Pallets with 50% more supplies than first boat, Open Arms, being loaded in Cyprus
The charity sending food aid to Gaza on a ship travelling across the Mediterranean from Cyprus is loading a second boat with supplies, which it hopes will set off in the coming days.
Pallets containing 300 tonnes of food aid – 50% more than the first shipment – are expected to be screened and loaded by the end of Thursday, but there is no indication yet when it will leave the port of Larnaca.
Continue reading...Senate majority leader’s scathing speech draws criticism from Mitch McConnell and Mike Johnson as well as Israel’s ambassador to the US
Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader, has called for Israel to hold new elections, arguing that prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government “no longer fits the needs of Israel”.
Schumer, long a strong supporter of Israel and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the US, strongly criticized the Israeli leader in a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor.
If prime minister Netanyahu’s current coalition remains in power after the war begins to wind down, and continues to pursue dangerous and inflammatory policies that test existing US standards for assistance, then the United States will have no choice but to play a more active role in shaping Israeli policy by using our leverage to change the present course.
As a democracy, Israel has the right to choose its own leaders, and we should let the chips fall where they may. But the important thing is that Israelis are given a choice.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed. You can read the latest news and reaction to Schumer’s speech in our US politics blog:
Lebanon’s National News Agency reports Israeli planes have overflown Jezzine in southern Lebanon. There are unconfirmed images circulating social media appearing to show airstrikes have been carried out. Israel and anti-Israeli forces in Lebanon have repeatedly exchanged fire since 7 October.
The aid ship from Cyprus expected to arrive on Gaza’s shores is only “a drop in the ocean” of what is needed to address the acute crisis in the territory, the International Rescue Committee’s lead on the crisis said late yesterday.
Continue reading...Senate majority leader says Israeli prime minister has ‘lost his way’ and warns that country risks becoming ‘a pariah’
Chuck Schumer, the US Senate leader and a top ally of Joe Biden, on Thursday broke with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over his handling of the invasion of Gaza and called for Israel to hold new elections, in comments that upset its ruling party and allies on Capitol Hill.
The shift by Schumer, the Democratic Senate majority leader and the highest-ranking Jewish official in the United States, came as he continued to press lawmakers to pass a military assistance package for Israel, Ukraine and Taiwan, the countries Biden has named as America’s top national security priorities.
Continue reading...Ro Khanna, Biden campaign surrogate, believes US president should take tougher line with ‘insufferably arrogant’ Israeli PM
Joe Biden has committed a “strategic mistake” by “bear-hugging” the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as he prosecutes war with Hamas, a leading congressional progressive Democrat and Biden campaign surrogate said.
“The bear-hugging of Netanyahu has been a strategic mistake,” Ro Khanna said, accusing the Israeli leader of conducting “a callous war” in Gaza, in defiance of the United States.
Continue reading...Analysis shows how jets and tanks are being kept fueled despite interim ICJ ruling warning Israel to prevent genocidal acts
Israeli jets and tanks bombarding Palestinians are being fueled by some of the world’s most profitable fossil fuel companies – and US tax-payers, according to research.
Israel relies on crude oil and refined products from overseas to run its large fleet of fighter jets, tanks and other military vehicles.
Continue reading...Child suffered fatal gunshot wound after riots broke out at Shuafat refugee camp during Ramadan
A Palestinian boy has died after being shot by Israeli border police at a refugee camp in East Jerusalem in the first such fatality in the Israeli-annexed territory during Ramadan.
The child – who was variously reported as being 12 or 13 years old – suffered a fatal gunshot wound during clashes between residents of the Shuafat refugee camp and police.
Continue reading...Itay Chen, 19, was serving in the IDF when militants attacked his base and killed him, and then took his body to Gaza
Joe Biden has said he was devastated to learn that a dual US-Israeli citizen thought kidnapped and held in Gaza had actually been killed during Hamas’s 7 October attack.
Itay Chen, 19, was about one year into his military service in the Israeli Armoured Corps when his base near the Gaza border was attacked.
Continue reading...US, UK and Australia and others will decide on Unrwa support only after seeing reports on Israeli claims, says Foreign Office minister
Countries including the US, UK, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Australia will not take a decision on ending the suspension of funding to the Palestinian relief works agency Unrwa until they have seen two interim reports on the organisation, the UK Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell has said.
Mitchell’s remarks put back a decision on the funding for weeks, and runs counter to the decision by Sweden, Canada and the EU to resume funding the agency.
Continue reading...All parties ‘continuing to work in negotiations’, says Qatar; US president says he has heavy heart after learning of death of Itay Chen. This live blog is closed
A spokesperson for Yemen’s internationally recognised government told Reuters earlier that airstrikes that hit port cities and small towns in western Yemen were carried out by the UK and the US.
The UK’s Ministry of Defence has said that earlier reports that Britain was involved in carrying out the airstrikes were incorrect.
Continue reading...Charity ship seen sailing out of Larnaca towing barge containing 200 tonnes of flour, rice and protein
An aid ship that has been docked in Cyprus for close to a month has finally set sail for Gaza, taking almost 200 tonnes of aid in a pilot project to open a new sea route for aid to a population on the brink of famine.
A video showed the Open Arms boat departing the Mediterranean island’s southern port of Larnaca at an unknown time early on Tuesday. Government officials in Cyprus had said the exact timing of the vessel’s departure would not be released for security reasons.
Continue reading...Exclusive: 12 prominent organisations sign open letter criticising lack of humanitarian access
Twelve of Israel’s most prominent human rights organisations have signed an open letter accusing the country of failing to comply with the international court of justice’s (ICJ) provisional ruling that it should facilitate access of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
The court in The Hague made a number of legal requirements of Israel when it issued a provisional ruling in late January in response to South Africa’s complaint accusing the state of committing genocide in its military campaign in Gaza.
Continue reading...Former Labor foreign minister says $6m in emergency funding should be released immediately as Canada and Sweden have done
Labor’s longest serving foreign minister, Gareth Evans, has urged the Australian government to “get off the fence” and immediately reinstate funding to a key UN agency to help avert mass starvation in Gaza.
The Labor government is edging closer to unfreezing $6m in emergency funding for UNRWA after similar moves by Canada and Sweden, possibly within days, but it is understood a decision has yet to be made.
Continue reading...Calls for closer collaboration made after multiple Houthi drone strikes on ships in Red Sea over weekend
Western efforts to stop Houthi attacks on shipping in the Red Sea will fail unless the US and its allies build stronger intelligence and military relations with the UN-recognised government in Yemen, politicians and experts are warning.
Yemen’s ambassador to the UK has warned the Houthis have to be confronted and driven away from Red Sea ports such as Hodeidah. Similar calls were made by members of the Yemeni government coalition when they visited London last month.
Continue reading...After successes in Michigan, Minnesota and Hawaii, local organizers urge voters to keep pressure on Biden for ceasefire
The movement among Democrats to cast a Gaza protest vote against President Joe Biden in the primary election moves to Washington state on Tuesday.
Organizers with Vote Uncommitted WA have been working for two weeks to ramp up outreach to voters via phone, text, online and in-person connections to explain how they can use their primary ballots to check “uncommitted delegates” to send a message to Biden in support of a permanent ceasefire.
Continue reading...The EU says the ship is just one of three routes to getting life-saving supplies to the population of Gaza
Citing the Palestinian Prisoner Society (PPS), Palestinian news agency Wafa reports that overnight and into the morning Israeli security forces have detained at least a further 25 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It reports that most of the detentions happened in Ramallah.
The PPS now states that about 7,530 Palestinians have been detained since 7 October by Israeli security forces in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Ensuring all the needs of the population in the Gaza Strip are met is not a favour from anyone; it is a guaranteed right under international humanitarian law even during times of war.
If the US administration is serious about solving the humanitarian crisis, the easiest and shortest path is to stop using veto power to allow a ceasefire to be reached, and to compel Israel to open all land crossings and allow entry of all required aid.
The occupation’s attempt to communicate with the leaders and clans of some families to operate within the Gaza Strip is considered direct collaboration with the occupation and is a betrayal of the nation that we will not tolerate. The occupation’s efforts to establish bodies to manage Gaza are a ‘failed conspiracy’ that will not materialise.
Continue reading...Israeli prime minister hits back after Biden says war is hurting Israel more than helping it
The Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has rejected Joe Biden’s comment that his approach to the war in Gaza is “hurting Israel more than helping Israel”, escalating a dispute between the leaders.
Over the weekend, the US president said Netanyahu “must pay more attention to the innocent lives being lost as a consequence of the actions taken” in Gaza and that his stance was detrimental to Israel’s interests.
Continue reading...Vessel carrying 200 tonnes of provisions to alleviate looming famine now not sailing from Larnaca on Sunday as planned
An aid ship carrying 200 tonnes of food to alleviate looming famine in the Gaza Strip remained docked in Cyprus on Sunday night, despite the push for maritime aid in the face of stalling ceasefire talks and the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
The Cyprus government spokesperson, Konstantinos Letymbiotis, told the island’s official news agency that the exact timing of the vessel’s departure would not be made public for “security reasons”. It was later reported that due to “technical difficulties”, it might not depart until Monday morning.
Continue reading...Aaron Bushnell, who died last month, ‘sacrificed everything’ for Palestinians, says mayor of Jericho
The Palestinian town of Jericho has named a street after Aaron Bushnell, the US air force member who set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington to protest against the war in Gaza.
The 25-year-old, who died on 25 February, “sacrificed everything” for Palestinians, said the mayor of Jericho, Abdul Karim Sidr, as the street sign was unveiled on Sunday.
Continue reading...Displaced families prepare to spend holy month in Rafah amid food shortages and fear of attack
Seventy days after they were forced to leave their house in the southern Gaza city of Khan Younis, Hanaa al-Masry, her husband and their six children are preparing for Ramadan in their new home: a dilapidated tent. Here, there will be no decorations, no joyous family meals and no reading of the Qur’an under the lemon and orange trees in the garden.
The Muslim holy month – a time for friends and family as well as religious contemplation, prayer and fasting – starts on Monday and will be like none that anyone in Gaza can remember.
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