Summary
Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:
A senior Houthi leader said that he is holding the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, responsible for the sinking of the UK-owned Rubymar after it was struck by Houthis earlier this week, Reuters reports. In a tweet, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said: “Sunak has a chance to recover the Rubymar by allowing aid trucks into Gaza.”
Israeli forces on Saturday struck tents housing displaced Palestinians near a hospital in Rafah, killing 11 people and wounding dozens, according to Gaza’s health officials. In a statement reported by Agence France-Presse, health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said that a paramedic was among those killed and that children were also wounded in the strikes, which occurred near the Emirati maternity hospital.
Israeli forces arrested 14 members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the organization said on Saturday. In a tweet on Saturday, the PRCS said: “PRCS expresses deep concern for the safety of its detained teams, whose fate remains unknown, and calls on the international community to urgently intervene to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release our detained colleagues.”
The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, will meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday, a White House official told Reuters. The upcoming meeting is expected to cover topics including reducing Palestinian casualties, securing a temporary ceasefire, hostage release and an increase in aid flow.
US Central Command released a statement following its airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza, where Israel’s attacks across the strip have forced approximately 2 million Palestinians to the verge of famine. In a post on X, US Central Command announced that the operation was coordinated alongside the Royal Jordanian Air Force and involved the distribution of 38,000 meals.
A framework for a deal that would establish a six-week ceasefire in Gaza is in place with Israel’s agreement and is now dependent on Hamas, US administration official said on Saturday. “The hostages have to be released,” the official told reporters on a conference call. “The deal is basically there. But I don’t want to create expectations one way or the other.”
For further details on the potential six-week ceasefire deal, click here:
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A senior Houthi leader said that he is holding the British prime minister, Rishi Sunak, responsible for the sinking of the UK-owned Rubymar after it was struck by Houthis earlier this week, Reuters reports.
In a tweet, Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, head of Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee, said:
Sunak has a chance to recover the Rubymar by allowing aid trucks into Gaza.
Yemen’s internationally recognized government said on Saturday that the Rubymar’s sinking poses an “unprecedented environmental disaster in Yemen and the region”.
غرق السفينة #روبيمار كارثة بيئية لم تعهدها اليمن والمنطقة هي مأساة جديدة لبلادنا وشعبنا، ندفع في كل يوم ثمن مغامرات مليشيا #الحوثي التي لم تكتف باغراق #اليمن في كارثة الانقلاب والحرب وما تمخض عنها من مآسي لحقت بكل أسرة يمنية، صنع كارثة انسانية تهدد حياة شعبنا والاجيال لعشرات…
— Ahmed A. BinMubarak (@BinmubarakAhmed) March 2, 2024
According to the US military, the ship was carrying more than 41,000 metric tons of fertilizer and caused an 18-mile oil slick after it was attacked.
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Here are some images coming through the newswires of demonstrators who gathered around the world over the weekend to demand a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since 7 October.
Médecins Sans Frontières has issued a response to Saturday’s attack near a hospital in Rafah, in which Gaza health officials said Israeli strikes killed 11 Palestinians while wounding dozens more.
In several posts on X, the humanitarian organization said:
The Emirati hospital, supported by MSF, is the main primary maternity facility in southern Gaza. In recent weeks, patients have voiced their fear of entering the hospital due to systematic attacks in and around healthcare facilities across Gaza.
With 1.5 million people cramped into Rafah, any military escalation in the area would lead to catastrophic consequences. MSF reiterates its call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire and for the protection of civilians, healthcare facilities and staff.
With 1.5 million people cramped into Rafah, any military escalation in the area would lead to catastrophic consequences. MSF reiterates its call for an immediate and sustained ceasefire and for the protection of civilians, healthcare facilities and staff. 3/3
— MSF International (@MSF) March 2, 2024
Since 7 October, numerous human rights organizations have condemned Israel’s attacks on Gaza’s healthcare facilities, which have crippled the healthcare system across the strip.
In December, Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN special rapporteur on the right to health, said that Israel has declared an “unrelenting war” on Gaza’s healthcare system.
Meanwhile, in November, Human Rights Watch said that Israel’s “repeated, apparently unlawful attacks on medical facilities, personnel, and transport are further destroying Gaza’s healthcare system and should be investigated as war crimes”.
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Gaza health officials: Israeli strikes kill 11 Palestinians near Rafah hospital, wounding dozens more
Israeli forces on Saturday struck tents housing displaced Palestinians near a hospital in Rafah, killing 11 people and wounding dozens, according to Gaza’s health officials.
In a statement reported by Agence France-Presse, health ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said that a paramedic was among those killed and that children were also wounded in the strikes which occurred near the Emirati maternity hospital.
“Eleven citizens were martyred and about 50 injured, including children, as a result of Israeli forces targeting tents of displaced people near the Emirati hospital,” Qudra said.
Speaking to AFP, Rafah resident Belal Abu Jekhleh said: “Destruction is everywhere and there are many martyrs … Suddenly the glass shattered and a fire broke out. Everyone fled, some were martyred and others injured. I was injured in my hands and head, and my brother was also injured.”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), World Health Organization chief Tedros Ghebreyesus called the attacks “outrageous and unspeakable,” adding: “Health workers and civilians are #NotATarget, and must be protected at all times.”
He went on to urge Israel, whose forces have killed more than 30,000 Palelstinians while injuring more than 60,000 others since 7 October, to cease fire.
Reports that tents sheltering displaced people in Rafah were bombed - reportedly killing 11 people and injuring 50, including children - are outrageous and unspeakable.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 2, 2024
Among those killed are two health workers.
Health workers and civilians are #NotATarget, and must be…
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The upcoming meeting between the US vice-president, Kamala Harris, and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday is expected to cover topics including reducing Palestinian casualties, securing a temporary ceasefire, hostage release and increasing aid flow, Reuters reports.
“The vice president will express her concern over the safety of the as many as 1.5 million people in Rafah,” a US official told Reuters, adding that Israel also had a “right to defend itself in the face of continued Hamas terrorist threats”.
Meanwhile, a statement from Gantz’s office said that in addition to Harris, Gantz will meet with US national security adviser Jake Sullivan, along with Democratic and Republican congressional members.
“Minister Gantz personally updated the prime minister on his own initiative on Friday of his intention to travel, in order to coordinate the messages to be transmitted in the meetings,” the statement said.
Since 7 October, Israel’s war on Gaza has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians while leaving approximately 2 million survivors forcibly displaced across the narrow strip.
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Here are some images coming through the newswires from Gaza, where Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since 7 October while leaving approximately 2 million survivors grappling with shortages in food, water, fuel and medical supplies:
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Airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza might not be necessary if Israel faced more pressure from western countries on aid entry, the Guardian’s Patrick Wintour writes:
Melanie Ward, the chief executive of Medical Aid for Palestinians, said: “Instead of dropping packages from the sky – some of which end up in the sea or outside of Gaza and which the most vulnerable cannot reach in any case – the US, the UK and others should ensure that Israel immediately opens all crossings into Gaza for aid and aid workers to assist those in need. This includes the Karni and Erez crossings, which give direct access to the north of Gaza. Only safe and unfettered access for aid and aid workers, the lifting of the siege and an immediate ceasefire can end starvation in Gaza.”
The distribution of aid once it hits the ground is also a concern of the UN Relief and Works Agency. Civil order is breaking down in northern Gaza and it is just as likely that Hamas will end up being the distributor and chief consumer of the aid, thereby reinforcing its authority.
Chris Doyle, the director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, saw a political message in the White House decision. He said: “When the US, the world’s greatest military power and the greatest ally of Israel, is reduced to operating air aid drops, it is a sign of America’s ineffectiveness.”
For the full story, click here:
Updated
Israeli forces arrested 14 members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, the organization said on Saturday.
In a tweet on Saturday, the PRCS, which has faced routine attacks from Israeli forces since 7 October, said:
PRCS expresses deep concern for the safety of its detained teams, whose fate remains unknown, and calls on the international community to urgently intervene to pressure the Israeli occupation authorities to immediately release our detained colleagues.
The Israeli occupation continues to arrest 14 PRCS members , including 7 who were arrested from inside Al-Amal Hospital 23 days ago.
— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) March 2, 2024
🚨PRCS expresses deep concern for the safety of its detained teams, whose fate remains unknown, and calls on the international community to… pic.twitter.com/8YhnDgrJbf
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The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, will meet with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday, a White House official told Reuters.
Reuters adds that the meeting is set to take place at the White House.
Updated
Framework for Gaza ceasefire in place, depends now on Hamas, says US official
A framework for a deal that would establish a six-week ceasefire in Gaza is in place with Israel’s agreement and is now dependent on Hamas, Reuters reports a US administration official saying on Saturday.
“The hostages have to be released,” the official told reporters on a conference call. “The deal is basically there. But I don’t want to create expectations one way or the other.”
Reports of the potential deal come as Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since 7 October while leaving approximately 2 million survivors forcibly displaced across the Gaza Strip.
Updated
US Central Command has released a statement following its airdrops of humanitarian aid into Gaza, where Israel’s attacks across the strip have forced approximately 2 million Palestinians to the verge of famine.
In a post on X, US Central Command announced that the operation was coordinated alongside the Royal Jordanian Air Force and involved the distribution of 38,000 meals.
These airdrops are part of a sustained effort to get more aid into Gaza, including by expanding the flow of aid through land corridors and routes.
United States Central Command and Royal Jordanian Air Force Conduct Combined Airdrops of Humanitarian Aid Into Gaza
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 2, 2024
U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force conducted a combined humanitarian assistance airdrop into Gaza on March 2, 2024, between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.… pic.twitter.com/yiJoQTWeZW
As one of the chief exporters of arms to Israel, the US has provided the country with more than 70,000 weapons – including missiles and bombs – since 1950.
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Summary of the day so far
It is has gone 6.20pm in Gaza, Tel Aviv and Beirut, and 7.50pm in Tehran. Here is a recap of the latest developments from today:
World leaders have called for an investigation and a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war after at least 104 people were reported killed among a crowd of Palestinians gathered to receive humanitarian aid in Gaza City. There were conflicting reports about events leading up to the deaths. A UN team that visited some of the wounded in al-Shifa hospital on Friday saw a “large number of gunshot wounds”, a spokesperson for the UN chief, António Guterres, said.
The EU’s diplomatic service also urged an international investigation. Many of the Palestinians killed or injured in the chaos as they tried to get bags of flour from an aid convoy were hit by Israeli army fire, said the European External Action Service on Saturday.
French president Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he was angered by the images “coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers”. On X, he strongly condemned the shootings and called for “truth, justice, and respect for international law”.
African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday strongly condemned “the mass killing of Palestinians queueing for humanitarian aid” and urged an international probe.
US military C-130 cargo planes on Saturday dropped food in pallets, containing about 38,000 meals, into Gaza. US president, Joe Biden had announced on Friday that the US would soon start airdropping aid to Gaza, a day after dozens of desperate Palestinians were killed rushing an aid convoy.
Gaza ceasefire negotiations are due to resume in Cairo on Sunday, Reuters reported citing Egyptian security sources. Additionally, a source close to Hamas told AFP that a delegation was expected to fly to Cairo on Saturday for talks on a truce in Gaza.
More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.
A tenth child in a Gaza hospital has been registered as having died from starvation, said the UN on Friday, warning that the “real figure is likely to be higher”. “The official records yesterday or this morning said there was a tenth child officially registered in a hospital as having starved to death,” said UN health agency spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. “A very sad threshold …[but] the unofficial numbers can unfortunately be expected to be higher,” he added.
At least 11 Palestinians were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Saturday that hit a tent in Rafah, the Gaza health ministry said. The airstrike took place over an area where displaced Palestinians have been taking shelter, outside the Emirate hospital in the suburb of Tel Al-Sultan of southern Gaza’s Rafah. The Hamas-run health ministry said another 50 people were injured in the strike and that one of the dead was a medic at the hospital. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment, said Reuters.
The Israeli military said its forces killed eight militants in Khan Younis, about 20 militants in the central Gaza Strip and three more in Rimal, near Gaza City.
The Palestinian Authority hopes a ceasefire can be agreed in Gaza in time for Ramadan, its foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said on Saturday. Speaking at a news conference at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Tukrey, Maliki said the Palestinian Authority would be “the only legitimate authority” to run Gaza after the war.
Biden, said on Friday he was “hoping” for a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but agreement was still not sealed.
Also on Friday, Biden said the US would begin airdropping humanitarian assistance into “Ukraine” when he meant Gaza. The president twice referred to airdrops to help Ukraine, but White House officials clarified he was referring to Gaza.
92 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 156 were injured in the past 24 hours, according to the latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
An Israeli drone strike killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Saturday. The men were killed when the car they were in was targeted on a coastal road near the town of Naqoura, security sources in Lebanon told Reuters.
In response to reports about the drone strike that killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Saturday, the Israeli army said one of its aircraft had struck a vehicle in south Lebanon transporting “a number of terrorists who launched rockets into Israeli territory”. It also said its jets struck “Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” in the Labbouneh area at the Israeli border on Saturday, in addition to two Hezbollah military compounds hit overnight in another frontier area.
Hezbollah said it carried out an attack on an Israeli military headquarters in the village of Liman using an explosive drone at 5.40am (3.40am GMT) on Saturday, reporting a direct hit.
Officials say Rubymar, a British-registered cargo ship, attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has sunk in the Red Sea after days of taking on water. It marks the first ship sunk by the Houthis amid their months-long attacks on shipping in the vital waterway.
Pro-Palestine protests took place across the UK on Saturday after the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak warned that democracy was being targeted by “extremists”. In an address to the nation on Friday, the prime minister spoke about “forces here at home trying to tear us apart”, in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks by Hamas against Israel.
A month after Israeli allegations that a dozen United Nations staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack, UN investigators have yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims, though they expect some material to be forthcoming “shortly”. The allegations against the 12 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) led 16 major donors to suspend contributions totalling $450m (£356m).
Polling closed in Iran’s parliamentary elections on Friday night, with officials claiming the nationwide turnout was a record low of 40.6%. After 10 hours of voting, turnout had stood at only 27%, and in Tehran it was just 12% after eight hours, before the polls were unexpectedly kept open for an extra two hours.
An Iranian pop singer whose song became an anthem during mass protests more than a year ago has been sentenced to at least three years in prison. Shervin Hajipour, 26, wrote and published Baraye during nationwide demonstrations triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death in custody in September 2022.
As Israelis are called up to join the war effort in Gaza, anger is mounting at the ultra-Orthodox community which has long been spared the compulsory military service required of most citizens. Since the 7 October attack by Hamas, the question surrounding whether the insular community, whose members see army service as conflicting with their religious duties, should be obliged to serve has sparked debate and led to protests against their decades-long exemptions.
According to the Times of Israel, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who is head of the National Unity party, is to travel to Washington on Sunday on a trip that is believed to have not been coordinated with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Citing the Israeli news website, Ynet, the Times of Israel said the report had left Netanyahu “fuming”.
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Hamas team heads to Cairo for new truce talks - AFP sources
A Hamas delegation was expected to fly to Cairo on Saturday for talks on a truce in Gaza, a source close to the group told AFP.
Egyptian, Qatari and US go-betweens have been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas negotiators, trying to secure a pause in fighting before the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which begins on 10 or 11 March, depending on the lunar calendar.
Both Washington and Doha had voiced hope a ceasefire could go into effect as early as next week but US president Joe Biden said on Thursday that a deal would take longer after more than 100 Palestinian civilians were killed rushing an aid convoy in the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas delegation will “meet with Egyptians overseeing the ceasefire negotiations, to follow up on the negotiation developments that aim to stop the offensive and the war, and to reach a hostage exchange deal,” said the source close to Hamas, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
According to AFP, the source said the delegation would submit Hamas’s “official answer” to a proposal thrashed out with Israeli negotiators in Paris late last month.
A Hamas source told AFP earlier this week that under the proposal, a truce would last for six weeks, with Hamas releasing 42 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
On Thursday, the White House said the hostage release “would result in an immediate and sustained ceasefire in Gaza over a period of at least six weeks”.
The only previous truce in the war lasted for one week in late November.
In addition to halting Israel’s offensive, Hamas wants new truce terms to ensure immediate humanitarian relief for Palestinians, an Israeli withdrawal and the return of Palestinians displaced from the north, said the source close to the group.
Here are some images from the newswires showing pro-Palestine protests in London and Dorset on Saturday.
The protests follow UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak’s warning on Friday that demonstrations and democracy itself were being targeted by extremists.
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Aseel Mousa in Gaza and Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem have written about Bilal el-Essi, a soccer mad father-of-two, who was among the victims as Israeli troops opened fire near an aid convoy on Thursday. You can read the full piece at the link below:
A few weeks before his death, Bilal el-Essi took a photo of a man’s body, sprawled under a women’s bike in a Gaza City street, a child’s pink backpack fallen from the basket.
The man was killed trying to find food for his family, Essi told friends and family when he shared the image, a snapshot of the tragedy and desperation in Gaza City.
Essi knew the terrible pain of not being able to feed the people you love, and it got sharper every day that he could not find milk for his two girls, five-year-old Layan and two-year-old Mila, or bread for his father.
So when he heard that a rare delivery of food aid might reach northern Gaza in the early hours of Thursday, he made his way to the seafront Al Rashid Road with two brothers, their cousin Moataz el-Essi told the Guardian by phone from Germany.
Bilal, a football-mad 28-year-old who was quick with a joke, joined hundreds of people huddled around small fires waiting in the bitter cold for the trucks of food.
Shukri Fleifel, a 21-year-old photographer and film-maker, was also in the crowd. He had watched Israeli forces open fire on people waiting for aid trucks in the same spot just a few days earlier, he said. But like everyone else in Gaza City, he was hungry.
Reuters have an update on the casualties from an Israeli airstrike that hit a tent in Rafah, according to the Gaza health ministry. Previously, it was reported that at least 10 Palestinians were killed, but the health ministry have revised the death toll to 11.
The Hamas-run Gaza health ministry said another 50 people were injured in the strike next to a hospital in the Tel Al-Sultan area of Rafah. One of the dead was a medic at the hospital, it said.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request by Reuters for comment.
“The strike hit one tent, where people took shelter, directly, shrapnel came inside the hospital where me and friends were sitting, we survived by a miracle,” a witness told Reuters by phone from the area, declining to be identified.
The Israeli military said its forces killed eight militants in Khan Younis, about 20 militants in the central Gaza Strip and three more in Rimal, near Gaza City.
The hostilities came amid uncertainty over whether negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire would resume on Sunday, say Reuters.
The Associated Press (AP) has just published further details on the US aid airdrop in Gaza today, citing information from three US officials.
According to AP, US military C-130 cargo planes on Saturday dropped food in pallets over Gaza. Three planes from air forces central dropped 66 bundles containing about 38,000 meals into Gaza at 8.30am EST (1.30pm GMT), according to two of the officials, who spoke to AP on condition of anonymity before a public announcement.
The airdrop is expected to be the first of many announced by US president Joe Biden on Friday. The aid will be coordinated with Jordan, which has also conducted airdrops to deliver food to Gaza.
White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said on Friday that the airdrops were being planned to deliver emergency humanitarian assistance in a safe way to people on the ground.
The air force’s C-130 has been used in years past to airdrop humanitarian into Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and other locations.
You can read more on this story here:
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Many of those killed or injured in Gaza stampede for aid were shot by Israel's army, says EU
Many of the Palestinians killed or injured in the chaos as they tried to get bags of flour from an aid convoy were hit by Israeli army fire, the EU’s diplomatic service said on Saturday, urging an international investigation.
Outrage is rising over the desperation of hundreds of thousands struggling to survive in northern Gaza after nearly five months of fighting between Israel and Hamas.
“The responsibility for this incident lays on the restrictions imposed by the Israeli army and obstructions by violent extremist(s) to the supply of humanitarian aid,” the European External Action Service said, reports AP.
Roughly one in six children under the age of two in northern Gaza suffers from acute malnutrition and wasting, “the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world,” Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, said this week. “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza.”
US has carried out first airdrop of aid into Gaza, say officials
The US has carried out a first airdrop of aid into Gaza with three C-130 planes, two US officials told Reuters.
It comes after US president, Joe Biden announced the US would start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened fire on Gazans seeking food aid.
In Julian Borger’s Guardian piece on the announcement, he wrote about how critics had dismissed the move as inadequate:
The use of airdrops is a spectacular but inefficient way of delivering aid, and Friday’s announcement suggests that Biden had given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza.
Critics suggested it represented no more than a gesture, which obscured Biden’s reluctance to use US leverage to force Israel to be more cooperative in the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“Airdrops are not the solution to relieve this suffering, and distract time and effort from proven solutions to help at scale,” the International Rescue Committee aid organisation said. “All diplomatic focus should be on ensuring Israel lifts its siege of Gaza.”
You can read the full piece here:
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A 71-year-old legal observer has accused a group of police officers of deliberately knocking her over and leaving her bloodied and unconscious on the ground during a Gaza ceasefire protest in London.
Lesley Wertheimer – who was wearing a hi-vis bib with “legal observer” printed on the back – crashed face down into the road when a phalanx of about 30 police officers ran towards Westminster Bridge during the first pro-Palestine demonstration of 2024.
“No person should be charged, knocked over and harmed by the police and then have to rely on strangers helping them,” said Wertheimer, who has been monitoring the policing of protests since 1990. “Legal observers are there to do a piece of work as the police are there to do a piece of work. The police cannot target us. They have no right to try to intimidate us.”
Video footage, shared with the Observer, shows officers moving down Bridge Street towards Westminster Bridge on 6 January. At least two male officers appear to knock into Wertheimer as they run past, apparently causing her to fall face-first into the road. None of the officers stop to check if she is injured, even though at least two of them look down at her lying prone and motionless.
You can read Tom Wall’s full piece here:
Here are some of the latest images on the newswires today:
Israel yet to provide evidence to back UNRWA 7 October attack claims – UN
A month after Israeli allegations that a dozen United Nations staff were involved in the 7 October Hamas attack, UN investigators have yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims, though they expect some material to be forthcoming “shortly”.
The allegations against the 12 employees of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) led 16 major donors to suspend contributions totalling $450m at a time when more than 2 million Gazans are facing famine. UNRWA says it is approaching “breaking point” and only has sufficient funds to continue functioning for the next month at most.
The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) launched an investigation on 29 January in the wake of the Israeli allegations initially presented to UNRWA in January, and delivered an update on its work to the UN secretary general, António Guterres, on Wednesday.
Officials say a ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has sunk in the Red Sea after days of taking on water, reports the Associated Press (AP). It marks the first ship sunk by the Houthis amid their months-long attacks on shipping in the vital waterway.
The Belize-flagged Rubymar had been drifting northward after being struck by a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on 18 February in the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a crucial waterway linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The sinking of the Rubymar comes as shipping through the crucial waterway for cargo and energy shipments moving from Asia and the Middle East to Europe has been affected by the Houthi attacks.
Yemen’s internationally recognised government, as well as a regional military official, confirmed on Saturday that the ship had sunk, say AP. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as no authorisation had been given to speak to journalists about the incident.
The Rubymar’s Beirut-based manager could not be reached for comment, say AP.
The US military’s Central Command (Centcom) previously warned the vessel’s cargo of fertiliser, as well as fuel leaking from the ship, could cause ecological damage to the Red Sea.
The sinking could see further detours and higher insurance rates put on vessels plying the waterway – potentially driving up global inflation and affecting aid shipments to the region.
An Iranian pop singer whose song became an anthem during mass protests more than a year ago has been sentenced to at least three years in prison.
Shervin Hajipour, 26, wrote and published Baraye during nationwide demonstrations triggered by Mahsa Amini’s death in custody in September 2022.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, had been arrested for allegedly violating the Iran’s strict dress code for women.
On Friday, as the country held parliamentary elections, Hajipour said on Instagram he had been sentenced to three years in prison for “inciting and provoking people to riot to disturb national security”.
He was also handed an eight-month sentence for “propaganda against the regime”. It was not clear when the verdict was issued and it was not reported elsewhere.
You can read the full piece here:
At least 10 Palestinians killed in Israeli airstrike that hit a tent, say health ministry
At least 10 Palestinians were killed by an Israeli airstrike on Saturday that hit a tent in Rafah, the Gaza health ministry said.
The airstrike took place over an area where displaced Palestinians have been taking shelter, outside the Emirate hospital in the suburb of Tel Al-Sultan of southern Gaza’s Rafah, reports Reuters.
The Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said a medic working at the hospital was among those killed.
The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment, said Reuters.
UN says a tenth child in a Gaza hospital has been registered as dying from starvation and warns 'real figure is likely to be higher'
A tenth child in a Gaza hospital has been registered as having died from starvation, said the UN on Friday, warning that the “real figure is likely to be higher”.
“The official records yesterday or this morning said there was a tenth child officially registered in a hospital as having starved to death,” said UN health agency spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. “A very sad threshold …[but] the unofficial numbers can unfortunately be expected to be higher,” he added.
A tenth child in a #Gaza hospital is registered as having died from starvation.
— United Nations Geneva (@UNGeneva) March 1, 2024
The real figure is likely to be higher.@UN_News_Centre: https://t.co/Wk8UA1NScb pic.twitter.com/qFIRpkhHU7
The UN said the development followed media reports overnight that four children had died in northern Gaza’s Kamal Adwan hospital, in addition to six others who died on Wednesday at the same facility and at Al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City.
UN aid coordination office Ocha had previously warned that a deepening food insecurity crisis in Gaza had left one in four facing catastrophic levels of food insecurity.
“The system in Gaza – we’ve said it many times that it’s on its knees – it’s more than on its knees,” Lindmeier told journalists in Geneva, explaining that all of Gaza’s “lifelines have more or less been cut”, notably water and electricity, since immediately after Hamas-led terror attacks on Israeli communities on 7 October.
Ocha spokesperson Jens Laerke said that before the conflict “people had food; people were able to produce their own food”, but added that now finding food within Gaza itself, whether from farming or fishing, “is almost impossible”. “Putting food on the table … has completely stopped. The very foundation for people’s daily sustenance is being ripped away,” said Laerke.
Ocha said that the latest humanitarian food insecurity assessments indicate that the entire population of Gaza – 2.2 million people – face “crisis” levels of food insecurity. Of that number, about 1.17 million face “emergency” levels of food insecurity, while for another 500,000 it is at “catastrophic” levels, say Ocha.
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Joe Biden twice confuses Gaza with Ukraine as he announces plans to airdrop aid – video
The US president, Joe Biden, said on Friday the US would begin airdropping humanitarian assistance into “Ukraine”, a day after more than 100 Palestinians were killed during a chaotic encounter with Israeli troops.
Biden said the airdrops would begin soon and that the US was looking into additional ways to facilitate getting badly needed aid into the war-torn territory to ease the suffering of Palestinians.
“In the coming days we are going to join with our friends in Jordan and others who are providing airdrops of additional food and supplies” and we will “seek to open up other avenues in, including possibly a marine corridor,” said Biden. The president twice referred to airdrops to help Ukraine, but White House officials clarified he was referring to Gaza.
You can watch the video with Biden’s comments here:
Politicians from 12 countries unite to press for arms ban on Israel
More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.
The letter, organised by Progressive International, a network of socialist MPs and activists focused on international justice, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.
BREAKING 🇵🇸 200 parliamentarians across Israel’s top military partners unite to end their countries’ arms sales to Israel. “We will not be complicit in Israel’s grave violation of international law.” pic.twitter.com/3QlbBVbXBT
— Progressive International (@ProgIntl) March 1, 2024
The organisers believe governments supplying arms are vulnerable to legal challenges given the scale of devastation in Gaza that they say extends beyond any definition of self-defence or proportionality.
The signatories are all MPs in parliaments where the governments allow arms sales to Israel. Nine are current or former leaders of political parties, including the former UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn; the leader of the Green party in the Australian senate, Larissa Waters; the coordinator of France Unbowed, Manuel Bompard; the national secretary of the Workers’ party of Belgium, Peter Mertens; the Canadian MP and member of the Progressive International council, Niki Ashton; the Brazilian federal deputy Nilto Tatto; the former leader of Die Linke, Bernd Riexinger; the leader of the Spanish party Podemos, Ione Belarra; the leader of the Dutch Socialist party, Jimmy Dijk; the Irish teachta dála (member of parliament) Thomas Pringle; and the former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic party in Turkey, Sezai Temelli. There were two signatories from the US – Democratic congresswomen Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib.
According to the Times of Israel, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, who is head of the National Unity party, is to travel to Washington on Sunday on a trip that is believed to have not been coordinated with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Citing the Israeli news website, Ynet, the Times of Israel say the report had left Netanyahu “fuming”. It writes:
The upcoming trip has created tensions between Gantz and Netanyahu, whose associates were cited by Hebrew media as saying that the premier has “made it clear to minister Gantz that the state of Israel only has one prime minister.”
They said the trip was organised without the prime minister’s approval and contrary to government regulations that require “every minister to clear travel in advance with the prime minister, including approval of the travel plan.”
Citing Ynet, the Times of Israel added that Gantz is expected to travel to London from Washington.
Pro-Palestine marches to continue across the UK after Sunak ‘extremists’ speech
Pro-Palestine protests are to continue across the UK on Saturday after the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak warned that democracy was being targeted by “extremists”.
In an address to the nation on Friday, the prime minister spoke about “forces here at home trying to tear us apart”, in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks by Hamas against Israel.
Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Sunak said “our democracy itself is a target” and decried a recent “shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality”.
He described the victory of George Galloway in the Rochdale byelection as “beyond alarming”. He also spoke directly to those taking part in pro-Palestine protests, urging organisers to demonstrate peacefully and “with empathy”.
He said he had told senior police chiefs the public expected the protests to be policed rather than simply managed.
Sunak said: “I want to speak directly to those who choose to continue to protest: don’t let the extremists hijack your marches. You have a chance in the coming weeks to show that you can protest decently, peacefully and with empathy for your fellow citizens.
“Let us prove these extremists wrong and show them that even when we disagree, we will never be disunited.”
You can read the full piece here:
Gaza ceasefire talks to resume in Cairo on Sunday, Egyptian security sources tell Reuters
Gaza ceasefire negotiations are due to resume in Cairo on Sunday, reports Reuters citing Egyptian security sources on Saturday.
The parties agreed on a duration of Gaza truce, hostage and prisoner releases, they said, adding that the completion of the deal still requires an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from northern Gaza and a return of its residents.
We will update with any additional information as it comes in.
Reuters are reporting that Israeli military have now commented on the drone strike that killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Saturday.
Security sources in Lebanon said three Hezbollah fighters, including a weapons technician, were killed when the car they were in was targeted on a coastal road near the town of Naqoura.
The Israeli army said one of its aircraft had struck a vehicle in south Lebanon transporting “a number of terrorists who launched rockets into Israeli territory”. It also said its jets struck “Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” in the Labbouneh area at the Israeli border on Saturday, in addition to two Hezbollah military compounds hit overnight in another frontier area.
Reuters also report that Hezbollah have said it carried out an attack on an Israeli military headquarters in the village of Liman using an explosive drone at 5.40am (3.40am GMT) on Saturday, reporting a direct hit.
As Israelis are called up to join the war effort in Gaza, anger is mounting at the ultra-Orthodox community which has long been spared the compulsory military service required of most citizens, reports AFP.
Since the 7 October attack by Hamas, the question surrounding whether the insular community, whose members see army service as conflicting with their religious duties, should be obliged to serve has sparked debate and led to protests against their decades-long exemptions.
“That’s how it is when you’re a normal Israeli. The whole society has to do its part,” Oren Shvill, one of hundreds of Israelis at a recent demonstration in Jerusalem, told AFP. The 52-year-old engineer, who lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank, is among about 340,000 reservists called up in nearly five months of war.
The news agency says public frustration has heaped pressure on Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu – long considered a protector of the community – whose coalition includes the two major ultra-Orthodox parties, Shas and United Torah Judaism.
Today, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox number 1.3 million people and last year, 66,000 members of the community were excused from military service.
On Wednesday, Israel’s defence minister Yoav Gallant called for an end to the longtime exemptions. “We must all bear the burden,” he said. The following day, Netanyahu said he intended to “find an agreement for [the ultra-Orthodox] to join the army or the civilian service, even if not everyone will be satisfied”.
But he cautioned that doing so during the war would “block everything”, collapsing his coalition and triggering elections.
The close-knit community, whose members mostly interact and marry among themselves, says its religious and traditional values would be compromised when engaging with the broader society within the army.
But according to Tomer Persico, a religions researcher at the Shalom Hartman Institute in Jerusalem, the community has already become increasingly engaged in Israeli society. Among them, more than 1,000 enlist in the army each year, despite the risk of being ostracised by their community, say AFP.
My colleague, the Guardian’s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour, has written about the Iranian election and a record low turnout. You can read more here:
Polling closed in Iran’s parliamentary elections on Friday night, with officials claiming the nationwide turnout was a record low of 40.6%.
After 10 hours of voting, turnout had stood at only 27%, and in Tehran it was just 12% after eight hours, before the polls were unexpectedly kept open for an extra two hours.
Officials had predicted the eventual figure would be above the 42.5% recorded the last time parliamentary seats were contested, in 2020, but it fell short of that figure.
The total number of participants was 24,861,542, they said, after a late surge in voting made possible by keeping the polls open for longer.
The Iranian regime had placed great store in boosting turnout above the 2020 figure, a historic low, since it believes a strong show of political engagement would ward off claims it has run out of legitimacy, or is unable to deliver on the basic requirements of the Iranian people for economic progress and personal freedom.
The US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Joe Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened fire on Gazans seeking food aid.
The use of airdrops is a spectacular but inefficient way of delivering aid, and Friday’s announcement suggests that Biden had given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza.
Critics suggested it represented no more than a gesture, which obscured Biden’s reluctance to use US leverage to force Israel to be more cooperative in the delivery of humanitarian aid.
“Airdrops are not the solution to relieve this suffering, and distract time and effort from proven solutions to help at scale,” the International Rescue Committee aid organisation said. “All diplomatic focus should be on ensuring Israel lifts its siege of Gaza.”
Israel faces mounting pressure to investigate Gaza food aid deaths
Israel is facing growing international pressure for an investigation after more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza were killed when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire on Thursday.
Israel said people died in a crush or were run over by aid lorries although it admitted its troops had opened fire on what it called a “mob”. But the head of a hospital in Gaza said 80% of injured people brought in had gunshot wounds.
On Friday, a UN team that visited some of the wounded in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital saw a “large number of gunshot wounds”, UN chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said.
The hospital received 70 of the dead and treated more than 700 wounded, of whom around 200 were still there during the team’s visit, spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.
“I’m not aware that our team examined the bodies of people who were killed. My understanding from what they saw in terms of the patients who were alive getting treatments is that there was a large number of gunshot wounds,” he said.
The UK called for an “urgent investigation and accountability”. In a statement, David Cameron, the foreign secretary, said: “The deaths of people in Gaza waiting for an aid convoy were horrific … this must not happen again.” Israel must allow more aid into Gaza, Lord Cameron added.
You can read the full piece by my colleagues, Harriet Sherwood in London, Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem and Julian Borger in Washington, here:
Palestinian Authority hopes for Gaza ceasefire by Ramadan
The Palestinian Authority hopes a ceasefire can be agreed in Gaza in time for Ramadan, its foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said on Saturday.
Speaking at a news conference at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Tukrey, Maliki said the Palestinian Authority would be “the only legitimate authority” to run Gaza after the war, reports Reuters. The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, lost control of Gaza to the Hamas militant group in 2007.
Israel and Hamas have been negotiating through mediators over a possible ceasefire in Gaza, with the aim of halting fighting in time for Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, which will start on 10 or 11 March, depending on the lunar calendar.
92 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 92 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 156 were injured in the past 24 hours.
According to the statement, at least 30,320 Palestinians have been killed and 71,533 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October.
The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
Israeli strike kills three Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon
An Israeli drone strike killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Saturday, reports Reuters citing security sources in Lebanon.
The men were killed when the car they were in was targeted on a coastal road near the town of Naqoura, the sources said. The Israeli army said it was checking reports on the incident.
Israeli strikes since October have killed more than 200 Hezbollah fighters and 50 civilians in Lebanon, while attacks from Lebanon into Israel have killed a dozen Israeli soldiers and five civilians. Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have fled villages on both sides of the frontier.
Like the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Hezbollah is an ally of Iran. It says its campaign at the border aims to support Palestinians under Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip.
Hezbollah signalled this week that it would halt its attacks if Israel’s Gaza offensive stops, but it is also ready to keep on fighting if the Gaza war continues. On Friday, Hezbollah announced the deaths of four members killed in Lebanon.
Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant last Sunday indicated that Israel planned to increase attacks on Hezbollah in the event of a Gaza ceasefire, but was open to a diplomatic deal to withdraw Hezbollah fighters from the border.
Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati told Reuters on Thursday a halt to fighting in Gaza as early as next week would trigger indirect talks to end hostilities at the border.
African Union chief strongly condemns 'mass killing of Palestinians' seeking humanitarian aid
African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday strongly condemned “the mass killing of Palestinians queueing for humanitarian aid” and urged an international probe after dozens died after a rush on an aid convoy in Gaza, reports AFP.
“Mahamat strongly condemns an attack by Israeli forces, that killed and wounded more than 100 Palestinians seeking life-saving humanitarian aid,” the bloc said in a statement dated Friday but posted on X on Saturday.
The African Union Commission Chairperson strongly condemns the mass killing of Palestinians queuing for humanitarian aid : https://t.co/VvRp2aBa0l pic.twitter.com/cr9VBoqPmH
— African Union (@_AfricanUnion) March 2, 2024
“The chairperson calls for an international investigation into the incident to bring the perpetrators to account,” the statement said, urging “an immediate and unconditional ceasefire”.
France's Macron calls for 'truth, justice and respect for international law' after shooting of Palestinians in Gaza
French president Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he was angered by what Gaza authorities said was the shooting of more than 100 Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid and demanded “truth and justice” regarding the role of Israeli soldiers in the incident, reports Reuters.
Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces on Thursday shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for an aid delivery, but Israel blamed the deaths on crowds that surrounded aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over.
An Israeli official also said troops had “in a limited response” later fired on crowds they felt had posed a threat. He dismissed the casualty toll given by Gaza authorities but gave no figure himself.
In a post on X, Macron wrote:
Deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers. I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and call for truth, justice, and respect for international law.”
He said it was imperative for an immediate ceasefire in the war to be put in place.
Deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers.
— Emmanuel Macron (@EmmanuelMacron) March 1, 2024
I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and call for truth, justice, and respect for international law.
Macron also wrote: “The situation in Gaza is terrible. All civilian populations must be protected. A ceasefire must be implemented immediately to allow humanitarian aid to be distributed.”
Speaking on France Inter radio on Friday, French foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné said Paris would back the UN’s call for an independent investigation.
“The humanitarian situation has been catastrophic for several weeks now and what happened is indefensible and unjustifiable. Israel needs to be able to hear it and it needs to stop,” Séjourné told France Inter.
“We have gone a step further, people are fighting for food and there are riots. I heard the request from the secretary general of the UN to open an independent investigation and I think that France will support this,” Séjourné said.
UN team saw ‘large number of gunshot wounds’ among Gaza food aid injured
World leaders have called for an investigation and a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war after dozens of desperate Palestinians were killed rushing an aid convoy.
AFP reports that Israeli troops opened fire as Palestinian civilians scrambled for food supplies during a chaotic melee on Thursday that the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry said killed more than 100 people in Gaza City.
The Israeli military said a “stampede” occurred when thousands of Palestinians surrounded the convoy of 38 aid trucks, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries, including some who were run over. An Israeli source acknowledged troops had opened fire on the crowd, believing it “posed a threat”.
Gaza’s health ministry called it a “massacre” and said 115 people were killed and more than 750 were injured.
A UN team that visited some of the wounded in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital on Friday saw a “large number of gunshot wounds”, a spokesperson for the UN chief, António Guterres, said.
Stephane Dujarric said the hospital received 70 of the dead and treated more than 700 injured, of whom about 200 were still there during the team’s visit.
He said:
I’m not aware that our team examined the bodies of people who were killed. My understanding from what they saw in terms of the patients who were alive getting treatments is that there was a large number of gunshot wounds.
The casualties came after a World Food Programme official warned: “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza.”
Updated
Opening summary
It has gone 10.30am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and this is our latest Guardian blog on the Middle East crisis. Here’s an overview of the most recent key developments.
World leaders have called for an investigation and a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war after more than 100 Palestinians were killed as they rushed at an aid convoy and Israeli troops opened fire.
The Israeli military said a “stampede” occurred when thousands of Palestinians surrounded the convoy of trucks, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries, including some who were run over.
A United Nations team that visited some of the wounded in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital on Friday saw a “large number of gunshot wounds”, said a spokesperson for the UN secretary general, António Guterres.
The hospital received 70 of the dead and treated more than 700 injured, of whom about 200 were still there during the team’s visit, the spokesperson said.
Meanwhile, the US president, Joe Biden, said he was “hoping” for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – which will start on 10 or 11 March – but that agreement was still not sealed.
“I’m hoping so, we’re still working real hard on it,” he said in Washington of a deal. “We’re not there yet.”
In other headlines:
The US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after the food aid deaths. Friday’s announcement suggests the US president has given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza, reports Julian Borger in Washington.
At least 30,228 Palestinians have been killed and 71,377 injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry has said. The Hamas-run ministry on Friday gave the total casualties in the past 24 hours as 193 Palestinians killed and 920 injured, which included those killed or hurt in the aid convoy incident.
The US military struck a Houthi missile it said was prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards the Red Sea. US central command claimed on Friday the surface-to-air missile “presented an imminent threat to US aircraft in the region”. It also said the Iran-backed Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Red Sea in the late evening, causing no impact or damage to vessels.
Hamas said on Friday that seven more hostages seized during its 7 October attack on Israel had died because of Israeli military operations in Gaza. The claim was in a statement attributed to a spokesperson for its military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.
The EU has said it will resume funding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) next week, after the two parties came to an agreement to allow EU-appointed experts to audit the way it screens staff to identify extremists. Israel has accused 12 UNRWA employees of taking part in the Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October. A month after the Israeli allegations, UN investigators have yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims.
A member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy serving as a military adviser in Syria was killed in a suspected strike by Israel on Friday. Israel also launched air raids over Lebanon.
Nearly 20,000 worshipers were able to reach the al-Aqsa mosque for Friday prayers despite significant restrictions on the entry of worshipers imposed by Israeli security forces. There were arrests, and some worshippers were denied entry and forced to pray outside the compound.
Updated
Biden says US 'working hard' for truce deal by Ramadan
The US president, Joe Biden, said on Friday he was “hoping” for a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but agreement was still not sealed.
“I’m hoping so, we’re still working real hard on it. We’re not there yet,” he told reporters at the White House when asked if he expected a deal by Ramadan, which will start on 10 or 11 March, depending on the lunar calendar.
“We’ll get there but we’re not there yet – we may not get there,” Biden added, without elaborating, as he headed to his helicopter.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) also reports that Biden had said at the beginning of this week that he expected a deal by Monday for a six-week halt in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, but has steadily walked back the timeline.
The president announced earlier on Friday that the US would soon start airdropping aid to Gaza, a day after dozens of desperate Palestinians were killed rushing an aid convoy.
Biden has said the incident could complicate talks, but would not comment on Friday on what was holding up a deal, adding:
I’m not going to tell you that because that’ll get involved in the negotiations.
Updated
