In the West Bank, Israeli settlers bring their sheep to graze on Palestinian farmland in al-‘Awja. Israeli settlers also raid a mosque in Kisan. Israeli forces continue raids in Jenin and Jenin refugee camp for the 43rd day in a row, shooting and killing 3 Palestinians, including Hamas commander Isser Saadi, and injuring 4 others, including a child. Israeli forces also continue raids in Tulkarm, Tulkarm refugee camp, and Nur Shams refugee camp for the 37th day in a row. Elsewhere, Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian man near the Homesh checkpoint. Israeli forces also assault a Palestinian man in Hebron. Meanwhile, Israeli forces demolish commercial structures in Dahariya. Israeli forces also seize an excavator in Salfit. Separately, Israeli forces arrest 10 Palestinians during late-night raids in and around Anabta, Bethlehem, Burqin, Tulkarm, and Rujeib. In East Jerusalem, Israeli authorities demolish a Palestinian home in Bayt Hanina. In Gaza, Israeli forces shoot and kill a Palestinian man near Dayr al-Balah and shoot and injure a Palestinian child near Rafah. In Lebanon, Israeli forces bomb Qana, claiming to assassinate Hezbollah commander Hashem Khader. (AJ, HA, NYT, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/4; WAFA 3/5; UNOCHA 3/6)
More than 48,405 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza, including at least 17,881 children and 12,749 women, and around 111,835 have been injured since 10/7/2023. In addition, 14,222 Palestinians who have been missing are presumed dead. 926 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 10/7/2023, including 186 children. More than 6,500 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, 408 Israeli soldiers have been killed and 2,579 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. 92% of all housing units in Gaza have been destroyed or severely damaged since 10/7/2023. (UNOCHA, UNOCHA, UNOCHA, WAFA 3/4)
The Israeli military says it will not investigate Israeli soldiers who expelled Palestinians from their homes near the Beit Arye settlement without authorization to do so. (HA 3/4;HA 3/5)
The Arab League holds an emergency summit in Cairo, discussing the future of Gaza. The final communique from the meeting calls for the resumption of peace negotiations aimed at ending the Israeli occupation and establishing a sovereign Palestinian state, rejects all forms of displacement of Palestinians, calls for international financial backing for the reconstruction of Gaza, the implementation of the second and third phases of the Gaza ceasefire, for the UN Security Council to deploy peacekeeping troops in the West Bank and Gaza, and supports Palestine’s decision to form an interim Gaza administration comprised of Gaza-based officials and a transition toward the PA taking control in Gaza. The Arab states support an Egyptian plan for the reconstruction of Gaza that is divided into 3 phases. First, a 6-month phase that would cost $3 billion and would see Salah al-Din Street cleared of rubble, the construction of temporary housing, and restoration of partially destroyed homes. Second, a 2-year phase that would cost $20 billion, including continued rubble removal, the establishment of utility networks, and building of homes. Third, a 2.5-year phase that would cost $30 billion, including building housing for all of Gaza’s population and establishing an industrial zone, fishing and commercial ports, and an airport. The Egyptian Foreign Ministry says the interim managers of Gaza have been chosen. The PA commends the reconstruction plan. Hamas expresses support for the plan, calling for Palestinian elections as soon as possible. U.S. National Security Council spokesperson Brian Hughes says President Donald Trump “welcomes input from our Arab partners in the region,” stating that Trump “stands by his bold vision for a post-war Gaza.” Trump’s vision includes ethnically cleansing Gaza, displacing Palestinians to other countries. Later in the day, Hughes says that the “current proposal does not address the reality that Gaza is currently uninhabitable and residents cannot humanely live in a territory covered in debris and unexploded ordnance.” The Israeli Foreign Ministry criticizes the summit for not condemning Hamas and says Trump’s plan should be encouraged, saying it has not been given a “fair chance.” (AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, NYT, REU, REU, REU, REU, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/4; AJ, HA, NYT 3/5)
PA president Mahmoud Abbas welcomes the plan laid out at the summit, says he will establish a new role for a vice president of the State of Palestine and the PLO, that the call to ethnically cleanse Gaza has been “categorically rejected,” and that he is ready to hold presidential and parliamentary elections if circumstances allow. Syrian president Ahmed al-Sharaa says at the summit that Syria always has been and always will be one of the foremost backers of the Palestinian cause, calling the proposal to ethnically cleanse the Palestinian people “a smear in the face of humanity by all measures.” UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres also attends and addresses the summit, supporting the plan. Abbas meets with al-Sharaa, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, and Lebanese president Joseph Aoun on the sidelines of the meeting. (AJ, AJ, AJ, AP, HA, HA, NYT, REU, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/4; WAFA, WAFA, WAFA 3/5)
Israeli foreign minister Gideon Saar says Hamas and Islamic Jihad must fully demilitarize and the captives must be released before Israel will agree to moving to the second phase of the Gaza ceasefire. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with U.S. secretary of state Marco Rubio, discussing the Gaza ceasefire and Iran. (AJ, REU 3/4)
Israel bars members of the International Labor Organization’s fact-finding committee from entering the West Bank. PA minister of labor Inas al-Attari meets with the committee members in Amman to discuss Israeli violations of Palestinian labor rights. (WAFA 3/4)
The U.S. unfreezes $95 million in aid to the Lebanese army. (AJ, AX 3/4)
The U.S. State Department reinstates the “foreign terrorist organization” designation for the Houthi movement. (AP, REU 3/4)
President Trump says on Truth Social that he will stop all federal funding for colleges, schools, and universities that allow what he considers to be illegal protests, saying “agitators will be imprisoned/or permanently sent back to the country from which they came. American students will be permanently expelled or, depending on on [sic] the crime, arrested.” The policy post is likely a direct reference to pro-Palestine protests at U.S. universities. (HA, HA 3/4; AJ 3/5)