KEY POINTS
- Hezbollah announces deaths of 3 members after Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon
- US, UK, France back Israel's call for UN Security Council emergency meeting on Hamas sexual abuse
- UN Human Rights Office said Israeli invasion of Rafah must be stopped
The Israel-Hamas war is now on its 154th day, and the international community is rallying to keep Gaza from crumbling into famine as the U.S. President Joe Biden, an ally of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, ordered American forces to construct a pier on the shores of Gaza to allow for wider-scale humanitarian aid delivery.
During his State of the Union address, Biden also warned Israel not to use aid for Gaza as a "bargaining chip" in its war with Hamas. The Netanyahu government has been under U.S. pressure to allow more aid into the war-torn enclave and agree to a ceasefire deal.
- Israel welcomes inauguration of Cyprus maritime corridor for Gaza aid
- UN torture expert investigating mistreatment allegations on Palestinian inmates
- Israel will push through with planned ground operation in Rafah: Netanyahu
- Another ship attacked off Aden in Yemen: UKMTO
- EU, UK, US, UAE and Cyprus publish joint statement on maritime aid corridor
- Sirens sound in northern Israel after Hezbollah announces deaths of 3 members
- Cyprus maritime corridor to conduct pilot operation Friday
The European Union is also leading wider efforts to help feed the civilians of Gaza as a maritime corridor to Gaza from Cyprus is being rushed to begin facilitating aid this weekend.
In the Gulf of Aden, U.S. forces with the Central Command (CENTCOM) shot down drones launched from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen Friday.
Fire exchanges between the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and Hezbollah continued Friday in the Israeli-Lebanese border as Israeli warplanes conducted strikes in southern Lebanon area following several rocket launches from Lebanon toward Har Dov and Metula in northern Israel.
Decades of violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict ultimately erupted on Oct. 7, when Hamas militants raided Israel, murdering more than a thousand people – mostly civilians – and abducting over 250 hostages, of which around 130 are still being held in Gaza five months into the war.
Cyprus aid corridor to launch pilot operation
The maritime corridor inaugurated in Cyprus will kick off an "initial pilot operation" Friday, EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said.
Multiple countries are pushing for more aid to enter the Gaza Strip amid mounting hunger in the enclave. Along with the U.S., Cyprus, the UAE and the UK, the bloc is looking to accelerate and significantly increase aid deliveries for Gaza civilians.
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