Live Updates: Israeli protesters repeatedly block aid convoys bound for Gaza

Monday, February 19, 2024

13:37 GMT — Israel army arrests more Palestinians in occupied West Bank raids

The Israeli army has rounded up 25 more Palestinians in military raids across the occupied West Bank, according to prisoners' affairs groups.

Most of the arrests took place in the cities of Al Halil, Ramallah, Jerusalem, Nablus and Jenin, the Commission of Detainees' Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoners Society said in a joint statement.

"The arrests were marked by acts of sabotage and destruction of citizens’ homes, in addition to severe beatings of detainees and their families, and the confiscation of money,” the statement said.

13:36 GMT — Israel's war on Gaza takes bite on its GDP

Israel's GDP has shrunk by almost one-fifth in the final quarter of 2023, compared to the three months prior, according to official figures.

The 19.4 percent fall in the final quarter was attributed to the scale of the ongoing Israel's war on Gaza affecting the economy.

Overall, Israel's GDP grew by 2.0 percent in 2023, short of the 2.3 percent projection made by the Bank of Israel after the war's outbreak in October, the Central Bureau of Statistics figures showed.

13:15 GMT - Qatar decries Israel over pressure on Hamas to free hostages

Conflict mediator Qatar has criticised comments from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in which it said he asked the Gulf state to pressure Hamas into freeing Israeli hostages, describing them as a new attempt to prolong the Gaza war.

Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said at the weekend that the pattern of negotiations for a framework ceasefire deal for Israel's war on Gaza was "not very promising" in recent days.

"The Israeli Prime Minister's recent statements in which he calls on Qatar to pressure Hamas into releasing the (Israeli) hostages are nothing but a new attempt by him to delay and prolong the war for reasons that have become clear to everyone," Qatar's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari posted in a statement on social media platform X.

12:30 GMT - Protesters burn Israeli flag in front of ICJ

A group of protesters burned an Israeli flag in front of the International Criminal Court (ICJ) as public hearings on Israeli practices in Palestine began.

One of the protesters is seen in an Anadolu footage to have taken down the flag from a car window as the vehicle drove by the protesters. The flag was burned by protesters later on.

The public hearings started following the UN General Assembly's request for an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

11:50 GMT - Fight during Ramadan to continue unless Hamas frees hostages: Israel

Deadly fighting has raged on in Gaza after Israel warned that, unless Hamas frees all hostages, it will push on with its offensive during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, including in the far-southern Rafah area.

Global concern has mounted over the fate of around 1.5 million Palestinians who have been forced into Rafah near the Egyptian border, enduring bombardment and dire food shortages as they live in crowded makeshift shelters and tents.

10:40 GMT - EU warns Israel against 'catastrophic' Rafah offensive

The European Union has warned Israel against launching an offensive in Rafah that ministers said would create a disaster for the roughly 1.5M refugees crammed into the city on the southern edge of Gaza.

"An attack on Rafah would be absolutely catastrophic, it would be unconscionable," Ireland's Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said before a meeting with foreign ministers from the 27 EU member states in Brussels.

"Over 1.5M people are crowded into a very small corner of Gaza. They're weary, they are exhausted, they have nowhere else to go - how can anyone contemplate adding to that trauma?" he said.

09:55 GMT - Houthi attack 'severely damages' ship in key strait leading to Red Sea

A missile attack by Yemen's Houthis that damaged a Belize-flagged ship travelling through the Bab el Mandeb Strait that connects the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden has forced the crew to abandon the ship, authorities have said.

Another ship reportedly came under attack as well in the Gulf of Aden.

The Houthis also claimed they shot down an American MQ-9 Reaper drone, something not immediately acknowledged by US forces in the region.

09:00 GMT - Palestinian death toll in Gaza hits 29,000: ministry

Israel has killed at least 29,092 Palestinians and wounded 69,028 others in its war on Gaza, the Palestinian health ministry in the besieged enclave said.

Moreover, a total of 107 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes in the last 24 hours alone, the ministry said in a statement.

08:15 GMT - Israeli army says another soldier killed in Gaza

Another Israeli soldier was killed in military clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters in Gaza, according to the country's army.

Sgt Simon Shlomov, 20, from the 202nd Paratroopers Brigade, died in clashes in the south of Gaza, the Israeli army said in a statement without providing further details.

With the latest death, the number of soldiers killed since October 7 has increased to 574, including 236 who have died since the start of the ground offensive on October 27.

07:19 GMT - Israeli army closes four roads near Lebanese border: Media

The Israeli army said it closed four roads to traffic near the Lebanese border on, according to Israeli media.

The decision was made after an assessment by the army of the situation in the region, leading to the closure of four roads until further notice, Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported.

This move comes amid heightened tensions along the border between Lebanon and Israel amid intermittent exchanges of fire between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, in the deadliest clashes since the two sides fought a full-scale war in 2006

06:13 GMT - Palestine to open ICJ hearings on Israeli occupation

The state of Palestine will be the first of 52 countries to speak as the International Court of Justice (ICJ) begins six days of hearings.

“We want to hear new words from the court,” said Omar Awadallah, the head of the UN organizations department in the Palestinian Foreign Ministry, ahead of the case.

“They’ve had to consider the word genocide in the South Africa case,” he said, referring to the separate case before the court. “Now we want them to consider apartheid.”

05:46 GMT - Israel's plan to restrict Palestinians' entry to Al Aqsa during 'is a crime': Hamas

Israel's plan to restrict Palestinians' entry to Al Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan is a reflection of the Zionist crimes and religious war waged by radical elements of the Israeli government against the Palestinian people,” Hamas said.

The Palestinian resistance group in a statement criticised Benjamin Netanyahu's announcement of his intention to limit Palestinians' access to Islam’s third holiest site during the fasting month.

It criticized Netanyahu's approval of Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's call to ban Palestinians from entering Al Aqsa during Ramadan, saying it is a "violation of the freedom of worship” in the holy mosque.

05:12 GMT - Israel sets Ramadan deadline for Rafah ground offensive

Israel will launch its long-threatened offensive against Rafah next month if Hamas has not freed the remaining hostages held in Gaza by the start of Ramadan, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said.

"The world must know, and Hamas leaders must know — if by Ramadan our hostages are not home, the fighting will continue everywhere, including the Rafah area," Gantz, a retired military chief of staff, told a conference of American Jewish leaders in Jerusalem Sunday.

Speaking at the same Jerusalem conference on Sunday, Netanyahu renewed his vow "to finish the job to get total victory" over Hamas, with or without a hostage deal.

04:25 GMT - Israel insists on attacking Gaza to 'impose displacement'

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said that Israel insists on continuing its attacks on Gaza to "impose displacement," especially on the city of Rafah.

"The Israeli government and its army are continuing their attacks on various cities in Gaza, especially Rafah, with the aim of forcibly displacing citizens. We will not accept this, and neither will our brothers, nor the world," he said in a meeting of the Palestinian government held in Ramallah, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA.

He emphasised that the situation in Rafah has become "extremely dangerous and difficult," requiring the Palestinian government to act swiftly.

03:53 GMT - WHO helps evacuate 14 patients from Gaza's besieged Nasser Hospital

The World Health Organization (WHO) helped evacuate 14 patients from Nasser Hospital in the city of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, which is under siege by Israeli forces, Gaza’s Health Ministry said.

The patients, including five on dialysis and three in intensive care, were transported to hospitals in the south as a result of the WHO’s efforts, the ministry said in a statement.

It said pressure was being maintained on Israel to evacuate all patients from the hospital, which it has converted into a military barracks after cutting off its electricity and preventing oxygen devices from operating.

03:20 GMT - UN agency says there is not enough food in Gaza

The Israeli army’s expansion of its operation in the city of Rafah “risks cutting the lifeline of assistance into Gaza, causing further suffering,” the UN agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said.

The agency issued the statement on its X account. UNRWA added that “there is not enough food in Gaza.”

“In the Nuseirat (refugee) camp in the middle Gaza, UNRWA and World Central Kitchen provide hot meals to 1,700 people displaced in & around this shelter,” the agency noted.

02:42 GMT - UN vetoes Security Council resolution demanding ceasefire

The UN Security Council is expected to vote Tuesday on an Arab-backed resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, which the United States announced it will veto.

Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, put the draft resolution in a final form that can be voted on. Council diplomats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorised to speak publicly, said the vote will take place Tuesday morning.

In addition to a ceasefire, the final Algerian draft, obtained by The Associated Press, reiterates council demands that Israel and Hamas “scrupulously comply” with international law especially the protection of civilians, and rejects the forced displacement of Palestinian civilians.

For our live updates from Sunday, February 18, click here.