Live Updates: No breakthrough so far in Gaza ceasefire talks — Qatar

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

13?00 GMT –– Qatar said that there is no breakthrough in talks for a ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel in Gaza.

"So far, the negotiations have not yielded any tangible results," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told a press conference in Doha.

"We are upbeat and optimistic to have something today or tomorrow," he added.

The Qatari spokesperson said his country seeks to reach a ceasefire in Gaza during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, due to start next week. "The situation on the ground, however, is completely different as there are many obstacles," he added, without providing any further details.

Al Ansari said that humanitarian aid flow into Gaza was decreasing, calling for action from the international community to allow access to aid supplies into the Palestinian enclave.

12:31 GMT –– Gaza aid must be doubled to stem crisis: Jordan

Jordan's King Abdullah has said that humanitarian aid to Gaza must be doubled to prevent a deterioration in a hunger crisis affecting over two million people.

The monarch was quoted by state media as telling visiting USAID chief Samantha Power that the international community had to put more pressure on Israel to ease restrictions on the flow of food into the territory.

Jordan is urging its Western allies to lobby Israel to boost the quantities of aid coming from the kingdom via Kerem Shalom on the border of Egypt, Israel and Gaza, beyond the existing Rafah crossing, officials say.

12:29 GMT — Houthis demand Gaza war end for ceasefire in Red Sea attacks

Yemen's Houthi spokesperson has said that the group's operations in the Red Sea, where its missiles and drones have been threatening international shipping, will only stop when Israeli "aggression" on Gaza ends and the siege is lifted.

Asked if the attacks on ships would seize if a ceasefire deal was reached for Gaza, Mohammed Abdulsalam said the situation would be reassessed if the siege ended and humanitarian aid was free to enter.

12:00 GMT — Israel detains 15 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank

The Israeli army on Tuesday detained at least 15 Palestinians from areas across the occupied West Bank, including the arrest of former detainees.

According to a joint statement by the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority and the Palestinian Prisoner Society, the new arrests brought the total number of Palestinians detained by the Israeli forces since Oct. 7, 2023 to 7,270.

11:20 GMT — Israel troops kill three Palestinians in occupied West Bank raid

Israeli troops have killed three Palestinians in an overnight raid in a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian health ministry has said.

The ministry added the three men were killed "by Israeli occupation bullets" during clashes in the Faraa refugee camp near the town of Tubas in the northern occupied West Bank.

10:15 GMT — Japan to provide $32M additional aid to Gaza

Japan has announced an additional emergency aid of $32 million to the suffering Palestinians, stressing that the humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave of Gaza was "dire" and "cannot be overlooked."

"Japan will implement humanitarian assistance in areas such as food and health," said the Japanese Foreign Ministry.

Tokyo will continue to make "persistent and proactive diplomatic efforts to urge all parties to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza and calm down the situation as soon as possible," it said.

09:24 GMT — Palestinian death toll reaches 29,878 in Israel's Gaza war

The health ministry in Gaza has said that at least 29,878 people have been killed in the Palestinian territory during Israel's war.

The toll includes at least 96 deaths in the past 24 hours, while 70,215 people have been wounded since the attacks began on October 7, a ministry statement said.

08:53 GMT — Hamas urges European countries to prevent Israeli offensive on Rafah

Hamas has urged the European countries to take measures that prevent the looming Israeli offensive on Rafah, southern Gaza, where about 1.4 million people are taking shelter.

Hamas said that it welcomes statements from European countries but added: "They do not absolve them of their responsibilities in preventing the criminal attack on Rafah especially as those (European) governments continue to supply weapons" to Israel.

Hamas statement urged European countries and the EU "to take practical and serious positions to prevent the Nazi entity from continuing its criminal war against our people."

08:19 GMT — Hezbollah fires new rocket salvo at Israeli base

Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah has said it launched a salvo of rockets at an Israeli air control base in retaliation for deadly Israeli strikes on east Lebanon.

Hamas ally Hezbollah has exchanged near-daily fire with the Israeli army since the Gaza war erupted in October, but strikes have been largely restricted to the border area.

Hezbollah said it targeted the "Meron air control base... with a large salvo of rockets from several launchers".

07:41 GMT — Israel may halt Gaza war for Ramadan with hostage deal — US

President Joe Biden has said Israel would be willing to halt its war on Gaza during the upcoming Muslim fasting month of Ramadan if a deal is reached to release some of the hostages held by Hamas.

Negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar are working on a framework deal under which Hamas would free some of the dozens of hostages it holds, in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a six-week halt in fighting.

During the temporary pause, negotiations would continue over the release of the remaining hostages.

07:05 GMT — Indonesia slams UNHRC for ignoring 'double standard' in Gaza

People in the Palestinian besieged enclave of Gaza continue to suffer “because of the double standard, especially in the context of human rights,” the Indonesian foreign minister has told the UN Human Rights Council.

“Human Rights Council should do what it should: to address the gross violation of human rights, including in Gaza,” said Retno Marsudi, addressing the council in Geneva.

Marsudi pointed out that UN Human Rights Commissioner Volker Turk "did not" refer to the situation in Gaza in his opening remarks when the session opened.

06:45 GMT — Hamas studies Paris 40-day truce negotiations with Israel

Palestinian resistance group Hamas has received a draft proposal from Gaza truce talks in Paris which includes 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 senior source close to the talks told Reuters.

Under the proposed ceasefire, hospitals and bakeries in Gaza would be repaired, 500 aid trucks would enter into the enclave each day and thousands of tents and caravans would be delivered to house the displaced, the source said.

The draft also states Hamas would free 40 Israeli hostages including women, children under 19, elderly over 50 and the sick, while Israeli would release around 400 Palestinian prisoners and will not re-arrest them, the source told Reuters.

06:12 GMT — Israel holds municipal elections delayed by Gaza war

Israelis vote in twice-postponed municipal elections that could offer a gauge of the public mood nearly five months into the war in Gaza.

Soldiers had already turned out over the past week at special polling stations set up in army encampments in Gaza as fighting rages on.

More than seven million people are eligible to cast ballots in the local elections, held across most of Israel, in illegal Jewish settlements in the occupied West Bank, occupied East Jerusalem and parts of the annexed Golan Heights.

05:48 GMT — US strikes unmanned vessels, anti-ship missiles in Yemen

US forces have struck three unmanned vessels and two cruise missiles inside Yemen and an attack drone over the Red Sea that posed an "imminent threat" to ships in the area, the military said.

Yemen's Houthis have been targeting shipping for months and their attacks have persisted despite repeated US and British strikes aimed at degrading their ability to threaten a vital global trade route.

05:32 GMT — Israel kills 3 Palestinians in West Bank as Gaza war grinds on

Israeli troops have killed three Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian news agency WAFA reported.

The men were killed in incursions on the city of Tubas and the nearby Al-Far’a camp in the occupied West Bank, it said.

At least 400 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers and illegal Jewish settlers since October 7.

05:21 GMT — Severe food insecurity looming in Gaza: Red Cross chief

The head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has expressed concern over food security in besieged Gaza.

"A severe food insecurity is looming in Gaza. The risk of hunger is increasing daily, as about 80 percent of the population already faces emergency or catastrophic acute food insecurity conditions," said Jagan Chapagain on X, formerly known as Twitter.

More than a million children and elderly people in shelter centres suffer from the risk of dehydration, digestive and respiratory diseases, skin diseases and anaemia, according to Palestine Red Crescent reports, he added.

04:50 GMT — Biden says Gaza truce imminent while Israel plans Rafah invasion

US President Joe Biden has said he hoped a ceasefire in besieged Gaza could start by the beginning of next week.

Visiting New York, Biden was asked when a ceasefire in the blockaded Palestinian enclave might start, and answered, "My national security advisor tells me that we're close, we're close, we're not done yet. My hope is by next Monday we'll have a ceasefire."

04:20 GMT — Situation in Palestine has 'indisputably' worsened: Spain

The situation in Palestine has "indisputably" worsened over the past 20 years, and resolutions "have failed to establish redress and sanction measures," Spain's delegation to the International Court of Justice [ICJ] said.

Santiago Ripol Carulla, head of the International Legal Office at the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, presented Spain's oral statements in advisory proceedings on the legal consequences of Israel's policies and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, citing the worsening situation across the territories.

"Once again, 20 years after the Advisory Opinion on the Wall was passed, it is an indisputable reality that the situation in Palestine has worsened," he said, noting that resolutions of the UN Security Council and the General Assembly have repeatedly condemned Israel's actions and demanded the cessation of the violations of international law.

03:37 GMT — US hails Palestinian Authority's plan for reform after PM's resignation

The US State Department has welcomed the Palestinian Authority's intention to form a unity government after Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh and his government resigned.

"With respect to both the resignation and a future government, ultimately, the leadership of the Palestinian Authority is a question for the Palestinians themselves to decide," spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters during a press briefing.

"But we do welcome steps for the PA to reform and revitalise itself," said Miller, referring to the initials of the Palestinian Authority.

For our live updates from Monday, February 26, click here.