Summary of the day …
It is approaching 4.30pm in The Hague, 5/30pm in Gaza City and Tel Aviv, and 6.30pm in Damascus. Here are the headlines …
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted to a Knesset vote endorsing his stand against a unilaterally declared Palestinian state by saying “The Knesset came together in an overwhelming majority against the attempt to impose on us the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would not only fail to bring peace but would endanger the state of Israel.”
The US has told the International Court of Justice in The Hague that the Hamas attack on 7 October demonstrated Israel’s “legitimate security needs” in any solution to conflict in the region. The US urged the court not to “find that Israel is legally obligated to immediately and unconditionally withdraw from occupied territory”, but instead “preserve and promote the established framework” for reaching a two-state solution. Russia and France will make oral submissions to the court later on Wednesday.
Israeli strikes across Gaza killed at least 67 Palestinians overnight and into Wednesday, including in areas where civilians have been told to seek refuge. Aid group Doctors Without Borders said that two people were killed when a shelter housing staff in the Gaza Strip was struck during an Israeli operation. The IDF said it recovered “weapons including an RPG and AK-47 rifle” and has located dozens of “terror infrastructures, observation posts, weapon storage facilities, and underground targets” during the last 24 hours. One Israeli soldier was announced as being killed.
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) has announced it is pausing deliveries of food aid to northern Gaza. This comes after incidents on 18 and 19 February when WFP says convoys were unable to deliver aid as planned, largely due to a breakdown in civil order. It said a truck was looted and the driver beaten.
The Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel says it found evidence of “systematic and intentional” rape and sexual abuse during the Hamas attack on 7 October, and claimed that Hamas chose to use “sadistic sexual crimes” in order to “harm Israel strategically”. Orit Sulitzeanu, CEO of the organisation, said “The report, submitted to decision-makers at the UN, leaves no room for denial or disregard. Silence is no longer an option. We expect international organisations to take a clear stance”.
At least two people have been killed by what has been described by Syria’s media as an Israeli airstrike on Damascus. A residential building was struck in the Kafr Sousa district of the capital. Israel’s military have not commented on the claim.
In London the UK parliament will vote later on an opposition motion calling for a ceasefire in Gaza. The exact wording of the motion has sparked a political row among opposition parties.
Iran’s oil Minister Javad Owji has said Israel was behind last week’s attack on Iranian gas pipelines.
An Israeli airstrike on south Lebanon killed a woman and wounded her daughter on Wednesday, state media said.
My colleague Jason Burke has a wrap of today’s news here: UN agency pauses Gaza food aid deliveries after looting and gunfire
Netanyahu: 'Knesset came together' against establishment of Palestinian state which would 'endanger the state of Israel'
Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted to a Knesset vote endorsing his stand against a unilaterally declared Palestinian state.
Reuters reports he said “The Knesset came together in an overwhelming majority against the attempt to impose on us the establishment of a Palestinian state, which would not only fail to bring peace but would endanger the state of Israel.
The vote drew condemnation from the Palestinian foreign ministry, which accused Israel of holding the rights of the Palestinian people hostage by forceful occupation of territories where Palestinians seek to establish a state.
“The ministry reaffirms that the State of Palestine’s full membership in the United Nations and its recognition by other nations does not require permission from Netanyahu,” it said in a statement.
The Israeli position says that any permanent accord with the Palestinians must be reached through direct negotiations between the sides and not by international dictates. Critics have argued this effectively gives Israel an unlimited veto against recognising Palestine. Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967.
