Live Updates: China supports 'full' UN membership of Palestinian state

Thursday, March 7, 2024

07:00 GMT — Beijing supports "full" United Nations membership of a Palestinian state, China's top diplomat has said, adding "The long-cherished wish of the Palestinian people to establish an independent country can no longer be evaded."

"We support Palestine becoming a formal member of the United Nations," Foreign Minister Wang Yi told journalists at a press conference.

"The catastrophe in Gaza once again reminded the world that the fact that the Palestinian territories have been occupied for a long time can no longer be ignored," Wang said.

06:33 GMT — Israeli army says 1 soldier killed, 13 injured in Gaza battles

An Israeli soldier was killed and 13 others were injured, including six seriously, in battles in southern Gaza, the army said.

"David Sasson, 21, a soldier in the Oketz unit (which relies on dogs in many of its activities), fell in a battle in the southern Gaza Strip," it said. It added that "three soldiers from a commando unit and two from the Oketz unit were seriously injured (in the same battle)."

Additionally, seven other soldiers were injured in the same battle, according to the statement. Another soldier from the commando unit was seriously injured in a separate battle in southern Gaza.

06:17 GMT — US authorised more than 100 weapons sales to Israel, including thousands of bombs: report

The US has quietly approved more than 100 weapons sales to Israel since the start of its war on Gaza last October, including thousands of bombs, as per a new report.

The Washington Post, citing US officials and lawmakers, reported that administration officials told members of Congress in a classified briefing that the sales involved "thousands of precision-guided munitions, small diameter bombs, bunker busters, small arms and other lethal aid."

It reported that some of the weapons transfers were processed without public debate "because each fell under a specific dollar amount that requires the executive branch to individually notify Congress."

06:10 GMT — Israel kills 15 Palestinians in central Gaza strikes

Israel has killed at least 15 Palestinians in three air strikes that hit buildings in central Gaza.

The bodies were taken to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, where an Associated Press journalist counted the bodies as they arrived.

People were reported to be still trapped under the rubble.

05:19 GMT — UN to test Israeli military road to break Israeli aid blockade to Gaza's north

The United Nations will assess how it can use an Israeli military road near the fence with Gaza to deliver aid to hundreds of thousands of desperate civilians starved by Israel in the north of the Palestinian enclave, a senior UN aid official said.

The UN has warned that at least 576,000 people in Gaza – one-quarter of the population – are on the brink of deliberate starvation due to Tel Aviv's 153-days-long obscuring of the most needed aid deliveries to the brutally besieged enclave.

Jamie McGoldrick, UN aid coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, said the UN had been pushing Israel for weeks to use the Gaza fence road and had received much more cooperation from Israel in the past week.

05:15 GMT — Three fatalities reported in Houthi attack on ship in Gulf of Aden

The multinational crew of a merchant ship that was hit by a Houthi-launched ballistic missile in the Gulf of Aden reported three fatalities and at least four injuries, the US military has said.

The US Central Command also said in a statement the missile hit caused "significant damage" to the ship.

05:10 GMT — Gaza aid due to sail soon from Cyprus: Reuters

Humanitarian aid for besieged Gaza is expected to sail from Cyprus in coming days, a source familiar with the matter told the Reuters news agency.

It was not immediately clear which country was supplying the aid, where it would land or how it would be distributed. Ironically, Cyprus is being used by Britain to supply Israel with weapons for use in Gaza, monitors and media reports claim.

The source said aid was being coordinated with the United Arab Emirates.

For our live updates from Wednesday, March 6, click here.