Three more children die of malnutrition in Gaza as US President Biden says ceasefire by Ramadan ‘looks difficult’.
Here’s how things are going on Saturday March 9, 2024:
Fighting and humanitarian crisis
- Three more children died of malnutrition and dehydration at Gaza’s al-Shifa hospital, Palestinian officials said, bringing the confirmed famine death toll to 23.
- The U.S. military has denied responsibility for the airdrop of humanitarian aid that Gaza officials say killed five people and injured several others.
- At least 20 people were killed in Israeli attacks on residential buildings in central and southern Gaza on Friday, with many others injured and missing under the rubble, according to the Palestinian Wafa news agency.
- Canada said it would resume funding for UNRWA, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. She announced the freeze after Israel claimed that some agency staff were involved in attacks carried out by Hamas on October 7, before the current war on Gaza.
- Hamas said there would be “no compromise” on its demand that Israel withdraw from Gaza to ensure the release of captives captured in the October 7 attack.
Regional tensions and diplomacy
- US President Joe Biden said it “seems difficult” to reach a ceasefire deal in Gaza by the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He also expressed concern about the violence in occupied East Jerusalem without a ceasefire.
- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has urged Hamas to release all captives in Gaza. “I was deeply moved by the harrowing stories I heard from a freed hostage and the families of others kidnapped by Hamas,” he said on X, sharing a photo of the meeting.
- The US military has outlined its plans for the Gaza floating port, saying around 1,000 troops will be deployed to transport and build the pier. Completion of the plan could take up to 60 days, a spokesperson said.
- Criticism of the US port project has mounted, with Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) describing it as a “blatant distraction” from Israel’s “indiscriminate” and “disproportionate” military assault on the enclave.
- Japan is reportedly planning a UN Security Council meeting on Monday to discuss allegations of sexual violence during the October 7 Hamas attacks.
- China has called on the UN Security Council not to forget Israel’s war on Gaza as the group passed a resolution calling for an immediate cessation of hostilities in Sudan during Ramadan.
- Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO), reiterated his calls for a ceasefire in Gaza, condemning what he called “five full months of hellish conditions” in the Gaza Strip. besieged enclave.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
- Israeli forces launched raids in several locations in the occupied West Bank, according to Wafa. They arrested four young men, destroyed infrastructure and provoked clashes in the Nur Shams camp, near the town of Tulkarem.
- Israeli settlers launched a new wave of attacks overnight in the occupied West Bank, including in the Masafer Yatta area, near the city of Hebron, and in the village of Burqa, near the city of Ramallah, reported Wafa.
- The various settler groups injured two Palestinians, including an elderly man in Masafer Yatta, and attempted to set fire to a house in Burqa, Wafa said.