Live Updates: Palestine slams 'reckless' US veto of UN's Gaza ceasefire call

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

18:56 GMT — US vetoes UNSC's resolution on Gaza ceasefire for third time

The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations Riyad Mansour has called Washington's veto of a Security Council push for a ceasefire "absolutely reckless and dangerous".

"The message given today to Israel with this veto is that it can continue to get away with murder," Mansour said in an emotional statement to the Security Council.

16:53 GMT — Yemen's Houthis target Israeli and US ships in Red Sea

Yemen's Houthis have said in a statement that the group targeted an Israeli cargo ship "MSC Silver" in the Gulf of Aden with a number of missiles.

Houthi military spokesman Yahya Sarea added the group used drones to target a number of US warships in the Red Sea and Arabian Sea as well as sites in Eilat in southern Israel.

16:38 GMT — Famine unfolding in Gaza amid Israeli war: media office

A massive famine is unfolding in Gaza amid a deadly Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave, the government media office has said.

"Famine is worsening day by day in Gaza, where nearly 2.4 million people live," the media office said in a statement.

It said more than 700,000 Palestinians are facing starvation in northern Gaza, where the Israeli army conducted a deadly ground offensive.

15:46 GMT — Jordan calls for resuming funding for UN Palestinian refugee agency

Jordan has called on countries that suspended funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to reverse their decision.

"No organization can do what UNRWA does in assisting more than two million Palestinians facing famine in Gaza," Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said during a joint press conference with his Slovenian counterpart Tanja Fajon in Ljubljana.

15:36 GMT — The United States has again vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, even as President Joe Biden faced mounting pressure to dial back support for Israel.

It is the third US veto since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza.

"Proceeding with a vote today was wishful and irresponsible... we cannot support a resolution that would put sensitive negotiations in jeopardy," said Washington's ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield while advocating an alternate resolution drafted by the US.

14:23 GMT — UK's Labour calls for immediate Gaza ceasefire

Britain's opposition Labour Party has called for an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, a change of policy that seeks to avoid another parliamentary rebellion over an issue that has caused deep internal divisions.

Lawmakers will vote on Wednesday on an opposition Scottish National Party motion calling for an immediate ceasefire. That threatened to reprise a row in Labour after nearly a third of its lawmakers defied the leadership last year to back calls for a ceasefire.

14:10 GMT — Israeli forces bomb hospital in Gaza’s Khan Younis

Israeli forces shelled the third floor of al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis city in southern Gaza, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society has said.

The aid organisation said two rooms were burnt in the Israeli attack, while the facility’s water pipelines were targeted.

There was no comment yet from the Israeli army on the report.

14:08 GMT — Palestinian minister says 'humanitarian catastrophe' unfolding in Gaza

Palestinian Social Development Minister Ahmed Mecdelani has called the situation unfolding in Gaza a "humanitarian catastrophe," calling for an immediate ceasefire.

Speaking to Anadolu, Mecdelani detailed the extent of the devastation, with over 1.8M Palestinians displaced and more than 300,000 homes destroyed.

Those dead, wounded and missing exceed 110,000, 70 percent of whom are women and children, he said.

13:22 GMT — UN food agency suspends aid to north Gaza after gunfire, looting

The UN's food agency has said it has suspended aid deliveries to northern Gaza despite widespread hunger, after a convoy of trucks faced gunfire and looting.

The World Food Programme (WFP) resumed deliveries on Sunday after a three-week halt but its convoy "faced complete chaos and violence due to the collapse of civil order", it said.

Twenty weeks into Israel's war in Gaza, UN agencies have warned that food and safe water are very scarce and WFP said its teams had reported "unprecedented levels of desperation".

12:45 GMT — Gaza health crisis could kill 8,000 more by August even if fighting stops: report

Even if the fighting in Gaza stopped now, about 8,000 more people could still die there over the next six months due to the public health crisis caused by Israel's war on Gaza, according to a report by independent researchers in the US and Britain.

In a worst-case scenario, where the fighting escalates and there are significant disease outbreaks, roughly 85,570 people may die by early August, with 68,650 deaths related to traumatic injuries, the report said.

The figures come from a report by academics at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health in the United States.

12:42 GMT — US envoy to visit Egypt, Israel for hostage talks

US Middle East envoy Brett McGurk will travel to the region this week for continued talks on securing the release of hostages held in Gaza, a senior Biden administration official has said.

McGurk, who participated in earlier negotiations, will visit Egypt on Wednesday and Israel on Thursday, the official said.

The meetings are the latest in ongoing talks between the United States, Egypt, Israel and Qatar that seek to broker a pause in the war and the release of more than 100 hostages.

12:40 GMT — Palestinian leader rejects Israeli restrictions on Al-Aqsa Mosque

Prominent Palestinian leader Sheikh Raed Salah has rejected Israeli restrictions on the entry of Palestinian worshippers into the flashpoint Al Aqsa Mosque during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.

"Our bond with Al Aqsa Mosque is sacred," Salah, said in a recorded message.

"We have the eternal and legitimate right to enter Al Aqsa Mosque," he said. "No one on earth has the right to decide who can enter the site."

12:33 GMT — WHO transfers critical patients out of besieged Gaza hospital

The World Health Organization has said it had transferred 32 patients out of the besieged Nasser Hospital in southern Gaza but feared for the patients and medics still inside.

WHO staff said conditions around the hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis were "indescribable".

Israeli troops entered the Nasser hospital on Thursday, following days of fighting around the complex.

After being denied access on Friday and Saturday, the WHO said it led two life-saving missions to transfer 32 critical patients, including two children, from Nasser Medical Complex.

12:19 GMT — Talks over Gaza ceasefire, hostage swap ongoing: Qatar

Qatar has said that negotiations for a Gaza ceasefire and hostage swap between Hamas and Israel are ongoing.

"Qatar continues its role and efforts and communications are still ongoing between all parties," Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari told reporters.

He said the humanitarian conditions are taking a central stage in the ongoing talks for a hostage-prisoner swap deal between Hamas and Israel.

12:11 GMT — Saudi Arabia demands end to Israel’s occupation of Palestinian lands

Saudi Arabia has called for ending the decades-long Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands, deeming it "illegal."

"Israel’s actions indicate that it has no intention of making peace," Saudi Ambassador Ziad Al Atiyah told a hearing at The Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ).

He said Israel has made it impossible to establish a Palestinian state by annexing more than two billion square metres of land and building more than 279 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.

11:19 GMT — Israeli settlers' groups stepping up attacks to ignite conflict: Palestine

Illegal Israeli settlers' groups in the occupied West Bank are intensifying their attacks against Palestinians to ignite a broader conflict, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry said.

"Settler attacks under the protection of the (Israeli) occupation are an official policy to undermine the opportunity for a two-state solution," said a ministry statement late Monday on attacks on the village of Burqa, northwest of the city of Nablus.

"What the world saw yesterday of the settlers' attacks on Burqa and on other areas across the West Bank is clear evidence that these attacks are an Israeli official policy that falls under the crimes of gradually annexing the West Bank (to Israeli sovereignty)," the statement added.

The Israeli settlers' attacks are more proof that the sanctions imposed on some settlers are insufficient and should include the heads of other extremist settler groups, it said.

10:50 GMT — Hamas chief arrives in Cairo for talks on Israel's war on Gaza

Hamas said its chief, Ismail Haniya, arrived in Cairo to hold talks on the ongoing Israeli onslaught on Gaza.

In a statement, the Palestinian resistance group said Haniya and his delegation are scheduled to hold talks with Egyptian officials on the political and on-field situation in Gaza.

The talks will also follow efforts to stop the Israeli aggression in Gaza, it added.

Haniya's visit to Cairo comes as Qatari and Egyptian efforts continue with the aim of reaching a prisoner swap deal and a ceasefire in Gaza.

Hamas has repeatedly stated its pre-conditions for a prisoner swap deal are a complete ceasefire, Israeli army withdrawal from the besieged Gaza and rebuilding Gaza.

10:40 GMT — Israel to bar some Muslim citizens from East Jerusalem mosque in Ramadan

Israel will cap the number of Muslim citizens who take part in peak prayers at East Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque during the upcoming Ramadan holy month, the police minister said.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said his bid to bar most Muslim citizens from Friday prayers during Ramadan was overruled by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Still, he said a cap of 40,000 to 50,000 would be imposed, having successfully argued against officials who wanted 120,00 to 150,000 admitted.

The measure drew condemnation from Arab leaders, including opposition lawmaker Ahmad Tibi, who said the far-right Ben-Gvir is an "arsonist, but who has above him someone who is responsible and is handing him a jerrycan of petrol."

10:33 GMT — Death toll in Gaza from Israeli attacks climbs to 29,195

The death toll from Israel's war on Gaza has jumped to 29,195 since October 7, the Palestinian Health Ministry said.

The Health Ministry made the statement as the Israeli onslaught enters its 137th day.

Another 69,170 people have been injured so far.

In the past 24 hours, the Israeli army atrocities across Gaza left 103 people dead and 142 others injured. "Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads, and rescuers can’t reach them," it added.

10:00 GMT — Israel detains 20 more Palestinians in occupied West Bank

The Israeli army detained 20 more Palestinians from areas across the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

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 October 7 to nearly 7,120.

The arrests mainly concentrated in the cities of Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, Ramallah, Jericho and East Jerusalem.

During the Israeli arrest campaigns, the Israeli forces beat and abused Palestinians and damaged their homes and properties, the statement also said.

06:54 GMT — Israel's actions in Gaza 'textbook case of genocide': Canadian activist

Israel's assault on Gaza is "a textbook case of genocide," according to a Canadian activist.

Karen Devito evaluated Israel's attacks in the besieged enclave in an interview with Anadolu.

"As a scholar of genocide, I have to say that many people use this word in a way that is not right. However, this is a textbook case. If you look at the definition, genocide has a legal definition. It's not a dictionary definition. It has many conditions. And most of them are being carried out by Israel. So I feel confident to say it's a textbook case of genocide."

06:03 GMT — Israel hits Gaza with new air strikes ahead of UN truce vote

Israel has hit Gaza with new air strikes as world powers grappled with how to broker a ceasefire ahead of a UN Security Council vote.

The United Nations sounded the alarm over the humanitarian situation in the besieged territory, warning that food shortages could lead to an "explosion" of preventable child deaths.

Four months of Israel's relentless war has flattened much of the Palestinian territory, pushed 2.2 million people to the brink of famine and displaced three-quarters of the population, according to UN estimates.

05:50 GMT Palestine urges ICJ to declare Israeli occupation illegal as hearing begins

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al Maliki has told the UN's top court his people were suffering "colonialism and apartheid" under the Israelis, urging judges to order an immediate and unconditional end to the occupation.

"The Palestinians have endured colonialism and apartheid... There are those who are enraged by these words. They should be enraged by the reality we are suffering," Al Maliki told the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday.

Speaking in the Peace Palace in The Hague, where the ICJ sits, the minister urged judges to declare the occupation illegal and order it to stop "immediately, totally and unconditionally."

The ICJ is holding hearings all week on the legal implications of Israel's occupation since 1967, with an unprecedented 52 countries, including the United States and Russia, expected to give evidence.

02:45 GMT - Israel systematically uses quadcopter drones to kill Palestinians: Euro-Med

Israel is employing small drones, known as quadcopters, to directly target and attack Palestinians with the intention of killing and injuring civilians, according to Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, a non-profit organisation.

The organisation disclosed its findings on its website on February 19, asserting that the Israeli army has escalated its utilisation of electronically controlled quadcopters — previously limited to intelligence operations — for the purpose of harming Palestinians.

According to investigations conducted by Euro-Med, Israel "primarily targets unarmed civilians in shelter centres, hospitals, streets, and densely populated residential areas."