Monday, February 5, 2024
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced he is appointing an independent new panel to determine if the UN's Palestine refugee agency (UNRWA) is acting neutrally in its operations, in response to "allegations of serious breaches."
The external review group will be led by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, Guterres said in a statement.
She will work with three research firms in carrying out the probe: the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
16:25 GMT –– Qatar says it will keep funding UNRWA
Meanwhile, Qatar has said it will continue its funding to UNRWA amid the Israeli accusations against the agency.
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani met in Doha with Philippe Lazzarini, the agency's head.
“Qatar will continue its support for UNRWA, whose responsibilities have doubled in light of the current catastrophic humanitarian situation facing Gaza’s innocent civilian population,” he said in statements carried by the state news agency QNA.
“Qatar is keen on continuing the dispatch of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in a sustainable and unhindered manner,” he added.
15:32 GMT –– Israel PM says 'will not accept' Hamas demands over hostages
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said that Palestinian group Hamas presented "demands that we will not accept" over hostages held in Gaza.
Netanyahu, according to a statement from his Likud party, said the terms for the release of remaining captives "should be similar to the previous agreement", which saw a ratio of hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners during a November truce.
14:39 GMT –– Blinken arrives in Riyadh amid heightened Mideast tensions
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has arrived in Saudi Arabia, his first stop in a wider tour of the Middle East amid tensions over Israeli attacks on Gaza and US strikes on Iran-backed militia across Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
Blinken is also set to visit Egypt, Qatar and Israel this week and push to advance the Egyptian- and Qatari-mediated conversations with Hamas to achieve a hostage deal.
14:38 GMT –– French foreign minister calls for permanent cease-fire in Mideast
France’s Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne has called for a permanent cease-fire in the Middle East, following a meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
"For four months now, Gazans have been under bombs and living under an almost total siege. They are deprived of minimal aid that would let them cure their wounds, protect themselves from epidemics, and feed themselves. They cannot leave the enclave of Gaza," Sejourne told a news conference in Jerusalem.
Nothing can justify such a tragedy, Sejourne added, calling on all parties to respect international humanitarian law.
Sejourne also said that Israeli "settler violence must stop" against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
14:21GMT –– Spain to boost funding to UNRWA after donors suspend aid
Spain has said it would give an additional $3.8 million in aid to UNRWA, which is facing a cash crunch after several nations suspended their funding.
"Spain will release an urgent envelope of 3.5 million euros so that UNRWA can maintain its activities in the short term," Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Luis Albares told a parliamentary committee.
"UNRWA's situation is desperate and there is a serious risk that its humanitarian activities will be paralysed in Gaza within a few weeks," he said.
14:03 GMT –– Gaza death toll from Israeli attacks rises to 27,478
At least 27,478 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in nearly four months of war, according to the territory's Health Ministry.
A ministry statement said 66,835 people have been wounded since October 7.
13:36 GMT –– Israeli gunfire strikes UN food convoy in Gaza: UNRWA
A food convoy has come under Israeli artillery fire in Gaza, UNRWA said.
“This morning, a food convoy waiting to move into Northern Gaza was hit by Israeli naval gunfire,” UNRWA’s Gaza chief Thomas White said on X, adding no one was injured.
“We cannot deliver humanitarian aid under fire,” the agency said. “Safe and sustainable humanitarian access is urgently needed everywhere including to the North of Gaza.”
Since Israel’s offensive on Gaza began on October 7, there have been multiple attacks interfering with aid distribution, including a January 25 attack on civilians waiting for humanitarian aid that killed at least 20 people and injured at least 150.
12:57 GMT –– UNRWA chief visits Gulf countries amid funding crisis
The head of UNRWA is visiting three Gulf states this week, seeking to drum up support after key donors suspended funding following Israeli allegations that some of its staff were involved in the October 7 attack.
Some 15 of the agency's most important donors, including the United States, have suspended funding over Israel's allegations involving 12 of its 13,000 staff, prompting UNRWA to warn last week that it might be forced to shut down by the end of February.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has previously said nine of those implicated had been terminated, one was dead and the identities of the other two were being clarified.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said on X he met with the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan on Monday to discuss UNRWA's work in "preserving the stability in the region" and delivering aid to two million people in Gaza.
11:19 GMT –– At least 540 Israeli soldiers injured by ‘friendly fire’ in Gaza
At least 540 Israeli soldiers have been injured by “friendly fire” since Israel expanded its ground operations in Gaza on October 27, according to Israeli media.
Israeli Channel 12, citing military figures, said that 1,300 soldiers have been wounded since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza, including 540 in operational accidents.
Military figures show that 562 soldiers have been killed and 2,820 others injured since the outbreak of the Gaza conflict on Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel.
10:40 GMT –– Palestinian Authority rejects Israeli bid to relocate Rafah border crossing
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh has said that Palestine rejects any Israeli attempt to transfer or replace the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt.
"Israel is trying to relocate the crossing to another location. We affirm this is a pure Egyptian-Palestinian matter," Shtayyeh said in a government session.
The Israeli Channel 13 reported on Saturday that the Israeli government is considering relocating the Rafah border crossing with Egypt to the Kerem Shalom area.
Relocating the crossing to the border triangle between Israel, Gaza, and Egypt aims to prevent Cairo from intervening in the management of it, the channel added.
10:28 GMT –– Senior Hamas member says mediators working to achieve ceasefire deal in Gaza
A top representative of Hamas in Lebanon has said mediator countries are working on a deal to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza.
The mediators are working to achieve the agreement, which "must guarantee all that we are asking for," Osama Hamdan, a member of the Palestinian group's politburo, told Anadolu news agency.
"We insist reaching a complete ceasefire, call for a complete withdrawal of the Israeli army from Gaza, and the lifting the siege on Gaza."
"However, the Israeli army wants to continue its military attacks in Gaza, and continue its siege," he added.
09:49 GMT –– EU's Borrell warns against cutting UNRWA funds
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell warned that moves to suspend the funding of UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA were extremely ill-advised.
"Defunding UNRWA would be both disproportionate and dangerous," Borrell said of the agency which is embroiled in controversy over the alleged involvement of employees in the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel.
"While some important donors suspended funding, there is a wide recognition that UNRWA is central to providing vital aid to more than 1.1 million people in Gaza suffering from catastrophic hunger and the outbreak of diseases.
"Defunding the agency would put hundreds of thousands of lives at risk," said Borrell in a blog post.
He added that "the agency has taken immediate steps and launched an investigation," calling the allegations serious and which should not go unpunished if true.
08:22 GMT –– Russia to summon Israeli ambassador over 'unacceptable' comments: TASS
Russia's foreign ministry will summon Israeli ambassador Simona Halperin over "unacceptable comments" she made in an interview, the TASS news agency cited the ministry as saying.
Halperin, according to the ministry, misrepresented Russia's foreign policy stance in the interview with Russia's Kommersant daily, published on Sunday. The ministry described her comments as "an extremely unsuccessful start" to her diplomatic posting, which began last December.
In the interview, Halperin criticised Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for playing down the importance of the Holocaust and said Russia was being too friendly with Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
08:05 GMT –– Italy will become a target should it join attacks against Yemen, Houthi leader says
Italy will become a target if it takes part in attacks against Yemen, a senior official from Yemen's Iran-aligned Houthis said in an interview.
Mohamed Ali al Houthi, head of the Houthi's supreme revolutionary committee, told daily La Repubblica that Italy must be neutral in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and put pressure on Israel to stop attacks on Gaza, adding that would be the only way to achieve peace in the region.
Italy said on Friday it would provide the admiral in command of a European Union Red Sea naval mission it has joined to protect ships from attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia.
The mandate of the mission, which will be launched in mid-February, will be to protect commercial ships and intercept attacks, but not take part in strikes against the Houthis, the EU's foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has said.
04:22 GMT - Hamas in consultation with factions on ceasefire — source
Hamas has not informed mediators of its rejection of a proposal for a hostage swap deal and a ceasefire in Gaza, a well-informed Palestinian source has said.
The source, which requested anonymity, affirmed that the group’s consultations with other Palestinian factions on the proposals are “ongoing.”
His remarks were in response to international media reports, some of which claimed that Hamas had rejected the proposals while others suggested that it intended to deliver its response on Sunday evening.
03:23 GMT - EU's Borrell warns against cutting UNRWA funds
European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell has warned that moves to suspend funding of the UN Palestinian refugee agency, UNRWA were extremely ill-advised.
"Defunding UNRWA would be both disproportionate and dangerous," Borrell said of the agency.
"While some important donors suspended funding, there is a wide recognition that UNRWA is central to providing vital aid to more than 1.1M people in Gaza suffering from catastrophic hunger and the outbreak of diseases."
For our live updates from Saturday, February 3, click here.
