The Palestine Chronology

In the West Bank, Israeli forces arrest 25 Palestinians during raids in and around Qalqilya, Hebron, Bethlehem, Tulkarm, Ramallah, and Jenin. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Nuseirat refugee camp, Dayr al-Balah, Khan Yunis, al-Bureij, and Gaza City, killing at least 92 people. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Naqoura, Aitaroun, Ayta ash Shab, Marwahin, and Hamool. Hezbollah forces fire anti-tank missiles at Metula; there are no reports of injuries or damage. In Syria, Israeli forces bomb the southern part of the country, wounding a Syrian soldier. (AJ, AP, HA, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/17; UNOCHA 3/18)

More than 31,645 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 13,400 children and 8,900 women, and around 73,676 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 7,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 426 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 111 children. More than 4,665 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 247 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,476 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 70,000 housing units have been destroyed and 290,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7/2023, constituting over 60% of all housing units. 192 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza, including 13 trucks that arrive in Jabalia refugee camp and Gaza City. The aid arriving in Jabalia is the first in 4 months. U.S. forces airdrop 28,000 meals and 34,500 bottles of water over northern Gaza. (AJ, HA, REU, WAFA 3/17; UNOCHA, UNOCHA 3/18)

Adalah says it has documented 19 clear cases of torture in Israeli prisons since 10/7/2023, including sexual violence. (AJ 3/17)

Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh meets with a delegation of Chinese diplomats in Doha, discussing the situation in Gaza and the political situation in Palestine. (AJ 3/17)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas meets with Brazilian foreign minister Mauro Vieira in Ramallah, warning against the humanitarian consequences of an Israeli invasion of Rafah. (AJ, WAFA 3/17)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu says during a press conference with German chancellor Olaf Scholz that Israel will invade Rafah, but that Israel will enable civilians to leave the city. Scholz says an invasion of Rafah would make regional peace “very difficult.” Scholz also says Israel has a “right to defend itself” but adds the humanitarian cost of Israel’s attacks on Gaza is “extremely high, many will argue much too high.” (AJ, AJ, HA, REU, REU 3/17)

Haaretz reports that Israeli finance minister and minister with a portfolio at the Defense Ministry Bezalel Smotrich is trying to appoint a settler, Hillel Roth, from the Yitzhar settlement as the deputy head of the Civil Administration and transfer authority over settlement building regulations to him instead of the military’s Central Command. (HA 3/17; HA 3/18)

Qatari prime minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani meets with UAE foreign minister Abdullah bin Zayed in Doha, discussing ceasefire negotiations. (AJ 3/17)

U.S. president Joe Biden meets with Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar, saying that a ceasefire and more humanitarian aid is needed in Gaza. Varadkar says Irish solidarity with Palestinians is rooted in the Irish “story of displacement, of dispossession, a national identity questioned and denied, forced emigration, discrimination, and now hunger.” (HA 3/15; AJ, HA, NYT 3/17)

U.S. senator Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) says in an interview that Israel’s claim that UNRWA is a Hamas proxy is “just flat-out lies” and says Prime Minister Netanyahu wants to get rid of UNRWA because he wants to destroy hopes of a 2-state solution. (AJ 3/17)

U.S. Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reiterates his support for Israel’s attacks on Gaza, saying Israel should “finish it up and do it quickly and get back to the world of peace,” claiming he would make a normalization agreement between Iran and Israel. (AJ, HA, HA 3/17)

In the West Bank, Israeli settlers throw stones at homes in Burin. Israeli settlers also raid Duma, threatening Palestinians with evictions. Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian man in Hebron, claiming he had opened fire at Israeli settlers; no Israelis are injured. Israeli forces also arrest 20 Palestinians during raids in and around Tulkarm, Hebron, Tubas, Bethlehem, Nablus, and Jenin. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Dayr al-Balah, Rafah, and Nuseirat refugee camp, killing at least 63 people. In Tel Aviv, Israeli police disperse protesters calling for early elections with water cannons. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Marwahin, Markaba, Wazzani, Tayr Harfa, and Meiss Ej Jabal. Hezbollah forces fire rockets at Israeli forces in Kfarchouba and Ramim. In Syria, Israeli forces bomb 2 sites near Damascus. In Yemen, U.S. and UK forces attack 4 sites in al-Durayhimi. (AJ, HA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/16; UNOCHA 3/18)

More than 31,553 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 13,400 children and 8,900 women, and around 73,546 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 7,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 426 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 111 children. More than 4,665 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 247 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,476 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 70,000 housing units have been destroyed and 290,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7/2023, constituting over 60% of all housing units. 200 tonnes of food aid, equivalent to 10 truckloads, arrive at the coast of Gaza. The aid is delivered in coordination between the charities Open Arms and World Central Kitchen and the UAE. 36 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. France, the U.S., Germany, and Jordan airdrop aid over northern Gaza. The UN Human Rights Office says it has documented at least 26 attacks on aid trucks in Gaza since the middle of January.  (AJ, GDN, HA, NYT, NYT, WAFA 3/16; NYT 3/17; UNOCHA, UNOCHA 3/18)

Palestinian prisoner Juma Abu Ghanima dies at an Israeli hospital after he is found in his cell at the Eshel prison on 3/12, becoming the 14th Palestinian prisoner to die in Israel custody since 10/7/2023 (HA, HA, WAFA 3/16)

The Wall Street Journal reports that the Israeli efforts to expand the buffer zone along the Gaza fence have caused widespread destruction of buildings and that Israel intends it to be more than half a mile wide. The reporting also says that Israeli forces have demolished some 150 homes in order to create a road that cuts Gaza in half. (HA, WSJ 3/16)

PA president Mahmoud Abbas speaks with Qatari emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, discussing the situation in Palestine. (AJ, WAFA 3/16)

Israeli media reports that New Hope party leader Gideon Sa’ar has threatened to leave the unity government if he is not appointed to the war cabinet. Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel the Israeli delegation’s trip to Doha for ceasefire negotiations. (AJ, HA 3/16)

U.S. secretary of state Antony Blinken meets with Bahraini prime minister Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa in Manama, discussing their joint efforts to combat Houthi attacks in the Red Sea and ceasefire efforts in Gaza. (HA 3/16)

In the West Bank, a Palestinian man succumbs to injures sustained from Israeli forces during a raid in Fawwar refugee camp on 6/17/2023. Israeli settlers set fire to a vehicle in Kafr Ni’ma. Israeli settlers also vandalize olive, almond, grape, and fig trees, demolish an agricultural structure, and steal property in Qusra. Elsewhere, Israeli settlers assault a Palestinian child and vandalize wheat and barley fields in Ein al-Beida in the Masafer Yatta area. Israeli forces raid al-Fara’a refugee camp, destroying infrastructure and property. In East Jerusalem, 80,000 Muslim worshippers attend Friday prayers at the Haram al-Sharif compound. Thousands of worshippers from the West Bank are denied entry to East Jerusalem for the prayers. Israeli forces block Palestinian Red Crescent medics from entering the compound. In Gaza, Israeli forces bomb Gaza City, Nuseirat refugee camp, Beit Hanun, and Rafah, killing at least 149 people, including 36 members of the same family gathered to break their fast in a home in Nuseirat refugee camp. Rockets are fired at Sderot; no damage is reported. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Hula, Marwahin, Kafr Kila, Ayta ash Shab, and Labbouneh. Hezbollah forces attack an Israeli radar site in Shebaa Farms. In the Red Sea, a missile fired from Yemen hits a tanker. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, NYT, UNOCHA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/15; AJ, HA, HA, WAFA 3/16; WAFA 3/17)

More than 31,490 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 13,400 children and 8,900 women, and around 73,439 have been injured since 10/7/2023. At least 7,000 people are missing in rubble, including 1,700 children. 425 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 111 children. More than 4,665 people have been injured. Israel reports that 1,139 Israelis and foreign nationals have been killed and 5,400 have been injured in Israel since 10/7/2023, including Israeli soldiers. In addition, 247 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 1,476 injured in Gaza since the ground invasion began on 10/27/2023. Over 1.93 million Palestinians, nearly 85% of the population of Gaza, have been displaced since 10/7/2023. There has been a complete electricity blackout in Gaza since 10/12/2023 due to the Israeli blockade. At least 70,000 housing units have been destroyed and 290,000 have been damaged in Israeli airstrikes since 10/7/2023, constituting over 60% of all housing units. UNICEF says that 31% of children under the age of 2 in Gaza are suffering from acute malnutrition. The UN says the rubble caused by Israeli attacks take years to clear. 187 trucks carrying aid enter Gaza. U.S. forces airdrop 35,700 meals and 31,800 bottles of water over northern Gaza. (AJ, HA, UNOCHA, UNOCHA, WAFA 3/15; HA, REU 3/16; WAFA 3/17; UNOCHA 3/18)

Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the PFLP, and the Palestinian National Initiative criticize the appointment of the new PA prime minister Mohammed Mustafa, calling it a “unilateral” designation by President Mahmoud Abbas that “inflicts harm on our people and national cause,” saying the formation of the new government should be done by national consensus. Fatah responds by saying Hamas caused the Israeli invasion of Gaza by “undertaking the October 7 adventure.” Agence France-Presse reports that Hamas, Islamic Jihad, PFLP, and Houthi movement members discussed coordinating their actions against Israel last week. (AJ, HA, REU 3/15; AJ, HA, HA 3/16) 

PA ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour sends letters to UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres and the presidents of the Security Council and General Assembly, urging them to act to stop the genocide in Gaza. (WAFA 3/15)

Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office issues a statement saying that Israel will send a delegation to Qatar to continue ceasefire negotiations and that the Israeli military is preparing to invade Rafah. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby says Hamas’s ceasefire proposal is “within the bounds” of what has been discussed in recent months. Times of Israel, Channel 12, and Ynet report that an invasion of Rafah is not imminent. Defense Minister Yoav Gallant presents the security cabinet with 4 scenarios for the political situation in Gaza after Israel’s war, including Hamas control, Israeli occupation, chaos, and local rule in coordination with the PA, saying he prefer the latter scenario. (AJ, HA, REU 3/15; AJ, AJ 3/16)

Australia resumes funding of UNRWA. Foreign Minister Penny Wong says the “best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that UNRWA is not a terrorist organization and that existing additional safeguards sufficiently protect Australian taxpayer funding.” Australia will also deploy a military cargo plan to help airdrop aid in Gaza. (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, REU, WAFA 3/15)

German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock tweets on X that a “large-scale [Israeli] offensive in Rafah cannot be justified.” (AJ 3/15)

The Elders’ chairperson Mary Robinson calls on the U.S. to end arms transfers to Israel and says the “government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is on the wrong side of history completely.” (AJ 3/15)

The ICJ says it will hear arguments in Nicaragua’s case against Germany, in which Nicaragua accuses Germany of “facilitating the commission of genocide” in Gaza on 4/8 and 4/9. (AJ, REU 3/15)