KEY POINTS
- Aid ship sets sail from Cyprus to Gaza as world races to feed hungry Palestinians
- Hezbollah fires largest known rocket barrage toward Israel since war started
- US strikes targeting Houthis reportedly killed at least 11 people
The war in Gaza is now on its 158th day, and the world waits in bated breath for an update from the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) following a strike that specifically targeted Marwan Issa, the deputy leader of Hamas' military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, chief of the IDF's spokesperson's unit, said Monday that the strike targeting Issa was still being assessed for final results, considering how the area was an underground complex.
- Merchant ship seized off Somalia by 'unauthorized persons': UKMTO
- 14 reported injured in US-UK joint strikes targeting Yemeni rebel Houthis
- Israeli gunfire reportedly kills 9 Palestinians waiting for aid trucks
- 'Impossible' to back Israel's right to self-defense then block its bid to exercise such right: Netanyahu
- US sanctions 4 individuals linked to Iran-backed Al-Ashtar Brigades: Treasury
- NGOs sue Denmark over sale of arms to Israel
- WFP delivers food for 25,000 people, calls for direct aid entry points to northern Gaza
In the northern border with Lebanon, Israeli forces have been responding to missile launches from the Iranian-backed terror group Hezbollah. The Hamas ally said it targeted an Israeli army strike Monday near the tension-packed border.
Over in the greater Indian Ocean, where Iranian-backed Yemeni Houthi rebels have been running amok in the Red Sea and surrounding waters, the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) said Tuesday that it received a report of a "boarding" incident.
Meanwhile, truce talks mediator Qatar said negotiations for a ceasefire were ongoing even as both Israel and Hamas failed to reach an agreement ahead of the Ramadan month. The Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected Hamas' "delusional" demands for the exchange of some 130 hostages still being held in Gaza.
Amid increasing pressure from the international community for a ceasefire, fighting has only intensified in the devastated Gaza Strip as fueled by decades of violence in the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Tensions are reaching a boiling point between Netanyahu and U.S. President Joe Biden as the former vowed Israel will pursue a military ground operation in Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians have sought shelter due to the unending bombardment.
The live update has ended.
Food delivered for 25k Gaza City residents: WFP
The United Nations' World Food Program on Tuesday said it successfully delivered food for 25,000 people in Gaza City, marking its "first successful convoy to the north since 20 February."
The WFP called for more humanitarian aid delivery efforts, saying the northern part of the strip was "on the brink of famine." It also called for the establishment of direct entry points for aid delivery to the region.
𝐔𝐩𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 | WFP delivered enough food for 25,000 people to Gaza City early Tuesday in first successful convoy to the north since 20 February.
— WFP Media (@WFP_Media) March 12, 2024
With people in northern #Gaza on the brink of famine, we need deliveries every day + we need entry points directly into the north. pic.twitter.com/RGxymQXlR9
NGOs take Denmark to court over arms sales to Israel
A group of nonprofit organizations announced Tuesday they are suing the Danish state over its sale of arms to Israel, saying there was a "potential genocide in Gaza."
Tim Whyte, secretary general of MS Action, said in a series of posts on X that "international law is essential to protect ordinary people in war." The group also announced a fundraiser to help finance legal fees.
US sanctions 4 Iran-linked individuals
The U.S. Treasury on Tuesday updated its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list, adding four individuals linked to Iran, as per a release from the agency.
In particular, the sanctioned individuals are allegedly associated with Al-Ashtar Brigades, which the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) describes as "a Bahraini Shia militant group that plans and commits terrorist attacks against the Government of Bahrain with Iran's assistance."
Netanyahu jabs US yet again in recent remarks
Israel's prime minister on Tuesday seemed to throw shade at Washington, saying "it is impossible to support Israel's right to defend itself and then oppose Israel when it exercises that right," Israel's national broadcaster Kan reported, as per a Google translation.
Netanyahu's latest comments came after Biden warned that launching a ground raid in overcrowded Rafah would be a "red line." Netanyahu previously said the Israeli army will go to Rafah and accomplish its war goals there.
Israeli forces opened fire on crowds waiting for aid, killing 9: Palestinian officials
Nine Palestinians were killed when Israeli troops opened fire on crowds waiting for humanitarian aid trucks in Gaza City Tuesday, The Guardian reported, citing Palestinian health officials.
The IDF has yet to confirm or deny the report, but it was criticized late last month following dozens of deaths during an aid delivery operation in northern Gaza wherein a stampede occurred as civilians thronged aid trucks.
Joint US-UK strikes kill at least 11 people: Yemeni government
Airstrikes said to have been carried out by the U.S.-United Kingdom coalition targeting small towns in western Yemen Monday as part of its commercial shipping defense operations, killed at least 11 people and injured 14 others, Reuters reported Tuesday, citing a spokesperson for the country's internationally recognized government.
The allies have been targeting Houthi assets in Yemen as the Iran-backed rebel militia continues to attack commercial shipping lanes in the Red Sea.
Hezbollah fires over 100 rockets toward Israel: IDF
Hezbollah, a much larger and more heavily armed militant group than Hamas, fired more than a hundred rockets toward northern Israel Tuesday morning, the IDF said. The rocket salvo is the largest barrage yet from the Iranian-backed terror group the the IDF reported since the war started.
In response to the attack, Israeli warplanes struck three of the launchers used to fire 70 of the rockets launched, the Israeli army said.
First aid ship under Cyprus maritime corridor sets sail
A vessel carrying 200 tons of humanitarian aid for Gaza has left Cyprus Tuesday, marking the first departure of an aid ship under the Cyprus maritime corridor that multiple countries rallied to establish.
Open Arms, a charity ship, was spotted leaving the Cypriot port of Larnaca in a mission organized by U.S.-based charity organization World Central Kitchen (WCK) and mostly funded by the United Arab Emirates.
The Open Arms, a salvage vessel owned by a Spanish NGO that is carrying humanitarian aid for Gaza, departs from the coastal Cyprus town of Larnaca.#OpenArms #Gaza #Israel #IsraelGazawar #IsraelHamaswar #Palestinian #Larnaca #Cyprus #live #Reuters #news https://t.co/UVuVxiKS4w
— Reuters (@Reuters) March 12, 2024
Netanyahu defies Biden's warning of not crossing Rafah 'red line'
The Israeli president defied a warning from Biden, a staunch ally of Israel, that launching a military ground invasion of Rafah would be a "red line."
"We'll go there. We're not going to leave. You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that October 7 doesn't happen again. Never happens again," Netanyahu said, widening the gap between him and the U.S. president regarding Israel's war against Hamas.
The international community has been urging Israel to refrain from raiding Rafah, considering the massive Palestinian population that moved to the southern Gaza city since the war intensified.
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Truce talks still underway but deal not close: Qatar
Qatar said Tuesday that talks for a ceasefire in Gaza are still underway even as both Israel and Hamas refuse to reach a concession for a halt in the fighting that could see the release of remaining hostages in Gaza and more aid for civilians in the war-torn enclave. While talks are ongoing, the parties are not close to a deal, Qatar noted.
Mediators have been working since last week to get the warring sides to agree to a ceasefire amid mounting hunger in the Gaza Strip and more than five months of waiting among the loved ones of some 130 hostages still in Hamas captivity.
'Unauthorized persons' seize ship off Somalia: UKMTO
A merchant ship was boarded Tuesday morning local time off of Mogadishu in Somalia, the UKMTO said in a "boarding" incident report. The vessel was "boarded by multiple persons from two craft" and the "unauthorized persons now have control of the vessel," it added.
Authorities are investigating the incident and merchant ships transiting the area have been warned to move with caution and report suspicious activities to the British maritime data monitoring body.
UKMTO WARNING
— United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) (@UK_MTO) March 12, 2024
INCIDENT 049 – BOARDING - UPDATE 001https://t.co/fX3hWupi7g#MaritimeSecurity #MarSec pic.twitter.com/aI0awFmITT
Israeli warplanes strike Hezbollah sites in Beqaa Valley
Israeli fighter jets on Tuesday struck two Hezbollah sites in the Beqaa Valley in Lebanon, the IDF said. "The sites belong to Hezbollah's aerial forces that planned and carried out various attacks against Israel," the Israeli army added.
The strikes came after the Iran-backed militant group claimed Monday that it attacked the "Al-Rahib site" of the Israeli army, located near the Israel-Lebanon border.
Israel reviewing results of strike targeting key Hamas leader
The Israeli army is still reviewing the strike that targeted Issa over the weekend, Hagari said late Monday, as the world waits for confirmation on whether the Hamas leader accused of being one of the planners of the Oct. 7 massacre has been assassinated.
The strike was conducted on an underground compound in the Nuseirat area in a joint operation between the IDF and the Israel Security Agency (ISA), the IDF spokesperson said. "The compound was used by two of the organization's senior leaders: Marwan Issa, who is a deputy of Mohammad Deif (head of the Al-Qassam Brigades) and one of the planners of the October 7th massacre."
Issa is also said to be "part of the central terror triangle in the Gaza Strip," which includes Deif and Hamas' most senior leader in the enclave, Yahya Sinwar.
Hagari noted that the "underground nature" of the area and "complexity of verification for various intelligence reasons" is causing delay in providing an official update about the results of the strike. The IDF has since released footage of what it said was the targeted strike on the underground compound where Issa had been hiding.
תקיפת מתחם תת-קרקעי של בכירי חמאס במרכז רצועת עזה pic.twitter.com/o482DUq6Q6
— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) March 11, 2024
