Israel-Gaza war: US says it will ‘find ways’ to warn Israel against Rafah attack despite cancellation of visit – as it happened

Here’s a recap of the latest developments:

• At least 32,333 Palestinians have been killed and 74,694 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry said on Monday. The latest figures include at least 21 Palestinians who were reportedly killed by an Israeli airstrike on an apartment block in central Gaza late on Sunday.

• The UN security council voted to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the first time since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, after the US dropped a threat to veto, in a significant break with the Israeli government, bringing it to near total isolation on the world stage. The US abstained in a vote in Monday’s security council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire for the month of Ramadan”. It also demanded the release of hostages by Hamas, but did not make the ceasefire dependent on hostage release, a linkage the US had previously insisted on.

• Hamas welcomed the resolution and said it stood ready for an immediate exchange of prisoners with Israel, raising hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations under way in Doha, where intelligence chiefs and other officials from the US, Egypt and Qatar are seeking to broker a deal that would involve the release of some hostages held by Hamas for Palestinian detainees and prisoners, and a truce that would last an initial six weeks.

• After the UN vote, the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a planned visit to Washington by two of his ministers, intended to discuss a planned Israeli offensive on Rafah, which the US opposes. The White House said it was “very disappointed” by the decision. Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz argued that the visit should go ahead.

• Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, will still meet with US defense secretary Lloyd Austin and other senior US officials despite the cancellation of a separate visit by an Israeli delegation to Washington. The meeting, set to take place at the Pentagon on Tuesday, will cover a range of topics including the release of hostages held by Hamas and the need for more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza, the Pentagon’s press secretary said.

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• Israel confirmed it will cease working with the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa), accusing the organisation of “perpetuating the conflict”. Unrwa has provided essential services to the Palestinians in the occupied territories for decades, and has been at the centre of a bitter controversy after being accused by Israel of collaborating with Hamas in Gaza – a charge it has denied.

• The medical situation in Gaza’s hospitals has reached an “unimaginable” state of crisis, according to an emergency medical team organised by three aid groups that spent two weeks carrying out surgeries and other care at the European hospital near Khan Younis.

• Israel’s foreign ministry said Spain, Malta, Slovenia and Ireland are offering “a reward for terrorism” with a joint statement about their readiness to recognise a Palestinian state. Israel has repeatedly insisted that the only way progress towards a two-state solution can be made is by direct talks between Israel and Palestinian authorities that it recognises. Palestinians have argued that this effectively grants Israel a veto over statehood.

The US has said it will “find other ways to make our concerns known” regarding Israel’s planned military operation in Rafah despite the decision by Benjamin Netanyahu to scrap an Israeli delegation visit to Washington.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, will likely discuss Rafah with visiting Israeli defence minister, Yoav Gallant, US state department spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters. He said:

We believe this type of full-scale invasion would be a mistake, not just because of the civilian harm that it would cost which would be immense.

He added there are currently about 1.4m people in Rafah and Israel has not presented a coherent evacuation plan, adding:

This type of invasion would weaken Israel’s security and would make Israel less safe, not more safe. It would undermine its standing in the world.

Miller said that while Blinken will likely discuss US concerns over a Rafah invasion during his meeting with Gallant, the secretary of state would not be presenting Washington’s alternative plans for a military operation in the southern Gaza city.

The White House has said it was “perplexed” and “disappointed” by Israel’s decision to cancel its delegation’s planned visit to Washington to discuss US concerns over a possible offensive in Rafah.

The office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced it would cancel the visit after the US dropped a threat to veto a UN security council resolution to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

“We’re kind of perplexed” by the cancellation, the White House’s national security spokesperson John Kirby told reporters. He added that the Israeli prime minister’s office seemed to be “choosing to create a perception of daylight here when they don’t need to do that.”

US officials had been in touch with Israel throughout the weekend to make Washington’s position known on the UN security council resolution, and to articulate that it was not a change in policy or in support for Israel, a US official told AP.

Netanyahu did not talk to US president Joe Biden before he canceled the delegation’s trip, and Biden doesn’t have any immediate plans to phone Netanyahu, the official added.

Kirby had earlier said Washington was “very disappointed” the delegation would not be visiting. While the delegation’s trip has been canceled, a separate visit by Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, is proceeding.

An Israeli minister, Gideon Saar, has resigned from Benjamin Netanyahu’s emergency unity government, citing the fact that he was not included in the country’s highest-level war cabinet.

Saar joined the unity government along with several other members of the opposition after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October.

His departure, reported by Reuters, is not expected to affect the stability of Netanyahu’s government, which still controls a clear majority in parliament.

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has hit back at comments by his war cabinet minister and political rival, Benny Gantz, over the decision to cancel a planned trip for top Israeli officials to Washington over the US decision not to veto the UN security council resolution.

The Israeli delegation that was supposed to visit Washington on Tuesday should continue, Gantz argued in a social media post. He wrote:

Not only is it right for the delegation to travel – the prime minister would do well if he himself traveled to the USA, and held a direct dialogue with President Biden and the senior administration officials.

Gantz, who met with top US leaders during a visit to Washington earlier this month, added:

At the same time, it is important to remember – the special relationship between Israel and the United States is an anchor in Israel’s security and foreign relations, and the direct dialogue with the American administration is an essential asset that must not be given up even when there are challenges and disputes.

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Netanyahu’s office responded that the Israeli leader “rejected the proposal” by Gantz in a statement that said:

After Hamas welcomed the Security Council decision that was passed by way of the USA’s abstention, Gantz proposes that a delegation visit the USA. The Prime Minister has rejected his proposal.

25 Mar 202414.02 EDT

Lorenzo Tondo

Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has cancelled a scheduled Washington trip for top aides Ron Dermer and Tzachi Hanegbi in response to the US’s decision not to use veto power in the UN security council resolution for a ceasefire without hostage release conditions, according to media reports.

Israel accuses the US of undermining war efforts and hostage release attempts, calling it a departure from prior US stance in the security council.

The statement calls the decision “a clear retreat from the consistent US position in the Security Council since the beginning of the war,” and one that “gives Hamas hope that international pressure will allow them to get a ceasefire without releasing our hostages,’’ the Times of Israel has reported.

The Israeli minister of national security, Itamar Ben-Gvir, in response to the UN security council resolution said:

The decision of the UN Security Council proves what has been known since time immemorial - this is an anti-Semitic institution, with an anti-Semitic Secretary General, who is encouraging Hamas towards total victory. President Biden’s choice, on the other hand, to avoid vetoing the decision on the part of the USA, proves on the other hand that President Biden does not put the victory of Israel and the free world over terrorism at the top of his priorities, but rather his political considerations. Precisely after this decision, we must increase the intensity of the war and continue striving with all our might, at any cost, to defeat Hamas.

The former US president Donald Trump has said he would have responded to the 7 October Hamas attacks in the same way that Israel did, but argued Israel was losing international support and should wrap up its war in Gaza.

Hamas’ killing spree through southern Israel was “one of the saddest things I’ve ever seen”, Trump said in an interview with Israeli newspaper Israel Hayom published on Monday, but:

You have to finish up your war. To finish it up. You gotta get it done. And, I am sure you will do that. And we gotta get to peace, we can’t have this going on. And I will say, Israel has to be very careful, because you’re losing a lot of the world, you’re losing a lot of support, you have to finish up, you have to get the job done.

The secretary general of the Palestinian Authority’s executive committee, Hussein al-Sheikh, has welcomed the UN security council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The 2025 European gymnastics championships will not be staged in Tel Aviv as scheduled because of Israel’s war with Hamas, its governing body announced.

In a statement, the governing body of gymnastics in Europe cited “the current situation in Israel” as its reason and said it was reopening the bidding process for a host. It added:

We acknowledge the efforts done by the Israeli Gymnastics Federation, the excellent host of several European Championships in the past 8 years.

The UN security council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza sent a clear message that the hostages held by Hamas should be released and aid should allowed in to Gaza, Downing Street has said.

The UK backed the resolution, which demanded the release of hostages but did not make the ceasefire dependent on hostage release.

A spokesperson for the UK prime minister said:

We have long called for an immediate humanitarian pause or temporary ceasefire leading to a sustainable ceasefire, which is what this resolution calls for. And that is why the UK voted in favour of it.

They said Israel had a right to defend itself, but that “far too many” Palestinians had been killed “and a humanitarian catastrophe is a clear and present risk”.

Asked what message the UK government would send to Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, Downing Street said:

We would obviously urge both sides to listen to that and to follow this resolution.

ActionAid has condemned Israel’s decision to block the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) from making aid deliveries in northern Gaza.

Unrwa head Philippe Lazzarini, in a social media post on Sunday, said Israeli authorities had informed the UN that they will no longer approve any Unrwa food convoys to the north of Gaza, where the threat of famine is highest.

An Israeli official confirmed earlier today that Israel will cease working with the UN agency, accusing the organisation of “perpuating the conflict”.

ActionAid Palestine’s advocacy and communications coordinator, Riham Jafari, said in a statement:

We are utterly horrified and outraged to see Israel pull the plug on the most vital lifeline for hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza on the brink of famine right now. With severe hunger claiming children’s lives and severely malnourished women giving birth to stillborn babies, Israel’s decision to cease working with UNRWA is nothing short of a death sentence for those living through immense hunger and suffering.

A UN-backed food security assessment has warned that famine was projected to hit the north of Gaza by May unless there was urgent intervention.

Unrwa has not been able to deliver food to the north since 29 January, a spokesperson has said.

Hamas has welcomed the UN security council resolution and said it stands ready to engage the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.

In a statement posted to social media, Hamas said a pause in fighting is needed to “bury our martyrs who have remained under the rubble for months” and for access to “humanitarian needs”.

The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has welcomed the adoption by the UN security council of a resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

Von der Leyen, in a social media post, said that implementation of the resolution is “vital for the protection of all civilians”.

Here’s the full text of the UN security council resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza that was passed on Monday after the US dropped a threat to veto, in a significant break with the Israeli government.

Aid groups have been responding to the UN security council vote to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza for the month of Ramadan.

A statement by the International Rescue Committee calls the UN resolution “a critical turning point” and warns that without a ceasefire that is respected by all parties, Gaza risks facing further catastrophe. It adds:

IRC urges Council members, including the United Kingdom, to leverage all their influence to achieve an immediate cessation of hostilities and work towards a lasting ceasefire.

The UN resolution is a “welcome step forward but long overdue,” according to a statement by Care International UK, which warns that an Israeli offensive on Rafah would have “utterly dire” consequences for civilians, including women and girls. It adds:

With famine imminent in Gaza, an immediate ceasefire is the only way to reduce the death toll. The resolution must be implemented, there is no time to lose.

Oxfam says it welcomes the UN resolution, but argues that while it is a “step in the right direction" that it “falls short of the permanent ceasefire which is truly required and comes too late for over 32,000 Palestinians in Gaza that have been killed, and thousands more unaccounted for, while the Security Council wrung its hands over semantics.” It adds:

A mere two-week pause is not enough. This initial cessation in violence must lead to a permanent ceasefire that lasts and sustainable peace for Palestinians and Israelis alike; so people in Gaza can mourn their loved ones and begin the long road of recovery and reconstruction.

A meeting between the US defense secretary, Lloyd Austin, and Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, in Washington is still expected to take place, the Pentagon’s press secretary Maj Gen Pat Ryder has said.

The meeting, set to take place at the Pentagon tomorrow, will cover a range of topics including the release of hostages held by Hamas and the need for more humanitarian aid to reach Palestinian civilians in Gaza, he added.

The White House has said it is “very disappointed” that Benjamin Netanyahu cancelled a high-level Israeli delegation’s planned visit to Washington after the US abstained from a UN security council vote demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

As we reported earlier, Netanyahu’s office announced that a planned visit to Washington by Israeli officials, which was to include Israel’s minister of strategic affairs, Ron Dermer, and head of Israel’s national security council, Tzachi Hanegbi, will no longer take place.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters:

It’s disapppointing. We’re very disappointed that they won’t be coming to Washington DC. to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to them going in on the ground in Rafah.

A separate set of talks between Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, who is already currently in Washington, and senior US officials is expected to take place.