Israel-Hamas War: What happened on Day 146?

Two people were critically injured at a suspected shooting near the West Bank settlement of Eli on Thursday afternoon, Israeli media reported.

Magen David Adom Spokesperson commented: "At 5:08 p.m., a report was received at MDA's 101 center in the Jerusalem region about gunshot wounds on Route 60 at the gas station near the entrance to Eli. MDA medics and paramedics provide medical treatment on the spot to two critically injured and unconscious people. More updates will follow."

This is a developing story.

The security delegation for the hostage deal talks has taken off on a flight from Qatar and his headed back to Israel, according to a report by KAN News on Thursday.

This is a developing story.

Yemen's Houthis will introduce “military surprises” in their Red Sea operations, the Iran-aligned group's leader Abdul Malik al-Houthi said in a televised speech on Thursday.

Houthi militants have repeatedly fired on international commercial ships since mid-November in solidarity with Palestinians over the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

The Palestinian Authority has received 407 million shekels ($114 million) from Israel, with more funds on the way in the coming days following a deal to release frozen tax funds, the Norwegian government said on Thursday.

Norway, on February 18, said it had agreed to assist in the transfer of funds earmarked for the Palestinian Authority (PA) that were collected by Israel, providing crucial funding to the Western-backed entity.

The apparent necessity of the money

"This money is absolutely necessary to prevent the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, to ensure that the Palestinians receive vital services and that teachers and health workers are paid," Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere said.

The PA exercises limited self-governance in the West Bank.

Under interim peace accords reached in the 1990s, Israel's finance ministry collects tax on behalf of the Palestinians and makes monthly transfers to the PA.

But a dispute broke out over overpayments in the wake of the October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas from Gaza, a territory ruled by the Palestinian Islamist group.

Under the agreed solution, Norway serves as an intermediary, holding tax revenue equal to the portion that Israel estimates would have gone to Gaza, while the PA would receive the rest, the Nordic country has said.

The White House said on Thursday it is looking into reports of Israeli fire on Palestinians waiting for aid near Gaza City, describing it as a "serious incident."

"We mourn the loss of innocent life and recognize the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, where innocent Palestinians are just trying to feed their families," a White House National Security Council spokesperson said in a statement.

"This underscores the importance of expanding and sustaining the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza, including through a potential temporary ceasefire."

The Sderot municipality announced on Thursday that all schools and educational facilities will open next Sunday, March 3.

This announcement comes following the decision by the Homefront Command to allow educational facilities to open on the Gaza border.

They also announced that starting Sunday, over 200 soldiers and members of standby security teams will be posted in the city to ensure the safetey of the public and the schools.

During Hamas’ decade and a half controlling Gaza the terrorist group acted to turn every aspect of Gaza into a lever of its terror state. That meant tunneling under universities and hospitals and moving weapons into civilian homes. It also meant creating a police force that served the interests of Hamas.

Today, that police force is in the spotlight because many international organizations that worked in Gaza or deal with humanitarian aid see the Hamas police as “law and order” rather than an extension of a terrorist group that brought war and ruin to Gaza.

The Hamas police story is central to the current issues affecting Gaza. For instance, there are many reports of a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. Hamas and many organizations that have worked with Hamas over the last decades have often claimed there is a humanitarian crisis in Gaza in order to win concessions for Hamas so the terror group can continue to rule Gaza.

Hamas believes the suffering of Gazans is in its interests, and it profits off the suffering. However, there is also a very real concern about how the current situation in Gaza could worsen in terms of the humanitarian crisis. Hamas may want the situation to worsen and may be using gunmen or its “police” to make it harder for Gazans to access aid.

This creates a catch-22 in Gaza. The absence of Hamas police is often said to lead to chaos and looting of humanitarian aid. Therefore, the presence of the Hamas members is portrayed as “law and order.” Any defeat of Hamas, therefore, is characterized as ending “law and order.”

We can see how this narrative functions through a recent report at Reuters that claimed that “masked men in Gaza enforce prices.” The men claim they are merely enforcing law and order. However, usually, “law and order” doesn’t need to be enforced by men with masks, sticks, and guns.

The Palestinian Authority has received 407 million shekel ($114 million) from Israel, with more funds on the way in the coming days, following an agreement earlier this month to release frozen tax funds, the Norwegian government said on Thursday.

An Israeli government spokesperson described Palestinian casualties during aid distribution near Gaza City on Thursday as a tragedy and said initial indications were that deaths were caused by delivery drivers plowing into a surging crowd.

"At some point, the trucks were overwhelmed, and the people driving the trucks, which were Gazan civilian drivers, plowed into the crowds of people, ultimately killing, my understanding is, tens of people," spokesperson Avi Hyman told reporters.

"It's obviously a tragedy, but we're not sure of the specifics quite yet."

Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in a three-part disastrous delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians in northern Gaza.

The picture is still far from clear, but according to the IDF, the vast majority of Palestinians were killed while trampling each other to get to around 30 aid trucks around 4:00 a.m.

Hamas, without providing evidence, accused the IDF of committing a "massacre."

The trucks had come from the Keren Shalom and Rafah crossings, traveled along the coastal road to a part of northern Gaza close to Rimal, and then cut into residential areas to make deliveries.

This morning humanitarian aid trucks entered northern Gaza, residents surrounded the trucks and looted the supplies being delivered. As a result of the pushing, trampling and being run over by the trucks, dozens of Gazans were killed and injured.

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 29, 2024

According to the IDF, and with a 100-second satellite video in support, thousands of Palestinians converged on the aid trucks and attempted to take supplies by force.

It is unclear in the video if and when Palestinians trampled each other, though the scene from the satellite footage is extremely chaotic and does show many Palestinians occupying the same space.

The video does not show any firing by the IDF.