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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Maya Yang (now); Amy Sedghi and Jamie Grierson (earlier)

Middle East crisis: Gaza aid ship from Cyprus begins offloading food; US stresses need for Rafah plan that protects civilians – as it happened

Hamas Gaza Benjamin Netanyahu United Nations Israel Middle East United States Yemen Mohammed Mustafa
An Open Arms ship sails off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The ship has begun offloading food.
An Open Arms ship sails off the coast of the Gaza Strip. The ship has begun offloading food. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPA

Summary

Here is a wrap-up of the day’s key events:

  • A Gaza aid ship from Lanarca, Cyprus offloaded its first load of food on Friday. Renowned Spanish-American chef José Andrés said that two crates have been delivered, with many more to go. The WCK is expected to deliver 37 million meals to Gaza where about 2 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israeli attacks across the narrow strip.

  • The US Central Command has conducted its 11th aid drop into Gaza. In a statement on Friday, CENTCOM said: “U.S. C-17 and C-130s dropped over 35,700 U.S. meals ready to eat and 31,800 bottles of water into Northern Gaza, an area of great need, allowing for civilian access to the critical aid.”

  • The International Court of Justice said it will hold hearings next month on Nicaragua’s case against Germany for providing weapons to Israel and defunding UNRWA, Reuters reports. According to Nicaragua, Germany is violating the 1948 Genocide conventions and the 1949 Geneva conventions surrounding the laws of war in Gaza where Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since last October.

  • US president Joe Biden said that Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer made a “good speech” on Thursday when Schumer called for new Israeli elections and criticized Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “He made a good speech,” Biden said to reporters, adding, “He expressed serious concerns, shared not only by him but by many Americans.”

  • The US needs to see a clear and implementable plan in Rafah, including how to get civilians out of harm’s way, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Friday, Reuters reports. Blinken, whose comments came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it approved plans for a Rafah invasion, also told reporters that the US has not yet seen such plans.

  • Netanyahu rejected the latest proposal by Hamas for a truce and release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, saying its demands “are still absurd.” However, he said he would send Israeli delegates to Qatar to continue truce efforts “once the security cabinet discusses the Israeli position”.

  • Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters that Israel’s rejection of its latest truce counter-proposal showed that Netanyahu was “determined to pursue the aggression against our people and undermine all efforts exerted to reach a ceasefire agreement”. It was up to Washington to push its ally Israel to accept a ceasefire, he said.

  • German chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to travel to Jordan and Israel over the weekend to lobby for more aid to be delivered to Gaza, his spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said on Friday. The German leader will also reiterate his warning against a ground offensive in Rafah, said Hebestreit.

  • Protests have been held in Dublin and Belfast urging US president Joe Biden to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Middle East. The Amnesty International demonstrations took place to coincide with Irish premier Leo Varadkar’s meeting with Biden at the White House as part of the traditional St Patrick’s Day visit on Friday.

The UN’s human rights office has issued a statement in which it “deplores the recent spate of killings” of Palestinians waiting to access aid deliveries across Gaza amid Israel’s bombardment of the strip.

Following the killings of at least 20 people and the injury of over 150 others who the Gaza health ministry said were targeted by Israeli forces while waiting for aid, the UN said:

“Israel, as the occupying power, has the duty, to the fullest extent of the means available to it, to ensure the provision of food and medical care for the population commensurate with their needs. If it is unable to provide these, Israel has the obligation to facilitate humanitarian relief activities, including by ensuring the conditions of safety required for such activities.

Doing so is becoming even more urgent given the spread of starvation in Gaza, especially in Gaza City and north Gaza, where at least 27 people, mostly children, are already reported to have died from dehydration and malnutrition.

OHCHR reiterates its resounding plea for an immediate ceasefire and to bring to an end the untold suffering of the innocent civilians of Gaza.”

“People should not have to die while trying to keep their families alive,” UN aid chief Martin Griffiths said on Friday.

Griffiths’ comment comes after 20 people were killed by Israeli forces while waiting for aid, the Gaza health ministry said. More than 150 people were wounded, the ministry added.

A group of Palestinians in Gaza held their first Friday prayers of Ramadan amid the rubble of a mosque in Rafah destroyed by an Israeli airstrike last month:

Since October, in addition to killing over 30,000 Palestinians, Israel has destroyed at least 200 buildings of cultural and historical significance in Gaza, including mosques, cemeteries and museums.

“The destruction of heritage in Gaza is also the destruction of traditions, it’s also the destruction of their habits, of their culture,” Isber Sabrine, head of the NGO Heritage for Peace, told the Guardian.

“It’s a huge destruction of heritage to intentionally disconnect the people of Gaza from their land. It’s important to preserve and restore. When the war stops there will be a need to evaluate what is destroyed,” she added.

The US Central Command has conducted its 11th aid drop into Gaza.

In a statement on Friday, CENTCOM said:

“U.S. C-17 and C-130s dropped over 35,700 U.S. meals ready to eat and 31,800 bottles of water into Northern Gaza, an area of great need, allowing for civilian access to the critical aid.”

The charity ship Open Arms is working alongside World Central Kitchen in delivering aid to surviving Palestinians in Gaza after sailing 72 hours from Larnaca, Cyprus.

In a post on X, the organization announced that they are the first ship to open the humanitarian maritime corridor that was set up by numerous countries including the US, Cyprus, the UAE and Qatar.

On board the boat was 200 tons of flour, rice, lentils, chickpeas and tuna, among other necessities “that will become 1 million meals,” Open Arms said.

Gaza aid ship from Cyprus offloading first load of food

Images and videos have been coming through World Central Kitchen offloading food aid to Gaza on Thursday as part of WCK’s Operation Safeena (boat in Arabic).

In a post on X a few minutes ago, renowned Spanish-American chef José Andrés said that so two crates of have been delivered, with many more to go.

The WCK is expected to deliver 37 million meals to Gaza where about 2 million Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israeli attacks across the narrow strip. Since October, Israel has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians.

The ship set sail from Cyprus on Tuesday.

Updated

The International Court of Justice said it will hold hearings next month on Nicaragua’s case against Germany for providing weapons to Israel and defunding UNRWA, Reuters reports.

According to Nicaragua, Germany is violating the 1948 Genocide conventions and the 1949 Geneva conventions surrounding the laws of war in Gaza where Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians since last October.

Earlier this month, Nicaragua asked the ICJ to issue emergency measures requiring Germany to halt its provision of weapons to Israel. It is also asking Germany to reverse its decision to stop funding UNRWA, which has been critical in providing aid to about 2 million Palestinians in Gaza.

In a February report reviewed by Reuters, UNRWA said that some of its employees released into Gaza from Israeli detention reported having been coerced by Israeli authorities into falsely stating that UNRWA has links to Hamas and took part in the 7 October attacks which killed 1,200 people.

Reuters reports that the ICJ’s emergency measures hearings can result in preliminary injuctions to ensure that a dispute does not get worse as a final conclusion gets decided, which can take several years.

Biden: top US Democrat made 'good speech' when he called Netanyahu major obstacle to peace

US president Joe Biden said that Senate majority leader Chuck Schumer made a “good speech” on Thursday when Schumer called for new Israeli elections and criticized Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“He made a good speech,” Biden said to reporters, adding, “He expressed serious concerns, shared not only by him but by many Americans.”

He added that his staff were notified about the speech in advance by Schumer, Reuters reports.

Updated

Blinken stresses need for clear Rafah plan that gets civilians out of harm's way

The US needs to see a clear and implementable plan in Rafah, including how to get civilians out of harm’s way, US secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Friday, Reuters reports.

Blinken, whose comments came after Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said it approved plans for a Rafah invasion, also told reporters that the US has not yet seen such plans.

Blinken added that the US will work as long and hard as it takes to get a plan for Rafah implemented.

There are over a million Palestinians sheltering in the southern city of Rafah as Israeli forces have killed over 30,000 Palestinians across the strip in the last five months.

Updated

Summary of the day so far

It has just gone 5.15pm in Gaza, Tel Aviv and Beirut, and 6.15pm in Sana’a. I am handing over the blog now to my colleague Maya Yang.

Here is a recap of the latest developments:

  • The NGO, Open Arms, said on Friday that its boat, in a joint mission with the US NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK), is “already off the coast of Gaza, after 72 hours of sailing from Larnaca, Cyprus”. The WCK said it was already loading another boat in Cyprus with food aid for Gaza.

  • According to a statement on Friday from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office, “an IDF plan of operation to enter the southern Gaza city of Rafah” has been approved. The statement said: “The IDF is prepared for the operation and to evacuate the [civilian] population.”

  • Netanyahu rejected the latest proposal by Hamas for a truce and release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, saying its demands “are still absurd.” However, he said he would send Israeli delegates to Qatar to continue truce efforts “once the security cabinet discusses the Israeli position”.

  • Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, told Reuters that Israel’s rejection of its latest truce counter-proposal showed that Netanyahu was “determined to pursue the aggression against our people and undermine all efforts exerted to reach a ceasefire agreement”. It was up to Washington to push its ally Israel to accept a ceasefire, he said.

  • Egypt is seeking to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, increase entry of aid, and allow for the displaced in the south to move to the north, president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Friday. Sisi, speaking in a recorded message, also warned against the danger of an Israeli incursion into the border city of Rafah.

  • Family members of Israeli hostages are protested outside the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) headquarters in Tel Aviv where the war cabinet met on Friday “urging them to accept a deal being mediated with Hamas”, according to the Times of Israel. “‘The time has come to bring them home,’ protesters chanted as they blocked Begin Road,” said the Israeli news publication.

  • The Israeli army said on Friday that “armed Palestinians” opened fire on civilians awaiting humanitarian aid in northern Gaza, rejecting claims by the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry that Israeli soldiers were responsible. The Gaza health ministry had earlier said Israeli fire killed 20 people and wounded 155 at a roundabout, and an AFP journalist on the scene saw several bodies and people who had been shot.

  • Israeli checkpoint personnel denied entry to some Palestinians travelling from the West Bank to Jerusalem for prayers on the first Friday in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Thousands came to Qalandiya checkpoint, the largest crossing between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Despite the tight restrictions, about 40,000 worshippers were able to pray at al-Aqsa mosque, the Times of Israel reported, citing the Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai.

  • The latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 149 Palestinians were killed and 300 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours. According to the statement, at least 31,490 Palestinians have been killed and 73,439 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.

  • “There is no alternative to the large-scale delivery of aid by land,” said the UN humanitarian agency (Ocha) on Friday. It also said the Israeli military had a “responsibility to facilitate the movement of humanitarian aid into and across Gaza, safely, regularly and at the scale required”.

  • Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas appointed his longtime economic adviser, Mohammad Mustafa, to be the next prime minister in the face of US pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority as part of Washington’s postwar vision for Gaza.

  • Australia will restore funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians (Unrwa), weeks after the agency lost hundreds of millions of dollars in support following Israeli allegations that some of its Gaza-based staff participated in the 7 October attack. The Australian government also pledged on Friday to increase aid for Gaza, with foreign minister Penny Wong expressing horror at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza. Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of Unrwa, thanked Australia for resuming its funding of the UN agency.

  • Denmark’s foreign ministry announced that the country has disbursed its planned contribution to Unrwa. In a statement, the Danish foreign ministry said: “The DKK 105m contribution will primarily support Unrwa’s efforts to mitigate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. The disbursement follows the initiation of a number of necessary UN measures, and decisions by like-minded such as Sweden and Canada, as well as the EU, to disburse aid to Unrwa.”

  • The EU is close to agreeing sanctions on Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank after Hungary signalled an end to its opposition, European diplomats said on Friday, reported Reuters. While much international attention has focused on Hamas’s cross-border assault from Gaza and Israel’s subsequent war there, European officials have also expressed increasing concern about rising violence against Palestinians in the West Bank. Some diplomates said the sanctions could be approved by EU foreign ministers on Monday but others said more time would be needed.

  • German chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to travel to Jordan and Israel over the weekend to lobby for more aid to be delivered to Gaza, his spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said on Friday. The German leader will also reiterate his warning against a ground offensive in Rafah, said Hebestreit.

  • Protests have been held in Dublin and Belfast urging US president Joe Biden to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Middle East. The Amnesty International demonstrations took place to coincide with Irish premier Leo Varadkar’s meeting with Biden at the White House as part of the traditional St Patrick’s Day visit on Friday.

  • A missile fired at a ship in the Red Sea caused no damage, marine security monitors have said after initially suspecting it had. The Royal Navy’s United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations and security firm Ambrey said the ship was hit west of the rebel-held Yemeni port of Hodeida in the early hours of Friday.

  • Hezbollah has told Iran it would fight alone in any war with Israel, sources have shared with Reuters. The head of Iran’s Quds force visited Beirut in February to discuss the risk posed if Israel next aims at Lebanon’s Hezbollah.

Updated

EU member states are expected to agree sanctions against Israeli extremist settlers after Hungary altered its position and said it would not block them.

A high ranking EU official said: “They have been blocking everything on Russia and Israel for the past three months. They have not said they are dropping their opposition but they have indicated they will not disagree.”

It is thought the way was paved by an agreement to impose a third, and separate, round of sanctions against Hamas amid increasing concern over sexual violence and rape during the conflict.

Hungary, a staunch ally of the Israeli government, had been the most vociferous opposing sanctions on settlers.

Foreign ministers will also hear from US secretary of state Antony Blinken on Monday for the US’s latest assessment of war in the Middle East and the “extremely dire” situation for civilian Palestinians in Gaza, officials said.

Israeli checkpoint personnel have denied entry to some Palestinians travelling from the West Bank to Jerusalem for prayers on the first Friday in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Thousands came to Qalandiya checkpoint, the largest crossing between Jerusalem and Ramallah. Despite the tight restrictions, about 40,000 worshippers were able to pray at al-Aqsa mosque, the Times of Israel reported, citing the Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai.

'There is no alternative to the large-scale delivery of aid by land', says UN humanitarian agency

The UN humanitarian agency (Ocha) on Friday said the Israeli military had a “responsibility to facilitate the movement of humanitarian aid into and across Gaza, safely, regularly and at the scale required”.

Ocha warned that “there is no alternative to the large-scale delivery of aid by land” in a post on social media. It comes as the first aid ship to use the new humanitarian maritime corridor was spotted off the coast of Gaza today after departing the port of Larnaca, Cyprus, on Tuesday.

Aid agencies have repeatedly said that bringing in aid to Gaza by sea and through airdrops will not be enough to make up for difficulties getting in supplies by land.

Sigrid Kaag, the UN senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, told reporters last week that while airdrops represented a “symbol of support for civilians in Gaza” and were “a testament to our shared humanity”, they were “a drop in the ocean”. “It’s far from enough,” she said.

Speaking on the diversification of aid supply routes, after addressing the UN security council last Thursday, Kaag told reporters that land remained the “optimal solution”.

“It’s easier, it’s faster, it’s cheaper – particularly if we know we need to sustain humanitarian assistance to Gazans for a long period of time – and, of course, I’ve spoken to the importance of opening additional crossings,” she said.

Although Kaag commended the government of Cyprus for, what she called “their foresight and inclusive planning” on a maritime corridor to Gaza, she also pointed out that delivering aid by air and sea could not to make up for a shortage of aid supply routes on land: “Air or sea is not a substitute for what we need to see arrive at land.”

The NGO, Open Arms, said its boat, in a joint mission with the US NGO World Central Kitchen, is “already off the coast of Gaza, after 72 hours of sailing from Larnaca, Cyprus”.

We are the first ship to open this humanitarian maritime corridor that will allow the entry of food to alleviate the extreme situation suffered by millions of people in the Strip. On board 200 tonnes of flour, rice, lentils, chickpeas, tuna and other basic foods that will become 1m meals. We will never forget this moment. Is history.”

In the social media post on X, Open Arms thanked chef and World Central kitchen José Andrés and his team, before signing off with “every life matters”.

Netanyahu rejects Hamas truce proposal, saying its demands 'are still absurd'

We have a little bit more detail on the Rafah comments coming from Netanyahu’s office, via the Times of Israel, who have reported on the meeting of his war cabinet today.

The Israeli news publication says that Netanyahu rejected the latest proposal by Hamas for a truce and release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, saying its demands “are still absurd.” However, he said he would send Israeli delegates to Qatar to continue truce efforts “once the security cabinet discusses the Israeli position”.

The Times of Israel said, citing a statement from Netanyahu’s office after the meeting of the war cabinet, that the Israeli prime minister had approved “an IDF plan of operation to enter the southern Gaza city of Rafah”.

The statement said: “The IDF is prepared for the operation and to evacuate the [civilian] population.”

German chancellor Olaf Scholz is due to travel to Jordan and Israel over the weekend to lobby for more aid to be delivered to the war-ravaged Gaza Strip, his spokesperson said on Friday, reports AFP.

“Humanitarian efforts must be significantly improved … that is what [Scholz] will make clear in his talks in Israel,” the chancellor’s spokesperson Steffen Hebestreit said at a regular press conference.

The German leader will also reiterate his warning against a ground offensive in Rafah, said the Hebestreit.

Scholz is due to hold discussions with Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Saturday and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and president Isaac Herzog on Sunday.

The German chancellor’s visit to Israel is his second since the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.

Earlier in the week Germany said it would join an operation initiated by Jordan to airdrop aid into the Gaza Strip. Berlin has also said it will also support efforts to deliver much-needed aid by sea.

“What comes via the air bridge or the sea bridge is at best the second best solution,” Hebestreit said, urging more aid deliveries over land. “We stand close by Israel’s side, but we also clearly demand that all commitments under international law are met.”

Hebestreit reiterated a call for Hamas to release the remaining hostages in their captivity. “That would also pave the way for a ceasefire that can then be used for further talks,” Hebestreit said.

Netanyahu's office approve plans for Rafah operation - Reuters report

Reuters has a breaking news line on the wires that says the office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has approved plans for a Rafah operation. It says the Israeli military is preparing to evacuate the population there.

More details soon …

Updated

The EU is close to agreeing sanctions on Israeli settlers attacking Palestinians in the West Bank after Hungary signalled an end to its opposition, European diplomats said on Friday, reports Reuters.

While much international attention has focused on Hamas’s cross-border assault from Gaza and Israel’s subsequent war there, European officials have also expressed increasing concern about rising violence against Palestinians in the West Bank.

But the EU’s 27 member countries have struggled to agree sanctions against those responsible, even after the US and the UK imposed such measures.

According to Reuters, some EU members close to Israel, such as Germany and Austria, had said they were ready to approve sanctions on violent settlers after more had been imposed on Hamas, the Palestinian militant group.

Hungary, a staunch ally of the Israeli government, had been the most vociferous opposing sanctions on settlers. But diplomats said Budapest had now allowed proposed sanctions to pass through the EU system.

Some said the sanctions could be approved by EU foreign ministers on Monday but others said more time would be needed, reports Reuters.

“There’s an agreement on working group level,” said one diplomat. “The context in the region has worsened,” said another, citing a possible reason for Hungary reversing its opposition.

Hungarian officials at the foreign ministry were not immediately available for comment said Reuters.

The struggle over the proposed sanctions reflects broader divisions on the Middle East, with some EU countries strongly backing Israel while others lean more towards the Palestinians.

The proposals initially under discussion focused on imposing sanctions on around a dozen people or organisations, according to diplomats.

The EU has not spelled out what the sanctions would entail but officials have said they would include bans on travel to the EU.

“It will probably be fewer than a dozen now after negotiations, but that’s OK as the important thing is to do it now,” the second diplomat told Reuters.

The EU has already imposed sanctions on Hamas after the 7 October attacks and diplomats say more are in the pipeline.

Updated

Pivoting to the Red Sea for an update on the wider conflicts rocking the Middle East region, the AFP newswire has the following despatch on a reported missile attack:

A missile fired at a ship in the Red Sea caused no damage, marine security monitors have said, as Yemen’s Houthi rebels threatened to expand their harassment campaign which has disrupted global trade.

The Royal Navy’s United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations and security firm Ambrey had reported that the ship was damaged after being hit west of the rebel-held Yemeni port of Hodeida in the early hours of Friday.

But a daylight inspection showed that the vessel had not been impacted by the missile and had not sustained damage, UKMTO and Ambrey said in a later update.

Ambrey said the “vessel was listed as Israel-affiliated but had changed ownership in February 2024”, adding that it was headed from Singapore to the Suez Canal with armed guards onboard.

The same tanker was nearly hit by a missile southeast of Yemen’s port of Aden the previous day, Ambrey said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Iran-backed Houthis, who have launched dozens of missile and drone strikes on shipping in the commercially vital seaway over the past four months.

The rebels say they are targeting Israel-linked shipping as part of an “axis of resistance” of Iran allies and proxies, in protest at Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Israel says 'Palestinians', not army, fired on Gaza crowd on Thursday

The Israeli army said on Friday that “armed Palestinians” opened fire on civilians awaiting humanitarian aid in northern Gaza, rejecting claims by the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry that Israeli soldiers were responsible, reports AFP.

“Armed Palestinians opened fire while Gazan civilians were awaiting the arrival of the aid convoy” in Gaza City on Thursday and then “continued to shoot as the crowd of Gazans began looting the trucks”, the army said in a statement.

The army did not provide a death toll for the incident which occurred on Thursday in Gaza City, but said “a number of Gazan civilians were run over by the trucks”.

The Gaza health ministry had earlier said Israeli fire killed 20 people and wounded 155 at a roundabout, and an AFP journalist on the scene saw several bodies and people who had been shot.

“A review of our operational systems and [army] forces on the ground found that no tank fire, airstrike or gunfire was carried out toward the Gazan civilians at the aid convoy,” the Israeli statement said.

Updated

149 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 149 Palestinians were killed and 300 injured in Israeli strikes in the past 24 hours.

According to the statement, at least 31,490 Palestinians have been killed and 73,439 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October.

The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.

Protests held in Dublin and Belfast urging US president to demand a permanent ceasefire in Middle East

Protests have been held in Dublin and Belfast urging US president Joe Biden to demand a permanent ceasefire in the Middle East, reports the Press Association (PA).

The Amnesty International demonstrations took place to coincide with Irish premier Leo Varadkar’s meeting with Biden at the White House as part of the traditional St Patrick’s Day visit on Friday.

Activists from Amnesty gathered at US diplomatic offices in Dublin and Belfast on Friday morning holding banners that read: “President Biden, listen to your Irish roots and demand a permanent ceasefire.”

According to the PA, small number of Amnesty activists gathered at the gates of the offices of the US consulate general in Belfast where they laid a bowl of shamrock at the front of the building and handed over a letter to a representative from the consulate general.

Senior politicians from Leinster House and Stormont have been in Washington DC this week to promote Irish business and culture. But pressure has been on politicians to also speak about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza and to use the opportunity to call for an immediate ceasefire and to push for peace.

Amnesty International Ireland’s executive director Stephen Bowen said they were asking Biden “to hear Irish people around the world pleading for an end to the atrocities”. He said:

Since the horrific attacks of 7 October, more than 30,000 Palestinian people have been killed, the majority of them women and children. To allow this travesty to continue is unspeakable. It’s time, mr president. Call for a permanent ceasefire to end the mass humanitarian suffering in Gaza, aid the return of hostages, and calm the tensions multiplying in the region.”

Amnesty International UK’s Northern Ireland director Patrick Corrigan said:

Here today Amnesty activists are gathered outside the US consulate in Belfast, also today outside the US embassy in Dublin and over the weekend outside the White House in Washington, as Irish leaders go to meet president Biden.

We want them to bring a very clear message on behalf of people across Ireland north and south, to cry out for the Palestinian people, the people of Israel as well, in demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire.

President Biden has loudly, proudly proclaimed his Irish roots so we are asking him to listen to people in Ireland, we are asking him to use his power to deliver a permanent and an immediate ceasefire for the benefit of all in the Middle East.

Some have chosen to go [to Washington] and bring the message of peace, some have stayed at home in protest, our focus is on the message itself and that is that president Biden need to listen to people in Ireland and across the world and use his power, and he has immense power diplomatically, to unequivocally call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire.”

Updated

Sami Abu Zuhri, a senior Hamas official, has told Reuters that Israel’s rejection of its latest truce counter-proposal showed that Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu was “determined to pursue the aggression against our people and undermine all efforts exerted to reach a ceasefire agreement”.

It was up to Washington to push its ally Israel to accept a ceasefire, he said.

US, Egyptian and Qatari mediators had hoped to reach a ceasefire in time for the Ramadan Muslim holy month, but that deadline passed this week. Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, whose country hosted the main negotiations this month, said he was still working hard to reach a deal.

The Times of Israel are also reporting that family members of Israeli hostages are protesting outside the Israel Defense Forces’ (IDF) headquarters in Tel Aviv where the war cabinet will be meeting later today, “urging them to accept a deal being mediated with Hamas”.

“‘The time has come to bring them home,’ they chant as they block Begin Road,” reports the Israeli news publication.

About 40,000 worshippers are at the al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem for the first Friday prayers of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, reports the Times of Israel citing Israeli police commissioner Kobi Shabtai.

The publication say that thousands of police have been deployed on Friday across Jerusalem’s Old City in case of disturbances. “There are no immediate reports of unrest, but Shabtai says there are still warnings of possible terror attacks,” it reports.

Updated

Palestinian president appoints longtime economic adviser to be next prime minister

Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has appointed his longtime economic adviser to be the next prime minister in the face of US pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority as part of Washington’s postwar vision for Gaza, reports The Associated Press (AP).

Mohammad Mustafa, a US-educated economist and political independent, will head a technocratic government in the Israeli-occupied West Bank that could administer Gaza ahead of eventual statehood. But those plans face major obstacles, reports the AP, including strong opposition from Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and the Israel-Hamas war that is still grinding on with no end in sight.

The AP say it is unclear whether the appointment of a new cabinet led by a close Abbas ally would be sufficient to meet US demands for reform, as the 88-year-old president would remain in overall control.

Mustafa was born in the West Bank town of Tulkarem in 1954 and earned a doctorate in business administration and economics from George Washington University. He has held senior positions at the World Bank and previously served as deputy prime minister and economy minister. He is the chairman of the Palestine Investment Fund.

“The change that the US and the countries of the region want is not necessarily the change that the Palestinian citizen wants,” said Hani al-Masri, a Palestinian political analyst. “People want a real change in politics, not a change in names. … They want elections.”

He told the AP that Mustafa is “a respected and educated man” but will struggle to meet public demands to improve conditions in the occupied West Bank, where Israeli restrictions imposed since the start of the war have caused an economic crisis.

In a statement announcing the appointment, Abbas asked Mustafa to put together plans to re-unify administration in the West Bank and Gaza, lead reforms in the government, security services and economy and fight corruption.

Washington welcomed his appointment but urged Mustafa to quickly form a cabinet to implement changes.

“The US will be looking for this new government to deliver on policies and implementation of credible and far-reaching reforms. A reformed Palestinian Authority is essential to delivering results for the Palestinian people and establishing the conditions for stability in both the West Bank and Gaza,” national security council spokesperson Adrienne Watson said.

The previous prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, resigned along with his government last month, saying different arrangements were needed because of the “new reality in the Gaza Strip.”

The US has called for a reformed Palestinian Authority to expand its writ to postwar Gaza ahead of the eventual creation of a Palestinian state in both territories. Netanyahu has ruled out any role for the Palestinian Authority in Gaza, and his government is opposed to Palestinian statehood.

US president Joe Biden will host the Irish prime minister Leo Varadkar on Friday for the annual St Patrick’s Day reception at the White House, even as a portion of the usual Irish delegation boycotts the event over Biden’s handling of the war in Gaza, reports Reuters.

During a speech in Boston on Tuesday, Varadkar said he will use the opportunity to tell Biden “how Irish people feel, and that is that we want to see a ceasefire immediately, for the killing to stop, the hostages to be released without condition, food and medicine to get into Gaza.”

Ireland has traditionally been one of western Europe’s strongest critics of Israeli policies towards Palestinians and maintains a long-held policy of military neutrality.

The SDLP, Northern Ireland’s smaller nationalist party, said it was not sending any representatives to Washington this week, reports Reuters.

Last month, Ireland announced more than $21m in support for Unrwa after it plunged into crisis and is in talks with other EU members who want a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement on the basis that Israel may be breaching the agreement’s human rights clause.

The White House said the two leaders would discuss support for Ukraine, coordination on the war in the Middle East, and reaffirm their support for the Belfast/Good Friday Agreement.

Here are some of the latest images on the newswires:

The US NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK) are loading another boat with food aid for Gaza. In a social media post on X, the WCK team in Cyprus shared a couple of pictures of a boat being loaded with pallets and wrote:

The WCK’s team in Cyprus is loading another boat with hundreds of tons of food bound for Gaza. The boat will be the second to set sail as part of the maritime corridor we’ve opened alongside international partners so Palestinians get as much support as possible.

Denmark disburses planned contribution to Unrwa

Denmark’s foreign ministry announced that the country has disbursed its planned contribution to Unrwa. In a statement, the Danish foreign ministry said:

The DKK 105m contribution will primarily support Unrwa’s efforts to mitigate the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza.

The disbursement follows the initiation of a number of necessary UN measures, and decisions by like-minded such as Sweden and Canada, as well as the EU, to disburse aid to Unrwa.

It also pointed to the UN’s follow up on the case of Israeli accusations regarding the participation of Unrwa employees in Hamas’s terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October, which included immediately dismissing the surviving employees accused, launching an urgent investigation by the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) and an external and independent investigation into Unrwa’s control and supervision mechanisms which will present recommendations on strengthening the organisation

The Danish government’s disbursement of the Danish core contribution to Unrwa amounting to DKK 105m, will “support the organisation’s programme initiatives for Palestine refugees in Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria, with a particular focus on the humanitarian situation in Gaza”, it said.

“Our decision to disburse this payment is aligned with similar decisions by Sweden, the EU and Canada. The support comes at a time when the humanitarian situation is disastrous, and will help to support the life-saving humanitarian operation,” said Dan Jørgensen, the Danish minister for development cooperation and global climate policy.

“There is currently no alternative to Unrwa in Gaza. In the longer term, it will be absolutely critical that important reform measures are initiated in the organisation,” he added.

Denmark said that Unrwa had entered into a bilateral agreement with it to share information “relating to the internal control of employees, strengthened control mechanisms, and the protection of Danish funds in the event of suspicion of an Unrwa worker’s participation in the terrorist attack of 7 October”. Unrwa has entered into similar agreements with Sweden and the EU.

Lars Løkke Rasmussen, the Danish foreign affairs minister, described Unrwa as playing an “indispensable role right now” in Gaza. “It is probably too much to hope that all of the weak points of the organisation have disappeared, but the leadership has initiated a number of measures to restore trust. Therefore, in line with a number of like-minded countries, we have decided to disburse our planned contribution,” he said.

“The Danish Government urgently appeals for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.”

Updated

Spanish aid vessel visible off Gaza coast – reports

The first aid vessel heading to the besieged Gaza Strip via a new maritime corridor was visible on Friday off the coast of the war-ravaged territory, an AFP journalist said.

AFP video footage and photographs showed the Spanish aid vessel visible off Gaza coast towing a barge which the Spanish charity operating it says is carrying 200 tonnes of food for Palestinians threatened with famine after more than five months of war.

The specialist site Vessel Finder showed the Open Arms roughly five kilometres (three miles) off the coast of northern Gaza, said AFP.

A handful of civilians gathered on the rubble-strewn coast on Friday to watch the vessel, AFP footage showed, though it was unclear when it would actually reach shore.

The food has been supplied by the US NGO World Central Kitchen, which has a team in Gaza building a jetty on to which the cargo can be unloaded.

Cyprus, the Mediterranean nation which is the starting point for the maritime corridor, has said a second, bigger vessel is being readied to make the same journey.

However, the sea missions and airdrops are “no alternative” to land deliveries, 25 organisations including Amnesty International and Oxfam said in a statement this week.

The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza has in recent weeks recorded at least 27 deaths from malnutrition and dehydration, most of them children.

Updated

Reuters has a breaking news line about the Gaza aid ship, the Open Arms, that set off from Cyprus on Tuesday. According to the news agency, witnesses have reported that the ship is close to Gaza’s coast now.

More details soon …

Reuters has more on Egyptian president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi’s comments about seeking to reach a ceasefire in Gaza (08.08 am).

“We are talking about reaching a ceasefire in Gaza, meaning a truce, providing the biggest quantity of aid,” Sisi said in a message recorded during a visit to a police academy.

This would include “curbing the impact of this famine on people, and also allowing for the people in the centre and the south to move towards the north, with a very strong warning against incursion into Rafah,” he said.

“We warned of what is happening, that aid not entering would lead to famine,” Sisi added.

Egypt, which fears the displacement of Palestinians crowded near its border, has been trying, along with Qatar and the US, to mediate between Israel and Hamas to reach an agreement for a ceasefire and the release of Israeli hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.

On Thursday, Egypt’s foreign minister called on Israel to open land crossings with Gaza to let in more aid.

Updated

A merchant ship has been damaged by a missile strike in the Red Sea off Yemen, marine security monitors said Friday, after a series of attacks by Iran-backed Houthi rebels, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP).

The crew was not injured and the vessel was able to continue its journey, the British navy’s United Kingdom Marine Trade Operations (UKMTO) and security firm Ambrey said.

“A merchant vessel has reported that they have been struck by a missile and the vessel has sustained some damage,” said UKMTO.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility from the Houthis, who have launched dozens of attacks on shipping in the commercially vital seaway over the past four months.

The rebels say they are acting as part of an “axis of resistance” of Iran allies and proxies, in protest at Israel’s war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Houthi attacks, including a deadly assault on a bulk carrier last week and the sinking of a ship carrying thousands of tonnes of fertiliser, have triggered reprisal strikes by US and UK forces.

Egypt is seeking to reach ceasefire in Gaza, president Sisi says

Egypt is seeking to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, increase entry of aid, and allow for the displaced in the south to move to the north, president Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said on Friday, reports Reuters.

Sisi, speaking in a recorded message, also warned against the danger of an Israeli incursion into the border city of Rafah.

Hezbollah tells Iran it would fight alone in any war with Israel, sources tell Reuters

With ally Hamas under attack in Gaza, the head of Iran’s Quds force visited Beirut in February to discuss the risk posed if Israel next aims at Lebanon’s Hezbollah, an offensive that could severely hurt Tehran’s main regional partner, seven sources told Reuters.

In Beirut, Quds chief Esmail Qaani met Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah, the sources said, for at least the third time since Hamas’s deadly 7 October attacks on southern Israel and Israel’s devastating retaliatory assault on Gaza.

The conversation turned to the possibility of a full Israeli offensive to its north, in Lebanon, the sources said. As well as damaging Hezbollah, such an escalation could pressure Iran to react more forcefully than it has so far since 7 October, three of the sources, Iranians within the inner circle of power, said.

Over the past five months, Hezbollah, a sworn enemy of Israel, has shown support for Hamas in the form of limited volleys of rockets fired across Israel’s northern border.

At the previously unreported meeting, Nasrallah reassured Qaani he did not want Iran to get sucked into a war with Israel or the US and that Hezbollah would fight on its own, all the sources said.

“This is our fight,” Nasrallah told Qaani, said one Iranian source with knowledge of the discussions.

Philippe Lazzarini, the commissioner general of Unrwa, has thanked Australia for resuming its funding of the UN agency. In a post on X, he wrote:

Thank you Australia for joining donor countries who have maintained/increased their funding and those who have recently announced their contribution to Unrwa at this critical time in Gaza and the region.

Your support is testament to your commitment to humanitarian principles and the plight of Palestine refugees during unprecedented crisis. I hope that other donors who have temporarily paused their contribution will make similar announcement and support the agency to reverse the widespread hunger in Gaza and to remain a life line for Palestine refugees across the region.

Updated

Australia resumes funding for UNRWA and pledges more Gaza aid

Australia will restore funding to the United Nations relief agency for Palestinians (Unrwa), weeks after the agency lost hundreds of millions of dollars in support following Israeli allegations that some of its Gaza-based staff participated in the 7 October attack.

The Associated Press (AP) reports that the Australian government also pledged on Friday to increase aid for Gaza, with foreign minister Penny Wong expressing horror at the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Australia’s move follows Sweden, the European Commission and Canada in reinstating funding for Unrwa, which had seen its international funding frozen while the allegations were investigated.

“The best available current advice from agencies and the Australian government lawyers is that Unrwa is not a terrorist organisation,” Wong told reporters Friday in Adelaide while she announced the aid package.

“[We have] been working with a group of donor countries and with Unrwa on the shared objective of ensuring the integrity of Unrwa’s operations, rebuilding confidence, and so importantly, ensuring aid flows to Gazans in desperate need.”

Australia, alongside 15 international partners, froze funding to Unrwa in January, leaving the agency – which employs roughly 13,000 people in Gaza and is the main supplier of food, water and shelter there – on the brink of financial collapse.

A small number of the agency’s staff were fired after the accusations.

Israel has claimed that 450 Unrwa employees were members of militant groups in Gaza, though it has provided no evidence.

Wong also pledged an additional $4m Australian ($2.6m/£2m) to Unicef to provide urgent services in Gaza, and a C17 Globemaster plane will also deliver defence force parachutes to help with the US led airdropping of humanitarian supplies into Gaza, which is on the brink of famine, says the UN.

You can read the Guardian’s news story on this here:

Updated

Hamas issues ceasefire proposal detailing exchange of hostages and prisoners

Hamas has presented a Gaza ceasefire proposal to mediators and the US which includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for freedom for Palestinian prisoners, 100 of whom are serving life sentences, according to a proposal seen by news agency Reuters.

Hamas said the initial release of Israelis would include women, children, elderly, and ill hostages in exchange for the release of 700-1,000 Palestinian prisoners, according to the proposal. The release of Israeli “female recruits” is included.

The office of Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the new Hamas position was based on “unrealistic demands.”

Egypt and Qatar have been trying to narrow differences between Israel and Hamas over what a ceasefire should look like as a deepening humanitarian crisis has one quarter of the population in the battered Gaza Strip facing famine.

In February, Hamas received a draft proposal from Gaza truce talks in Paris which included a 40-day pause in all military operations and the exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages at a ratio of 10 to one – a similar ratio to the new ceasedfire proposal.

Israel also rejected that draft proposal, citing its long-held goal of not ending the war until it destroyed Hamas. Hamas insists an agreement should end the war.

According to the latest proposal, Hamas said it would agree on a date for a permanent ceasefire after the initial exchange of hostages and prisoners, and that a deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would be agreed upon after the first stage, reports Reuters.

The group said all detainees from both sides would be released in a second stage of the plan.

Late on Thursday, Hamas said it presented to mediators a comprehensive vision of a truce based on stopping what it calls Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, providing relief and aid, the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

An image of the destruction in Gaza taken by the US air force has been released. The picture was taken as the plane flew over the area on Thursday.

Opening summary

It has just gone 9am in Gaza and Tel Aviv. This is our latest Guardian live blog on the Israel-Gaza war and the wider Middle East crisis.

Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reacted to a fresh proposal presented by Hamas for a truce in the Israel-Gaza war, describing it as based on “unrealistic demands”.

It comes as Reuters reports on some of the details of the Hamas ceasefire proposal including the release of female hostages in return for Palestinian prisoners.

More on that in a moment but first, here’s a summary of the latest developments:

  • Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the new proposal presented by Hamas to mediators was still based on “unrealistic demands”. The statement said an update on the issue will be presented to the war cabinet and extended security cabinet on Friday, Reuters reports.

  • Hamas said on Thursday it had presented to mediators a comprehensive vision of a truce deal. Reuters reports the deal is based on stopping the Israeli “aggression” against Palestinians in Gaza, providing relief and aid, the return of displaced people to their houses, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

  • Hamas’s ceasefire proposal also includes a first stage of releasing Israeli women, children, elderly, and ill hostages in exchange for the release of 700-1,000 Palestinian prisoners, Reuters says. A hundred Palestinian prisoners serving life sentences in Israeli prisons would be released and the release of Israeli “female recruits”. Hamas said it would agree on a date for a permanent ceasefire after the initial exchange of hostages and prisoners, according to the proposal seen by Reuters. A deadline for an Israeli withdrawal from Gaza would also be agreed upon after the first stage. Hamas said all detainees from both sides would be released in a second stage of the plan.

  • Australia is reinstating funding to the UNRWA aid agency amid growing concerns about the worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The foreign minister, Penny Wong, announced the decision to unfreeze $6m (£5m) in emergency funding. The decision follows similar moves by Canada and Sweden.

  • Israel has defended its policies on admitting trucks into Gaza, calling on the UN to send more convoys of aid to the north. “If the UN wants to see more aid in north Gaza, it should coordinate more convoys,” said Elad Goren, head of the civil department at COGAT, a defence ministry body governing civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories. Goren also said 99% of aid trucks sent to Gaza were “approved”, pushing back on reports by the UN and NGOs that cumbersome Israeli inspections are blocking food and other essentials.

  • The US has circulated the final draft of a UN security council resolution late on Thursday that would support international efforts to establish “an immediate and sustained ceasefire” in the Israel-Gaza war as part of a deal to release hostages, the Associated Press (AP) reports. No time has been set for a vote, and the draft, obtained by the AP, could still be changed. The US circulated the initial draft on 19 February a day before it vetoed a widely supported Arab-backed resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, saying it would interfere with negotiations on a deal to free the hostages.

  • Chuck Schumer, the US Senate leader and a top ally of Joe Biden, on Thursday broke with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his handling of the invasion of Gaza and called for Israel to hold new elections, in comments that upset its ruling party and allies on Capitol Hill.

  • The US on Thursday imposed sanctions on three Israeli settlers and two Israeli settler outposts in the occupied West Bank. It marks the first time the US has imposed sanctions on entire outposts rather than on individuals. Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967.

  • The charity sending food aid to Gaza on a ship travelling across the Mediterranean from Cyprus is loading a second boat with supplies, which it hopes will set off in the coming days. Pallets containing 300 tonnes of food aid – 50% more than the first shipment – are expected to be screened and loaded by the end of Thursday, but there is no indication yet when it will leave the port of Larnaca. Arvind Das of the International Rescue Committee said the aid en route via water was “a drop in the ocean looking at the need”.

  • 31,341 people have been killed by the Israeli military offensive in Gaza since 7 October according to the Hamas-led health ministry in the territory. It added that 73,134 people have been wounded. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify the casualty figures issued during the conflict.

  • Israel’s military has claimed to be “continuing to operate in Khan Younis, conducting targeted raids on terror targets and eliminating terrorists”. It says it targeted fighters who had attempted to launch a rocket into Israel, and destroyed rocket launchers in the Hamad area.

  • A man in his 50s has been critically injured during a stabbing attack in Beit Kama shopping complex in Israel.

  • Relatives of some of those believed to still be held in Gaza by Hamas staged a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Thursday, temporarily blocking a highway. About 40 relatives blocked the road, while holding banners saying “We want them alive, not in coffins” and carrying large pictures of female hostages.

  • Israel’s military has said it struck what it called “Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” inside Lebanon on Thursday morning. It also said it intercepted a “suspicious aerial target” heading into Israel.

  • The Palestine Red Crescent Society has accused Israeli security forces of preventing ambulances reaching sick or wounded people 95 times in the Israeli-occupied West Bank since 7 October. It says that they have “endangered lives in violation of international humanitarian law”.

  • Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas has appointed Mohammed Mustafa, a long-trusted adviser on economic affairs, as prime minister, the official Wafa news agency said on Thursday. Mustafa’s appointment comes less than three weeks after his predecessor, Mohammed Shtayyeh, resigned, citing the need for change after the Hamas attack of 7 October triggered war with Israel in Gaza.

  • The US and UK have called for a UN maritime inspectorate to do more to prevent Iranian missiles reaching Houthi-controlled ports in the west of Yemen.

  • The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said on Thursday the group’s operations targeting vessels will escalate to prevent Israel-linked ships from passing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope.

  • The US military said on Thursday that Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Yemen toward the Gulf of Aden and two missiles toward the Red Sea, but there were no injuries or damage reported to US or coalition ships. The US military’s central command said it destroyed nine anti-ship missiles and two drones in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.

  • The UN special envoy for Yemen has told the UN security council, the longer the war in Gaza goes on and Yemen’s Houthi rebels keep attacking ships in the Red Sea the greater the risk that Yemen could be propelled back into war. Hans Grundberg said it has been impossible to shield his promising efforts to restore peace to Yemen because the reality is, “what happens regionally impacts Yemen – and what happens in Yemen can impact the region”.

Updated

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