery shelling, according to eyewitnesses.
Witnesses reported that Israeli tanks moved deeper into the city, firing intensively in an area already devastated by the ongoing war.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes bombed a residential building on Al-Sinaa Street in the Tel al-Hawa neighbourhood, southwest of Gaza City.
March 21, 2025
New US strikes hit Yemen's Hudaida, reports sayAdditional US air strikes targeted the western Yemeni port city of Hudaida, Houthi-affiliated network Al-Masirah reported Friday morning.
March 21, 2025
Houthis claim successful ballistic missile strike on military target in IsraelYemen’s Houthi group said that it successfully struck a military target in Israel with a hypersonic ballistic missile.
In a televised statement, the group’s military spokesperson, Yahya Saree, said Yemen’s armed Houthi forces carried out a “qualitative military operation” targeting an Israeli military site in southern Jaffa, a city in central Israel, using a hypersonic ballistic missile named “Palestine 2”
“This operation successfully achieved its objective,” Saree asserted, adding that it marked the second attack within 24 hours.
March 21, 2025
Israel’s Shin Bet chief challenges Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss himThe head of Israel’s Shin Bet internal security service sent a letter to the government in response to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to dismiss him.
Ronen Bar blasted the government’s “unfounded claims, that are nothing more than a cover for completely different, extraneous and fundamentally invalid motives designed to disrupt the ability of the Shin Bet to fulfill its role.”