Saturday, March 9, 2024
13:03 GMT — At least 82 Palestinians have been killed and 122 others injured in the last 24 hours as Israel continues its onslaught on the besieged Gaza, the territory's Health Ministry said.
“The Israeli occupation committed 10 massacres against families in Gaza, leaving 82 martyrs and 122 injured during the past 24 hours,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the statement said.
“72 percent of victims of the Israeli aggression on Gaza are children and women,” it added.
12:08 GMT — Türkiye dispatched 40,000 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Gaza
Türkiye has dispatched some 40,000 tonnes of humanitarian assistance to Gaza through 19 aircraft and seven civilian aid vessels so far, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced.
Another vessel belonging to the Turkish Red Crescent, carrying 3,000 tonnes of aid and dispatched a day earlier, is expected to reach Egypt's Al Arish port on Sunday, Erdogan told the general assembly meeting of the Istanbul-based Knowledge Dissemination Foundation.
“We will increase the amount of aid throughout the (Muslim holy) month of Ramadan,” he added.
11:50 GMT — Sweden resumes aid to UN agency for Palestinians
Sweden has said it was resuming aid to the cash-strapped UN agency for Palestinians with an initial disbursement of $20 million after receiving assurances of extra checks on its spending and personnel.
Like several other countries, Sweden suspended aid to UNRWA after Israel accused about a dozen of its employees of involvement in the October 7 Hamas attack that sparked the conflict in Gaza.
"The government has allocated 400 million kronor to UNRWA for the year 2024. Today's decision concerns a first payment of 200 million kronor," the Swedish government said in a statement.
11:37 GMT — US denies its plane involved in airdrop aid incident in Gaza, resulting in five Palestinians’ deaths
The US has denied involvement in the killing of five Palestinians who were waiting for much-needed humanitarian aid when several parachutes dropped from a plane failed to open northwest of Gaza City on Friday.
“We are aware of reports of civilians killed as a result of humanitarian airdrops,” US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
“Contrary to some reports, this was not the result of US airdrops,” it added.
11:23 GMT — US-led coalition shoots down 15 Yemen rebel drones: CENTCOM
US and allied forces have shot down 15 one-way attack drones fired by Iran-backed Houthis into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the US military said.
It was one of the Houthis' largest attacks since they began in November a campaign of drone and missile strikes against ships in the Red Sea area, vital for world trade, in solidarity with Palestinians during Israel's war in Gaza.
The US Central Command, or CENTCOM, said the "large-scale" Houthi attack occurred before dawn into the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.
11:12 GMT — US war destroyers targeted at Red Sea and Gulf of Aden: Houthis
Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis have targeted US bulk carrier Propel Fortune in the Gulf of Aden, the group's military spokesman Yahya Sarea said in a televised speech.
The spokesman also said they targeted "a number of US war destroyers at the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden with 37 drones"
11:00 GMT — Aid ship set to sail to Gaza on new corridor: US charity
A US charity has loaded aid for Gaza onto a boat in Greek-administered Cyprus, the first shipment to the enclave along a maritime corridor the EU Commission hopes will open this weekend.
The Spanish-flagged vessel Open Arms docked three weeks ago in the port of Larnaca in Greek-administered Cyprus, the closest European Union country to Gaza.
"World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid onto a boat headed to northern Gaza," the charity said in a statement.
10:45 GMT — Gaza 'heavy burden on conscience' of world: Türkiye
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan has said that a permanent ceasefire has to be reached in Gaza and the door should be opened to a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel.
"It has become an indispensable responsibility to end this great tragedy and massacre experienced by our brothers in Gaza, as soon as possible and to ensure that concrete steps are taken towards this end," Fidan told Turkish reporters at a news conference in Washington.
"This is not only a heavy burden on the conscience, but also appears to be a fuse that will mobilise and ignite the countries' own societies in an unexpected way," he said.
10:24GMT — Beirut rally at UN Women headquarters supports Gaza
Dozens of Lebanese and Palestinian activists have protested in front of the UN Women's Office in Beirut and denounced the “negligent stance” by the organisation toward people in Gaza, who have been facing an Israeli onslaught, according to an Anadolu correspondent.
The protest coincided with the annual International Women's Day and was in response to calls by activists on social media platforms.
Demonstrators chanted: “Lift the siege on Gaza”, “Freedom, freedom, freedom” and “Stop fire now” to demand freedom for Gaza, lifting the siege on it and an immediate cease-fire.
10:15 GMT — Rallies in Morocco, Tunisia, Mauritania held in support of Palestinians in Gaza
Rallies have been held in Morocco, Tunisia and Mauritania in support of Palestinians in Gaza who are experiencing a devastating Israeli onslaught for more than five months.
Anadolu reported several rallies in the Moroccan cities of Tangier, Casablanca and Oujda.
The rallies marked International Women's Day and highlighted the steadfastness of women in Gaza in the face of the Israeli occupation.
10:10 GMT — Relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza block highway, burn tires to demand deal for captives
Relatives of Israeli hostages in Gaza have blocked the highway between the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, demanding the government to reach an immediate deal to exchange hostages with Hamas.
“Relatives of the prisoners in Gaza closed the highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and sat inside cages demanding the immediate return of the hostages,” the Israeli Channel 12 reported.
They chanted, “the government's life is not at the expense of the hostages.”
09:22 GMT —The UN special rapporteur on the right to food has stressed that aid airdrops will not lessen the hunger in Gaza.
"You use airdrops as a measure of last resort when you're desperate. It is incredibly expensive and ineffective," Michael Fakhri said at a meeting in Geneva with the Association of Accredited Correspondents at the UN (ACANU).
"The amount that was airdropped will do very little to alleviate hunger, malnutrition and do nothing to slow down famine," he said.
"Also, it can create chaos. You're throwing aid into people who have been starving and have been denied humanitarian access. This will create chaos predictably."
09:10 GMT — Expanding Israeli settlements a 'war crime': UN
Expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories constitutes "a war crime" and risks eliminating any likelihood of a viable Palestinian state, the UN rights chief has warned.
Volker Turk said there had been a drastic acceleration in Israeli illegal settlement building in the occupied West Bank as it wages a relentless war in the Palestinian territory of Gaza.
The UN high commissioner for human rights said creating and expanding settlements amounted to the transfer by Israel of its own civilian population into occupied territories.
05:00 GMT — Biden says Gaza ceasefire by Ramadan 'looking tough'
US President Joe Biden has said that it would be "tough" to secure a ceasefire in Israel's war on Gaza by the holy month of Ramadan.
"It's looking tough," Biden told reporters when asked if a deal to halt the five-month-old war could be achieved by Ramadan, which is due to start as early as Sunday depending on the sighting of the Moon.
Biden added that "I sure am" worried about the possibility of violence in Israeli-occupied East Jerusalem as Ramadan approaches, adding to a similar warning earlier this week.
04:15 GMT — Terror-preacher rabbi incites Jews to commit genocide
A terror-preacher Israeli rabbi has urged the mass killings of women and children in the besieged Gaza and said he considered it a response to the teachings of halakha, or Jewish law.
Eliyahu Mali was seen making the alarming comments in a video that was widely circulated on social media.
Mali heads the extremist Shirat Moshe school in Jaffa in central Israel, where students serve in the army.
03:30 GMT — More children in Gaza die of malnutrition, dehydration
Three more children have died in besieged Gaza from malnutrition and dehydration.
The children died in the Al-Shifa Hospital and the deaths bring the number of children who have died from malnutrition in Gaza to 23 since October 7, according to authorities.
Most of the children died in hospitals in the north which is reeling under a severe siege by Israel.
03:00 GMT — Protestor disrupts Washington mayor's speech
A protestor calling for a ceasefire in Gaza has disrupted Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser's speech during a ceremony for an arts festival.
Running towards the podium as Bowser was delivering remarks at the event for the start of the Artomatic arts festival in the US capital, the protestor chanted "DC artists are against apartheid".
"Here we go," Bowser said when she saw the protestor running towards her. Security stopped the protestor from reaching the mayor.
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