Wednesday, February 14, 2024
17:10 GMT — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has prevented his country's delegation from returning to Egypt to attend a 4-day meeting for a proposed hostage swap deal with Hamas, according to local media.
"Netanyahu did not allow the negotiating team to return to Egypt on Thursday to continue talks on a hostage deal," Israeli Channel 12 reported.
"Netanyahu believes that Hamas must accept the terms set by Israel for making progress," the broadcaster said.
16:16 GMT — France's Macron tells Netanyahu Gaza offensive must 'cease'
French President Emmanuel Macron told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that the Gaza death toll was "intolerable" and Israel's offensive there "must cease", the Elysee said.
In a telephone call, Macron expressed France's "firm opposition" to an Israeli offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and stressed that a ceasefire agreement should be reached "without further delay", his office said.
He also said it was imperative to open "all the crossing points" into Gaza in order to deliver aid to the Palestinian territory, his office added.
16:15 GMT — Israel destroys Doctors Worldwide clinic in Gaza
A clinic of the Doctors Worldwide in Gaza was destroyed in the attacks of the Israeli army, the association has said in a statement on X.
Since 2015, Doctors Worldwide has been providing health services to the region in the city centre of Gaza, it added, noting that the clinic was destroyed as a result of the Israeli attacks since Oct. 7.
The clinic was evacuated after the start of the Israeli attacks, while the team continues to serve in the south of Gaza at Kuwait Hospital, the statement also said.
15:35 GMT — Top Palestinian diplomat pushes to prevent 'imminent' Israeli attack on Gaza's Rafah
The Palestinian foreign minister has said that efforts were underway to prevent an “imminent” Israeli attack on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza and at the same time accused Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of seeking to extend the war for his political benefit.
Riyad al Malki urged the international community to "stand firm" and "act responsibly" to end the war. He also said there's “collective responsibility” to prevent the war from either dragging on or expanding to the occupied West Bank or neighbouring states like Lebanon.
"We are looking at ways how to prevent that attack on Rafah," Al Malki said after talks with his Greek Cypriot counterpart Constantinos Kombos. “Netanyahu is ... determined that he wants to continue the war for his personal career."
15:30 GMT — Russia 'alarmed' by Israeli plans to expand military operation to Rafah
Russia is "extremely alarmed by Israeli statements about the planned expansion of its military operation to the city of Rafah, southern Gaza, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said.
The implementation of this "dangerous scenario" will lead to "a catastrophic scale of the humanitarian disaster," Zakharova told a press briefing in Moscow.
"It is necessary to do everything possible to prevent such a development of events and our common task is to stop the bloodshed as soon as possible and ensure conditions for establishing sustainable channels of humanitarian assistance to the population of the enclave," she stressed.
15:04 GMT — Ceasefire in Gaza 'is our priority' to deliver aid — Erdogan
It is Ankara's priority to establish a ceasefire as soon as possible to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza without any obstacles, Türkiye's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said.
In a joint news conference after talks with President Abdel Fattah el Sisi in Cairo, Erdogan said the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza topped the agenda of their talks, adding that Türkiye will continue to cooperate and stand in solidarity with its "Egyptian brothers to stop the bloodshed in Gaza".
Forced depopulation of Gaza is "unacceptable", he added.
14:16 GMT — Israel’s Netanyahu seeks to prosecute journalists publishing cabinet leaks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seeks to prosecute journalists who publish details from security cabinet meetings without approval by the military censor.
According to the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, Netanyahu's office wants to make it illegal to publish any leaked information unless it is approved first by the military censor.
"A journalist will not be granted immunity unless he obtains approval from the censor for publishing," the broadcaster said.
14:14 GMT — WHO chief concerned over Israel's orders to evacuate Nasser Hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis city
The World Health Organization (WHO) chief has expressed deep concern over Israel's orders to evacuate the Nasser Hospital, the main hospital in Khan Younis city in Gaza, which has been used as a shelter by Palestinians and is currently under Israeli siege.
"Civilians killed, orders to evacuate people seeking shelter, the northern wall demolished: I am alarmed by what is reportedly happening at Nasser Medical Complex in #Gaza after being under siege for around a week," WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on X.
Attacks have reportedly destroyed storage facilities for medical equipment and supplies, he said, adding, "access to the hospital remains obstructed — there is no safe corridor for those in need."
13:45 GMT — Israeli strikes in south Lebanon kill four civilians: security source
Israeli strikes in south Lebanon have killed four civilians including two children and wounded nine other people, a Lebanese security source said after Israel announced it "began a series of strikes in Lebanon".
"A woman was killed along with her child and her stepchild in a strike that targeted Sawwaneh," while a fourth civilian was killed in a strike on a building in Adshit, the security source told AFP, requesting anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
13:20 GMT — US says its forces launch strike on missile in Houthi-controlled part of Yemen
US Central Command (CENTCOM) has said its forces launched a strike on a cruise missile that was about to be fired at ships in the Red Sea from an area of Yemen controlled by the Iranian-linked Houthi group.
12:13 GMT — Palestinian official 'optimistic' about ICJ's ruling on Israeli occupation
A Palestinian official has sounded optimistic about International Court of Justice (ICJ)'s advisory opinion in favour of Palestine regarding the nature of the Israeli occupation.
"The ICJ actions are consistent with international law," Omar Awadallah, a senior official in the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, said.
"An ICJ verdict will give us new powers to hold states responsible for Israel's actions," he added.
11:58 GMT — Israel 'begins series' of air strikes in Lebanon: military
The Israeli military has said its fighter jets "began a series of strikes in Lebanon", raising fears of a war between the two countries after months of cross-border fire.
The military gave no further details of the air strikes, while Lebanese media reported three villages were hit.
The strikes came hours after fire from Lebanon wounded multiple people in northern Israel, according to medics.
11:28 GMT — Israeli army forces displaced Palestinians to leave Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis
The Israeli army has forced thousands of Palestinians who were seeking refuge in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, to leave.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu reporter that the Israeli army ordered the displaced people to leave the hospital under the Israeli soldiers' fire.
The army ordered the displaced people to leave the hospital in one queue and head toward the eastern areas of Khan Younis.
11:26 GMT — Rocket attack on Israeli town near border with Lebanon causes casualties
The Israeli military says a rocket attack has wounded eight people in the northern town of Safed, not far from the border with Lebanon.
Israeli media reported that a woman was killed in the attack, but the military did not immediately confirm the reports.
The town, around 12 kilometres (7 miles) from the border is farther south than most of the daily border skirmishes with Lebanon’s Hezbollah.
11:25 GMT — WHO warns assault on Gaza's Rafah would be an 'unfathomable catastrophe'
The World Health Organization has warned that an Israeli military offensive against Rafah in southern Gaza would cause an "unfathomable catastrophe" and push the enclave's health system closer to the brink of collapse.
"Military activities in this area, this densely populated area, would be, of course, an unfathomable catastrophe... and would even further expand the humanitarian disaster beyond imagination," said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
"It will also increase the burden on a completely overburdened... health system on its knees and increase the trauma burden and it would push the health system closer to the brink of collapse," Peeperkorn said.
11:04 GMT — Abbas urges Hamas, to agree on Gaza truce 'quickly'
Palestine's President Mahmud Abbas has pressed Hamas to agree a Gaza deal quickly to avoid "dire consequences", the official Palestinian news agency reported.
"We call on the Hamas movement to quickly complete a prisoner deal, to spare our Palestinian people from the calamity of another catastrophic event with dire consequences, no less dangerous than the Nakba of 1948," Abbas said, referring to the war accompanying the creation of Israel which saw 760,000 Palestinians flee or forced from their homes.
09:31 GMT — Death toll in Israel's deadly Gaza onslaught hits 28,576
The death toll in the Israel-besieged Palestinian territory of Gaza has reached a devastating 28,576, with an additional 103 lives lost in the past 24 hours alone as Tel Aviv intensifies its bombardment, the health ministry in Gaza has said.
Israel's war on Gaza, which started on October 7, has left 68,291 others wounded, highlighting the widespread impact and humanitarian crisis unfolding in Gaza.
08:33 GMT — Turkish military aircraft delivers humanitarian aid to Gaza
Turkish military aircraft carrying medical humanitarian aid from Türkiye to the besieged Gaza, including 12 expert doctors and nurses, arrived at Al Arish, Egypt, near Gaza.
After the much-needed humanitarian aid is delivered to Palestinians in Gaza, who have been suffering under Israeli restrictions on supplies of necessities, a group of Gazan patients and children needing treatment unavailable in the besieged enclave, accompanied by healthcare workers, will be transported by plane to Ankara.
08:32 GMT — Families of Gaza hostages to appeal to ICC against Hamas
About 100 representatives of Gaza hostages flew to The Hague to file a complaint at the International Criminal Court against Hamas.
Palestinian resistance group led by Hamas took around 250 hostages during their operation on Israel on October 7, of which some 130 are still held captive in Gaza, according to Israeli officials.
Twenty-nine of them are believed to be dead.
08:09 GMT — Israeli forces raid several cities across occupied West Bank
The Israeli army has raided several cities and areas across the occupied West Bank to arrest Palestinians.
Eyewitnesses told Anadolu that the Israeli army raided the cities of Ramallah, Qalqilya, Tubas, Al Khalil, Nablus, Jenin and other areas, and stormed into homes to arrest Palestinians.
In Tubas city, the Israeli army stormed into several homes, triggering clashes with Palestinians, eyewitnesses said.
In Qalqilya city, the raid continued for several hours and live bullets were used to suppress Palestinians who confronted. At least, three Palestinians were arrested by the Israeli army from the city.
Several arrests were also reported in Nablus and Tulkarem cities, according to the eyewitnesses. There have been no reported casualties on the Palestinian side so far.
07:48 GMT — Israeli army snipers kill three Palestinians Inside Gaza Hospital
Three Palestinians were killed inside a besieged hospital in Khan Younis, south of Gaza, by Israeli army snipers, the Palestinian health ministry said.
"Three people have been martyred and 10 others injured inside the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis [...] by bullets of the Israeli snipers since yesterday evening," said Ashraf al Qudra, the Health Ministry spokesman, in a statement.
Late on Tuesday, the Israeli army ordered all displaced Palestinians to evacuate the hospital, and allowed medical staff and patients to stay. Eyewitness accounts, however, suggest that the Israeli army continues to open fire on those who try to leave the hospital.
05:32 GMT - Jordan's king reiterates calls for ceasefire during US visit
Jordan's King Abdullah II affirmed the necessity of ending Israel's war on besieged Gaza and protecting civilians during a visit to the US.
"The international community, especially influential countries, must play their role in preventing the escalation of the conflict in the region,'' King Abdullah said during a meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in the capital, Washington, DC, according to a statement by the royal court.
He reiterated Jordan's ''full rejection of any attempts [by Israel] to displace Palestinians from their land, reoccupy parts of Gaza, or to establish buffer zones therein,'' the statement added.
04:50 GMT - UNRWA faces impending halt to operations in Gaza due to funding crisis: official
The European representative of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees [UNRWA] issued a stark warning about its operations in besieged Gaza, saying that unless funding decisions are reversed, it will be forced to halt its activities in a matter of weeks.
Highlighting the dire situation in the city of Rafah in the south of the blockaded Palestinian enclave, Marta Lorenzo, director of the UNRWA Representative Office for Europe, emphasised that the suspension of funding from certain countries has left UNRWA on the brink of closure in besieged Gaza.
Drawing attention to the plight of Palestinians grappling with hunger and disease while being trapped in the south, Lorenzo underscored the urgent need for effective humanitarian assistance, citing a recent decision by the International Court of Justice [ICJ] in The Hague, the Netherlands, calling for immediate action.
04:22 GMT - Anadolu to host panel probing Israeli war crimes in Gaza through lens of int’l law
Anadolu will host a panel next week that will discuss war crimes committed by Israel, which will be analysed through the lens of international criminal law.
The panel, titled "Genocide in Gaza: New Evidence," will be held at Anadolu's headquarters in the capital, Ankara and will extensively examine all dimensions of the case at the International Court of Justice [ICJ] in The Hague, the Netherlands.
Additionally, new evidence of war crimes in besieged Gaza following ICJ rulings will be disclosed to the public during the event.
For our live updates from Tuesday, February 13, click here.
