US President Joe Biden said Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must allow more aid into Gaza, after he was caught on a hot mic saying he would confront the Israeli premier over the conflict. A planned sea corridor to take desperately needed aid from Cyprus to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip could be opened this weekend, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Friday. Read FRANCE 24's blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
Summary:
- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Friday that a ship was preparing to leave Cyprus and head for Gaza with humanitarian aid, as international donors launch a sea corridor to supply the besieged Palestinian territory.
- UN rights chief Volker Turk said on Friday that Israel’s establishment and expansion of settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories amounted to a transfer of its own civilian population into occupied territories, a “war crime" under international law which risks eliminating “any practical possibility” of a viable Palestinian state.
- US President Joe Biden warned Israel that it cannot use aid as a "bargaining chip" as he issued a call for an immediate, temporary ceasefire with Hamas in the bloody Gaza war during his State of the Union address late on Thursday. He also told Congress that he has ordered the US military to set up a port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the beleaguered territory by sea.
- At least 30,878 Palestinians have been killed and 72,402 wounded since Israel started its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Hamas said Thursday that negotiations over a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of more Israeli hostages will resume next week, dimming hopes that mediators could broker a truce before the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
- China's foreign minister Wang Yi on Thursday called Israel's war in Gaza a "disgrace for civilisation" and reiterated Beijing's calls for an "immediate ceasefire". China also reiterated its call for other members of the UN Security Council stop blocking Palestine from becoming a member of the United Nations as a first step towards the creation of a Palestinian state.
- Three crew members of the True Confidence dry bulk carrier were killed in a missile attack off Yemen on Wednesday, the owners and manager of the ship confirmed in a statement on Thursday, marking the first fatalities since the Houthi rebels began targeting shipping lanes in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden since the onset of the Israel-Hamas war.
- Spain said Thursday it would give an additional €20 million to the UN Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, which is facing a cash crunch after several nations suspended their funding following Israeli allegations that 12 of its staffers were involved in the October 7 attacks.
- International focus should be on large-scale distribution and entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza by land, but any way to deliver more aid is “obviously good”, the United Nations said on Thursday after the US announced plans to build a sea port.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)
