Morning Briefing: March 19, 2025

ISTANBUL

Here’s a rundown of all the news you need to start your Wednesday with, including Israel's resumption of its genocidal war in Gaza, Ukraine's support for a ceasefire on energy infrastructure, and a phone call between US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin.

TOP STORIES

• Children among Palestinians killed in fresh Israeli strikes in Gaza

Children were among those killed and injured in new Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, according to medics.

A medical source said children were among six Palestinians who lost their lives when a fighter jet hit a vehicle in the Al-Salateen neighborhood in northern Gaza.

Airstrikes on Gaza City’s northern areas left multiple casualties, with the wounded taken to Al-Ahli Arab Hospital, said witnesses.

The Israeli army pounded Gaza early Tuesday, killing at least 404 people, injuring hundreds and breaking a ceasefire agreement that took effect on Jan. 19.

• Zelenskyy says he supports 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure announced by Putin, Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said he will support a 30-day ceasefire on energy infrastructure announced earlier in the day by the Russian and US presidents following their phone call.

"We have always maintained the position of not attacking the energy sector with any weapons," said Zelenskyy, speaking at a news conference in Kyiv.

He also confirmed another war prisoner exchange, with 175 servicemen to be exchanged from each side, saying he was briefed on the matter by the Ukrainian intelligence services.

On the situation in Russia’s Kursk region, Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian troops continue to fight there and he will not give an order to retreat, adding: "For now, we need this operation."

• Trump, Putin agree war in Ukraine 'needs to end with a lasting peace,' White House says

US President Donald Trump and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin agreed that Russia’s war on Ukraine "needs to end with a lasting peace," the White House said after the leaders concluded a lengthy phone call.

"This conflict should never have started and should have been ended long ago with sincere and good faith peace efforts. The leaders agreed that the movement to peace will begin with an energy and infrastructure ceasefire, as well as technical negotiations on implementation of a maritime ceasefire in the Black Sea, full ceasefire and permanent peace," the executive mansion said in a statement issued after the presidents spoke for over two hours.

"These negotiations will begin immediately in the Middle East," it added.

Trump and Putin also agreed on the need to improve bilateral ties, affirming that doing so would have "huge upside," including economic agreements "and geopolitical stability when peace has been achieved."

NEWS IN BRIEF

• On Israel’s latest attacks on the Gaza Strip which claimed the lives of more than 400 people, Türkiye’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that Tel Aviv will account for “every drop of blood it shed.”
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel’s renewed attacks in the Gaza Strip are “just the beginning,” warning that future negotiations will occur “under fire.”
• German Chancellor Olaf Scholz welcomed Russia's agreement for a limited ceasefire in Ukraine, saying that halting attacks on energy infrastructure could be the first step toward a lasting peace.
• A SpaceX Dragon capsule carrying NASA astronauts Sunita Williams and Barry “Butch” Wilmore safely splashed down off the coast of Florida after they spent more than nine months aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
• The Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power) Party led by far-right lawmaker Itamar Ben-Gvir will rejoin the Israeli government, said Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party.
• The Israeli army said it intercepted a missile fired from Yemen before it breached Israel’s airspace.
• Palestinian envoy to the UN Riyad Mansour issued a passionate plea for action from the Security Council following a resumption of deadly Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip.
• Nigerian President Bola Tinubu declared a state of emergency in the oil-rich region of Rivers State following a prolonged political crisis and governance paralysis.
• The UN relief chief reported that the Gaza Strip's "worst fears materialized" as Israel unexpectedly renewed deadly airstrikes on the Palestinian enclave.
• France's president said the nation will increase its orders for Rafale fighter jets amid efforts across Europe to boost its defense in case the US scales back its presence or withdraws from the continent.
• The UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) chief denounced Israel's deadly airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, which resulted in "the largest single-day child death toll in the last year.”
• Arab countries strongly condemned renewed Israeli airstrikes that killed hundreds in the Gaza Strip.
• Germany's lower house of parliament approved constitutional changes to enable significant funding for defense and infrastructure.
• China urged against escalation in Gaza amid renewed bombing by Israel, expressing hope for the continuation and implementation of the ceasefire agreement.
• Taiwan plans to expand and deepen cooperation with the US in the future, a Defense Ministry Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) said, according to the Taipei Times English language newspaper.
• Hamas said it did not reject a proposal from US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of resuming a genocidal onslaught on the Gaza Strip to sabotage a ceasefire agreement.
• The Somali government announced that an explosion in Mogadishu was an attempt on the president’s life by al-Shabaab terrorists.

BUSINESS & ECONOMY

• Fitch cuts global economic growth forecasts

US-based credit agency Fitch lowered its global GDP growth forecast to 2.3% for 2025, down 0.3 percentage points.

"The new US administration has started a global trade war that will reduce US and world growth, push up US inflation and delay Federal Reserve rate cuts," Fitch said.

"These rates are well below trend and down from almost 3% annual growth in 2023 and 2024,” it said.

• Putin says total of over 28,000 sanctions imposed on Russia

Russian President Vladimir Putin said a total of more than 28,000 sanctions have been imposed by the West on Moscow.

“The Finance Ministry has counted, and I can tell you for sure...(that there have been) 28,595 sanctions against individuals and legal entities,” Putin said in an address to the 34th congress of the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs held in Moscow.

It seems that those imposing the sanctions have “lost count of how many restrictions they have imposed and against whom,” he said, adding that this figure is more than the total number of “all the sanctions against all countries” in the world.