Palestinians in the ruins of Gaza in February 2025. Photo: Jaber Jehad Badwen. CC BY-SA 4.0

+ The British-Palestinian writer Selma Dabbagh in the LRB on Israel’s demolition of southern Lebanon:

The Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, said at the beginning of March that the southern suburbs of Beirut “will become like Khan Younis”. What Israel did to Gaza, it is now doing to Lebanon: the indiscriminate bombing of urban centres; the dropping of bunker busters and cluster munitions; the use of white phosphorous in residential areas and the destruction of crops; the land grabbing and efforts to cut off water supplies; the targeting of humanitarian aid workers, rescue workers, health workers and schools.

+ According to Seymour Hersh, Trump is now talking about paying Iran $25 billion to open the Strait of Hormuz, having become disgusted with Netanyahu for luring him into a war that even he now realizes can’t be won:

Trump, in a political panic over the economic fallout from the Iranian blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, is now “talking to Iran,” as an Israeli insider put it, about ending the current impasse in return for a payment from the United States of at least $25 billion, and possibly much more, to the government in Tehran. In return, Iran would end its blockade and open the strait to all traffic, ending a crisis for Trump, the US, and much of the world.

That sounds an awful lot like the “bags of cash” Trump accused Obama and John Kerry of giving the Iranians to seal the nuclear deal.

+ Number of Israeli soldiers sentenced to 30 days in jail for destroying a statue of Jesus: 2

Number of Israeli soldiers jailed for shooting Palestinian children in the head: 0

+ According to a new report from the UN, Israel’s destruction of Gaza has set back human development in the Strip by 77 years. The estimation for the cost of “rebuilding” Gaza has risen to $71 billion.

+ Let’s check out the latest on the “ceasefire” in Gaza, where more than 720 Palestinians have been killed since Trump “ended the war.” Last week, the Israelis killed two UNICEF workers trying to deliver water to parched and desiccated Palestinian families.  Here’s a statement from the UN…

The UN and its partners condemn the killing of two civilian contractors delivering essential water supplies on behalf of UNICEF, who were killed at a water filling point in northern Gaza yesterday.

The incident occurred during routine work to provide lifesaving water to hundreds of thousands of displaced and vulnerable people. Such attacks not only cost lives but also disrupt critical services that communities depend on for survival.

The protection of civilians, including humanitarian workers and essential service providers, is an obligation under humanitarian law and must be upheld.

The UN and its partners call on all parties to take immediate measures to ensure the safety of civilians and humanitarian operations.

+ BERNIE SANDERS: Americans do not want us to continue spending billions of taxpayer dollars in support of the illegal, horrific war policies of Netanyahu.

NEWSMAX: Your reaction?

REP. JOHN ROSE (Moron-TN): As I listen to Sanders’s comments, they border on being antisemitic.