Summary of the day …
It is 5pm in Gaza and Tel Aviv. Here are the headlines …
Israel’s military has conducted what it called “precise operational activity” at the al-Shifa hospital in northern Gaza. It claimed to have killed a senior Hamas figure – Faiq Mabhouh – during the attack. Israeli media has reported that 80 people were detained. Al Jazeera reports that Israeli forces detained one of its journalists, with witnesses saying Ismail al-Ghoul was beaten, and that a number of people were wounded during the assault on the hospital. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said he is “terribly worried about the situation” and that “hospitals should never be battlegrounds”.
A new report by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has said that famine is imminent in northern Gaza, and that 1.1 million – half the population – in the territory are facing “catastrophic” food supply conditions. Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy insisted on social media that “Israel is facilitating the delivery of unlimited quantities of aid by air, land, and sea.”
The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell condemned Israel for creating what he said was a “man-made famine” in Gaza, and urged Israel to allow road deliveries of food immediately. He said European leaders have told Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu they cannot stand by and watch Palestinians starve to death. “This famine is not a natural disaster. It is not a flaw. It is not an earthquake. It is entirely man-made” he said in Brussels. Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz, told Borrell he should “stop attacking Israel”.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini has been refused entry to Gaza by Israel. He said his trip had been intended “to coordinate and improve the humanitarian response” in the territory, which he said is facing unprecedented levels of “man-made starvation”. Israel has accused members of UNRWA staff of participating in the 7 October attack by Hamas, although it is yet to hand over evidence to the agency.
Reuters and Axios are both reporting that US president Joe Biden and Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to speak today.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has issued another call for Netanyahu to stand down, and asked the Knesset to vote no confidence in Israel’s war government.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has sent a telegram to Russian president Vladimir Putin congratulating him on his election victory.
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters Monday ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels that they were planning to impose sanctions on Hamas and on Israeli West Bank settlers.
UN secretary general António Guterres on Monday said a report saying that famine is now imminent in northern Gaza was an “appalling indictment” of conditions on the ground.
“This is an entirely man-made disaster – and the report makes clear that it can be halted,” Reuters reports Guterres told the media at the UN headquarters in New York, calling on Israel to ensure access for humanitarian goods throughout Gaza.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid has issued another call for prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to stand down, and asked the Knesset to vote no confidence in Israel’s war government.
In a series of posts on social media, Lapid said:
We have become used to the crazy, weird, crooked and strange idea that it’s OK that Benjamin Netanyahu is still prime minister. In what other country in the world would he have stayed a minute in office? In what other country in the world do you bring upon your citizens the most terrible disaster in their history, after you have been warned time and time again, after you have received every possible warning, and still you insist on holding on to the throne. On your watch, babies were burned, women were raped, towns were occupied by terrorists, you could have prevented it, and you didn’t, and you continue as if nothing happened.
Citing comments by finance minister Bezalel Smotrich that the appointment of senior positions in Israel’s military should be done by the government, Lapid said “The Israeli government against the IDF, during wartime. Is there anything crazier than this?”
He concluded “I want to remind the citizens of Israel, the Knesset of Israel, that what is happening here today is not normal. It has to stop, they have to go. I call on the Knesset to vote no confidence in the craziest government in the country’s history.”
Here is a video report which includes some footage from the al-Shifa hospital complex, which has been targeted by Israeli forces inside the Gaza Strip. Israel’s military has claimed it killed a senior Hamas figure during the course of what it described as “precise operational activity”.
Energy minister Eli Cohen has added his voice to a number of Israelis who have criticised the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, for comments he made earlier today accusing Israel of provoking famine in Gaza. Cohen accused Borrell of “emboldening” Hamas.
Cohen said “EU foreign minister Borrell’s unfounded accusations embolden the terrorist organization Hamas. Israel consistently delivers humanitarian aid in compliance with international law. Only Hamas is responsible for the shortages in the Gaza Strip. They are the ones starving their people just as they are the ones who neglected them for years.”
EU Foreign Minister Borrell's unfounded accusations embolden the terrorist organization Hamas.
— אלי כהן | Eli Cohen (@elicoh1) March 18, 2024
Israel consistently delivers humanitarian aid in compliance with international law. Only Hamas is responsible for the shortages in the Gaza Strip. They are the ones starving their…
Borrell’s comments came the same day a new report by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has said that famine is imminent in northern Gaza, and that 1.1 million – half the population – in the territory are facing “catastrophic” food supply conditions, and that Oxfam criticised Israel for controlling an “unpredictable and chaotic regime of approval, scanning and inspection” of humanitarian aid.
Reuters and Axios are both reporting that US president Joe Biden and Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu are expected to speak today.
Here are some more images from inside Gaza City today where crowds have been trying to receive humanitarian aid at an UNRWA warehouse.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has sent a telegram to Russian president Vladimir Putin congratulating him on his election victory.
Wafa reports that Abbas wished Putin “continued success”, and “affirmed his pride in the relations of friendship and solidarity that bring together the two countries and peoples, and his great appreciation for Russia’s support for the rights of Palestinian people.”
According to UN figures, at least 10,000 civilians, including more than 560 children, have been killed and over 18,500 injured since Russia launched its a full-scale armed attack against Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Russia has partially occupied and claimed to annex four Ukrainian regions, in addition to the Crimea peninsula, which Russia has occupied since 2014. The international criminal court has issued a warrant for Putin’s arrest over claims of the forced deportation of Ukrainian children.
After Israel refuses him access to Gaza, UNRWA chief says 'man-made starvation' there is 'stain on our collective humanity'
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, has posted a statement after Israel’s refusal to allow him to enter Gaza, saying his trip had been intended “to coordinate and improve the humanitarian response” in the territory, which he said is facing unprecedented levels of “man-made starvation”.
In a lengthy post on social media, he wrote:
On the day new data is out on famine in Gaza, the Israeli authorities deny my entry to Gaza. Famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip, expected to arrive between now and May. Two million people – the entire population of Gaza – is facing crisis levels of food insecurity or worse. Half the population has completely exhausted food supplies and coping capacities. They are struggling with catastrophic hunger and starvation. This is the highest number of people ever recorded as facing catastrophic hunger by the IPC system and double the number just three months ago. Earlier, Unicef warned that the number of children under two years old suffering from acute malnutrition has doubled in one month. Children are now dying of dehydration and hunger.
The statement continues
UNRWA has by far the largest presence among all humanitarian organisations in Gaza. My visit today was supposed to coordinate and improve the humanitarian response. This man-made starvation under our watch is a stain on our collective humanity. Too much time was wasted, all land crossings must open now. Famine can be averted with political will.
On the day new data is out on famine in #GAZA, the Israeli Authorities deny my entry to Gaza.
— Philippe Lazzarini (@UNLazzarini) March 18, 2024
-Famine is imminent in the northern Gaza Strip, expected to arrive between now and May.
- Two million people= the entire population of Gaza is facing crisis levels of food insecurity…
Al Jazeera has more details on the detention of its journalist Ismail al-Ghoul at the al-Shifa hospital by Israeli forces.
Reporting from Rafah, Hani Mahmoud writes:
Our Al Jazeera Arabic colleague Ismail al-Ghoul and his crew who were sheltering inside the hospital were detained. Witnesses inside the hospital said they were beaten before being taken to an undisclosed location.
On the situation in the medical complex, the news network reports:
We are getting confirmed reports from a doctor inside the hospital that the Israeli military is inside the courtyard of the hospital where bodies are on the ground.
There are also multiple injuries, by the tens. Medical staff and paramedics are unable to get to them and move them inside the building.
Additionally, Al Jazeera reports:
Israeli forces have destroyed the broadcasting vehicles of press crews at al-Shifa hospital in Gaza. The hospital was a base for journalists to report from throughout Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.
Israeli media reports that Israel’s forces have detained 80 people during the assault on the al-Shifa hospital.
Israel claims to have killed senior member of Hamas at al-Shifa hospital
Israel’s military has claimed to have killed a senior member of Hamas at the al-Shifa hospital complex during its combat operation there this morning.
In a statement, the IDF said:
Eliminated: Faiq Mabhouh, head of the Operations Directorate of Hamas’ Internal Security. Mabhouh was hiding in a compound at the Shifa hospital, from which he operated and advanced terrorist activity.
🔴 Eliminated: Faiq Mabhouh, head of the Operations Directorate of Hamas' Internal Security.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 18, 2024
Mabhouh was hiding in a compound at the Shifa hospital, from which he operated and advanced terrorist activity. pic.twitter.com/KFbGto2soE
The claims have not been independently verified.
UNRWA chief says he was denied permission to enter Rafah
Israeli authorities denied permission for the head of the U.N. Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA) to enter the Gaza Strip, Reuters reported.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini said that he had intended to go to Rafah today “but I have been informed an hour ago that my entry into Rafah is declined”.
Updated
WHO chief 'terribly worried' about Al-Shifa Hospital
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization, said today that he is “terribly worried about the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza.”
In a post on social media, he said “hospitals should never be battlegrounds” and called for a ceasefire.
Hospitals should never be battlegrounds. We are terribly worried about the situation at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern #Gaza, which is endangering health workers, patients and civilians.
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) March 18, 2024
The hospital has only recently restored minimal health services. Any hostilities or…
Egypt’s foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said today that Washington should make clear to Israel what the consequences of a military push into Rafah on the border with Egypt would be, Reuters reported.
“It is not enough for rhetoric, it is not enough to state opposition, it is also important to indicate what if that position is circumvented, what if that position is not respected,” Shoukry said.
“It is also up to the international community and the United States, who have indicated their refusal to such an eventuality, to make clear what are the consequences if their appeals are not heeded,” he added.
Updated
The Palestinian unemployment rate is set to rise to 57% during first quarter of 2024, the International Labour Organization said today.
In a statement, the ILO said:
Some 507,000 jobs have been lost across the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) as of the end of January 2024 due to the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, according to new estimates issued by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics (PCBS).
The new data estimates that, as of 31 January, around 201,000 jobs were lost in the Gaza Strip, accounting for around two thirds of total employment in the enclave.
In addition, 306,000 jobs – or over one third of total employment - were also lost in the West Bank, where economic conditions have been severely impacted.
1.1 million people in Gaza facing 'catastrophic' food conditions, and 'famine is imminent' – UN-backed report
A new report by the UN-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) has said that famine is imminent in northern Gaza, and that 1.1 million – half the population – in the territory are facing “catastrophic” food supply conditions.
The report states:
The IPC acute food insecurity analysis conducted in December 2023 warned of a risk that famine may occur by the end of May 2024 if an immediate cessation of hostilities and sustained access for the provision of essential supplies and services to the population did not take place.
Since then, the conditions necessary to prevent famine have not been met and the latest evidence confirms that famine is imminent in the northern governorates and projected to occur anytime between mid-March and May 2024.
It continues:
According to the most likely scenario, both North Gaza and Gaza Governorates are classified in IPC Phase 5 (famine) with reasonable evidence, with 70% (around 210,000 people) of the population in IPC Phase 5 (catastrophe). Continued conflict and the near-complete lack of access to the northern governorates for humanitarian organizations and commercial trucks will likely compound heightened vulnerabilities and extremely limited food availability, access and utilization, as well as access to healthcare, water, and sanitation. The famine threshold for household acute food insecurity has already been far exceeded.
It concludes:
The entire population in the Gaza Strip (2.2 million) is facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Between mid-March and mid-July, in the most likely scenario and under the assumption of an escalation of the conflict including a ground offensive in Rafah, half of the population of the Gaza Strip (1.1 million people) is expected to face catastrophic conditions.
Plan International, an NGO that works to advance children’s rights, has responded to the report. CEO Rose Caldwell said:
After months of unimaginable trauma and indiscriminate bombing, the children of Gaza are now facing the horror of starvation and the threat of imminent famine. This entirely man-made catastrophe should be a source of shame for the international community. There can be no excuses: preventing access for humanitarian aid is a clear violation of international humanitarian law. The starvation of civilians as a method of warfare is illegal and immoral.
Earlier, Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy, responding to comments from the EU’s diplomatic chief Josep Borrell that famine in Gaza was man-made, insisted on social media that “Israel is facilitating the delivery of unlimited quantities of aid by air, land, and sea.”
Updated
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock told reporters Monday ahead of an EU foreign ministers meeting in Brussels that they were planning to impose sanctions on Hamas and on Israeli West Bank settlers.
“We will finally initiate sanctions against Hamas … in light of this terrible rape, the sexual violence against women in Israel,” she said, referring to acts claimed to have been committed by Hamas during the 7 October attack inside Israel.
“And at the same time we are making it clear here in Brussels: The suffering in Gaza must finally come to an end,” the minister said.
“This war, but this conflict as a whole, can only come to an end if we reach a two-state solution,” Baerbock added. “That is why it is so important for us to make it clear that the construction of settlements, and in particular the violence of radical settlers, is not in line with international law. We will also initiate a sanctions regime for this.”
The UN’s special envoy on sexual violence in conflict has reported “clear and convincing information” that some women and children hostages held by Hamas had been subjected to rape and sexualised torture. In January, Bethan McKernan in Jerusalem reported for the Guardian that there were at least six sexual assaults for which multiple corroborating pieces of evidence exist. Two of those victims, who were murdered, were aged under 18.
Here is a video clip of the EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell accusing Israel of provoking famine in Gaza.
Al Jazeera reports that Israeli forces have arrested one of its journalists at al-Shifa hospital. Other local media have also reported that Ismail al-Ghoul has been detained.
Al Jazeera writes:
We’re getting reports that Israeli forces have arrested Al Jazeera Arabic’s correspondent Ismail al-Ghoul from inside the al-Shifa hospital in Gaza City. According to Palestinian writer and journalist Imad Zaqqout and other witnesses, al-Ghoul was beaten severely by Israeli soldiers before he was arrested with dozens of men and women within the hospital.
More details soon …
Updated
Israel’s foreign minister has said that the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, should “stop attacking Israel”.
In comments on social media, Israel Katz said:
Israel allows extensive humanitarian aid into Gaza by land, air, and sea for anyone willing to help. Despite Hamas violently disrupting aid convoys and UNRWA’s collaboration with them, we persist. It’s time for EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell to stop attacking Israel and recognise our right to self-defence against Hamas’ crimes.
Israel has accused UNRWA staff members of being involved in the Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October. It has yet to present evidence of the accusations directly to UNRWA or the UN.
The IDF has announced that a soldier has been killed in the northern Gaza Strip.
EU's Borrell: Gaza no longer 'open air prison', it has become 'open air graveyard'
Lisa O’Carroll, the Guardian’s Brussels correspondent, has more on those comments by Josep Borrell:
The EU’s chief diplomat Josep Borrell condemned Benjamin Netanyahu this morning for creating what he said was a “manmade famine” in Gaza, and urged Israel to allow road deliveries of food immediately.
Arriving at a summit of foreign ministers in Brussels, he said European leaders have told the Israeli prime minister they cannot stand by and watch Palestinians starve to death.
In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a state of famine affecting thousands of people.
Chancellor Sholz told Benjamin Netanyahu ‘we cannot stand by and watch Palestinians starve’. This famine is not a natural disaster. It is not a flaw. It is not an earthquake. It is entirely manmade.
Chancellor Scholz is saying Europeans cannot sit and watch Palestinian starving, when on the other side of the border there is food for months accumulated in stocks, while on the other side of the road there are people dying of hunger. This requires some action.
The EU, which funds much of the aid to Gaza, said the land border used to handle 500 tonnes of aid a day before the war. At present it was functioning at a level of 100 tonnes a day.
Borrell added: “Before the war, Gaza was the greatest open air prison. Today it is the greatest open air graveyard”.
Yesterday European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen, one of Israel’s staunchest supporters in the EU said: “Gaza is facing famine and we cannot accept this.”
Updated
Oxfam: Israel controlling 'unpredictable and chaotic regime of approval, scanning and inspection' of humanitarian aid
Oxfam has accused Israel of controlling “an unpredictable and chaotic regime of approval, scanning and inspection” of humanitarian aid destined for the Gaza Strip.
In a new report, the NGO says “people living in Gaza will suffer mass death from disease and starvation far beyond the current 31,000 Palestinian war casualties unless Israel takes immediate steps to end its violations.”
The report claims that Israel is “leading a dysfunctional and undersized inspection system that keeps aid snarled up, subjected to onerous, repetitive and unpredictable bureaucratic procedures that are contributing to trucks being stranded in giant queues for 20 days on average.”
It adds that Israeli authorities are “routinely and arbitrarily rejecting items of aid as having ‘dual [military] use’”. Aid sent by the UK government that has been rejected, for example, included water filters and solar-powered lights.
It accuses Israel of having “cracked down on humanitarian missions, largely sealing off northern Gaza, and restricting international humanitarian workers’ access not only into Gaza, but Israel and the West Bank including East Jerusalem too.”
The report claims that in February there was a 44% reduction in the number of trucks allowed to enter Gaza compared to the month before.
Israel has repeatedly claimed that it could process more aid than is being delivered to Gaza, but that the UN, NGOs and other aid agencies are causing the hold-up through lack of supplies.
In January the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague ordered that “Israel must take immediate and effective measures to enable the provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to address the adverse conditions of life faced by Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.”
Sally Abi Khalil, Oxfam’s Middle East and North Africa Director, said
The ICJ order should have shocked Israeli leaders to change course, but since then conditions in Gaza have actually worsened. The fact that other governments have not challenged Israel hard enough, but instead turned to less effective methods like airdrops and maritime corridors is a huge red flag, signalling that Israel continues to deny the full potential of better ways to deliver more aid.
In an operational update, Israel’s military has said that it “struck a Hezbollah military structure and an observation post” in Ramyeh inside Lebanon. The village is situated just north of the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon.
EU's Borrell: 'Israel is provoking famine' in Gaza
Israel is provoking famine in Gaza and using starvation as a weapon of war, the EU’s foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Monday.
“In Gaza we are no longer on the brink of famine, we are in a state of famine, affecting thousands of people,” Reuters reports Borrell said at the opening of a conference on humanitarian aid for Gaza in Brussels.
“This is unacceptable. Starvation is used as a weapon of war. Israel is provoking famine.”
Updated
31,726 Palestinians killed during Israeli military assault on Gaza – ministry
The Palestinian death toll in Gaza due to Israeli military action has risen to at least 31,726, according to officials there. 73,792 people have been injured since 7 October.
Reuters reports the Hamas-led ministry said 81 Palestinians were killed and 116 injured in the past 24 hours.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued in the conflict.
Reuters has spoken to a witness of events at the al-Shifa hospital complex via a chat app. It reports:
“Suddenly, we started to hear sounds of explosions, several bombings, and soon tanks started to roll, they came from the western road and headed toward Al Shifa, then sounds of gunfire and explosions increased,” Mohammad Ali, 32, who lives around one kilometre from the hospital, told Reuters via a chat app.
“We don’t know what is happening, but it looked as if it was a re-invasion of the Gaza City,” he added, saying that the military activities began at about 1am.
Israeli media is reporting that Israel’s military claims to have arrested 80 people during its raid on the al-Shifa hospital complex in Gaza City.
More details soon …
Israel claims troops are being fired upon from buildings in the al-Shifa hospital complex
In an operational briefing at just after 9am local time, Israel’s military released a video of what it claimed was “terrorist fire toward them from a number of hospital buildings”.
In the statement, the IDF said it was “continuing to conduct precise operational activity to thwart terrorism in the area of the al-Shifa hospital”.
It added “Over the past few hours, the troops identified terrorist fire toward them from a number of hospital buildings. The forces engaged the terrorists and identified several hits.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Israel has used its Arabic language military spokesperson to issue an instruction for civilians to evacuate if they are in the vicinity of the al-Shifa hospital. It has instructed them to move south.
#عاجل 🔴 نداء الى كل المتواجدين والنازحين في حي الرمال وفي مستشفي الشفاء ومحيطه:
— افيخاي ادرعي (@AvichayAdraee) March 18, 2024
من اجل الحفاظ على أمنكم - عليكم اخلاء المنطقة بشكل فوري غرباً ومن ثم عبر شارع الرشيد (البحر) جنوباً إلى المنطقة الإنسانية في المواصي pic.twitter.com/X95ASt8zJP
During its five month military campaign against the Gaza Strip, Israel has repeatedly carried out airstrikes on the south of the territory, where huge numbers of people are being forced to live in makeshift tent camps.
Israel launches raid on al-Shifa hospital
The Israeli army has launched an operation around Gaza’s largest hospital, al-Shifa, saying in a statement that it is “based on intelligence information indicating the use of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists”. The IDF also described the operation as “precise”.
In the wake of the raid, Palestinian health authorities say there is now a fierce fire burning in one of the buildings.
Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says the blaze broke out at the entrance of the complex, causing cases of suffocation among displaced women and children in the hospital. It said communication had been cut off, with people trapped inside the surgery and emergency units of one of the buildings.
“There are casualties, including deaths and injuries, and it’s impossible to rescue anyone due to the intensity of the fire and targeting of anyone approaching the windows,” the ministry said, accusing Israeli forces of “another crime against health institutions”.
The Israeli military says soldiers entering the compound were fired on, according to Reuters. “The troops responded with live fire and hits were identified. Our troops are continuing to operate in the area of the hospital.”
Neither the IDF’s nor the Hamas claims could immediately be verified.
Welcome and opening summary
It has just gone 9am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. This is our latest live blog on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis. I am Martin Belam and I’ll be with you for the next while.
The Israeli army has launched an operation around Gaza’s largest hospital al-Shifa, with witnesses reporting airstrikes on the devastated neighbourhood where it is located. The IDF also carried out a November operation in al-Shifa, sparking an international outcry.
More on that in a moment, but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, confirmed on Sunday he would launch an offensive into the southern city of Rafah despite growing international concern over the fate of Palestinian civilians sheltering there. Netanyahu said “no amount of international pressure will stop us from realising all the goals of the war”.
Netanyahu also said that civilians would be able to leave before troops enter Rafah. “Our goal in eliminating the remaining terrorist battalions in Rafah goes hand-in-hand with enabling the civilian population to leave Rafah,” Netanyahu said at a press appearance alongside visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz. “It’s not something that we will do while keeping the population locked in place.” But as others have done, Scholz raised the question: “Where should they go?”
Germany’s chancellor warned that an Israeli assault on Rafah would make regional peace “very difficult”, after talks with Jordanian King Abdullah.
Netanyahu responded to a call by Chuck Schumer, the US Senate leader and ally of Joe Biden for Israel to hold new elections. On Thursday, Schumer said he believed Netanyahu “has lost his way by allowing his political survival to take precedence over the best interests of Israel”. The Israeli prime minister responded on Sunday, saying that a pause in fighting to allow for elections to take place would paralyse the country for months. Netanyahu told CNN that he believed the Schumer intervention was “totally inappropriate”.
White House spokesperson John Kirby said on Sunday that Biden believed it was up to Israel to make its own decisions about internal politics. “We respect the sovereignty of the Israeli people,” Kirby told Fox News Sunday. “The president believes it’s up to the Israeli people and the Israeli government to determine if and when there’s going to be new elections.”
Anti-poverty charity Oxfam on Monday accused Israel of intentionally preventing the delivery of aid into Gaza during its war with Hamas, in violation of international humanitarian law. The non-governmental organisation said in a report that Israel continued to “systematically and deliberately block and undermine any meaningful international humanitarian response” in the Palestinian territory.
