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The US vice-president, Kamala Harris, will meet with Israeli struggle cupboard member Benny Gantz on Monday, a White House official advised Reuters.
Reuters provides that the assembly is ready to happen on the White House.
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Updated at 12.59 EST
Framework for Gaza ceasefire in place, relies upon now on Hamas, says US official
A framework for a deal that will set up a six-week ceasefire in Gaza is in place with Israel’s settlement and is now depending on Hamas, Reuters studies a US administration official saying on Saturday.
“The hostages should be launched,” the official advised reporters on a convention name. “The deal is mainly there. But I don’t wish to create expectations by hook or by crook.”
Reports of the potential deal come as Israeli forces have killed greater than 30,000 Palestinians since 7 October whereas leaving roughly 2 million survivors forcibly displaced throughout the Gaza Strip.
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Updated at 12.42 EST
US Central Command has launched a press release following its airdrops of humanitarian support into Gaza, the place Israel’s assaults throughout the strip have pressured roughly 2 million Palestinians to the verge of famine.
In a publish on X, US Central Command introduced that the operation was coordinated alongside the Royal Jordanian Air Force and concerned the distribution of 38,000 meals.
These airdrops are a part of a sustained effort to get extra support into Gaza, together with by increasing the movement of support via land corridors and routes.
United States Central Command and Royal Jordanian Air Force Conduct Combined Airdrops of Humanitarian Aid Into Gaza
U.S. Central Command and the Royal Jordanian Air Force performed a mixed humanitarian help airdrop into Gaza on March 2, 2024, between 3:00 and 5:00 p.m.… pic.twitter.com/yiJoQTWeZW
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) March 2, 2024
As one of many chief exporters of arms to Israel, the US has offered the nation with greater than 70,000 weapons – together with missiles and bombs – since 1950.
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Updated at 12.08 EST
Summary of the day to this point
It is has gone 6.20pm in Gaza, Tel Aviv and Beirut, and seven.50pm in Tehran. Here is a recap of the most recent developments from in the present day:
World leaders have referred to as for an investigation and a ceasefire within the Israel-Gaza struggle after at the very least 104 folks have been reported killed amongst a crowd of Palestinians gathered to obtain humanitarian support in Gaza City. There have been conflicting studies about occasions main as much as the deaths. A UN workforce that visited among the wounded in al-Shifa hospital on Friday noticed a “giant variety of gunshot wounds”, a spokesperson for the UN chief, António Guterres, stated.
The EU’s diplomatic service additionally urged a global investigation. Many of the Palestinians killed or injured within the chaos as they tried to get luggage of flour from an support convoy have been hit by Israeli military hearth, stated the European External Action Service on Saturday.
French president Emmanuel Macron stated on Friday he was angered by the photographs “coming from Gaza the place civilians have been focused by Israeli troopers”. On X, he strongly condemned the shootings and referred to as for “fact, justice, and respect for worldwide legislation”.
African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday strongly condemned “the mass killing of Palestinians queueing for humanitarian support” and urged a global probe.
US navy C-130 cargo planes on Saturday dropped meals in pallets, containing about 38,000 meals, into Gaza. US president, Joe Biden had introduced on Friday that the US would quickly begin airdropping support to Gaza, a day after dozens of determined Palestinians have been killed dashing an support convoy.
Gaza ceasefire negotiations are because of resume in Cairo on Sunday, Reuters reported citing Egyptian safety sources. Additionally, a supply near Hamas advised AFP {that a} delegation was anticipated to fly to Cairo on Saturday for talks on a truce in Gaza.
More than 200 MPs from 12 nations have dedicated themselves to making an attempt to steer their governments to impose a ban on arms gross sales to Israel, arguing they won’t be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of worldwide legislation” in its assault on Gaza.
A tenth youngster in a Gaza hospital has been registered as having died from hunger, stated the UN on Friday, warning that the “actual determine is prone to be greater”. “The official data yesterday or this morning stated there was a tenth youngster formally registered in a hospital as having starved to loss of life,” stated UN well being company spokesperson Christian Lindmeier. “A really unhappy threshold …[but] the unofficial numbers can sadly be anticipated to be greater,” he added.
At least 11 Palestinians have been killed by an Israeli airstrike on Saturday that hit a tent in Rafah, the Gaza well being ministry stated. The airstrike occurred over an space the place displaced Palestinians have been taking shelter, outdoors the Emirate hospital within the suburb of Tel Al-Sultan of southern Gaza’s Rafah. The Hamas-run well being ministry stated one other 50 folks have been injured within the strike and that one of many useless was a medic on the hospital. The Israeli navy didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark, stated Reuters.
The Israeli navy stated its forces killed eight militants in Khan Younis, about 20 militants within the central Gaza Strip and three extra in Rimal, close to Gaza City.
Biden, stated on Friday he was “hoping” for a ceasefire deal within the Israel-Hamas battle by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan however settlement was nonetheless not sealed.
Also on Friday, Biden stated the US would start airdropping humanitarian help into “Ukraine” when he meant Gaza. The president twice referred to airdrops to assist Ukraine, however White House officers clarified he was referring to Gaza.
92 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes and 156 have been injured up to now 24 hours, in response to the most recent figures from the Gaza well being ministry, which is run by Hamas. The ministry doesn’t distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.
An Israeli drone strike killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Saturday. The males have been killed when the automotive they have been in was focused on a coastal highway close to the city of Naqoura, safety sources in Lebanon advised Reuters.
In response to studies in regards to the drone strike that killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Saturday, the Israeli military stated one in every of its plane had struck a car in south Lebanon transporting “plenty of terrorists who launched rockets into Israeli territory”. It additionally stated its jets struck “Hezbollah terrorist infrastructure” within the Labbouneh space on the Israeli border on Saturday, along with two Hezbollah navy compounds hit in a single day in one other frontier space.
Hezbollah stated it carried out an assault on an Israeli navy headquarters within the village of Liman utilizing an explosive drone at 5.40am (3.40am GMT) on Saturday, reporting a direct hit.
Officials say Rubymar, a British-registered cargo ship, attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has sunk within the Red Sea after days of taking up water. It marks the primary ship sunk by the Houthis amid their months-long assaults on delivery within the important waterway.
Pro-Palestine protests occurred throughout the UK on Saturday after the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak warned that democracy was being focused by “extremists”. In an deal with to the nation on Friday, the prime minister spoke about “forces right here at residence making an attempt to tear us aside”, within the aftermath of the 7 October assaults by Hamas in opposition to Israel.
A month after Israeli allegations {that a} dozen United Nations workers have been concerned within the 7 October Hamas assault, UN investigators have but to obtain any proof from Israel to help the claims, although they anticipate some materials to be forthcoming “shortly”. The allegations in opposition to the 12 workers of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) led 16 main donors to droop contributions totalling $450m (£356m).
Polling closed in Iran’s parliamentary elections on Friday night time, with officers claiming the nationwide turnout was a report low of 40.6%. After 10 hours of voting, turnout had stood at solely 27%, and in Tehran it was simply 12% after eight hours, earlier than the polls have been unexpectedly stored open for an additional two hours.
An Iranian pop singer whose track turned an anthem throughout mass protests greater than a 12 months in the past has been sentenced to at the very least three years in jail. Shervin Hajipour, 26, wrote and printed Baraye throughout nationwide demonstrations triggered by Mahsa Amini’s loss of life in custody in September 2022.
As Israelis are referred to as as much as be a part of the struggle effort in Gaza, anger is mounting on the ultra-Orthodox group which has lengthy been spared the obligatory navy service required of most residents. Since the 7 October assault by Hamas, the query surrounding whether or not the insular group, whose members see military service as conflicting with their spiritual duties, ought to be obliged to serve has sparked debate and led to protests in opposition to their decades-long exemptions.
According to the Times of Israel, struggle cupboard minister Benny Gantz, who’s head of the National Unity celebration, is to journey to Washington on Sunday on a visit that’s believed to haven’t been coordinated with Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. Citing the Israeli information web site, Ynet, the Times of Israel stated the report had left Netanyahu “fuming”.
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Updated at 11.48 EST
Hamas workforce heads to Cairo for brand spanking new truce talks – AFP sources
A Hamas delegation was anticipated to fly to Cairo on Saturday for talks on a truce in Gaza, a supply near the group advised AFP.
Egyptian, Qatari and US go-betweens have been shuttling between Israeli and Hamas negotiators, making an attempt to safe a pause in combating earlier than the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, which begins on 10 or 11 March, relying on the lunar calendar.
Both Washington and Doha had voiced hope a ceasefire might go into impact as early as subsequent week however US president Joe Biden stated on Thursday {that a} deal would take longer after greater than 100 Palestinian civilians have been killed dashing an support convoy within the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas delegation will “meet with Egyptians overseeing the ceasefire negotiations, to observe up on the negotiation developments that goal to cease the offensive and the struggle, and to achieve a hostage trade deal,” stated the supply near Hamas, who spoke on situation of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the topic.
According to AFP, the supply stated the delegation would submit Hamas’s “official reply” to a proposal thrashed out with Israeli negotiators in Paris late final month.
A Hamas supply advised AFP earlier this week that beneath the proposal, a truce would final for six weeks, with Hamas releasing 42 hostages in trade for Palestinian prisoners.
On Thursday, the White House stated the hostage launch “would lead to an instantaneous and sustained ceasefire in Gaza over a interval of at the very least six weeks”.
The solely earlier truce within the struggle lasted for one week in late November.
In addition to halting Israel’s offensive, Hamas desires new truce phrases to make sure fast humanitarian aid for Palestinians, an Israeli withdrawal and the return of Palestinians displaced from the north, stated the supply near the group.
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Here are some photographs from the newswires displaying pro-Palestine protests in London and Dorset on Saturday.
The protests observe UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak’s warning on Friday that demonstrations and democracy itself have been being focused by extremists.
People participate in a Day of Action for Palestine protest on Saturday in London organised by the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Photograph: Samuel Montgomery/PAThe Dorset Palestine Solidarity Campaign (DPSC) marches via the city, on Saturday in Weymouth. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty ImagesA pro-Palestine demo on Saturday on Tottenham Court Road, London, calling for Barclays Bank to be boycotted. Photograph: Andy Hall/The ObserverThe DPSC march on Saturday ended at a McDonald’s retailer, because the group is collaborating in requires a global boycott of the fast-food franchise after an alleged donation by the corporate’s Israeli franchise of 100,000 meals to Israeli navy personnel. Photograph: Finnbarr Webster/Getty PicturesShare
Updated at 10.30 EST
Aseel Mousa in Gaza and Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem have written about Bilal el-Essi, a soccer mad father-of-two, who was among the many victims as Israeli troops opened hearth close to an support convoy on Thursday. You can learn the complete piece on the hyperlink beneath:
A couple of weeks earlier than his loss of life, Bilal el-Essi took a photograph of a person’s physique, sprawled beneath a girls’s bike in a Gaza City road, a toddler’s pink backpack fallen from the basket.
The man was killed looking for meals for his household, Essi advised family and friends when he shared the picture, a snapshot of the tragedy and desperation in Gaza City.
Essi knew the horrible ache of not with the ability to feed the folks you’re keen on, and it obtained sharper every single day that he couldn’t discover milk for his two ladies, five-year-old Layan and two-year-old Mila, or bread for his father.
So when he heard {that a} uncommon supply of meals support may attain northern Gaza within the early hours of Thursday, he made his approach to the seafront Al Rashid Road with two brothers, their cousin Moataz el-Essi advised the Guardian by cellphone from Germany.
Bilal, a football-mad 28-year-old who was fast with a joke, joined a whole lot of individuals huddled round small fires ready within the bitter chilly for the vans of meals.
Shukri Fleifel, a 21-year-old photographer and film-maker, was additionally within the crowd. He had watched Israeli forces open hearth on folks ready for support vans in the identical spot just some days earlier, he stated. But like everybody else in Gaza City, he was hungry.
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Reuters have an replace on the casualties from an Israeli airstrike that hit a tent in Rafah, in response to the Gaza well being ministry. Previously, it was reported that at the very least 10 Palestinians have been killed, however the well being ministry have revised the loss of life toll to 11.
The Hamas-run Gaza well being ministry stated one other 50 folks have been injured within the strike subsequent to a hospital within the Tel Al-Sultan space of Rafah. One of the useless was a medic on the hospital, it stated.
The Israeli navy didn’t instantly reply to a request by Reuters for remark.
“The strike hit one tent, the place folks took shelter, immediately, shrapnel got here contained in the hospital the place me and mates have been sitting, we survived by a miracle,” a witness advised Reuters by cellphone from the world, declining to be recognized.
The Israeli navy stated its forces killed eight militants in Khan Younis, about 20 militants within the central Gaza Strip and three extra in Rimal, close to Gaza City.
The hostilities got here amid uncertainty over whether or not negotiations on a Gaza ceasefire would resume on Sunday, say Reuters.
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The Associated Press (AP) has simply printed additional particulars on the US support airdrop in Gaza in the present day, citing data from three US officers.
According to AP, US navy C-130 cargo planes on Saturday dropped meals in pallets over Gaza. Three planes from air forces central dropped 66 bundles containing about 38,000 meals into Gaza at 8.30am EST (1.30pm GMT), in response to two of the officers, who spoke to AP on situation of anonymity earlier than a public announcement.
The airdrop is predicted to be the primary of many introduced by US president Joe Biden on Friday. The support might be coordinated with Jordan, which has additionally performed airdrops to ship meals to Gaza.
White House nationwide safety spokesperson John Kirby stated on Friday that the airdrops have been being deliberate to ship emergency humanitarian help in a secure approach to folks on the bottom.
The air power’s C-130 has been utilized in years previous to airdrop humanitarian into Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti and different areas.
You can learn extra on this story right here:
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Updated at 09.55 EST
Many of these killed or injured in Gaza stampede for support have been shot by Israel’s military, says EU
Many of the Palestinians killed or injured within the chaos as they tried to get luggage of flour from an support convoy have been hit by Israeli military hearth, the EU’s diplomatic service stated on Saturday, urging a global investigation.
Outrage is rising over the desperation of a whole lot of hundreds struggling to outlive in northern Gaza after practically 5 months of combating between Israel and Hamas.
“The duty for this incident lays on the restrictions imposed by the Israeli military and obstructions by violent extremist(s) to the availability of humanitarian support,” the European External Action Service stated, studies AP.
Roughly one in six kids beneath the age of two in northern Gaza suffers from acute malnutrition and losing, “the worst stage of kid malnutrition wherever on the earth,” Carl Skau, deputy government director of the World Food Program, stated this week. “If nothing adjustments, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza.”
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US has carried out first airdrop of support into Gaza, say officers
The US has carried out a primary airdrop of support into Gaza with three C-130 planes, two US officers advised Reuters.
It comes after US president, Joe Biden introduced the US would begin airdrops of meals and emergency provides into Gaza within the subsequent few days, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened hearth on Gazans looking for meals support.
In Julian Borger’s Guardian piece on the announcement, he wrote about how critics had dismissed the transfer as insufficient:
The use of airdrops is a spectacular however inefficient means of delivering support, and Friday’s announcement means that Biden had given up on with the ability to persuade Israel within the close to future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based aid effort beneath the specter of mass hunger throughout Gaza.
Critics steered it represented not more than a gesture, which obscured Biden’s reluctance to make use of US leverage to power Israel to be extra cooperative within the supply of humanitarian support.
“Airdrops usually are not the answer to alleviate this struggling, and distract effort and time from confirmed options to assist at scale,” the International Rescue Committee support organisation stated. “All diplomatic focus ought to be on guaranteeing Israel lifts its siege of Gaza.”
You can learn the complete piece right here:
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Updated at 11.25 EST
A 71-year-old authorized observer has accused a bunch of law enforcement officials of intentionally knocking her over and leaving her bloodied and unconscious on the bottom throughout a Gaza ceasefire protest in London.
Lesley Wertheimer – who was sporting a hi-vis bib with “authorized observer” printed on the again – crashed face down into the highway when a phalanx of about 30 law enforcement officials ran in direction of Westminster Bridge throughout the first pro-Palestine demonstration of 2024.
“No particular person ought to be charged, knocked over and harmed by the police after which should depend on strangers serving to them,” stated Wertheimer, who has been monitoring the policing of protests since 1990. “Legal observers are there to do a chunk of labor because the police are there to do a chunk of labor. The police can’t goal us. They don’t have any proper to attempt to intimidate us.”
Video footage, shared with the Observer, exhibits officers shifting down Bridge Street in direction of Westminster Bridge on 6 January. At least two male officers seem to knock into Wertheimer as they run previous, apparently inflicting her to fall face-first into the highway. None of the officers cease to verify if she is injured, though at the very least two of them look down at her mendacity inclined and immobile.
You can learn Tom Wall’s full piece right here:
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Here are among the newest photographs on the newswires in the present day:
Palestinians stand amid the rubble of a mosque that was destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir El-Balah in central Gaza on Saturday. Photograph: AFP/Getty PicturesHumanitarian support vans enter the Gaza Strip via the Kerem Shalom crossing, in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Photograph: Haitham Imad/EPAFamilies and supporters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, are pictured on Saturday, the fourth day of a protest march on the primary highway resulting in Jerusalem. Photograph: Abir Sultan/EPAMakeshift shelters destroyed in Israeli strikes in Deir El-Balah in central Gaza on Saturday. Photograph: AFP/Getty ImagesA particular person in Tel Aviv rides previous banners with pictures of a hostage kidnapped within the Hamas 7 October assault on Israel. Photograph: Carlos García Rawlins/ReutersA younger lady holds a duplicate of the Qur’an on the web site of the destroyed al-Bukhari mosque after an Israeli airstrike in Deir Al Balah, southern Gaza Strip, on Saturday. Photograph: Mohammed Saber/EPAShare
Israel but to offer proof to again UNRWA 7 October assault claims – UN
Julian Borger
A month after Israeli allegations {that a} dozen United Nations workers have been concerned within the 7 October Hamas assault, UN investigators have but to obtain any proof from Israel to help the claims, although they anticipate some materials to be forthcoming “shortly”.
The allegations in opposition to the 12 workers of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) led 16 main donors to droop contributions totalling $450m at a time when greater than 2 million Gazans are going through famine. UNRWA says it’s approaching “breaking level” and solely has ample funds to proceed functioning for the following month at most.
The UN Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) launched an investigation on 29 January within the wake of the Israeli allegations initially offered to UNRWA in January, and delivered an replace on its work to the UN secretary normal, António Guterres, on Wednesday.
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Officials say a ship attacked by Yemen’s Houthi rebels has sunk within the Red Sea after days of taking up water, studies the Associated Press (AP). It marks the primary ship sunk by the Houthis amid their months-long assaults on delivery within the important waterway.
The Belize-flagged Rubymar had been drifting northward after being struck by a Houthi anti-ship ballistic missile on 18 February within the Bab el-Mandeb strait, a vital waterway linking the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden.
The cargo vessel, Rubymar, sinking after being broken in a missile assault by the Houthis within the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen, is pictured on the 26 February 2024. Photograph: Yemeni Al-Joumhouriya TV HANDOUT/EPA
The sinking of the Rubymar comes as delivery via the essential waterway for cargo and vitality shipments shifting from Asia and the Middle East to Europe has been affected by the Houthi assaults.
The Rubymar’s Beirut-based supervisor couldn’t be reached for remark, say AP.
The US navy’s Central Command (Centcom) beforehand warned the vessel’s cargo of fertiliser, in addition to gasoline leaking from the ship, might trigger ecological harm to the Red Sea.
The sinking might see additional detours and better insurance coverage charges placed on vessels plying the waterway – probably driving up international inflation and affecting support shipments to the area.
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An Iranian pop singer whose track turned an anthem throughout mass protests greater than a 12 months in the past has been sentenced to at the very least three years in jail.
Shervin Hajipour, 26, wrote and printed Baraye throughout nationwide demonstrations triggered by Mahsa Amini’s loss of life in custody in September 2022.
Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian Kurd, had been arrested for allegedly violating the Iran’s strict gown code for girls.
On Friday, because the nation held parliamentary elections, Hajipour stated on Instagram he had been sentenced to 3 years in jail for “inciting and frightening folks to riot to disturb nationwide safety”.
He was additionally handed an eight-month sentence for “propaganda in opposition to the regime”. It was not clear when the decision was issued and it was not reported elsewhere.
You can learn the complete piece right here:
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