Palestinians during a displacement trip yesterday, Thursday, from the northern Gaza Strip to other areas in the Gaza Strip (Reuters)

On the 161st day of the war on Gaza, and the fifth day of the holy month of Ramadan, the Israeli occupation forces continued to commit massacres against those waiting for aid and bombed various areas in the Gaza Strip, while the United Nations warned of dire consequences of the possible invasion of the Rafah area, south of the Gaza Strip.

The occupation warplanes continued to bomb those waiting for aid, and their last operations were at the Kuwait Roundabout in Gaza City, which led to the death of a citizen and the injury of others, according to Al Jazeera’s correspondent.

The government media office in Gaza explained on Friday that the occupation committed five massacres in two days against people waiting for aid, leaving 56 martyrs and 300 wounded.

On the ground, the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), announced the killing of 4 Israeli army soldiers after it targeted them with an anti-fortified TPG shell in the central Gaza Strip.

For its part, the Al-Quds Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad Movement, said that it bombed gatherings of occupation soldiers east of the central region of the Strip with a barrage of mortar shells.

The Palestinian resistance is still engaged in fierce clashes with the Israeli occupation forces in central and northern Gaza and in the Khan Yunis Governorate in the south.

Invasion of Rafah

In parallel with these developments, the Israeli Prime Minister's Office said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu approved plans to launch a military operation in Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, while international warnings escalated of dire consequences of a possible invasion.

The Prime Minister's Office added, in a statement, that "the Israeli army is ready for the operational aspect and to evacuate the population," without providing details about this operation that Tel Aviv has been threatening for weeks.

The announcement of the ratification of plans to invade Rafah comes despite international warnings that the attack on the city, crowded with displaced people, would lead to a major massacre.

for more details..

Gallant warns

In the same context, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said that Israel will not be able to overthrow the movement “if it does not work to create an alternative to it in the Gaza Strip.”

During a government meeting discussing the truce agreement proposal presented by Hamas, Israeli Channel 12 quoted Gallant as saying that Israel’s military rule of the Gaza Strip “will cost it the lives of its soldiers and drain military resources.”

Gallant explained that the Israeli army is paying the price for what he called the failure to make a political decision regarding who will rule Gaza after the war, noting that the most likely option for the form of governance in Gaza after the war is to strengthen local elements, according to him.

Rising tension

As tensions escalated between Washington and Tel Aviv, US President Joe Biden praised a speech by the leader of the Democratic majority in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, in which he strongly criticized Netanyahu and called for new elections to be held in Israel.

Biden said, in statements at the White House in response to a question about Schumer's speech yesterday in the Senate, that it was good and during it he expressed the serious concern of many Americans.

Biden added that Chuck Schumer contacted the presidential team regarding his speech regarding Israel.

The leader of the Democratic majority in the US Senate - who has strongly supported Israel for a long time and is the most senior elected American Jewish official - described Netanyahu as a major obstacle to peace, and accused him of submitting to the demands of those he described as extremists, referring in particular to the Ministers of Finance, Bezalel Smotrich, and National Security, Itamar Ben Gvir.

for more details..

Aid across the sea

Meanwhile, the first aid ship to arrive in the Gaza Strip through the sea corridor began unloading from the port of Larnaca in Cyprus.

A spokeswoman for the World Center Kitchen confirmed that about 200 tons of aid had begun to be unloaded after the Open Arms ship stopped near a temporary pier on the coast of Gaza.

Al Jazeera's correspondent said that the cargo, which includes foods such as rice, flour, legumes, and canned vegetables, will be lowered into small boats and transported to the shore under the supervision of international institutions.

Anatolia News Agency quoted eyewitnesses as saying that small boats began unloading the ship's cargo and transporting it towards the shore of Gaza City.

New Hamas show

At the level of discussions, sources told Al Jazeera that Hamas presented a proposal stipulating a ceasefire and prisoner exchange in stages, but Israel considered it unrealistic.

The sources added that the proposal presented by Hamas to the mediators stipulates a ceasefire in 3 stages, each of which will last 42 days.

She added that Hamas stipulated in the first stage that the occupation forces withdraw from Al-Rashid Street and the Salah al-Din axis for the return of the displaced and the passage of aid into Gaza.

for more details..

West Bank and Jerusalem

Meanwhile, today, Friday, the Israeli occupation forces continued their attacks in the Holy City and the occupied West Bank, while resistance factions announced that they would confront them and thwart their advance in the Al-Far’a camp, south of Tubas, in the northern West Bank.

In occupied Jerusalem, the occupation army intensified its military measures today near the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, and arrested a Palestinian and soldiers assaulted him by beating him in the Damascus Gate area.

Al Jazeera's correspondent also reported that clashes took place between the occupation forces and resistance fighters in Al-Far'a camp, south of Tubas.

The Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades in the West Bank said that its fighters there confronted the occupation forces and their vehicles, and forced them to retreat.

Local sources: The moment the occupation arrested a young man after assaulting him in the Bab al-Amoud area in Jerusalem, this afternoon.

pic.twitter.com/1rVafjOzyh

- Quds News Network (@qudsn) March 15, 2024

Northern front

To the north, Lebanese Hezbollah announced targeting a gathering of Israeli soldiers and bombing occupation sites, while Israeli aircraft launched a raid on a house in the town of Kafr Kila in southern Lebanon.

Hezbollah explained that it targeted a gathering of Israeli soldiers in the vicinity of the Birkat Risha site with a Burkan-type missile, noting that it achieved a “direct hit,” in addition to targeting the radar site in the occupied Lebanese Shebaa Farms.

For his part, Al Jazeera's correspondent confirmed the firing of 3 missiles at the Israeli Ruwaisat Al-Alam site in the occupied Kfar Shuba hills, and the firing of two missiles at the Israeli radar site in the occupied Shebaa Farms in southern Lebanon.

Source: Al Jazeera