Middle East

Media, US envoys from the Board of Peace met with Hamas members in Cairo

Israel: 'Displaced people in Lebanon will not return until we are safe'. Since 7 October the number of victims in the West Bank is 1,045

16 March 2026

I palestinesi piangono la morte di quattro membri della famiglia Odeh, uccisi nella loro auto dalle forze di sicurezza israeliane durante un'operazione militare a Tammun, in Cisgiordania

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Key points

Israel: "Displaced in Lebanon will not return until we are safe"
The situation in the West Bank
Patriarch of Jerusalem Pizzaballa: "The situation is dramatic"

4' min read

Translated by AI

Versione italiana

Envoys of US President Donald Trump who are part of the Board of Peace met with Hamas representatives in Cairo in an attempt to safeguard the ceasefire in Gaza. This was reported by the Israeli media citing Reuters. The meeting, which took place over the weekend, is the first known between the Tehran-backed group and the Trump-led council since the start of the US-Israeli Iran war. After the meeting, Israel announced (in the evening of Sunday 15 March) that it will soon reopen the crossing between Gaza and Egypt, closed since 28 February.

One of the sources reported that the Trump Board was represented at the talks with Hamas by Aryeh Lightstone, an American aide to Special Envoy Steve Witkoff. Further meetings are expected later in the week. A US official said Lightstone had attended meetings in Cairo in recent days but without confirming whether he met directly with the Hamas delegation. Hamas declined to comment.

Israel: 'Displaced in Lebanon will not return until we are safe'

Meanwhile, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz, after an assessment meeting with top military brass, said that "hundreds of thousands of Shia residents of southern Lebanon, who have evacuated or are evacuating their homes, will not return to the area south of the Litani River until the safety of the residents of northern Israel is guaranteed" of Israel. The Times of Israel reports that. "The Israel Defence Forces (IDF) initiated a ground manoeuvre in Lebanon to eliminate threats and protect the inhabitants of the Galilee and the north," he added, stressing that he and Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu had ordered the military to destroy "terrorist" infrastructure near the border to prevent Hezbollah from returning. "Just as was done against Hamas in Rafah, Beit Hanoun and the terror tunnels in Gaza," he concluded.

Libano, il confine che brucia

EU allocates 458 million aid

Meanwhile, the European Union has announced that it will allocate up to EUR 458 million in humanitarian aid to the populations of Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon and Syria in 2026.

'We will provide EUR 458 million in humanitarian aid to support the populations of Palestine, Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt,' reads a statement.

Of this sum,€210 million will go to Syria, €124 million to Palestine, €100 million to Lebanon, €15.5 million to Jordan and €8 million to Egypt.

Egypt: 'Accelerate handover of powers to Gaza Committee'

Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty spoke with Palestinian Vice-President Hussein Al-Sheikh over the phone, calling for an acceleration of the empowerment of the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza so that it can assume its responsibilities from inside the Strip. "This is a crucial step for the management of the transitional phase and the consolidation of the ceasefire in the Strip," the Egyptian minister said, "to ultimately enable the Palestinian National Authority to fully assume its responsibilities in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank."

Abdelatty then reiterated Egypt's 'unwavering support for the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people' and his condemnation of Israel's recent annexations of areas of the West Bank, which he called 'a clear violation of international law and resolutions of international legitimacy, in particular UN Security Council Resolution 2334'.

Egypt still looks to the two-state solution, the minister added, condemning 'the continued closure of the Al-Aqsa Mosque to worshippers by the occupation authorities', and 'any measure that alters the historical and legal status quo of the holy sites in East Jerusalem'.

The situation in the West Bank

A Palestinian couple and their two small children were killed by Israeli army gunfire in the north of the West Bank. This was announced by the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

The Palestinian Red Crescent also reported recovering the bodies of two adults and two children inside a vehicle that Israeli forces opened fire at, in the village of Tammoun.

Contacted by the France Presse news agency, the Israeli army said it was examining information about the incident. "Four martyrs from the same family arrived at the Turkish public hospital in Tubas after the occupation army fired at them in Tammoun," the Ramallah-based Palestinian Ministry of Health said in a statement. The hospital received the bodies, all with gunshot wounds, of the man (37), the woman (35) and the two children, aged five and seven, the same source specified.

The other two children of the couple, aged eight and eleven, were injured by shrapnel, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, adding that Israeli forces had opened fire at their vehicle in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Gaza, attacco israeliano uccide 4 persone: tra loro 2 bambini e una donna incinta

In recent days, the West Bank has seen an increase in deadly attacks, mostly carried out by Israeli settlers. At least five Palestinians have been killed since the beginning of March, according to the Palestinian authorities and the UN. In November, the Israeli army launched an operation against armed Palestinian groups in the north of the West Bank, particularly in the areas around Tubas.

The violence in this Palestinian territory, occupied by Israel since 1967, has increased sharply since the attack by Hamas against Israel on 7 October 2023 that triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. The clashes continued despite a cessate-the-fire that went into effect on 10 October in Gaza.

According to a count by the France-Presse news agency based on data from the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least 1,045 Palestinians, including many fighters but also civilians, have been killed by soldiers or Israeli settlers in the West Bank since the beginning of the war in Gaza. At least 45 Israelis, civilians and soldiers, have been killed in the same region in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations, according to official Israeli figures.

Patriarch of Jerusalem Pizzaballa: 'The situation is dramatic'

"Gaza is no longer talked about but, from a humanitarian point of view, the situation is dramatic. Two million people are displaced and deprived of everything. Eighty per cent of the Strip is destroyed and reconstruction has not yet begun, there is a lack of medicines, even basic antibiotics". This was said by the Cardinal of Jerusalem, Pierbattista Pizzaballa, in a video link-up with the Oasis foundation.

Una tempesta di sabbia si abbatte su Gaza, l'ennesimo dramma per gli sfollati palestinesi

"The schools are almost all destroyed and only some of the children manage to go to school thanks to initiatives by Unicef and other organisations. It is a situation that remains very difficult with the borders practically closed," the high prelate added. "The Board of Peace is not operational, we don't know if it will become operational. And I don't understand what it wants to do," he concluded.