Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 5pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here are the headlines …
The Council of the EU launched a defensive maritime security operation to safeguard freedom of navigation in the Red Sea and the Gulf. It said Operation ASPIDES would ensure an EU naval presence in the area where numerous Houthi attacks have targeted international commercial vessels since October 2023. The Belize-flagged cargo ship Rubymar sustained damage overnight after two missiles were fired at the vessel from Yemen, although the crew were able to evacuate.
The foreign minister of the Palestinian Authority has told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that “There is a genocide happening in Gaza” and that occupation of Palestinian territory by Israel should come to “an unconditional end”. Riyad al-Maliki was speaking as a week of hearings in the UN’s top court has opened on the legal consequences of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territories. In its submission on the case, made in July 2023, Israel argueed that any decision or arbitration by the court risks endangering the previously agreed peace process.
Israel has declared Brazil’s president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva “persona non grata” over comments he made accusing Israel of carrying out a genocide and comparing their actions to the Holocaust. Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz said “We will not forget nor forgive. It is a serious antisemitic attack.”
The health ministry in Gaza has said the number of Palestinians killed in the territory by Israeli military action since 7 October has risen to 29,092. In the past 24 hours, 107 Palestinians were killed and 145 injured, the Hamas-led ministry said in its statement. 69,028 are reported injured in total. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society has reported “multiple bombardments by Israeli forces” near the al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis which it claims have caused “significant damage to the hospital building”.
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has said it continues operations in Khan Younis, claiming to have located “AK-47s, drones, an RPG, explosive devices, and additional military equipment were located.”
EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell said “everyone is afraid” Benjamin Netanyahu will give the go ahead to a military offensive in Rafah in southern Gaza in the coming days despite mounting international pressure to resist. Ireland’s foreign minister Micheál Martin has said it would be “unconscionable” if Israel were to go ahead with a bombardment of Rafah.
Majed Al Ansari, a spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry, has criticised the Israeli prime minister Netanyahu’s recent comments calling on Qatar to pressure Hamas to release hostages, saying they are “a new attempt to stall and prolong the war for reasons that have become obvious to everyone.”
Netanyahu’s office has confirmed Israel will continue to restrict who can worship at the al-Asqa mosque in Jerusalem when Ramadan starts in March. Hamas has described the move as “religious warfare”.
Reuters reports that interior security minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right coalition partner in Benjamin Netanyahu government, has continued to lend his vocal support to restrictions on Friday prayers at al-Aqsa mosque during the month of Ramadan. [See 11.57 GMT]
Israel has already been restricting access to the site every Friday since the 7 October Hamas attack.
The news agency reports Ben Gvir said those who hate Israel would use the event to show support for the Hamas leadership and incite violence.
“The entry of tens of thousands of haters in a victory celebration on the Temple Mount is a security threat to Israel,” Ben Gvir said.
Ben Gvir, on social media, directly linked the ability of Jews to visit the Temple Mount to the attacks on 7 October. In a message he said:
3 Oct – they asked me not to go up to the Temple Mount because they were afraid of Hamas and I respected their request.
7 Oct – the largest massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.
19 Feb – The idea returns.
Victory is brought by determination and strength, not by folding and surrendering.
Earlier Netanyahu’s office confirmed the continuing restrictions, and said: “The prime minister made a balanced decision to allow freedom of worship within the security needs determined by professionals.”
Ramadan is expected to begin on 10 March.
Reuters reports that in a statement Hamas has condemend the move, saying it is “a continuation of Zionist criminality and religious warfare led by the extremist settlers group in the terrorist occupation government against our Palestinian people”. It called on Palestinians to mobilise against the restrictions.
Religious leaders in the Palestinian territory have also ordered people to protect the right to use the mosque, with the Wafa news agency reporting they had urged “everyone who can reach al-Aqsa mosque to travel to it and protect it, as al-Aqsa mosque is an Islamic endowment for Muslims of the entire world, hoping that ‘they will not hesitate to defend it with whatever capabilities they have.’”
