Tuesday, February 27, 2024
18:44 GMT –– The UN pointed to the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza, saying that none of its humanitarian aid convoys had reached northern Gaza since January 23.
UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) "colleagues remind us that none of our humanitarian convoys have been able to reach northern part of Gaza since January 23. As you heard yesterday from the commissioner general (Philippe Lazzarini), there's been a sharp decrease in the amount of delivery of aid into Gaza," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told a press briefing.
Stressing the need for more entry points and safe routes into Gaza, Dujarric said the UNRWA has food supplies at the border with Gaza that would be able to provide for up to 2.2 million people across Gaza.
"Almost 1,000 trucks carrying 15,000 metric tonnes of food are in Egypt ready to move," he added.
17:50 GMT –– Two babies die of malnutrition in northern Gaza amid Israeli siege
Two babies died of malnutrition in northern Gaza amid an Israeli blockade, the Palestinian Health Ministry in the enclave said.
The infants lost their lives at Kamal Adwan Hospital in the city of Beit Lahia, the ministry added in a statement.
"Dehydration and malnutrition threaten the lives of thousands of children and pregnant women in the Gaza Strip," the ministry warned.
It appealed to international institutions to conduct a thorough medical assessment in shelter centres to identify and treat people affected by drought and malnutrition "to avert a humanitarian catastrophe" in Gaza.
"UN agencies have ethical and functional responsibilities to protect children and women, and to provide all means of survival from the famine striking the Gaza Strip,'' the statement said.
17:44 GMT –– Yemen's Houthis deny Israeli claims they targeted underwater communications cables
Yemen’s Houthis dismissed Israeli allegations that they had targeted submarine communications cables in the Red Sea.
Israeli financial daily Globes reported that four underwater communications cables between Saudi Arabia and Djibouti have been taken out of commission due to Houthi attacks.
The Houthi-run Communications Ministry said the Yemeni group is committed "to ensuring the safety of all communication cables and their services." It pledged to facilitate the repair and maintenance of the cables upon acquiring necessary permits from Houthi-run authorities.
17:40 GMT –– US airman becomes 'immortal' for self-immolation Gaza protest: Hamas
Hamas said a US airman who died after setting himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington would "remain immortal" for his shocking anti-war protest.
Footage of the self-immolation was widely shared online, and the Palestinian resistance group said it was "an expression of the growing state of anger among the American people" over the Israeli war on Gaza.
The airman "will remain immortal in the memory of our Palestinian people and the free people of the world, and a symbol of the spirit of global human solidarity with our people and their just cause," Hamas said in a statement.
In the footage of Sunday's protest, the military fatigues-wearing man declares he will "not be complicit in genocide" before dousing himself in liquid, lighting himself on fire and yelling "Free Palestine!" until he collapses. His death was announced on Monday.
17:25 GMT –– 'I'm a Zionist,' says Biden, calls for peace efforts in Gaza
President Joe Biden has reiterated that he is a Zionist and said Israel must take advantage of an opportunity to have peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians.
"You need not be a Jew to be a Zionist. I'm a Zionist. Where there's no Israel, there's not a Jew in the world to be safe," Biden said on an appearance on "Late Night With Seth Meyers" on NBC late Monday.
"But here's the deal. They also have to take advantage of an opportunity to have peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians who are being used as pawns by Hamas," he said.
15:42 GMT –– US announces $53M in new Palestinian aid, urges access
The United States announced another $53 million in humanitarian assistance for Palestinians as the US aid chief pleaded for protections to relief workers in war-ravaged Gaza.
Announcing the aid in a video from Jordan, USAID Administrator Samantha Power said the new assistance "has to reach people in need." "The aid workers who on the ground in Gaza are risking their lives to get food to people in desperate, desperate need –– those aid workers have to be protected," she said.
"They have to know they can do their jobs without being shot at and killed," she said, without naming either Israel or Hamas, which controls Gaza.
15:11 GMT –– Israeli army kills four Palestinians in occupied West Bank
The Israeli army killed four Palestinians in the occupied northern West Bank, Palestine's Health Ministry has said.
Witnesses told Anadolu news agency that Israeli forces raided Tubas and the Al Faraa refugee camp and clashed with Palestinians.
Three people were killed and three others wounded by Israeli gunfire at the refugee camp, the ministry said. Another Palestinian was killed by Israeli army fire near the town of Al Sawahra in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society said.
15:09 GMT –– France denounces Israeli minister over illegal settlements
France termed “unacceptable” remarks by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called for the approval of plans to construct 3,300 new housing units in several illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank.
"France reiterates its condemnation of the settlement policy, illegal under international law, and once again calls on the Israeli authorities to refrain from any new project to create or expand settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry said Israel’s ongoing policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories are akin to colonisation.
"Continuing colonisation is incompatible with the creation of a viable and contiguous Palestinian state. In addition to being a major obstacle to lasting peace, this policy is also a source of violence and tension on the ground," the statement read.
14:52 GMT –– Israeli army, domestic security service warn Al Aqsa Mosque curbs in Ramadan to fuel tensions
The Israeli army and domestic security service Shin Bet have warned that restrictions on Palestinians’ entry to the flashpoint Al Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan will fuel tensions, Israeli local media reported.
"The army and Shin Bet want to re-discuss the issue with (Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu, in an attempt to change his position," Israeli Army Radio said.
14:18 GMT –– Israel: 13 more Israeli soldiers injured in Gaza fighting
The Israeli military said that 13 more soldiers had been injured in clashes in Gaza in the last 24 hours.
Figures released by the army showed that 1,421 soldiers had been wounded since Israel expanded its ground offensive in Gaza on October 27. According to military figures, at least 580 soldiers have been killed and 2,981 others injured since the outbreak of the conflict on October 7.
14:14 GMT –– European diplomatic missions slam Israeli demolitions in occupied Palestine territories
Diplomatic missions of numerous EU members in Jerusalem and Ramallah slammed ongoing Israeli demolitions in the occupied Palestine territories.
Citing the EU spokesperson’s remarks from earlier this month, diplomatic representatives of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Greek Cypriot administration of Southern Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden condemned the demolition of community leader Fakhri Abu Diab's home in Bustan, occupied East Jerusalem.
14:11 GMT –– Israel's aggression in Gaza 'beyond any cruelty I've seen': Norwegian physician
The effects of Israeli aggression and blockades in Gaza are "beyond any cruelty" he has ever seen, even as a doctor of emergency medicine, said a prominent Norwegian physician and humanitarian activist.
"For me, it is enough to see how the Israeli occupation army are starving, thirsting, freezing, bombing, maiming the Palestinian people in Gaza. For me, this is a war crime,” said Dr. Mads Gilbert, head of the emergency medicine department at the University Hospital of North Norway, in Istanbul to attend a symposium on Palestine organized by Ibn Haldun University.
“For me, this is beyond any cruelty that I have seen in my life because it is much more than just the military advances," said Gilbert.
"It is a punishment of the whole people, which is collective punishment, which is illegal,” he stressed. “It's an attack on the civilian population, the women, the children, the elders, all those not carrying weapons, which is illegal. And it is an all-out war against the Palestinian health care system, which is against international law.”
14:10 GMT –– Qatar's emir to discuss Gaza with Macron during a state visit to France
Qatar’s emir begins a state visit to France as his country plays a key role in ongoing diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani is to meet with President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysee presidential palace.
The meeting comes as negotiators from the United States, Egypt and Qatar have been working to broker a ceasefire deal in which Hamas would free some of the dozens of hostages it holds in exchange for Israel's release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week halt in the fighting.
13:57 GMT –– Egyptian air forces carried out an airdrop of humanitarian aid in Gaza, according to local media.
The airdrop was conducted in cooperation with Jordan and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), said state-run Al Qahera News, citing high-level sources. It said 10 tonnes of aid supplies were dropped in northern Gaza.
"Some 45 tonnes of Egyptian humanitarian aid were dropped in the northern and central Gaza, with the participation of the UAE and Jordan," it said.
Egypt "intensifies its efforts by land and air to relieve the stricken areas in the northern Gaza Strip and supply them with urgent aid," said Al Qahera News. It said Egypt plans to air drop 50 tonnes of urgent humanitarian aid in northern and central Gaza, without providing further details.
13:42 GMT –– UN peacekeeping force urges Lebanon's Hezbollah, Israel to halt hostilities
The UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) called on Israel and the Lebanese group Hezbollah to cease hostilities to prevent further escalation along the Lebanese-Israeli border.
In a statement, UNIFIL said a "concerning shift" was reported in exchanges of cross-border fire between Israel and Hezbollah.
"This conflict has already claimed too many lives and caused significant damage to houses and public infrastructure," the peacekeeping force said. "It has jeopardised the livelihoods and changed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians on both sides of the Blue Line. Yet we now see an expansion and intensification of strikes," it added.
13:28 GMT –– Israel 'systematically' blocking Gaza aid access: UN
Israeli forces are "systematically" blocking access to people in need in Gaza, complicating the task of delivering aid in what has become a lawless war zone, the UN said.
It has become nearly impossible to carry out medical evacuations and aid deliveries in northern Gaza and increasingly difficult in the south, said Jens Laerke, spokesman for the United Nations humanitarian agency OCHA.
All planned aid convoys into the north have been denied by Israeli authorities in recent weeks, with the last allowed in on January 23, according to the World Health Organization. Making matters worse, even convoys cleared in advance with Israeli authorities have repeatedly been blocked or come under fire.
13:27 GMT –– Egypt, Iran warn against expanding Gaza conflict
Egypt and Iran warned of the risks of expanding the conflict in the Middle East amid an Israeli offensive on Gaza.
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry held talks with his Iranian counterpart Hossein Amirabdollahian on the sidelines of the High-Level Segment (HLS) of the 55th session of the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
"Egypt is deeply worried about the expansion of the conflict in the region, which portends serious consequences for the security and stability of a number of Arab countries," an Egyptian Foreign Ministry statement quoted Shoukry as saying during the meeting.
"The complexity of the region’s crises casts a shadow over stability for all peoples of the region," he added.
13:16 GMT –– 'Unacceptable security conditions' in Gaza for aid delivery: UN
The recent medical evacuation at Al Amal hospital in Gaza's Khan Younis marks "unacceptable security conditions" for humanitarian aid delivery, the UN Humanitarian Country Team in Palestine said.
"Despite prior coordination for all staff members and vehicles with the Israeli side, the Israeli forces blocked the WHO-led convoy for many hours the moment it left the hospital. The Israeli military forced patients and staff out of ambulances and stripped all paramedics of their clothes," the statement said.
It added that three Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) paramedics were subsequently detained, "although their personal details had been shared with the Israeli forces in advance," while the rest of the convoy stayed in place for "over seven hours."
13:00 GMT –– No breakthrough so far in Gaza ceasefire talks — Qatar
Qatar said that there is no breakthrough in talks for a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.
"So far, the negotiations have not yielded any tangible results," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a press conference in Doha.
"We are upbeat and optimistic to have something today or tomorrow," he added.
The Qatari spokesperson said his country seeks to reach a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, due to start next week. "The situation on the ground, however, is completely different as there are many obstacles," he added, without providing any further details.
Al Ansari said that humanitarian aid flow into Gaza was decreasing, calling for action from the international community to allow access to aid supplies into the Palestinian enclave.
12:31 GMT –– Gaza aid must be doubled to stem crisis: Jordan
Jordan's King Abdullah has said that humanitarian aid to Gaza must be doubled to prevent a deterioration in a hunger crisis affecting over two million people.
The monarch was quoted by state media as telling visiting USAID chief Samantha Power that the international community had to put more pressure on Israel to ease restrictions on the flow of food into the territory.
Jordan is urging its Western allies to lobby Israel to boost the quantities of aid coming from the kingdom via Kerem Shalom on the border of Egypt, Israel and Gaza, beyond the existing Rafah crossing, officials say.
12:29 GMT — Houthis demand Gaza war end for ceasefire in Red Sea attacks
Yemen's Houthi spokesperson has said that the group's operations in the Red Sea, where its missiles and drones have been threatening international shipping, will only stop when Israeli "aggression" on Gaza ends and the siege is lifted.
Asked if the attacks on ships would seize if a ceasefire deal was reached for Gaza, Mohammed Abdulsalam said the situation would be reassessed if the siege ended and humanitarian aid was free to enter.
12:00 GMT — Israel detains 15 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank
The Israeli army on Tuesday detained at least 15 Palestinians from areas across the occupied West Bank, including the arrest of former detainees.
According to a joint statement by the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the new arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli forces since Oct. 7, 2023 to 7,270.
11:20 GMT — Israel troops kill three Palestinians in occupied West Bank raid
Israeli troops have killed three Palestinians in an overnight raid in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry has said.
The ministry added the three men were killed "by Israeli occupation bullets" during clashes in the Faraa refugee camp near the town of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank.
10:15 GMT — Japan to provide $32M additional aid to Gaza
Japan has announced an additional emergency aid of $32 million to the suffering Palestinians, stressing that the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave of Gaza was "dire" and "cannot be overlooked."
"Japan will implement humanitarian assistance in areas such as food and health," said the Japanese Foreign Ministry.
Tokyo will continue to make "persistent and proactive diplomatic efforts to urge all parties to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza and calm down the situation as soon as possible," it said.
09:24 GMT — Palestinian death toll reaches 29,878 in Israel's Gaza war
The health ministry in Gaza has said that at least 29,878 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during Israel's war.
The toll includes at least 96 deaths in the past 24 hours, while 70,215 people have been wounded since the attacks began on October 7, a ministry statement said.
08:53 GMT — Hamas urges European countries to prevent Israeli offensive on Rafah
Hamas has urged the European countries to take measures that prevent the looming Israeli offensive on Rafah, southern Gaza, where about 1.4 million people are taking shelter.
Hamas said that it welcomes statements from European countries but added: "They do not absolve them of their responsibilities in preventing the criminal attack on Rafah especially as those (European) governments continue to supply weapons" to Israel.
Hamas statement urged European countries and the EU "to take practical and serious positions to prevent the Nazi entity from continuing its criminal war against our people."
08:19 GMT — Hezbollah fires new rocket salvo at Israeli base
Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah has said it launched a salvo of rockets at an Israeli air control base in retaliation for deadly Israeli strikes on east Lebanon.
Hamas ally Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily fire with the Israeli army since the Gaza war erupted in October, but strikes have been largely restricted to the border area.
Hezbollah said it targeted the "Meron air control base... with a large salvo of rockets from several launchers".
07:41 GMT — Israel may halt Gaza war for Ramadan with hostage deal — US
President Joe Biden has said Israel would be willing to halt its war on Gaza during the upcoming Muslim fasting month of Ramadan if a deal is reached to release some of the hostages held by Hamas.
Negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar are working on a framework deal under which Hamas would free some of the dozens of hostages it holds, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week halt in fighting.
During the temporary pause, negotiations would continue over the release of the remaining hostages.
07:05 GMT — Indonesia slams UNHRC for ignoring 'double standard' in Gaza
People in the Palestinian besieged enclave of Gaza continue to suffer “because of the double standard, especially in the context of human rights,” the Indonesian foreign minister has told the UN Human Rights Council.
“Human Rights Council should do what it should: to address the gross violation of human rights, including in Gaza,” said Retno Marsudi, addressing the council in Geneva.
Marsudi pointed out that UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk "did not" refer to the situation in Gaza in his opening remarks when the session opened.
06:45 GMT — Hamas studies Paris 40-day truce negotiations with Israel
Palestinian resistance group Hamas has received a draft proposal from Gaza truce talks in Paris which includes a 40-day pause in all military operations and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages at a ratio of 10 to one, a senior source close to the talks told Reuters.
Under the proposed ceasefire, hospitals and bakeries in Gaza would be repaired, 500 aid trucks would enter into the enclave each day and thousands of tents and caravans would be delivered to house the displaced, the source said.
The draft also states Hamas would free 40 Israeli hostages including women, children under 19, elderly over 50 and the sick, while Israeli would release around 400 Palestinian prisoners and will not re-arrest them, the source told Reuters.
06:12 GMT — Israel holds municipal elections delayed by Gaza war
Israelis vote in twice-postponed municipal elections that could offer a gauge of the public mood nearly five months into the war in Gaza.
Soldiers had already turned out over the past week at special polling stations set up in army encampments in Gaza as fighting rages on.
More than seven million people are eligible to cast ballots in the local elections, held across most of Israel, in illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and parts of the annexed Golan Heights.
05:48 GMT — US strikes unmanned vessels, anti-ship missiles in Yemen
US forces have struck three unmanned vessels and two cruise missiles inside Yemen and an attack drone over the Red Sea that posed an "imminent threat" to ships in the area, the military said.
Yemen's Houthis have been targeting shipping for months and their attacks have persisted despite repeated US and British strikes aimed at degrading their ability to threaten a vital global trade route.
05:32 GMT — Israel kills 3 Palestinians in West Bank as Gaza war grinds on
Israeli troops have killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.
The men were killed in incursions on the city of Tubas and the nearby Al-Far’a camp in the occupied West Bank, it said.
At least 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and illegal Jewish settlers since October 7.
05:21 GMT — Severe food insecurity looming in Gaza: Red Cross chief
The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has expressed concern over food security in besieged Gaza.
"A severe food insecurity is looming in Gaza. The risk of hunger is increasing daily, as about 80 percent of the population already faces emergency or catastrophic acute food insecurity conditions," said Jagan Chapagain on X, formerly known as Twitter.
More than a million children and elderly people in shelter centres suffer from the risk of dehydration, digestive and respiratory diseases, skin diseases and anaemia, according to Palestine Red Crescent reports, he added.
04:50 GMT — Biden says Gaza truce imminent while Israel plans Rafah invasion
US President Joe Biden has said he hoped a ceasefire in besieged Gaza could start by the beginning of next week.
Visiting New York, Biden was asked when a ceasefire in the blockaded Palestinian enclave might start, and answered, "My national security advisor tells me that we're close, we're close, we're not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we'll have a ceasefire."
04:20 GMT — Situation in Palestine has 'indisputably' worsened: Spain
The situation in Palestine has "indisputably" worsened over the past 20 years, and resolutions "have failed to establish redress and sanction measures," Spain's delegation to the International Court of Justice [ICJ] said.
Santiago Ripol Carulla, head of the International Legal Office at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented Spain's oral statements in advisory proceedings on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, citing the worsening situation across the territories.
"Once again, 20 years after the Advisory Opinion on the Wall was passed, it is an indisputable reality that the situation in Palestine has worsened," he said, noting that resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly have repeatedly condemned Israel's actions and demanded the cessation of the violations of international law.
03:37 GMT — US hails Palestinian Authority's plan for reform after PM's resignation
The US State Department has welcomed the Palestinian Authority's intention to form a unity government after Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and his government resigned.
"With respect to both the resignation and a future government, ultimately, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority is a question for the Palestinians themselves to decide," spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a press briefing.
"But we do welcome steps for the PA to reform and revitalise itself," said Miller, referring to the initials of the Palestinian Authority.
For our live updates from Monday, February 26, click here.
