EXPLAINER
Israel has closed the Rafah border crossing, and Israeli settler attacks in the occupied West Bank have continued.
Published On 13 Mar 2026
With the eyes of the world on the United States and Israel’s war in Iran, Israeli strikes and raids in Gaza and settler attacks and military operations in the occupied West Bank have continued unabated.
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has killed more than 72,000 people in its genocidal war on Gaza, the majority of them women and children, and reduced almost the entire enclave to rubble. About 1,200 people were killed in Israel and more than 250 taken captive in the October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel led by Hamas.
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In the West Bank, Israeli soldiers or settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians, many of them civilians, since the start of the Gaza war, according to Palestinian Ministry of Health figures. At least 45 Israelis, including both soldiers and civilians, have been killed in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations in the region in the same period, according to official Israeli figures.
Here’s what we know of the situation in Gaza and the West Bank since the war in Iran began on February 28:
Gaza
- Border closed: On March 1, Israel closed Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt. The Israeli military’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said the move was a part of “several necessary security adjustments” that have been implemented in the region due to the war with Iran. The Rafah crossing is considered vital for the delivery of humanitarian aid and the evacuation of critically ill patients from Gaza.
- Panic buying: The war and the closure of the Rafah crossing have caused panic buying in Gaza, where residents who have already endured nearly two and a half years of war fear food shortages. Ali al-Hayek, a member of the Palestinian Businessmen Association in Gaza, told Al Jazeera that closing the crossings could halt aid distribution to struggling families and operations at charity kitchens.
- Call to reopen crossing: On Tuesday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for Israel to reopen Gaza’s border crossings. On March 2, Israeli authorities said they would reopen the Karem Abu Salem crossing, known as Kerem Shalom to Israelis, to allow for the “gradual entry of humanitarian aid” into the territory.
- Father and daughter killed: On Saturday, an Israeli drone attack killed a father and his daughter in Khan Younis in southern Gaza. In a separate attack later that day in Khan Younis, another person was killed and a girl wounded, according to Al Jazeera correspondents on the ground.
- Gas shortage: A prolonged shortage in cooking gas and fuel since the beginning of the war has affected many in Gaza. Supplies of gas coming in, even since a ceasefire was declared, are well below the population’s actual needs, according to official sources in Gaza and United Nations agencies.
- Amnesty report about women: Global rights group Amnesty International released a report saying Palestinian women in Gaza have been “denied the conditions needed to live and to give life safely” by Israel. The report says pregnant women, as well as those suffering from terminal illness, lack adequate health services in the territory.
West Bank
- Al-Aqsa Mosque closed to worshippers: Israeli forces have continued the closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem and also cancelled Friday prayers. The Israeli Civil Administration chief, Hisham Ibrahim, told media that the decision was taken in light of Iran launching retaliatory strikes at “Israel and the entire region”.
- Raid on Askar refugee camp: On Tuesday, Israeli forces raided the Askar refugee camp east of Nablus, closing its entrances and searching several homes.
- Israeli settler attacks: Israeli settlers have continued terrorising Palestinians in small hamlets and villages across rural areas of the West Bank.
- Restrictions on movement: Over the past 10 days, Israeli authorities have distributed leaflets to rural communities with orders banning movement between West Bank governorates, proclaiming “terrorism and terrorists bring only death, destruction and devastation.”
- Two brothers killed: Two Palestinian brothers were killed on March 2 by settlers in Qaryut, 4km (2.5 miles) west of Duma, where they were videotaped shooting live fire at Palestinian homes.
- Settlers kill Palestinian: On Saturday, Palestinian Amir Muhammad Shanaran was killed by Israeli settlers during an attack in Masafer Yatta, south of Hebron, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
- Three Palestinians killed: On Sunday, at least three Palestinians were killed by Israeli settlers in attacks across the West Bank, Wafa reported. Israeli settlers shot two of the Palestinians – Fare Jawdat Hamayel and Thaer Farouq Hamayel – in the head in an overnight attack in the village of Khirbet Abu Falah, northeast of Ramallah, Wafa reported, citing a statement from the Palestinian Health Ministry. The third resident, named Muhammad Hassan Murrah, died later that day after inhaling fumes from a tear gas canister fired by Israeli soldiers who accompanied the settlers, Wafa reported.
- Missile debris hits a house: Shrapnel or debris from a missile damaged a house in the town of Biddya, in the northern occupied West Bank, according to news reports on Thursday.
- Israel closes multiple town entrances: Israeli forces closed entrances to several towns in the provinces of Ramallah and Nablus on Friday morning. They also tightened military restrictions around the city of Nablus, Wafa reported.
- Israeli settlers set fire to poultry farm: Wafa also reported that Israeli settlers set fire to a poultry farm in Bethlehem on Friday.
https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/2026-02-24T091018Z_1878679624_RC28SJANPO63_RTRMADP_3_ISRAEL-PALESTINIANS-GAZA-1772214798.jpg?resize=1920%2C1440
2026-03-13 07:50:04
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