For today, links to 12 reports: from the Cradle, Reuters, the Associated Press, National Public Radio, and Middle East Eye, and to commentary from Middle East Eye; others or at least headlines are accessible by clicking on their names or initials below (YEMEN and UKRAINE entries for this date are HERE and HERE, or scroll up or down. GAZA 3-18-25 entry is HERE, or scroll down.) — MCM
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NEWER Israeli strike on Gaza City kills dozens after new evacuation orders. From the Cradle. Over a dozen people were killed by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City this afternoon, during the second day of Tel Aviv’s renewed campaign against the strip. READ MORE . . .
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Israeil strikes kill 10, Palestinian medics say, UN site hit, by Nidal al-Mughrabi| Reuters CAIRO — Israeli strikes killed at least 10 Palestinians in Gaza today, local health workers said, as the Israeli military resumed its bombardments and issued new orders for residents to evacuate combat zones. READ MORE . . .
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UN staffer was killed and 5 others wounded in a strike in the Gaza Strip, UN says, by Wafaa Shurafa, Julia Frankel and Samy Magdy | AP DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — An international United Nations staffer was killed and five others were wounded in a strike today on a UN guesthouse in the Gaza Strip. READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 18 Israel readies new ground invasion of Gaza: report. From the Cradle. The renewed Israeli military operations in Gaza that have killed over 400 Palestinians in 24 hours are open-ended and expected to expand, including through a possible ground invasion, an Israeli official told AP. READ MORE . . .
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Former peace negotiator Diana Buttu discusses the ceasefire collapse in Gaza. Leila Fadel of NPR talks with Diana Buttu, a human rights lawyer and former Palestinian peace negotiator, about the collapse of the ceasefire in Gaza. Click HERE to listen and, later, read.
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FROM MARCH 18 How Israel repeatedly violated the Gaza ceasefire before breaking it completely, by Nader Durgham| Middle East Eye The Israeli military has carried out countless air strikes across the besieged Palestinian enclave in violation of the ceasefire it agreed to with Hamas in January. Middle East Eye details some of the ways Israel violated the fragile truce before, on Tuesday, unilaterally resuming the conflict altogether. READ MORE . . .
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Why did Israel resume the war in Gaza? Reported by Daniel Estrin | NPR TEL AVIV — Israel broke the ceasefire agreement reached by the Biden administration. It wants new terms. Israelis were surprised by the return to war. Hamas has not yet fired back at Israel, but has not budged from its position. Click HERE to listen and read, and HERE for March 18 report from AP.
FROM MARCH 18 Netanyahu says Israeli strikes across Gaza that killed hundreds are ‘only the beginning,‘ by Wafaa Shurafa, Josef Federman and Samy Magdy | AP DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — Israel launched airstrikes across the Gaza Strip early Tuesday that killed more than 400 Palestinians, local health officials said, shattering a ceasefire in place since January as it vowed to force Hamas to release more hostages and relinquish control of the territory. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered . . . READ MORE . . .
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FROM MARCH 17 UAE lobbying Trump administration to reject Arab League Gaza plan, officials say, by Sean Mathews | Middle East Eye The UAE is lobbying the Trump administration to torpedo a post-war plan for the Gaza Strip that Egypt drafted and which has been endorsed by the Arab League, according to U.S. and Egyptian officials. READ MORE . . .
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Israel’s Ramadan massacre obliterates any remaining western claims of moral leadership, by David Hearst | Middle East Eye At 2:20 a.m. on Tuesday local time in the Gaza Strip, Washington inaugurated a new era in world politics. This was the moment Israel timed its attacks on dozens of targets in the enclave to coincide with suhoor, the predawn meal eaten by Muslims in preparation for a day of fasting. The timing was designed . . . READ MORE . . .
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