Summary of the day …
It has just gone 5pm in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv. Here are the latest headlines …
UN agency Unicef has warned the Gaza Strip is poised to witness an increase in what an official said was “the already unbearable level of child deaths” due to a worsening food crisis. It says more than 90% of children under five in Gaza are in food poverty, with a similar percentage are affected by infectious diseases, and 70% experiencing diarrhea in the last two weeks.
South Africa’s delegation to the ICJ in The Hague has said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is “an even more extreme form of the apartheid” than the one formerly in place in South Africa. The court is holding a second day of hearings asking it to give an advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has accused Israel of impeding hospital rescue missions at the Nasser hospital in southern Gaza. The agency reported its staff said “the destruction around Nasser hospital was ‘indescribable’” and that it was concerned for “an estimated 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses” who remain at the medical complex, which has “no electricity or running water”.
The total number of Palestinians detained by Israeli security forces from the occupied West Bank since 7 October has risen to 7,120 according to local sources.
Overnight the IDF confirmed that one of its soldiers who had been wounded during the ground offensive in Khan Younis on 15 february had died, taking Israel’s total losses on the ground inside Gaza to 236.
Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy has condemned a UN report which said there were “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations” of Palestinian women and girls by Israeli security forces including rape and strip-searches as motivated by “hatred of Israel and the Jewish people”.
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has claimed it continues to “operate in the northern, central, and southern Gaza Strip”, and says it has “eliminated a terrorist cell that attempted to attack the troops”.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has reportedly arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials.
French warships in the Red Sea intercepted and destroyed two drones in overnight attacks coming from Yemen, according to France’s ministry of defence.
In the UK, the opposition Labour party, under considerable political pressure, has called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza for the first time.
The UK opposition Labour party has called for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza for the first time.
This weekend, party leader Keir Starmer said he wanted the fighting to “stop now”, but he has been reluctant to back an immediate and permanent ceasefire given that Hamas has threatened to carry out further attacks as it did on 7 October.
A Labour amendment to a Scottish National Party motion which will be voted on in Westminster tomorrow calls for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, which means an immediate stop to the fighting and a ceasefire that lasts and is observed by all sides, noting that Israel cannot be expected to cease fighting if Hamas continues with violence and that Israelis have the right to the assurance that the horror of 7 October cannot happen again”.
It also calls on the Israelis not to enter Rafah, where 1.5 million people are sheltered, for aid to be allowed to enter Gaza, for settler violence to end and for a diplomatic effort towards a two-state solution.
Read more here: UK opposition Labour party calls for ‘immediate humanitarian ceasefire’ in Gaza
French warships in the Red Sea have intercepted and destroyed two drones in overnight attacks coming from Yemen, Reuters reports the French defence ministry said on Tuesday.
Patrick Wintour, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor, offers this analysis of the latest diplomatic moves at the UN, in the EU, in the UK and beyond to seek an end to the fighting in Gaza:
In New York at the UN, in Brussels at the EU, in The Hague, in Cairo, in Rio and even at Westminster, a set of subtle and interrelated diplomatic dances are under way.
Israel’s foremost supporters are attempting to apply the squeeze on their ally while avoiding making undiluted calls for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza they fear would leave a battered Hamas in charge, its leadership at large.
First coined jointly by the UK foreign secretary, David Cameron and the German foreign minister, Annalena Baerbock, “sustainable ceasefire” is a critical phrase in the diplomatic debate. As defined by Lord Cameron, it means Hamas no longer posing a security threat to Israel, which logically entails the removal of the current Hamas leadership from Gaza.
Read more of Patrick Wintour’s analysis: Key allies seek to rein in Israel without letting Hamas off the hook
Canada was due to appear at the court today, but it is reported that it will not. In its written submission, it was asking the court not to offer an opinion. It is unclear whether the failure to appear is because the country has changed its position, or simply wanted to avoid saying it in public.
Canada’s written statement was made, like all of them published so far, in July 2023, before the 7 October attack and Israel’s subsequent assault on Gaza, and is now available. You can read it here.
In it, is says:
Canada does not dispute that the UN general assembly has the competence to request an advisory opinion from the court on questions of a legal nature, nor does it dispute that the court has the jurisdiction to consider this request. It is Canada’s view, however, that the Court should exercise its discretion not to respond to the request made by the UN general assembly in the present instance, in light of the compelling reasons present in this case.
Canada believes that the compelling reasons present in this case are twofold, the first being the lack of consent to the jurisdiction of the court by an interested State to the dispute underlying the request for an advisory opinion, and the second being that the UN security council is the body with primary responsibility for the overarching issue, not the UN general assembly.
It is Canada’s understanding that Israel, which has a direct interest in this case, has not provided consent for the ICJ to be seized of this matter.
In The Hague we have heard again from South Africa and Algeria. We are expecting to hear from Belize, Bolivia, Brazil and Chile this afternoon.
I have seen some chatter on social media criticising the countries selected to speak so far for not being representative of the region, but it is important to note that over 50 countries are contributing to this hearing, which is scheduled to last until next Monday.
Statements and written comments on the case to the court from Canada, Czech Republic, Djibouti, Israel, Italy, Guatemala, Liechtenstein, Morocco, Nauru, the State of Palestine, Senegal, South Africa, Togo, Yemen are already available here.
The hearing in The Hague at the International Court of Justice into Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinians territories has resumed for the afternoon. You can watch it here:
Questioned by media representatives after his update, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy attacked a UN report in which experts said they were concerned about reports of “multiple forms of sexual assault” against Palestinian women and girls detained by Israel, and also criticised the leadership of the World Health Organization.
He said Israel categorically denied the reports that Palestinian women had been assaulted, calling the accusation “repulsive”, and said that the authors of a UN report included UN officials who had been “running interference for Hamas since the beginning”. He accused them of remaining silent on the sexual and gendered abuse of Israeli women and girls by Hamas, and said it was clear they were motivated “not by the truth but by their hatred of Israel and the Jewish people.”
In a press statement published yesterday by the UN Human Rights Office the authors expressed alarm over “credible allegations of egregious human rights violations to which Palestinian women and girls continue to be subjected in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank”, including reports of rape, strip-searches and photos of female detainees in degrading circumstances being posted online.
Israel denies the accusations, and Israel’s mission to the UN described them as “despicable and unfounded claims”.
Levy also criticised the leadership of the World Health Organization, saying that while he had no update on the situation at Nasser hospital, he noted that WHO had said it was running on just one electricity generator, without noting, he claimed, that the generator was supplied and fuelled by Israeli forces. Levy did not provide evidence for the claim.
Levy said the US was “foursquare behind Israel” when asked about the draft resolution at the UN security council from the US calling for a temporary ceasefire. He blamed Hamas for the collapse of the last pause in fighting, saying it had stopped releasing hostages. He said Israel was grateful for the support of its allies, “in whatever way they phrase it”.
Twice when asked, he declined to give an update on access arrangements to the al-Aqsa mosque during Ramadan. Israel has said it will continue to limit attendances, as it has done since 7 October.
Here are the key points from Eylon Levy’s briefing presentation. He is now taking questions from the media.
He said:
IDF casualties (including on 7 October as well as in Gaza) are up to 575 killed, increasing by one. [See 8.32 GMT]
They believe Hamas holds 134 hostages, 32 of whom have been killed or were killed during their abduction.
He said members of the Bibas family had agreed to the release of footage of their abducted family. They said it was “so the world cannot forget what happened and cannot look away.”
He quoted Benjamin Netanyahu saying “We will settle accounts with them. We will bring these kidnappers of babies to justice”
Levy said ceasefire demands that Israel should “abandon children to the death squads” that abducted them are “a stain on humanity”.
Israel will not accept the ongoing displacement of people from their homes in northern Isreal. He said “Hezbollah must back off” or Israel would force them away from its territory.
Israeli goverment spokesperson Eylon Levy is giving a public briefing in English, which you can watch here. We will bring you any key lines that emerge.
Hagar Shezaf at Haaretz has spoken to Philippe Lazzarini on UNRWA, who has told the paper that Israel has not passed to the agency evidence to support its claims members of organisation operated for Hamas during the 7 October attacks.
He told her the accusation was “severe enough and shocking enough for action to be taken immediately” but that Israel has not given him the report of its findings.
“We are asking now the state of Israel to fully cooperate to provide the evidence to the investigation team,” he told her.
Shezaf writes for Haaretz:
Asked whether there are suspicions that additional agency employees took part in the attack on Israeli communities near Gaza, Lazzarini said he had not received such evidence. He said he learned from media reports about the claim that some 10% of the agency’s employees in the Gaza Strip are linked to Hamas or Islamic Jihad.
“I read in the newspapers about 190 or 1,200 [employees] we have not been notified [about],” he says. “We do not have this information, we do not know where this information is coming [from], we do not know if it is an estimate. We do not know if it is just speculation.”
Even if the fighting in Gaza stopped now, about 8,000 more people could still die there over the next six months due to the public health crisis caused by the Israel-Hamas war, according to a report by independent researchers in the US and Britain.
Hospitals in Gaza have been devastated by the fighting and more than 85% of its 2.3 million inhabitants have been left homeless, with rising cases of diseases like diarrhoea as well as malnutrition in overcrowded shelters.
The figures come from a report by academics at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health in the US, and are part of wider projections of the excess deaths the conflict may cause in Gaza over the next six months, according to Reuters.
The report, published on Monday, says it does not include Israel because its public health system is intact.
If the fighting continues or escalates, traumatic injuries will make up the majority of excess deaths in Gaza, the researchers project. But deaths from malnutrition, infectious diseases like cholera and a lack of access to care for conditions like diabetes will also kill thousands.
In a worst-case scenario, where the fighting escalates and there are significant disease outbreaks, roughly 85,570 people may die by early August, with 68,650 deaths related to traumatic injuries, the report says.
Updated
Prince William has said he was deeply concerned about the “terrible human cost of the conflict in the Middle East”.
In a statement, he said:
Too many have been killed.
He added that he wants to see an end to the fighting and increased humanitarian aid to Gaza, Reuters reports.
US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will travel to the region this week for continued talks on securing the release of hostages held by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza, a senior Biden administration official said on Tuesday.
Reuters reports that McGurk, who participated in earlier negotiations, will visit Egypt on Wednesday and Israel on Thursday.
The meetings are the latest in ongoing talks between the US, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of more than 100 hostages held by Hamas after its deadly 7 October attack on Israel.
Meanwhile, the US is also proposing a draft UN security council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and opposing a major ground offensive by its ally Israel in Rafah, after signaling a US veto on a rival resolution on Tuesday that it said could jeopardise talks.
The US does “not plan to rush” to a vote in order to allow time for negotiations, a senior US administration official told Reuters on Monday, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
US officials have said the ongoing hostage talks have been productive but have required more ongoing work.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has paused the deliveries of food aid to northern Gaza until “conditions are in place that allow for safe distributions”, it said in a statement.
It said:
The decision to pause deliveries to the north of the Gaza Strip has not been taken lightly, as we know it means the situation there will deteriorate further and more people risk dying of hunger. WFP is deeply committed to urgently reaching desperate people across Gaza but the safety and security to deliver critical food aid – and for the people receiving it – must be ensured.
Deliveries to the north resumed on Sunday after a three-week suspension following the strike on an UNRWA truck and due to the absence of a functioning humanitarian notification system. The plan was to send 10 trucks of food for seven straight days, to help stem the tide of hunger and desperation and to begin building trust in communities that there would be enough food for all.
On Sunday, as WFP started the route towards Gaza City, the convoy was surrounded by crowds of hungry people close to the Wadi Gaza checkpoint. First fending off multiple attempts by people trying to climb aboard our trucks, then facing gunfire once we entered Gaza City, our team was able to distribute a small quantity of the food along the way. On Monday, the second convoy’s journey north faced complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order. Several trucks were looted between Khan Younes and Deir al Balah and a truck driver was beaten. The remaining flour was spontaneously distributed off the trucks in Gaza city, amidst high tension and explosive anger …
Gaza is hanging by a thread and WFP must be enabled to reverse the path towards famine for thousands of desperately hungry people.
A statue of Amy Winehouse in her former home of Camden has had a pro-Palestinian sticker placed over a star of David necklace, prompting condemnation from many including environment secretary Steve Barclay.
Metropolitan police acknowledged the incident would cause “upset to many people”, and said they were “making inquiries with Camden Market to establish the circumstances and what evidence, such as CCTV footage, may be available”.
Owners of Camden Market, where the statue stands, said the sticker “was removed immediately, and the incident was reported to the police. Camden Market remains first and foremost, a place of diversity – a global destination that welcomes everyone. Any form of discrimination on our estate will not be tolerated”.
A dog-tag with the words “bring them home now”, referring to Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, was later temporarily draped over the statue.
Winehouse had Ashkenazi Jewish heritage and frequently wore the star of David necklace depicted on her statue.
The Guardian has contacted the Amy Winehouse Foundation for comment.
You can read the full story here.
Summary of the day so far …
It is 1pm in The Hague, and 2pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv. Here are the headlines …
UN agency Unicef has warned the Gaza Strip is poised to witness an increase in what an official said was “the already unbearable level of child deaths” due to a worsening food crisis. It says more than 90% of children under five in Gaza are in food poverty, with a similar percentage are affected by infectious diseases, and 70% experiencing diarrhea in the last two weeks.
South Africa’s delegation to the ICJ in The Hague has said Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory is “an even more extreme form of the apartheid” than the one formerly in place in South Africa. The court is holding a second day of hearings asking it to give an advisory opinion on the Israeli occupation. Saudi Arabia, Algeria, the Netherlands and Bangladesh have also given oral submissions today.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has accused Israel of impeding hospital rescue missions at the Nasser hospital in southern Gaza. The agency reported its staff said “the destruction around Nasser hospital was ‘indescribable’” and that it was concerned for “an estimated 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses” who remain at the medical complex, which has “no electricity or running water”.
The total number of Palestinians detained by Israeli security forces from the occupied West Bank since 7 October has risen to 7,120 according to local sources.
Overnight the IDF confirmed that one of its soldiers who had been wounded during the ground offensive in Khan Younis on 15 february had died, taking Israel’s total losses on the ground inside Gaza to 236.
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has claimed it continues to “operate in the northern, central, and southern Gaza Strip”, and says it has “eliminated a terrorist cell that attempted to attack the troops”.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has reportedly arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials.
In Israel a protest march is heading towards prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence demanding the Israeli government do more to secure the release of the 134 hostages believed to still be held in Gaza by Hamas.
Israel’s military has said in a statement that “throughout the morning, IDF fighter jets struck a number of Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon”. Anti-tank missiles were reported to have landed inside northern Israel.
Satellite images appear to show the territory cleared on Egypt’s side of the border with Rafah has been made larger than initially reported on 15 February.
Occupied West Bank detentions since 7 October now number 7,120 according to local sources
While the International Court of Justice in The Hague is listening to submissions in a case regarding Israel’s policies and practices in the occupied Palestinian territories, Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israel has detained another 30 people in the West Bank.
Citing the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, it reports that two of those detained were people released under the hostage swap deal agreed alongside a temporary truce late last year.
PPS said the raids took place in diverse locations, including Ramallah, Hebron, Tulkarm, Bethlehem, Nablus and Jenin.
Wafa reports that the total number of Palestinians detained by Israeli security forces from the occupied West Bank since 7 October has risen to 7,120.
Satellite images appear to show the territory cleared on the Egyptian side of the border with Rafah has been made larger than initially reported on 15 February.
Egypt is believed to have been preparing contingency plans in case talks to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas fail and Israel proceeds with a planned attack on the southern town, which is now hosting more than 1.5 million people.
Israel’s military has said in a statement that “throughout the morning, IDF fighter jets struck a number of Hezbollah terror targets in Lebanon.”
Lebanese state media is reporting an increased number of people displaced from the UN-drawn blue line that divides Lebanon and Israel. It reports there has been “significant damage to homes, crops, and infrastructure, especially electricity and water networks” due to Israeli military action inside Lebanon.
The ICJ has resumed in The Hague. You can watch it here:
The International Court of Justice sitting in The Hague is taking a break. So far this morning South Africa, Algeria and Saudi Arabia have made representations to the court.
Vusi Madonsela, South Africa’s ambassador to the Netherlands, said in their submission that “We as South Africans see, hear and feel to our core the inhumane discriminatory policies and practices of the Israeli regime as an even more extreme form of the apartheid that was institutionalised against black people in my country.”
The issue of whether to call for an “immediate ceasefire”, a “temporary ceasefire” or a “humanitarian pause in fighting” in Gaza continues to cause division in UK domestic politics, as my colleague Andrew Sparrow reports:
Stephen Flynn, the Scottish National Party (SNP) leader at Westminster, has said that a UN security council resolution proposed by the US calling for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza does not go far enough.
The draft UN text “marks the first time the US has explicitly backed a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, though it adds that the temporary truce should be begun ‘as soon as practicable’, leaving some room for manoeuvre by the Israeli military.”
Asked his view on the draft resolution, Flynn told the BBC this morning:
The problem is that ceasefire is included but the word before it is also important and the word we need to hear before it is immediate because we cannot continue to see civilians being killed. The death toll could rise exponentially. Enough is enough. We need an immediate ceasefire and that’s what the SNP will continue to champion.
Tomorrow MPs in London are due to vote on an SNP motion calling for “an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Israel”. The debate is creating a problem for opposition party Labour because many of its MPs support the SNP position, but leader Keir Starmer has been unwilling to call for an “immediate” ceasefire without an assurance that Hamas would comply.
Starmer is also keen to be seen as a prime minister in waiting – the UK must by law have a general election before 28 January 2025, and Starmer’s party are currently leading the polls by some 20% and set to form the next government.
Starmer has therefore been attempting to act in concert with the country’s diplomatic allies, and not just adopt the language of protest movements. In this respect, the shift in US position might give him some cover.
Although the SNP says its primary concern is saving lives in Gaza, in Scotland it faces its biggest electoral challenge from Labour, and tabling a vote on a ceasefire motion allows it to highlight the bitter divisions in the Labour party on this issue.
At the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Saudi Arabia has accused Israel of “twisted logic” in its attacks on Gaza, and says it has treated the Palestinian population as “dispensable objects rather than human beings”.
Ziad Al Atiyah, Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the Netherlands, said:
I believe I speak with virtually the entire international community in expressing the Kingdom’s profound revulsion and condemnation of the horrendous death and destruction and displacements of Palestinian civilians brought about by Israel’s illegal and the brutal war in Gaza, and the increase in Israeli aggression, impunity and international law violations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, since October 2023.
Israel defends this obscene brutality as the necessity for defeating Hamas. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia firmly rejects this as twisted logic. Israel’s actions in laying waste to the Gaza Strip, killing and maiming tens of thousands of innocent civilians, depriving them of food, water and the basic means of survival while displacing virtually the entire population are not justified under any circumstances.
These disgraceful acts have brought about formal accusation before this esteemed court, that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian population.
The latter is a reference to a different case at the court, where earlier this year it ordered Israel to ensure acts of genocide are not committed in Gaza.
Saudi Arabia also criticised Israel’s submission to the court, arguing that its five page response addresses none of the accusations, but instead argues about the validity of the case being held by the court. The Saudi Arabian representative claims that is because Israel knows its occupation is “legally indefensible”.
Updated
WHO accuses Israel of hindering medical rescue missions to Nasser hospital, says destruction is 'indescribable'
The World Health Organization (WHO) has issued a lengthy statement on social media this morning describing a mission to transfer patients within the Gaza Strip, and reporting that its staff said “the destruction around Nasser hospital was ‘indescribable’”. It accused Israel of hindering and refusing its attempts to provide medical services to Gaza’s population.
In the statement WHO said:
Who led two life-saving missions to transfer 32 critical patients, including two children, from Nasser medical complex in southern Gaza on 18 and 19 February.
The transfer of patients was requested by the hospital staff after the facility became non-functional following a military raid on 14 February, after a week-long siege. Weak and frail patients were transferred amidst active conflict near the aid convoy.
Nasser hospital has no electricity or running water, and medical waste and garbage are creating a breeding ground for disease. WHO staff said the destruction around the hospital was ‘indescribable.’ The area was surrounded by burnt and destroyed buildings, heavy layers of debris, with no stretch of intact road. An estimated 130 sick and injured patients and at least 15 doctors and nurses remain inside the hospital.
Prior to the missions, WHO received two consecutive denials to access the hospital for medical assessment, causing delays in urgently needed patient referral. Reportedly, at least five patients died in the Intensive Care Unit before any missions or transfers were possible.
It goes on to say that due to “unforgiving road conditions” a team had attempted to reach the complex on foot. It said, having reached the Nasser medical complex with an engineer:
They were only permitted to examine the generator, which had ceased functioning after running out of fuel. During both missions, senior WHO staff clearly identified themselves upon entering the hospital compound and requested approval to assess patients and evaluate hospital functionality. These requests were denied.
On the condition of the hospital, WHO says:
The hospital’s large medical warehouse, along with supplies provided by WHO and partners, has burnt down, and the warehouse for day-to-day medical supplies is partly damaged.
The statement finishes by saying:
WHO repeats its calls for the protection of patients, health workers, health infrastructure, and civilians. Hospitals must not be militarized, misused, or attacked.
.@WHO led two life-saving missions to transfer 32 critical patients, including two children, from Nasser Medical Complex in southern Gaza on 18 and 19 February, amid ongoing hostilities and access restrictions. The high-risk missions were conducted in close partnership with the… pic.twitter.com/YBuy3bemn2
— WHO in occupied Palestinian territory (@WHOoPt) February 20, 2024
Reuters has a quick snap that Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh has arrived in Cairo for talks with Egyptian officials.
More details soon …
South Africa has finished its presentation at The Hague. Algeria is now speaking before the International Court of Justice.
Step Vaessen reports for Al Jazeera that in the last few minutes Canada has pulled out from presenting its oral arguments at the court.
Israel’s culture minister, Miki Zohar, has told a Knesset committee meeting that sending Israeli troops into Rafah will endanger hostages, before later saying on social media that “massive military pressure”, including “ground entry into Rafah” was the only way to secure their release.
Asked about the risks of a military operation on the ground in southern Gaza in the meeting, he said in person “It’s clear that we don’t want to put anyone in danger, not a single hostage. But the answer is yes, going into Gaza will endanger the hostages.”
Israel believes that 134 hostages are still being held in captivity in Gaza, although the status of them all remains unclear.
Zohar later posted to social media to say that he still supported the action, writing “The only way to reach a deal is massive military pressure on Hamas, including ground entry into Rafah. That is the only way Hamas will pursue a deal. Despite the risk involved in military manoeuvreing, this is the way to return all the abductees home and ensure the complete elimination of Hamas.”
A demonstration this morning in Israel was heading to the residence of prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to protest that the state should be doing more to secure the release of the hostages.
The first person to speak in The Hague on day two of the hearings into Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory has said to the court that the occupation has lasted for over 50 years and been conducted “in defiance of international law”. Vusimuzi Madonsela is representing South Africa, one of over 50 nations and organisations who will address the case during a week of public hearings.
The International Court of Justice hearing has begun in The Hague. You can watch it at the top of this blog. It is day two of a hearing into Israel’s “policies and practices” in the occupied Palestinian territories that it has controlled since 1967.
Updated
Emanuel Fabian, military correspondent for the Times of Israel, reports anti-tank missile fire into northern Israel from Lebanon this morning.
Several anti-tank guided missiles were fired from Lebanon at northern Israel, striking an open area near the community of Margaliot.
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) February 20, 2024
There are no reports or damage or injuries, according to the IDF and local authorities.
The attack is believed to have been carried out by…
Unicef warns of increase in 'unbearable level of child deaths in Gaza' due to malnutrition
UN agency Unicef has warned the Gaza Strip is poised to witness an increase in what an official said was “the already unbearable level of child deaths” due to a worsening food crisis.
A report by the Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC), an aid partnership led by the UN’s children’s agency, says more than 90% of children under five in Gaza eat two or fewer food groups a day, known as severe food poverty. A similar percentage are affected by infectious diseases, with 70% experiencing diarrhea in the last two weeks.
In Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah, where most humanitarian aid enters, the acute malnutrition rate is 5%, compared to 15% in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by the Israeli military and largely cut off from aid for months. Before the war the rate across Gaza was less than 1%, the report said.
“The Gaza Strip is poised to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths, which would compound the already unbearable level of child deaths in Gaza,” Unicef official Ted Chaiban said in a statement.
AP reports that back in December found that Gaza’s entire population of 2.3 million Palestinians is in a food crisis, with a quarter of the population facing starvation.
The flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip has been severely restricted, and the GNC report says:
Analysis indicates a dire nutrition situation for the entire population of Gaza, both in the short and long term. It is expected that all areas of Gaza will be affected by malnutrition, but governates receiving limited or no humanitarian assistance will be particularly impacted.
The report outlined two potential scenarios which it termed the “rapid decline scenario” and the “slow deterioration scenario”, both of which depend on the extent to which the spread of disease can be checked and the extent to which aid can be delivered.
Both scenarios, it says, will lead to “a consistent and constant rise in child wasting, maternal undernutrition, and micronutrient malnutrition.”
Updated
Overnight the IDF confirmed that one of its soldiers who had been wounded during the ground offensive in Khan Younis, Maoz Morell, has died. He was wounded on 15 February. It brings total IDF losses during the campaign inside Gaza to 236.
Updated
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that Israeli settlers attacked a house in the town of Sinjil, north of Ramallah. Citing local sources, it says that a group broke the windows and “spay-painted racist slogans” on the door of a house belonging to a Palestinian resident.
Earlier Wafa reported that Israeli forces were demolishing a building under construction in Beit Hanina, and that dozens of Palestinians were suffering from the effects of teargas in the al-Arroub refugee camp, north of Hebron. It said confrontations broke out after an Israeli security raid, and that “soldiers fired live bullets, stun grenades and teargas canisters at residents”.
ICJ to hold further hearings into 'policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory' today
The International Court of Justice is scheduled to sit again today in The Hague in the Netherlands, to hear oral arguments in the case “Legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem (request for advisory opinion)”.
The sessions are due to last from 9am to 1.10pm and then again from 2pm to 4.10pm (all times GMT).
Julian Borger’s report of yesterday’s session can be found here. There is a verbatim record of yesterday’s session here. There will be a live video stream when proceedings start today.
Haaretz reports that in Israel a protest march is heading towards prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s residence demanding the Israeli government act to secure the release of the 134 hostages believed to still be held in Gaza by Hamas.
Haaretz quotes one protester, Ila Metzger, whose father-in-law is a hostage, saying “Netanyahu, I’m tired. 134 hostages. If it was your daughter, what would you do?”
The protesters are asking the government to prioritise the release of hostages by doing a ceasefire deal with Hamas.
The food situation in Gaza has worsened significantly, with over 90% of children aged 6–23 months and pregnant and breastfeeding women facing severe food poverty, according to a report by Global Nutrition Cluster (GNC).
GNC writes that in Gaza:
At least 90% of children under 5 are affected by one or more infectious disease and 70% have had diarrhoea in the past two weeks.
81% of households lack safe and clean water, with average household access at less than one litre per person per day.
It claims:
Results from the analysis suggest that the nutrition situation of women and children in Gaza is worsening, everywhere, but especially in Northern Gaza and Rafah. In Northern Gaza, 1 in 6 children are acutely malnourished, with an estimated 3% facing the most severe form of wasting and requiring immediate treatment.
Updated
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Israel has previously claimed to have killed about 12,000 Hamas fighters inside the Gaza Strip during its campaign, while yesterday Reuters reported that a Hamas official based in Qatar said it had lost 6,000 fighters.
The Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza yesterday put the total death toll from the Israeli military campaign at over 29,000, which it says are mostly women and children. It said more than 69,000 people have been injured.
The health ministry figures do not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants. The accuracy of the casualty figures has been affected by the virtual collapse of Gaza’s healthcare system under the Israeli assault, and many more people are thought to be missing, trapped under rubble.
In its latest operational update, Israel’s military has claimed it continues to “operate in the northern, central, and southern Gaza Strip”, and says it has “eliminated a terrorist cell that attempted to attack the troops”.
The IDF says:
IDF troops are continuing intensive operations in western Khan Younis and killed dozens of terrorists over the past day. The troops directed aircraft that killed a number of the terrorists, and additional terrorists were killed by tank and sniper fire. IDF troops in Khan Younis identified a number of terrorists armed with an RPG missile and an AK-47. The terrorists were killed by the soldiers at close-range.
The claims have not been independently verified.
Julian Borger reported from Washington overnight
The US has proposed a UN security council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire and for Israel not to go ahead with a planned offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza.
The draft text marks the first time the US has explicitly backed a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict, though it adds that the temporary truce should be begun “as soon as practicable”, leaving some room for manoeuvre by the Israeli military.
The text is being offered by the Biden administration as an alternative to an Algerian draft resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that is due to be debated on Tuesday.
Read more here: US urges Israel to drop plans for Rafah ground offensive
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East. It has just gone 10am in Gaza City and in Tel Aviv.
Two Israeli airstrikes hit southern Lebanon on Monday, close to the city of Sidon, wounding 14 people, official media said. The Israeli army said it had targeted “Hezbollah weapons storage facilities”.
Lebanon’s state-run National news agency (NNA) said the strikes targeted a warehouse where tyres and electricity generators were manufactured, and the vicinity of a factory.
More on that in a moment, first here’s a summary of the day’s other main news.
The Houthis have claimed one of their most significant strikes since they started launching missiles at ships in the Red Sea, after two projectiles hit a Belize-flagged cargo ship. The Yemeni rebels claimed the ship was at risk of sinking, a significant propaganda victory for the Houthis if confirmed.
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 US has proposed a UN security council resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire and for Israel not to go ahead with a planned offensive on Rafah in southern Gaza. The draft text marks the first time the US has explicitly backed a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
The 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.
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 argued 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 an operational update on Monday, 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.”
It is Martin Belam with you today. You can message me at martin.belam@theguardian.com.
