Summary of the day …
It has just gone 5pm in Gaza and Tel Aviv, 6pm in Doha and Sana’a. Here are the headlines.
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday the group is showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel but at the same time it was ready to continue fighting. Another Hamas official, Basem Naim, told Al Jazeera “The gap is still wide”. The two sides have been negotiating around a draft framework that would reportedly see a six week pause in fighting and the release of hostages held in captivity by Hamas for Palestinians who have been detained by Israel.
Qatar has accused Israel of facilitating “the deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people” and called on the international community to apply more pressure on Israel, saying it was “painful” that the delivery of aid was still an issue. Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said “There are two and a half million people living in complete absence of health and emergency services. Aid should be freely provided without restrictions.”
Israel’s military has claimed it struck “eight significant terror targets” in Gaza overnight which it said had been responsible for rockets fired towards the Israeli city of Ashkelon. The IDF also announced that two further soldiers had been killed during its ground operation inside Gaza.
At least 29,954 Palestinians have been killed and 70,325 injured in Israel’s military assault on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Houthi leaders have denied they have targeted critical underwater sea telecommunication cables, as Yemen’s UN recognised government warned of an imminent marine environmental disaster if a cargo ship struck by the rebels last week was not quickly rescued. The stricken Belize-flagged Rubymar, which was en route from the UAE to Europe via the Red Sea when she was hit by a Houthi attack, has been drifting and begun to sink.
Families of some of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza have started a four-day march to demand their release. The route started at the site of the Nova music festival, scene of some of the worst atrocities during the 7 October attack, and will finish in Jerusalem.
Russian media is reporting that representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a united Palestinian government across both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for the day. We are pausing our live coverage for now. You can find all our latest coverage of the Israel-Gaza war here.
Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Maliki has said he does not expect “miracles” at talks in Moscow scheduled for tomorrow to discuss the formation of a unified Palestinian government.
On Monday Palestinian prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh resigned. Maliki said the move was designed to build support for an expanded role for the Palestinian Authority.
Reuters reports that, speaking on the sidelines of the UN human rights council in Geneva, Maliki said:
We hope that there we might be good results in terms of mutual understanding between all factions about the need to support such a technocratic government that will emerge. Of course, we don’t expect miracles to happen in just a simple meeting in Moscow, but I believe that the meeting in Moscow should be followed by other meetings in the region soon.
Representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Moscow. The two factions have been divided since Hamas threw the Fatah movement out of Gaza in 2007.
Maliki also accused the UN security council of “failing” the Palestinian people in its inability to agree on a ceasefire, saying “Now in Gaza, it seems that the ceasefire is a farfetched objective to be attained.”
Reuters reports that residents said Israeli tanks and planes pounded northern Gaza again today, months after the army declared Hamas defeated there.
Additionally, Palestinian health officials said 18 bodies of people killed on Tuesday had been recovered in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip, where several residential buildings were said to have been destroyed on Wednesday by Israeli tanks.
The diplomatic row between Israel and Brazil has been reignited, with Israel’s foreign minister Israel Katz saying his country “will not forget nor forgive” president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for comments he made which appeared to compare Israel’s military campaign against Gaza with the Holocaust.
Responding to a new interview with Lula where he mentioned the comments, Katz said:
You said that Israel’s just war against Hamas in Gaza is the same as what Hitler and the Nazis did to the Jews and you have desecrated the memory of the six million Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust. We will not forget nor forgive. Shame on you and apologise!
In an interview with Brazilian RedeTV Brazil’s president insisted “First, I did not say the word Holocaust, that was the interpretation of the prime minister of Israel, it was not mine.”
In his original comments, made in Ethiopia, Lula had said “What’s happening in the Gaza Strip and with the Palestinian people doesn’t exist at any other historical moment. In fact, it existed when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Israel has banned Lula from visiting the country.
There is some additional detail here from Israel’s military about the humanitarian aid drops that it says have been carried out over the last two days. In an update on Telegram the IDF posted:
In the last two days, approximately 160 food packages were airdropped on about 17 different points along the southern coastline of the Gaza Strip using US, Egyptian, UAE, French and Jordanian planes – which included food and medical equipment intended for the residents of the southern Gaza Strip.
In addition, as part of the activity, food packages, medical equipment and fuel supplies were airdropped for the benefit of the ongoing activity of the Jordanian Field hospital in Khan Younis.
Summary of the day so far …
It has just gone 3pm in Gaza and Tel Aviv, and 4pm in Doha and Sana’a. Here are the latest headlines …
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday the group is showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel but at the same time it was ready to continue fighting. Another Hamas official, Basem Naim, told Al Jazeera “The gap is still wide”. The two sides have been negotiating around a draft framework that would reportedly see a six week pause in fighting and the release of hostages held in captivity by Hamas for Palestinians who have been detained by Israel.
Qatar has accused Israel of facilitating “the deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people” and called on the international community to apply more pressure on Israel, saying it was “painful” that the delivery of aid was still an issue. Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said “There are two and a half million people living in complete absence of health and emergency services. Aid should be freely provided without restrictions.”
Protests have broken out in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip today over the price of food and scarcity of supplies.
Gaza’s al-Awda hospital has had to suspend all surgical operations after its operating theatres were destroyed. Separately, a humanitarian group operating a clinic in the Gaza Strip says 21% of the pregnant women it has treated in the last three weeks are suffering from malnutrition.
Israel’s military has claimed it struck “eight significant terror targets” in Gaza overnight which it said had been responsible for rockets fired towards the Israeli city of Ashkelon. The IDF also announced that two further soldiers had been killed during its ground operation inside Gaza.
At least 29,954 Palestinians have been killed and 70,325 injured in Israel’s military assault on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says that since 7 October, Israeli security forces have arrested more than 7,300 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Houthi leaders have denied they have targeted critical underwater sea telecommunication cables, as Yemen’s UN recognised government warned of an imminent marine environmental disaster if a cargo ship struck by the rebels last week was not quickly rescued. The stricken Belize-flagged Rubymar, which was en route from the UAE to Europe via the Red Sea when she was hit by a Houthi attack, has been drifting and begun to sink.
Families of some of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza have started a four-day march to demand their release. The route started at the site of the Nova music festival, scene of some of the worst atrocities during the 7 October attack, and will finish in Jerusalem.
Russian media is reporting that representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a united Palestinian government across both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
A group of more than 50 broadcast journalists have sent an open letter to the embassies of Israel and Egypt calling for “free and unfettered access” to Gaza for foreign media.
Humanitarian groups says 21% of pregnant women it sees in Gaza are suffering from malnutrition
A humanitarian group operating a clinic in the Gaza Strip says 21% of the pregnant women it has treated in the last three weeks are suffering from malnutrition.
Associated Press report Project Hope, which runs a primary health clinic in the central town of Deir al-Balah, said Wednesday that 11% of the children under 5 it has treated during the same period are also malnourished.
Project Hope says “people have reported eating nothing but white bread as fruit, vegetables, and other nutrient-dense foods are nearly impossible to find or too expensive.”
The number of humanitarian aid trucks entering Gaza each day is far below the 500 that entered daily before the war, and UN officials have said the war has pushed a quarter of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million Palestinians to the brink of famine.
The UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, has told the UK House of Commons that “there has been progress” in moving towards a ceasefire deal in Israel and Gaza.
Quizzed by the Scottish National Party’s leader in Westminster, Stephen Flynn, during a weekly question session, Sunak said he was urging all sides to seize the opportunity.
Flynn said: “Thirty thousand people dead, 70,000 injured, 1.5 million sheltering in Rafah, 300,000 living in what is considered to be feral conditions in northern Gaza and of course 100 hostages still tragically held by Hamas.
“It is the horror of those numbers that demands that this House have its say, just as it is the horror of those numbers that show that this House should demand an immediate ceasefire.
“Now, President Biden has indicated that that ceasefire may take place as from Monday, does the Prime Minister share in his confidence.”
To which, the prime minister said:
We have consistently called for an immediate humanitarian pause which would allow for the safe release of hostages, including British nationals, and more aid to reach Gaza.
We welcome progress on a deal, as (Mr Flynn) said there has been progress, and urge everyone on all sides to seize the opportunity and I have been clear that we must seize the momentum from this terrible tragedy to find a lasting resolution to this conflict which delivers on the promise of a two state solution and ensures that Israelis and Palestinians can live in dignity and security.
Updated
The IDF has posted a video to social media claiming to show an aid airdrop on Gaza which it says was “part of international cooperation between Israel, the USA, the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and France.”
160 packages of food and medical equipment were airdropped into southern Gaza and the Jordanian field hospital in Khan Yunis. This was part of international cooperation between Israel, the USA, the UAE, Jordan, Egypt and France.
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) February 28, 2024
The move was carried out with the International… pic.twitter.com/tEpJKJ8Kex
Protests have broken out in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip today over the price of food and scarcity of supplies.
A Hamas official has told Al Jazeera that “the gap is still wide” in negotiations over a ceasefire and the release of hostages.
Basem Naim told the news network “The gap is still wide. We have to discuss a lot of points with the mediators” and criticised what he said was US hypocrisy, saying:
If the Americans want to be really optimistic, they have to end their game of double standards. They talk about wanting a ceasefire and avoiding broadening the conflict in the region, but at the same time they are using their veto in the UN security council, they are providing billions of dollars to Israel, and they are securing more ammunition for Israel.
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor
Houthi leaders have denied they have targeted critical underwater sea telecommunication cables, as Yemen’s UN recognised government warned of an imminent marine environmental disaster if a cargo ship struck by the rebels last week was not quickly rescued.
The Rubymar, a Belize-flagged but British-owned bulk carrier, has been drifting in the Red Sea after it was struck by two missiles. The ship is leaking an 18-mile oil spill and carrying 41,000 tonnes of volatile fertiliser.
The attack on the Rubymar inflicted the most significant damage so far on a commercial ship since the Houthis started targeting vessels in November. The Houthis say their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea are in solidarity with the stricken people of Gaza. It has long been feared that the Houthis might extend their actions by disrupting internet traffic and cutting sea cables.
The Houthis, an Islamist movement that seized Yemen’s capital in 2015, insist they are solely targeting Israeli linked ships in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and say they will consider ending the months-long attacks if Hamas agreed a ceasefire.
Read more here: Houthis deny targeting underwater cables amid marine disaster warning
More than 7,300 arrests by Israeli security forces in occupied West Bank since 7 October
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says that since 7 October, Israeli security forces have arrested more than 7,300 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It said there were at least 35 arrests made overnight in multiple raids across the occupied territory.
Hamas leader: group 'showing flexibility' in negotiations with Israel but prepared to continue fighting
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday the group is showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel but at the same time it was ready to continue fighting.
The two sides have been negotiating around a draft framework that would reportedly see a six week pause in fighting and the release of hostages held in captivity by Hamas for Palestinians who have been detained by Israel.
He called on the Arab world to work to end the starvation in Gaza, and for the “axis of resistance” to step up efforts on behalf of Gaza’s population. Earlier today Qatar denounced Israel for what it called the “deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people”.
In a televised speech from Beirut, Reuters reports Haniyeh also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to march to al-Aqsa mosque to pray on the first day of Ramadan.
Israel has already said that it will continue to impose restrictions on access to the mosque for Muslims. Since 7 October many people have had to carry out Friday prayers in Jerusalem’s streets as Israeli security forces have been preventing access to the mosque. Ramadan is expected to start on the evening of Sunday 10 March.
Updated
The Times of Israel is carrying some quotes from ex-hostages and family members of hostages, who spoke before setting out from the site of the Nova music festival for Jerusalem on a four-day march calling for the release of the hostages.
Niv Cohen, a survivor from the festival attack, said “I’m still here, standing. But my soul was left behind, somewhere among these trees where I hid for so many hours”. Two of his friends are still held captive in Gaza
Dekel Lifschitz, whose grandfather is being held, said ““We’re a big family in Israel, and we’re waiting to see 134 people of this family. This is for all of us who live here and want the most obvious thing, that our country will have our back. Grandpa, be strong, your nation is coming for you.”
Sharon Alony Cunio, who was part of the hostage release deal in November but whose husband remains in Gaza, said she had not been able to join earlier protest marches, but “I’m marching this time for my husband and all the hostages, in this important struggle.”
Summary of the day so far …
It is just gone noon in Gaza and Tel Aviv, and 1pm in Doha and Sana’a. Here are the headlines …
Qatar has accused Israel of facilitating “the deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people” and called on the international community to apply more pressure on Israel, saying it was “painful” that the delivery of aid was still an issue. Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said “There are two and a half million people living in complete absence of health and emergency services. Aid should be freely provided without restrictions.”
Israel’s military has claimed it struck “eight significant terror targets” in Gaza overnight which it said had been responsible for rockets fired towards the Israeli city of Ashkelon. The IDF also announced that two further soldiers had been killed during its ground operation inside Gaza.
At least 29,954 Palestinians have been killed and 70,325 injured in Israel’s military assault on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Gaza’s al-Awda hospital has had to suspend all surgical operations after its operating theatres were destroyed.
Families of some of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza have started a four-day march to demand their release. The route started at the site of the Nova music festival, scene of some of the worst atrocities during the 7 October attack, and will finish in Jerusalem.
Israel’s military has said it has carried out air raids on what it described as “a Hezbollah weapons storage facility” and “a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site” in southern Lebanon. Israeli media reported a building was damaged after rockets hit Israel’s northernmost city of Kiryat Shmona, and the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades claimed it had launched 40 Grad missiles from southern Lebanon at military targets in northern Israel.
Russian media is reporting that representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a united Palestinian government across both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
A group of more than 50 broadcast journalists have sent an open letter to the embassies of Israel and Egypt calling for “free and unfettered access” to Gaza for foreign media.
The stricken Belize-flagged Rubymar, which was en route from the UAE to Europe via the Red Sea when she was hit by a Houthi attack on 20 February, has begun to sink.
There is also a demonstration being held in Sana’a in Yemen, in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Here are some images sent over the news wires from that gathering.
We reported earlier that families of people still being held hostage in Gaza are staging a protest march to demand their release, which started from the site of the Nova music festival which was attacked on 7 October, and will continue to Jerusalem. The march is expected to last four days. Here are some pictures from the protest.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports the 20 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli security forces in Yatta, which is near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
At least 29,954 Palestinians have been killed and 70,325 injured in Israel’s military assault on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday.
At least 76 people have been killed by Israeli military action in the last 24 hours, according to the Hamas-led ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in the figures.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Organisers of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the UK have responded to recent government statements about protests with their own joint statement. The group, which includes Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain, said:
Since October, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of London and their local areas calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, yet politicians have denounced these peace protesters as “hate marchers” for expressing the majority view.
Under intense political pressure from the government, political commentators, and a range of pro-Israel groups pushing to have the protests banned, the policing of the demonstrations has been increasingly aggressive and restrictive. It has been marked by unprecedented use of restriction orders, pressure on the organisers not to march, and violent arrests of protesters.
The groups are planning to host a press conference at parliament in London later today.
Earlier, home secretary James Cleverly said pro-Palestine protesters have “made their point” and questioned the value of continuing demonstrations, while UK policing minister Chris Philp said the government might consider increasing the amount of notice that protesters have to give to police when organising large-scale demonstrations.
Israel claims it has carried out air raids on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon
Israel’s military has said it has carried out air raids on what it described as “a Hezbollah weapons storage facility” and “a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site” in southern Lebanon.
In a statement published to its official Telegram channel, it said:
Following the sirens sounded in the area of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel earlier today Wednesday, approximately ten launches which crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel were identified. The IDF Aerial Defense Array successfully intercepted a number of the launches. In response, the IDF struck the sources of the fire in Lebanon.
A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility and military structures in the area of Ramyeh in southern Lebanon. Additionally, overnight, the IDF struck a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site in the area of Khirbet Selm.
Earlier Israeli media reported that a building was damaged after rockets hit Israel’s northernmost city of Kiryat Shmona, and the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades claimed in a Telegram message that it had launched 40 Grad missiles from southern Lebanon at military targets in northern Israel. Israeli authorities have not reported any casualties.
Families of people still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza are staging a protest march today calling for their return. The march starts at the site of the Nova music festival, scene of some of the worst atrocities during the 7 October attack inside Israel, and will go to Jerusalem.
Israel believes 134 hostages are still being held in Gaza, of which it believes 32 people have been killed.
In the UK, repeated protests calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza have become a thorny political issue, leading to a row in parliament last week over MPs voting for a ceasefire, and a renewed scrutiny on the security and safety of MPs, who claim they are being targeted by protesters.
Appearing on television this morning in the UK, policing minister Chris Philp said that protests would be allowed to continue, saying “We are a free country and people have the right to protest, so we will continue to police those protests,” however he indicated that the government might consider a change in the law so that organisers have to give authorities more advanced notice of the intention to stage a demonstration.
He told viewers:
For very, very large protests where we’re talking about tens of thousands, or possible even hundreds of thousands of people, it may make planning for the police easier if it’s more like a couple of weeks, but that’s just something the home secretary’s thinking about, and certainly nothing’s been decided.
Philp said that to date about 600 arrests have been made at protests over the Gaza conflict since 7 October.
The policing minister said there would be a meeting in Downing Street in London today including prime minister Rishi Sunak to discuss the police response to protests directly outside MPs’ houses. “We can’t cede an inch of territory to people who seek to intimidate our elected representatives,” he told broadcaster LBC.
Earlier the home secretary, the equivalent of an interior minister, James Cleverly, had questioned the value of the continuing demonstrations in the UK, saying pro-Palestine protesters have “made their point”.
“I’m not sure that these marches every couple of weeks add value to the argument. They’re not really saying anything new,” he told the Times newspaper.
Hamas claims to have launched missiles from Lebanon aimed at Israeli military targets
Hamas has said it launched two missile salvoes consisting of 40 Grad missiles from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
Reuters reports Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on its Telegram channel it had bombed the headquarters of the 769th Eastern Brigade and the airport barracks in Beit Hilal.
There have been frequent exchanges of fire over the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon since 7 October. Israel has evacuated some northern communities, and has repeatedly told Hezbollah and other anti-Israeli forces in the area that they must back-off and respect the UN mandated demilitarised zone between the blue line and the Litani river.
Yesterday the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, Unifil, described what it saw as “a disturbing shift” in the intensity of fire being exchanged.
Israeli media is also this morning reporting that a building was damaged after rockets hit Israel’s northernmost city of Kiryat Shmona.
Al Jazeera reports Gaza’s al-Awda hospital has had to suspend all surgical operations after its operating theatres were destroyed. Acting director Mohamed Salha told the news agency:
This means that all medical services related to obstetrics and gynaecology have stopped completely. We were the only hospital in northern Gaza for orthopaedic surgeries. There is no other alternative place in northern Gaza or Gaza City because the health ministry’s hospitals are out of service completely.
Overnight Israel’s military has announced that two further soldiers were killed druing the ground operation in Gaza. The IDF said they were killed in combat in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday, and that seven soldiers were also wounded.
Israel claims to have struck 'eight significant terror targets' inside Gaza Strip overnight
In its latest operational briefing, Israel’s military has claimed it struck “eight significant terror targets” overnight which it said had been responsible for rockets fired towards the Israeli city of Ashkelon.
In a message posted to its official Telegram channel, the Israel Defense Force (IDF) wrote:
During joint ground and aerial activity in the Gaza Strip, eight significant terror targets were struck in an area from which rockets were fired toward the city of Ashkelon last night. Terror tunnel shafts and infrastructure used by terrorist operatives were also struck.
The briefing went on to claim that “ground troops conducted targeted raids on compounds, and located weapons and military equipment” in western Khan Younis, and that “IDF paratroopers killed a number of terrorists with sniper fire” while separately in Khan Younis “an IDF fighter jet … struck terrorists in a military compound who were preparing to ambush the troops.”
The claims have not been independently verified.
Hani Mahmoud, reporting from Rafah for Al Jazeera has said that Israeli attacks on the city seem to be “more systematic right now”. He told the news network:
The Israeli military targeted a home and so far there have been two children who were pulled out from the rubble. There are more people under the rubble and volunteers from the civil defence, paramedics and locals have rushed to the area to help with the rescue efforts.
Someone on the ground told us that the houses were full of displaced families who had evacuated from Gaza City in recent weeks and also another displaced family who was evacuated from Khan Younis at the start of the ground invasion.
At the beginning of its campaign, Israel’s military repeatedly ordered the Palestinian population to move south to Rafah for their safety while it conducted an extensive aerial bombardment and ground operations in the north and central Gaza Strip. It has been estimated that at least 85% of Gaza’s population has been displaced, with some families being forced to move multiple times.
Qatar: 'deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people cannot be tolerated'
Qatar has accused Israel of facilitating “the deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people” in a weekly briefing given by foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari. He called on the international community to apply more pressure on Israel, and said it was “painful” that the delivery of aid was still an issue.
In a statement issued after the briefing, Al Ansari said:
The deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people cannot be tolerated and the international community must stand against this issue.
Any aid provided to Gaza Strip is a very small part of what the residents of the strip need. There are two and a half million people living in complete absence of health and emergency services. More than one million people live in tents in the south of the Strip.
Aid should be freely provided without restrictions, as the state of Qatar has always emphasised.
Al Ansari said that 80 planes of aid had been delivered via an air bridge Qatar had set up to deliver aid, but “the challenges of entering this aid are great and ongoing.”
He continued:
So far, we have not seen real pressure from the international community to allow full and unconditional entry of aid. The State of Qatar, in cooperation with its partners, seeks to stop the aggression before the holy month of Ramadan. It is painful that the entry of humanitarian aid is one of the issues on the table.
Hamas and Fatah to meet in Moscow to discuss unified Palestinian government – reports
Russian media is reporting that representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a united Palestinian government across both Gaza and the West Bank.
Citing the RIA state news agency, Reuters reports that Russian deputy foreign minister Mikhail Bogdanov confirmed the meeting has taken place.
One of Israel’s stated war aims has been the dismantling of Hamas, and senior Israeli officials have repeatedly said Hamas can have no role in the governance of Palestinian territories the “day after” the war in Gaza.
Yesterday the Guardian’s diplomatic editor Patrick Wintour reported that both Qatar and Egypt were supporting work to set up a new Palestinian technocratic government.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, said Hamas would have no members, but the fact that it would be consulted showed efforts were under way to see if Palestinian unity between Hamas and Fatah was achievable. The two factions have been divided since Hamas threw the Fatah movement out of Gaza in 2007.
Palestinian prime minister, Mohammad Shtayyeh, and his government resigned en masse on Monday.
Another rocket exploded without causing any damage late Tuesday night off the side of a ship traveling through the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, authorities said.
The UK Maritime Trade Operations reported the attack happened about 110 kilometers (70 miles) off the coast of the Houthi-held port city of Hodeida. The rocket exploded several miles off the bow of the vessel, it said.
“The crew and vessel are reported to be safe and are proceeding to next port of call,” the UKMTO said.
Associated Press reports the private security firm Ambrey said the vessel targeted appeared to be a the Marshall Islands-flagged, Greek-owned bulk carrier in the area at the time.
Yesterday Yemen’s Houthis announced that they would not reconsider their attacks on shipping in the area until Israel had lifted its siege of Gaza. The group have issued a ban on ships with connections to Israel, the US and the UK passing through the Red Sea.
A group of more than 50 broadcast journalists have sent an open letter to the embassies of Israel and Egypt calling for “free and unfettered access” to Gaza for foreign media.
The letter, sent by correspondents and presenters from the main broadcasting outlets based in the UK, also appeals for better protection for journalists already reporting in the territory.
PA Media reports 55 journalists signed the letter from outlets including Sky News, the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. It said:
Almost five months into the war in Gaza, foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military.
We urge the Governments of Israel and Egypt to allow free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media.
We call on the government of Israel to openly state its permission for international journalists to operate in Gaza and for the Egyptian authorities to allow international journalists access to the Rafah crossing.
The letter continued “It’s vital that local journalists’ safety is respected and that their efforts are bolstered by the journalism of members of the international media. The need for comprehensive on the ground reporting of the conflict is imperative.”
An unprecedented number of local journalists have been killed by Israeli military action since the conflict erupted on 7 October when Hamas launched its surprise attack inside Israel.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has found at least 88 journalists and media workers have been killed. Four journalists are missing and 25 have been reported arrested.
Sherif Mansour of the CPJ has said:
CPJ emphasises that journalists are civilians doing important work during times of crisis and must not be targeted by warring parties. Journalists across the region are making great sacrifices to cover this heart-breaking conflict. Those in Gaza, in particular, have paid, and continue to pay, an unprecedented toll and face exponential threats. Many have lost colleagues, families, and media facilities, and have fled seeking safety when there is no safe haven or exit.
Here are some more images of the stricken Belize-flagged Rubymar, which was en route from the UAE to Europe via the Red Sea when she was hit by a Houthi attack on 20 February.
Welcome and summary
Hello and welcome to the Guardian’s continuing coverage of the crisis in the Middle East.
UK-owned cargo ship, Rubymar, has begun to sink in the Red Sea after it was hit by a Houthi attack on 18 February.
The Rubymar is reportedly carrying 22,000 tonnes of fertiliser that. On Monday the owner of the vessel said it was looking at towing the vessel to Saudi Arabia once a leak can be fixed.
More on that in a moment, first here’s a round-up of the day’s other main events:
A Hamas official has told Reuters that US president Joe Biden’s words about a halt to fighting in Gaza are premature, and do not match the situation on the ground. Biden had seemed confident that a truce would be agreed by Monday, but as well as the words from Hamas, a senior Israeli official has also said that he does not understand where Biden’s optimism is coming from. Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesperson said the country remains “upbeat and optimistic” about the prospects for a deal.
Unifil, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, has said it is witnessing “a disturbing shift” in the exchanges of fire between Israel and anti-Israeli forces across the UN-drawn blue line that separates northern Israel and southern Lebanon. On Tuesday morning Israel said it had struck several targets inside Lebanon in response to a barrage of 35 rockets fired at one of its military installations in northern Israel.
The formation of a new Palestinian technocratic government would be aided by both Qatar and Egypt and involves consultations with all Palestinian political factions – including Hamas, the Palestinian ambassador to the UK, Husam Zomlot, has said.
Three Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in clashes in the occupied West Bank early on Tuesday. At least 400 Palestinians have been killed in clashes with Israeli soldiers and settlers in the occupied West Bank since the 7 October attack on Israel by Hamas.
Yemen’s Houthis said they could only reconsider their missile and drone attacks on international shipping in the Red Sea once Israel ends its “aggression” in the Gaza Strip. The US says it has targeted Iranian and Houthi commanders in a new round of sanctions, and the UK has also issued new sanctions against Iran and Yemen.
Israel is intentionally starving Palestinians and should be held accountable for war crimes – and genocide, according to the UN’s leading expert on the right to food. “There is no reason to intentionally block the passage of humanitarian aid or intentionally obliterate small-scale fishing vessels, greenhouses and orchards in Gaza – other than to deny people access to food,” Michael Fakhri, the UN special rapporteur on the right to food, told the Guardian.
The UN humanitarian office has accused Israeli forces in Gaza of stalling a medical evacuation convoy in Khan Younis and forcing paramedics to strip for searches before detaining them. In comments made in Geneva, Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the United Nations humanitarian office (OCHA) appealed for the release of all detained health personnel.
