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Gaza Death Toll in Conflict with Israel Exceeds 300, Says Palestinian Health Ministry

Israeli soldiers in Sderot in southern Israel - AP
Israeli soldiers in Sderot in southern Israel - AP
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Gaza Death Toll in Conflict with Israel Exceeds 300, Says Palestinian Health Ministry

Israeli soldiers in Sderot in southern Israel - AP
Israeli soldiers in Sderot in southern Israel - AP

The death toll in the Gaza Strip rose to 313 on Sunday, after a dawn assault on Israel by Hamas militants drew heavy reprisals, the territory's health ministry said, AFP reported.

Up to 313 palestinians were killed and nearly 2,000 wounded in Israeli airstrikes in Gaza since Saturday, the Health Ministy said on Sunday.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed to "take mighty vengeance for this wicked day."

"Hamas launched a cruel and wicked war. We will win this war but the price is too heavy to bear," Reuters quoted Netanyahu as saying.

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said the assault that had begun in Gaza would spread to the West Bank and Jerusalem. Gazans have lived under an Israeli blockade for 16 years.

In a speech, Haniyeh highlighted threats to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque, the continuation of the blockade on Gaza and Israeli normalization with countries in the region. "How many times have we warned you that the Palestinian people have been living in refugee camps for 75 years, and you refuse to recognise the rights of our people?"

Israeli troops clashed with Hamas fighters throughout the night in some parts of southern Israel. In a briefing on social media, an Israeli army spokesperson said the situation was not fully under control.

The Israeli prime minister's office said the security cabinet had approved steps to destroy the military and governmental capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad "for many years", including cutting electricity and fuel supplies and the entry of goods into Gaza.

In Gaza, black smoke, orange flashes and sparks lit the sky from explosions. Israeli drones could be heard overhead. Earlier, crowds of mourners had carried the bodies of militants through the streets, wrapped in green Hamas flags.

Gaza's dead and wounded were carried into crumbling and overcrowded hospitals with severe shortages of medical supplies and equipment.

Streets were deserted apart from ambulances racing to the scenes of air strikes. Israel cut the power, plunging the city into darkness.

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Arab World

Türkiye Signals Possible Intervention in Northern Iraq over Kurdish Role in Iran War

Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 
Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 
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Türkiye Signals Possible Intervention in Northern Iraq over Kurdish Role in Iran War

Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 
Military exercises by fighters from PJAK in Erbil, northern Iraq, on February 26 (Reuters) 

Türkiye has signaled it could launch a military intervention in northern Iraq similar to its operations in Syria if Kurdish militants join ground fighting inside Iran, Turkish sources said.

The warning targets fighters from the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) and its Iranian affiliate, the Kurdistan Free Life Party (PJAK), should they take part in operations in western Iran, allegedly with Israeli backing.

Since US and Israeli strikes on Iran began on February 28, Ankara has warned multiple parties against plans to deploy Kurdish militants in the conflict, the sources said.

The pro-government daily Turkiye reported that President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told US President Donald Trump in a phone call shortly after the war began that Türkiye would not accept the use of “terrorist organizations” in attacks on Iran, stressing its clear position on territorial integrity.

Turkish foreign ministry and intelligence delegations later conveyed a message to officials in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region: “We will intervene as we did in Syria,” the sources added.

Imprisoned PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan also warned the group’s leadership in Iraq’s Qandil mountains against being “deceived by Israel’s game”, a message that sources said shifted regional dynamics.

Analysts linked Ankara’s stance to remarks by Trump, who praised Türkiye’s conduct during the conflict.

“I think Türkiye was great — they were really amazing and stayed within the bounds we asked of them,” Trump said at a summit in Miami, while Erdogan described him as a “great leader”.

Political analyst Murat Yetkin said the remarks reflected US appreciation for Türkiye’s role in preventing direct confrontation between Israel and NATO.

He noted that NATO had intercepted missiles heading towards Turkish airspace, reinforced its air defenses with Patriot systems, and stepped up military coordination — signaling a new phase in Türkiye-NATO ties.

Yetkin said any attack on Türkiye would likely trigger a NATO response before Ankara acts, including against threats from the south and east.

He added that Washington may be seeking to keep Türkiye out of a direct conflict with Israel that could escalate into a broader crisis involving the alliance.

 

 

 

Arab World

Israel Army Withdraws West Bank Battalion after CNN Journalist Assault

Israeli security forces work at the site of an Iranian missile strike, in Beersheba, southern Israel Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
Israeli security forces work at the site of an Iranian missile strike, in Beersheba, southern Israel Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
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Israel Army Withdraws West Bank Battalion after CNN Journalist Assault

Israeli security forces work at the site of an Iranian missile strike, in Beersheba, southern Israel Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)
Israeli security forces work at the site of an Iranian missile strike, in Beersheba, southern Israel Sunday, March 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Maya Levin)

Israel's military said Monday it had pulled a battalion out of the West Bank after a soldier assaulted a CNN photojournalist last week in a village in the occupied Palestinian territory.

A CNN team was reporting on the aftermath of an assault by Israeli settlers and the establishment of an illegal outpost near the Palestinian village of Tayasir on Thursday when they were detained by Israeli soldiers, the Foreign Press Association said in a statement.

After the soldiers pointed their guns at the CNN crew, "an IDF soldier approached CNN's photojournalist from behind, placed him in a chokehold, slammed him to the ground, and damaged his camera", said the association, which represents hundreds of journalists in Israel and the Palestinian territories.

CNN corroborated the details in its own report on the incident, identifying the photojournalist as Frenchman Cyril Theophilos.

"This was not a misunderstanding... It was a violent assault on clearly identified journalists and a direct attack on press freedom," the FPA said.

On Monday, the military, in a rare move, withdrew a battalion from the West Bank following the incident.

"The operational deployment currently being carried out by the reserve battalion will be suspended," AFP quoted it as saying in a statement.

"The battalion will remain in reserve service and will undergo a process aimed at reinforcing its professional and ethical foundations."

The battalion would resume operational activity once the process is completed, the military added.

It was the second such incident involving CNN this month.

Earlier in March, a CNN producer was left with a fractured wrist following an "unprovoked assault" by Israeli police officers in Jerusalem.

Journalists in the West Bank have on numerous occasions been detained, harassed or beaten, with a notable rise in incidents after the start of the war in Gaza in October 2023, according to rights groups.

Israel has been listed as a "top jailer of journalists" since then, according to the US-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).

The committee said at least 60 Palestinian journalists have been detained or jailed by Israeli forces since the start of the Gaza war.

Though foreign journalists are less at risk, soldiers at checkpoints or at sites of breaking news frequently aim their weapons at reporters.

Arab World

Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Qassam Field Commander Abducted in Gaza

Fighters of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, stand guard as they search for the bodies of Israeli hostages alongside Red Cross workers in Al Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of the Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 05 November 2025. (EPA)
Fighters of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, stand guard as they search for the bodies of Israeli hostages alongside Red Cross workers in Al Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of the Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 05 November 2025. (EPA)
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Sources to Asharq Al-Awsat: Qassam Field Commander Abducted in Gaza

Fighters of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, stand guard as they search for the bodies of Israeli hostages alongside Red Cross workers in Al Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of the Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 05 November 2025. (EPA)
Fighters of the Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, stand guard as they search for the bodies of Israeli hostages alongside Red Cross workers in Al Shejaeiya neighborhood in the east of the Gaza City, Gaza Strip, 05 November 2025. (EPA)

Unidentified gunmen abducted a field commander in the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’ armed wing, on Sunday evening in the Tel al-Hawa neighborhood southwest of Gaza City, field sources in Hamas told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The sources said the abducted man commands a unit in the Qassam Brigades. They added that large numbers of Qassam fighters deployed across Gaza City on Sunday evening local time and began pursuing “two vehicles believed to be carrying the kidnappers”.

Heavy gunfire was heard in several parts of Gaza City, apparently linked to the pursuit of the abductors.

According to one Hamas source, “it is likely that an Israeli special force, or members of an armed gang collaborating with Israel, was behind the abduction”.

The incident coincided with an attempted assassination on Sunday of an officer in the Hamas government’s security apparatus, who is also a prominent Qassam activist, in the al-Zawayda area of central Gaza. He was lightly wounded, while one of the attackers was arrested after being chased down.

In recent weeks, the Gaza Strip has seen repeated infiltration attempts by members of armed gangs backed by Israel, at times leading to clashes and reciprocal pursuit operations with Qassam Brigades fighters. Drones have also appeared in attacks targeting Qassam members, killing and wounding some of them, as happened earlier this month in Khan Younis.

About two weeks ago, Hamas sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the interrogation of a man accused of working with armed gangs active in areas of the Gaza Strip under Israeli control showed growing support from Israeli forces for those groups.

According to the sources, the interrogation showed that Israel is training members of the gangs to use drones carrying explosives and weapons.

Since the ceasefire agreed between Israel and Hamas in October last year, a notional boundary known as the “Yellow Line” has separated areas controlled by the movement to the west from areas to the east where the Israeli army and allied Palestinian armed gangs are deployed.

The Hamas sources, citing the interrogation, said the drone training was not limited to offensive use. They noted that members of those armed gangs, particularly in Khan Younis and northern Gaza, had recently managed to use drones to carry weapons and drop them in remote areas for operatives recruited by sleeper cells deep inside Hamas-controlled territory.