Here’s how things stand on Monday, March 11, 2024:
Fighting and humanitarian crisis
- On Monday, our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic said Israeli forces launched attacks on the city of Rafah in southern Gaza and on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central part of the enclave.
- According to local media reports, Israelis bombed a home belonging to the Ashour family in Gaza City’s Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood, killing at least 10 people.
- On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed that at least 13,000 “terrorists” were among the Palestinians killed in Israel’s war on Gaza and pledged to press ahead with an offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where 1.4 million people are sheltering. According to Palestinian authorities and aid agencies, an overwhelming number of the 31,000 people killed were civilians.
- This year, Palestinians in Gaza will observe Ramadan amid widespread destruction and hunger due to Israeli war and blockade of the enclave.
Regional tensions
- A ship carrying 200 tonnes of food aid for Gaza remained docked in Cyprus on Sunday night due to “technical difficulties”, according to Cypriot radio (RIK).
- The United Kingdom government pledged 117 million pounds ($150m) to protect Muslim communities amid a surge in anti-Muslim attacks following the outbreak of Israel’s war on Gaza.
- British director Jonathan Glazer addressed Israel’s war on Gaza in his acceptance speech at the 2024 Academy Awards. His Holocaust drama, The Zone of Interest, was awarded Best International Feature at the ceremony in Los Angeles, California on Sunday.
- US President Joe Biden said the suffering of the Palestinian people is at the front of his mind as Muslims around the world begin observing the fasting month of Ramadan.
- Denmark’s Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen joined a chorus of international condemnation of Israel’s approval of new settlement units in the occupied West Bank.
- Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations called on Antonio Guterres to resign as the secretary-general. Guterres has condemned Israel for civilian killings and has repeatedly called for a ceasefire.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
- Israeli forces prevented hundreds of Muslim worshippers from entering Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem for prayers to mark the start of Ramadan on Sunday evening, according to the Wafa news agency.
