Closing summary
It has gone 6pm in Gaza, Tel Aviv and Beirut, and 7pm in Sana’a. We will be closing this blog soon, but you can stay up to date on the Guardian’s Middle East coverage here.
Here is a recap of the latest developments:
A Gaza-bound aid ship expected to make the maiden voyage along a new maritime corridor from Cyprus has yet to set sail because of logistical challenges. Government officials confirmed on Saturday that while a vessel belonging to the Spanish search and rescue group, Open Arms, had been loaded with food, water and other supplies, and was ready to depart the Mediterranean island, it was unlikely to leave before tomorrow.
A US charity said it was loading aid for Gaza on to a boat in Cyprus, the first shipment to the war-ravaged territory along a maritime corridor the European Commission hopes will open this weekend.“World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid on to a boat headed to northern Gaza,” the charity said in a statement on Friday.
The Pentagon said on Friday that a US plan to establish a “temporary offshore maritime pier” in Gaza would take up to 60 days and would probably involve more than 1,000 US personnel.
Three Palestinian children died of dehydration and malnutrition at the northern al-Shifa hospital overnight, said the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry on Saturday. Its spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said this raised to 23 the number of Palestinians who had died of similar causes in nearly 10 days.
The Israeli military said it conducted arrests, located weapons and killed more than 30 fighters in Khan Younis, including in the Hamad area, in central Gaza and in the area of Beit Hanoun in the north, according to a statement on Saturday summarising its operations in Gaza over the past day.
Gaza’s health ministry said on Saturday that at least 82 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip in the last day. In Khan Younis, medics said at least 23 people were killed in military raids on homes and in Israeli shelling of a housing project in the Hamad area of the city. In the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli fire killed a Palestinian fisher along the beach, medics said.
Israel struck one of the largest residential towers in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on early Saturday. The 12-floor building, located about 500 metres from the border with Egypt, was damaged in the strike. Dozens of families were made homeless though no casualties were reported, according to residents. However, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that “scores of civilians sustained various injuries”.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) confirmed that it had struck one of the largest residential towers in Rafah overnight, saying it housed a “Hamas military asset”. The IDF said it had warned residents of the 12-floor Al-Masry Tower ahead of the strike, and said they all evacuated in time.
Canada and Sweden confirmed that they will restore funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA). According to CBC News, Canada’s international development minister Ahmed Hussen confirmed the move at a press conference on Friday, while the Swedish government announced on Saturday that it would resume suspended payments with a grant of 200m crowns ($20m/£16m).
“This brutal war has ruptured any sense of a shared humanity,” said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Saturday. According to Reuters, she called for an end of hostilities to allow for meaningful aid distribution in Gaza, for Hamas to release all hostages without conditions and for Israel to treat Palestinians in its custody humanely and to permit them to contact their families.
US president, Joe Biden said it was “looking tough” to secure a ceasefire in Gaza before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin in the coming days.
An attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels set off explosions ahead of a Singapore-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Aden, authorities said. The attack on Friday targeted the US bulk carrier Propel Fortune, which continued on its way, according to US Central Command (Centcom). “The missiles did not impact the vessel,” the US military said, adding that there were “no injuries or damages reported”. The Houthis said on Saturday they were behind the attack.
Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed that along with targeting the Propel Fortune, the Houthi forces also launched 37 drones targeting US warships. The US military said on Saturday that the US and allied forces had shot down 15 one-way attack drones fired by the Houthis into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. Centcom said the “large-scale” Houthi attack occurred before dawn into the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday that Ankara “firmly backs” the Palestinian militant group Hamas. “No one can make us qualify Hamas as a terrorist organisation,” he said in a speech in Istanbul. “Turkey is a country that speaks openly with Hamas leaders and firmly backs them.”
Hundreds of thousands of Pro-Palestinian activists marched through London calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, during a National Day of Action for Palestine on Saturday. The demonstration, organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC), made its way from Hyde Park Corner to the US embassy in Nine Elms.
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA’s commissioner-general told Swiss broadcaster RTS that the UN Palestinian refugee agency is at the “risk of death” after Israel alleged some of its staff took part in the 7 October Hamas attack. But, he said he was “cautiously optimistic” that “a number of donors will return” over the next few weeks and after an independent review of UNRWA is due to be published next month.
Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the cost of rebuilding Gaza could exceed $90bn (£70bn). He made the comment during a speech marking Martyrs’ and Veterans’ Day in Egypt on Saturday.
Five people were killed and 10 injured in Gaza when they were hit by a pallet of aid parachuted into the territory as part of a humanitarian airdrop. Witnesses said the accident happened on Friday morning near the coastal refugee camp known as al-Shati, one of the most devastated parts of Gaza, after a parachute attached to the pallet failed to deploy properly.
A top US treasury official visiting Beirut this week pressed Lebanese authorities to prevent funds from being funneled to Hamas by way of Lebanon, officials told the Associated Press (AP).
The UN’s top aid official has renewed his call for a ceasefire in Gaza and outlined six priorities in the humanitarian response. In a social media post via the account of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) on Friday, Martin Griffiths, the UN emergency relief coordinator, listed six facts that “should keep us all awake at night” and six “things that would make a difference”.
Iran on Saturday denounced US tech company Meta’s decision to remove the Facebook and Instagram accounts of its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling it a “violation of freedom of expression”. Meta’s move last month came as Khamenei increasingly voiced support for Palestinian militant group Hamas and denounced Israel amid the war between the two sides in the Gaza Strip.
The Iranian regime’s human rights violations during its brutal suppression of protests in 2022 amount to crimes against humanity, a UN fact-finding mission (FFM) said. Established by the UN human rights council in November 2022 – two months after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests swept the country in response to the death in custody of Mahsa Amini – the FFM released a report concluding the regime carried out widespread and sustained human rights violations against its own people, which broke international laws and specifically targeted women and girls.
Updated
A Gaza-bound aid ship expected to make the maiden voyage along a new maritime corridor from Cyprus has yet to set sail because of logistical challenges.
Government officials confirmed on Saturday that while a vessel belonging to the Spanish search and rescue group, Open Arms, had been loaded with food, water and other supplies, and was ready to depart the Mediterranean island, it was unlikely to leave before tomorrow.
“We are still waiting for the green light from Israel,” deputy government spokesperson Yiannis Antoniou told the Guardian. “And the weather will also play a role … the boat is going to move very slowly, it will take twice the time it would normally take, around 50 hours, to get there.”
Where “there” was also remains unclear. Although Israel’s foreign ministry has said shipments will be subject to inspection “according to Israeli standards,” who will distribute the assistance and what the destination of boats will be has still not been revealed because of security concerns.
“It is going to Gaza but at this stage we cannot say where it will offload,” Antoniou added, explaining that the mission is being seen as a test run by officials.
The island’s foreign minister Constantinos Kombos also made clear that while there was still optimism the operation would be activated “over the weekend” there were issues that had to be clarified.
Speaking to the Cyprus News agency, he said “speed should not affect efficiency, there has to be balance.”
“There are various issues and that’s why we say the window is this weekend [for the launch of the mission] as long as there isn’t an incident in Gaza, Israel or on the borders with Lebanon which could cause unrest and affect the operation, even the weather could cause problems.”
Updated
IDF says it struck one of the largest residential towers in Rafah as it housed a 'Hamas military asset'
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has confirmed that it struck one of the largest residential towers in southern Gaza’s Rafah overnight, saying it housed a “Hamas military asset”, according to the Times of Israel.
According to the online newspaper, in response to a query on the strike, the IDF said: “Acts of terror against our forces and the civilian home front were planned from this asset.” The Times of Israel write: “According to a military source, the building was used by Hamas’s so-called emergency committee.”
The IDF said it had warned residents of the 12-floor Al-Masry Tower ahead of the strike, and said they all evacuated in time.
Reuters earlier reported that dozens of families living in the tower were made homeless though no casualties were reported, according to residents. However, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that “scores of civilians sustained various injuries”.
Here are some of the latest images coming in across the newswires from Saturday’s pro-Palestine march in London:
Updated
Reuters has more on the comments by Philippe Lazzarini, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) commissioner general, who said the UN Palestinian refugee agency is at the “risk of death” after Israel alleged some of its staff took part in the 7 October Hamas attack.
According to Reuters, Lazzarini also said he was cautiously optimistic some donors would start funding UNRWA again within weeks.
An independent review of UNRWA has been launched under French former foreign minister Catherine Colonna, and the final report is expected to be published next month.
“I am cautiously optimistic that within the next few weeks, and also following the publication of Catherine Colonna’s report, a number of donors will return,” Lazzarini said in an interview with Swiss broadcaster RTS that was aired on Saturday. Lazzarini told RTS that UNRWA was at “risk of death, at risk of dismantlement.”
Colonna, whose work on the review began in mid-February, said on Saturday she would visit Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Ramallah and Amman next week.
UNRWA, which provides aid and essential services to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the Israeli-occupied West Bank and across the region, has been in crisis since Israel accused 12 of its 13,000 staff in Gaza of involvement in the 7 October attack on Israel. The allegations prompted several countries, including the US, to pause funding.
When the allegations emerged, UNRWA fired some staff members, saying it acted to protect the agency’s ability to deliver humanitarian assistance, and an independent internal UN investigation was launched.
Reuters reports that UNRWA said some employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been pressured by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that staff took part in the 7 October attack, according to a report by the agency dated February.
“What is at stake is the fate of the Palestinians today in Gaza in the short term who are going through an absolutely unprecedented humanitarian crisis,” Lazzarini told RTS.
UNRWA runs schools, healthcare clinics and other social services in Gaza, and distributes humanitarian aid. The UN has said 3,000 members of staff are still working to deliver aid in Gaza, where it says 576,000 people – one quarter of the population – are a step away from famine.
“The agency I currently manage is the only agency that delivers public services to Palestinian refugees,” Lazzarini said.
“We are the quasi-ministry of education, of primary health. If we were to get rid of such a body, who would bring back the million of girls and boys who are traumatised in the Gaza Strip today back to a learning environment?”
Updated
Houthi forces in Yemen claim to have launched one of their largest attacks on US shipping in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, saying they sent 37 drones to hit US navy war ships and a commercial ship.
The US Central Command said it had stopped the attack, which it attributed to Iranian-backed Houthi forces. The US spoke of only shooting down 15, not 37, drones.
The Houthis in a statement issued by the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea said the attack had been a success, but provided no evidence.
Among those repelling the Houthi attacks was a Danish frigate Iver Huitfeldt, which shot down four Houthi drones in the Red Sea on Friday night.
The commander on the Iver Huitfeldt, Capt Sune Lund, said: “At a little after 4am local time we recognised a drone which was heading towards Iver Huitfeldt and the surrounding ships. After making sure it was an enemy, we engaged and defeated it. Over the next hour this happened three more times.”
According to Reuters, in a speech marking Martyrs’ and Veterans’ Day in Egypt on Saturday, Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said the cost of rebuilding Gaza could exceed $90bn (£70bn).
UN: Iran committed crimes against humanity during protest crackdown
The Iranian regime’s human rights violations during its brutal suppression of protests in 2022 amount to crimes against humanity, a UN fact-finding mission (FFM) has said.
Established by the UN human rights council in November 2022 – two months after the Woman, Life, Freedom protests swept the country in response to the death in custody of Mahsa Amini – the FFM has released a report concluding the regime carried out widespread and sustained human rights violations against its own people, which broke international laws and specifically targeted women and girls.
The report also investigated and corroborated accounts published in the Guardian that female protesters had been specifically targeted because of their gender and were shot at close range in the face and genitals – actions the report cites as evidence of crimes committed by the state against the civilian population.
The report states: “The mission has … established that many of the serious human rights violations … amount to crimes against humanity – specifically those of murder; imprisonment; torture; rape and other forms of sexual violence; persecution; enforced disappearance and other inhumane acts – that have been committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack directed against a civilian population, namely women, girls and others expressing support for human rights.”
According to Human Rights Watch, more than 500 people, including 68 children, were killed by security forces during the protests. It is estimated that more than 20,000 protesters were arrested.
UN Palestinian refugee agency at 'risk of death', UNRWA chief says
Following Israel’s allegations that 12 staff took part in the 7 October attacks by Hamas, the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) is now at “risk of death”, reports Reuters.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini told Swiss broadcaster RTS:
The agency is at risk of death, it is risking dismantlement.
What is at stake is the fate of the Palestinians today in Gaza in the short term who are going through an absolutely unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
Here are some of the latest images on the newswires:
Updated
A top US treasury official visiting Beirut this week pressed Lebanese authorities to prevent funds from being funneled to Hamas by way of Lebanon, officials told the Associated Press (AP).
Jesse Baker, deputy assistant secretary of the treasury for Asia and the Middle East in the office of terrorist financing and financial crimes, met Lebanese politicians and officials from the financial sector on Thursday and Friday.
His visit came as negotiations for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in Gaza appear to have stalled. Should the war continue during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which could begin late Sunday, many fear a regional escalation, including in Lebanon.
Near-daily low-level clashes have taken place between the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, and Israeli forces for more than five months, say AP.
A US treasury official who spoke on condition of anonymity with AP to discuss sensitive matters said Baker had shared with Lebanese authorities “specific concerns” about “the movement of Hamas funds through Lebanon, Hezbollah funds from Iran into Lebanon and then out into other regional areas” and called for “proactive measures” to combat it.
The official said that the groups need the flow of funds to pay their fighters and conduct military operations and cannot achieve their aims otherwise.
The US treasury official added that, for Lebanon, showing compliance with global anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing standards is key to attracting investment from the US and the rest of the world and to pulling the country out of its protracted crisis.
Baker pushed for Lebanon to crack down on the large sector of illicit financial service companies that have flourished amid the collapse of the country’s formal banking system over four years of economic crisis, including illegal money exchange and unlicensed money transfer operations, the US treasury official said.
Those businesses – along with a cash economy that the World Bank has estimated amounts to nearly 46% of Lebanon’s GDP – have offered workarounds for people and groups barred from the formal financial system by US sanctions, including Hamas and Hezbollah, both of which Washington considers terrorist organisations.
Walid Kilani, a spokesperson for Hamas in Lebanon, told AP he had “no information” about the matter.
Halim Berti, spokesperson for Lebanon’s central bank, confirmed that officials with the institution had met Baker and described the meetings as “very positive.”
He said that the central bank is doing its part to regulate licensed financial services businesses but that those operating without a licence are “not in our jurisdiction” and should be dealt with by law enforcement.
Updated
Three Palestinian children died of dehydration and malnutrition overnight at al-Shifa hospital, says health ministry
Three Palestinian children died of dehydration and malnutrition at the northern al-Shifa hospital overnight, said the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry. Its spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra said this raised to 23 the number of Palestinians who had died of similar causes in nearly 10 days, reports Reuters.
“This brutal war has ruptured any sense of a shared humanity,” said Mirjana Spoljaric, president of the International Committee of the Red Cross. According to Reuters, she called for an end of hostilities to allow for meaningful aid distribution in Gaza, for Hamas to release all hostages without conditions and for Israel to treat Palestinians in its custody humanely and to permit them to contact their families.
In a statement summarising its operations in Gaza over the past day, the Israeli military said it conducted arrests, located weapons and killed more than 30 fighters in Khan Younis, including in the Hamad area, in central Gaza and in the area of Beit Hanoun in the north, reports Reuters.
Gaza’s health ministry said at least 82 people were killed in Israeli attacks across the Gaza Strip in the last day. In Khan Younis, medics said at least 23 people were killed in military raids on homes and in Israeli shelling of a housing project in the Hamad area of the city. In the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli fire killed a Palestinian fisher along the beach, medics said.
Israel strikes landmark residential tower in southern Rafah
Israel struck one of the largest residential towers in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Saturday, residents said, stepping up pressure on the last area of the territory it has not yet invaded and where over a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, reports Reuters.
The 12-floor building, located about 500 metres from the border with Egypt, was damaged in the strike. Dozens of families were made homeless though no casualties were reported, according to residents. However, the Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that “scores of civilians sustained various injuries”.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to requests by Reuters for comment on the incident.
One of the tower’s 300 residents told Reuters that Israel gave them a 30-minute warning to flee the building at night. “People were startled, running down the stairs, some fell, it was chaos. People left their belongings and money,” said Mohammad al-Nabrees, adding that among those who tripped down the stairs during the panicked evacuation was a friend’s pregnant wife.
A Rafah-based official with the Fatah party, which dominates the Palestinian Authority that has limited self-rule in the occupied West Bank, another Palestinian territory, said he feared that hitting the Rafah tower was a sign of an imminent Israeli invasion, according to Reuters.
Canada to resume funding for UNRWA
Canada has confirmed it will restore funding for the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), reports the Canadian public broadcaster CBC.
According to CBC News, Canada’s international development minister Ahmed Hussen confirmed the move at a press conference on Friday in Mississauga.
Canada, along with a number of major donors, suspended funding to UNRWA in January after Israel alleged that 12 UNRWA employees were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.
CBC News first reported on Tuesday that the Canadian government intended to resume funding after Ottawa received an interim report from the UN’s investigation of Israel’s allegations.
Iran criticises removal of its supreme leader's social media accounts
Iran on Saturday denounced US tech company Meta’s decision to remove the Facebook and Instagram accounts of its supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, calling it a “violation of freedom of expression”, reports AFP.
Instagram and Facebook are among the most popular social media platforms for Iranians, but while the government blocks their use, officials in the Islamic republic have accounts on them.
Meta said last month it had removed Khamenei’s accounts from Facebook and Instagram for having “repeatedly violated” its policy on “dangerous organisations and individuals”, according to AFP.
In response, Iranian foreign minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said the move was “not only a violation of freedom of speech, but also an insult to millions of followers of his positions and news”.
“The mottoes of freedom of expression by some western claimants are hollow and showy slogans and a cover for their illegitimate political goals,” he told the Middle East Eye news outlet in remarks also published by Iran’s foreign ministry.
Khamenei, 84, has been the country’s supreme leader since 1989, a position that allows him the final say in major state policies. He had about five million followers on Instagram.
Meta’s move on 8 February came as Khamenei increasingly voiced support for Palestinian militant group Hamas and denounced Israel amid the war between the two sides in the Gaza Strip.
“Khamenei is the most prominent supporter of the oppressed people of Palestine and Gaza in the world, and the Silicon Valley empire cannot prevent this voice from reaching the public opinion of the world,” Amir-Abdollahian said.
Despite the Iranian government’s ban on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms including X, internet users in the Islamic republic can still access them using virtual private networks, or VPNs.
Updated
Gaza ceasefire before Ramadan 'looking tough', says Biden – video
US president, Joe Biden, has dampened expectations of a ceasefire in Gaza before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is expected to begin in the coming days.
Biden was visiting Rose Valley, Pennsylvania, on Friday when reporters asked him about developments in talks between Hamas and Israel, to which he responded: ‘It’s looking tough.’
Biden also expressed concern about the prospect of violence during Ramadan between Israeli authorities and Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, the location of the third holiest site in Islam, al-Aqsa mosque.
Turkish president says country 'firmly backs' Hamas leaders
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on Saturday that Ankara “firmly backs” the Palestinian militant group Hamas, reports AFP.
“No one can make us qualify Hamas as a terrorist organisation,” he said in a speech in Istanbul. “Turkey is a country that speaks openly with Hamas leaders and firmly backs them.”
Erdoğan has been one of the most virulent critics of Israel since the start of the war in Gaza, which began after an 7 October attack by Hamas in Israel that claimed at least 1,160 lives, according to an AFP tally of official Israeli figures.
Israel has responded with a relentless ground and air offensive that the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said has killed at least 30,878 Palestinians, mostly women and children.
Erdoğan has called Israel a “terrorist state” and accused it of conducting a “genocide” in Gaza.
Here are some of the latest images on the newswires:
The UN’s top aid official has renewed his call for a ceasefire in Gaza and outlined six priorities in the humanitarian response.
The hostilities in #Gaza are now in their sixth month. @UNReliefChief renewed his call for a ceasefire and listed 6 priorities that would make a difference in the humanitarian response.
— UN Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) March 8, 2024
In a social media post via the account of the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs (Ocha) on Friday, Martin Griffiths, the UN emergency relief coordinator, wrote:
The hostilities in Gaza entered their sixth month. These six facts should keep us all awake at night:
1) More than half a million people are on the brink of famine. Children are dying of hunger.
2) In February, only half of the 224 aid missions planned were allowed by the Israeli authorities.
3) Lawlessness is rampant and is hindering aid distribution.
4) Aid delivery methods of last resort like airdrops are increasingly common.
5) More than 160 UN staff have been killed.
6) The remaining hostages have yet to be released.
He continued: “We know what to do to save lives, but we need the right conditions and guarantees.” Griffiths then listed six “things that would make a difference”:
1) A ceasefire and full adherence to the rules of war.
2) Additional entry points, supply routes and storage capacity in Gaza.
3) Better protection for aid convoys.
4) Free and safe movement of humanitarian supplies through checkpoints.
5) Road repairs and clearance of unexploded ordnance.
6) A bigger role for the commercial sector.
82 Palestinians killed in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours, says health ministry
The latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 82 Palestinians were killed and 122 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours.
According to the statement, at least 30,960 Palestinians have been killed and 72,524 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October.
The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
Aid ship set to sail from Cyprus to Gaza on new maritime corridor, says charity
A US charity said it was loading aid for Gaza on to a boat in Cyprus, the first shipment to the war-ravaged territory along a maritime corridor the European Commission hopes will open this weekend, reports AFP.
The Spanish-flagged vessel Open Arms docked three weeks ago in the port of Larnaca in Cyprus, the closest EU country to the Gaza Strip.
“World Central Kitchen teams are in Cyprus loading pallets of humanitarian aid on to a boat headed to northern Gaza,” the charity said in a statement on Friday.
“We have been preparing for weeks alongside our trusted NGO partner Open Arms for the opening of a maritime aid corridor that would allow us to scale our efforts in the region,” it added.
The charity said it plans to tow a barge loaded with provisions for the people of Gaza, where dire humanitarian conditions more than five months into the Israel-Hamas war have led some countries to airdrop food and other assistance.
3 weeks ago, the #OpenArms ship, in collaboration with @WCK, docked in Cyprus for a joint mission. What initially appeared as an insurmountable challenge is now on the verge of realization.
— Open Arms ENG (@openarms_found) March 8, 2024
The endeavor to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor in #Gaza is making progress,… pic.twitter.com/njaOxGZtnn
“The endeavor to establish a humanitarian maritime corridor in Gaza is making progress, and our tugboat stands prepared to embark at a moment’s notice, laden with tons of food, water, and vital supplies for Palestinian civilians,” Open Arms said on social media platform X.
In Larnaca, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen had earlier expressed hope that a maritime corridor could open this Sunday, although details remained unclear, according to AFP.
She said a “pilot operation” would be launched on Friday, aided by the United Arab Emirates which secured “the first of many shipments of goods to the people of Gaza“.
There are no functioning ports in Gaza and officials did not say where the initial shipments would go, whether they would be subject to inspection by Israel, or who would distribute aid.
The Pentagon said on Friday that a US plan to establish a “temporary offshore maritime pier” in Gaza would take up to 60 days and would probably involve more than 1,000 US personnel.
Updated
The Associated Press (AP) have shared more details on the Houthis targeting a US ship, Propel Fortune, in the Gulf of Aden.
According to the AP, an attack by Yemen’s Houthi rebels set off explosions ahead of a Singapore-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Aden, authorities said.
The attack on Friday targeted the bulk carrier Propel Fortune, which continued on its way, according to Centcom. “The missiles did not impact the vessel,” the US military said, adding that there were “no injuries or damages reported”.
The Houthis said Saturday they were behind the attack, say the AP. Houthi military spokesperson Brig. Gen. Yahya Saree claimed that along with targeting the Propel Fortune, the Houthi forces also launched 37 drones targeting US warships.
Friday’s attack on Propel Fortune came after a Houthi missile struck a commercial ship in the Gulf of Aden on Wednesday, killing three of its crew members and forcing survivors to abandon the vessel.
That was the first fatal strike in the Houthi’s campaign over the war in Gaza. The Houthis describe the attacks as trying to pressure Israel into stopping the war, but their targets increasingly have little or nothing to do with the conflict, say the AP.
US and allied forces shot down 15 one-way attack drones fired by Iran-backed Yemeni rebels into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden, the US military said on Saturday.
AFP say it was one of the Houthis’ largest attacks since they began a campaign of drone and missile strikes against ships in the Red Sea area in November, in professed solidarity with Palestinians during Israel’s war against Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip.
The US Central Command (Centcom) said the “large-scale” Houthi attack occurred before dawn into the Red Sea and adjacent Gulf of Aden.
Centcom and coalition forces said they determined that the drones “presented an imminent threat to merchant vessels, US Navy and coalition ships in the region”.
It added, in a post on social media platform X, that “US Navy vessels and aircraft along with multiple coalition navy ships and aircraft shot down 15” of the drones.
“These actions are taken to protect freedom of navigation and make international waters safer and more secure.”
US and Coalition Defeat Houthi Attack in Red Sea Area
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 9, 2024
Between 4 a.m. and 6:30 a.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists conducted a large-scale uncrewed aerial vehicle (UAV) attack into the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. CENTCOM and coalition forces identified the one-way… pic.twitter.com/PJag5PYUfZ
Sweden resumes payments to UNRWA
Sweden said on Saturday it would resume suspended payments to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), with a grant of 200m crowns ($20m/£16m), reports Reuters.
Several countries, including the US and the UK, paused their funding to UNRWA after accusations by Israel that 12 of the agency’s 13,000 staff in Gaza took part in the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.
The Swedish government said it had resumed payments after UNRWA agreed to strengthen internal controls and to extra checks on its employees, among other measures.
In a statement, as reported by Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Swedish government said: “The government has allocated 400m kronor to UNRWA for the year 2024. Today’s decision concerns a first payment of 200m kronor.”
It said that to unblock the aid, UNRWA had agreed to “allow controls, independent audits, to strengthen internal supervision and extra controls of personnel.”
The Swedish move came after the European Commission earlier this month said it would release €50m ($55m/£43m) in UNRWA funding.
Updated
Five killed and 10 injured in Gaza aid airdrop when parachute fails to open
Five people have been killed and 10 injured in Gaza when they were hit by a pallet of aid parachuted into the territory as part of a humanitarian airdrop.
Witnesses said the accident happened on Friday morning near the coastal refugee camp known as al-Shati, one of the most devastated parts of Gaza, after a parachute attached to the pallet failed to deploy properly and the parcel fell on a group of men, teenagers and younger children hoping to obtain food and other supplies.
Several hundred thousand people are facing famine in northern Gaza, where they live among the ruins of their homes, without sewage, electricity or any other basic services.
The casualties were taken to Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital, the emergency room’s head nurse, Mohammed al-Sheikh, said.
A witness from the camp said he and his brother had followed the parachuted aid in the hope of getting “a bag of flour”.
“Then, all of a sudden, the parachute didn’t open and fell down like a rocket on the roof of one of the houses,” said Mohammed al-Ghoul. “Ten minutes later I saw people transferring three martyrs and others injured, who were staying on the roof of the house where the aid packages fell.”
Updated
According to Reuters, Yemeni militia group, the Houthis have said they targeted a US ship, Propel Fortune, in the Gulf of Aden.
There are no more details at the moment but we will update any news comes in.
Thousands expected at London protest calling for immediate ceasefire in Gaza
Thousands of protesters are expected to gather again in central London to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, the fifth major pro-Palestine demonstration in the capital so far this year.
Saturday’s protest comes a day after Dame Sara Khan, a UK government adviser on social cohesion, said attempts to portray protesters on pro-Palestinian marches as extremist were “outrageous” and dangerous.
Khan, who is carrying out a review of the resilience of the UK’s democracy for Michael Gove, said such claims risked further dividing the country.
The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) said its latest march was due to begin at noon at Hyde Park Corner and would finish at the US embassy in Nine Elms.
The Metropolitan police has provided a map that attenders must follow to avoid being in breach of section 12 of the Public Order Act 2023. A section 14 condition is also in place that requires anyone who is participating in the PSC demo to assemble on the south side of Park Lane.
The force said the protest must end with the crowd dispersing by 5pm and “anyone who fails to comply with these conditions will be dealt with by officers”.
Opening summary
It has gone 10am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. This is our latest Guardian live blog on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.
US president Joe Biden’s plan to build a floating military port to speed up aid to Gaza could take up to 60 days to become a reality and involve more than 1,000 US troops, the Pentagon said on Friday.
Air force Maj Gen Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, described the planning for the port system as still in its early stages, with deployment orders just starting to go out to those troops who will head to the Middle East.
It comes as Biden warned on Friday that it would be “tough” to secure a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. In other developments:
The European Commission, Cyprus, the UAE, UK and US put out a joint statement on what it described as the activation of a maritime corridor to deliver humanitarian assistance to Gaza. “This maritime corridor can – and must – be part of a sustained effort to increase the flow of humanitarian aid and commercial commodities into Gaza through all possible routes,” it added.
US forces will build a temporary dock on the Gaza shoreline to allow delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale, president Joe Biden announced in his State of the Union speech, amid warnings of a widespread famine among the territory’s 2.3 million Palestinians. He promised “no US boots will be on the ground”, and said: “This temporary pier would enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.”
Sigrid Kaag, the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters late on Thursday that air and sea deliveries cannot make up for a shortage of supply routes on land. Kaag said that while airdrops represented a “symbol of support for civilians in Gaza” and were “a testament to our shared humanity”, they were “a drop in the ocean”. “It’s far from enough,” she added.
The UK foreign secretary David Cameron said on Friday that the US-led plan to build a temporary harbour in Gaza to bring in aid would take time, reiterating his call for Israel to open the port of Ashdod in the meantime. He said it was “crucial” for the Israelis to “confirm that they’ll open the port”. Cameron also urged Israel to allow more aid trucks into Gaza.
Five people have been killed and 10 injured in Gaza when they were hit by a pallet of aid parachuted into the territory as part of a humanitarian airdrop. Witnesses said the accident happened on Friday morning near the coastal refugee camp known as al-Shati, one of the most devastated parts of Gaza, after a parachute attached to the pallet failed to deploy properly
The UN’s expert on torture said on Friday she was investigating allegations of torture and mistreatment of Palestinian detainees in Israel, and was in talks to visit the country. Speaking to Reuters on the sidelines of the UN human rights council in Geneva, Dr Alice Jill Edwards said she had recently received allegations of torture and ill-treatment of Palestinians being detained in the Israeli-occupied West Bank or as a result of the conflict in Gaza.
