Israel-Palestine live: Israel bombs Unrwa building in Gaza

Hamas will eventually have to be a partner for peace despite being currently regarded as a terrorist organisation by many, the First Minister of Northern Ireland Michelle O’Neill has said. 

In an interview with LBC radio, O’Neill said only dialogue will bring an end to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis, in the same way it did in the struggle between the Irish Republican Army (IRA) and the British government. 

"A long time ago, the IRA was seen as a terrorist organisation that the British government and everybody else could not ever talk to, and yet we know what followed from that. 

Do you think that Hamas, although regarded as a terrorist organisation by many people around the world, are going to be eventually a partner for peace, have to be a partner for peace?” O’Neill was asked. 

She responded: “Yes – I think you only have to look to our own example to know that how important dialogue is, and it is the only way you’re going to ever bring an end to conflict.

“If the British government didn’t talk to republicans or republicans didn’t talk to the British government in the past, in Ireland we would not be in the scenario that we are in today, enjoying a peaceful and far more equal society.

“So, what we need to see in the Middle East, in particular in relation to Palestine, is that we need to see a ceasefire now. And we need the international community to be singing in chorus and harmony in terms of ceasefire now.”

Israeli forces have killed at least 107 Palestinians and wounded 142 more over the past 24 hours in 13 "massacres", according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

This brings the Palestinian death toll in four months to more than 27,947, with over 67,400 wounded and 7,000 missing, who are believed to be dead and buried under rubble. 

Over 70 percent of the victims are children and women, according to health officials.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees says the war in Gaza has put more than half a million boys and girls out of school.

“Every day of war deepens the scars, risking a lost generation vulnerable to exploitation,” Philippe Lazzarini said in a post. “Children are being robbed of childhood.”

The commissioner-general said this situation “needs to be reversed starting with a humanitarian ceasefire.”

Israel’s attempt to create a “buffer zone” with Gaza could constitute a war crime, the UN high commissioner for human rights says.

“Extensive destruction of property, not justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly, amounts to a grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention and a war crime,” said Volker Turk.

The destruction “appears to be aimed at or has the effect of rendering the return of civilians to these areas impossible”.

“Israel has not provided cogent reasons for such extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure,” Turk added.

The head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Philippe Lazzarini, said he raised the “critical humanitarian situation in Gaza” and risks to the region if “Unrwa cannot continue to provide services” in a meeting with Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud.

In a post of its own, the Saudi foreign ministry said it “reaffirmed the kingdom’s support” for Unwra and “urged all donors to fulfil their responsibility in supporting humanitarian efforts” in Palestine.

At least a dozen mostly Western countries have suspended funding to the UN agency after Israeli accusations that several of its staff members participated in the 7 October attacks.

Since then it has come to light that there is no evidence that any staff members participated in the attack.

South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor has accused Israeli intelligence of trying to intimidate her and her family after the International Court of Justice (ICJ) recently ruled that it was “plausible” that Israel’s actions could amount to genocidal acts and ordered it to prevent such harm to Palestinians in Gaza. 

Pandor said she had spoken to the police about increasing her security detail after she received threatening messages. 

“I felt that [it would] be better if we had extra security. But what I’m more concerned about is my family, because in some of the social media messages my children are mentioned and so on, but this is par for the course.

"The Israeli agents, the intelligence services, [this] is how they behave, and they seek to intimidate you, so we must not be intimidated. There is a cause that is under way,” said Pandor on Thursday night. 

Pandor said the government was determined to see the ICJ case through, much like the people of Palestine had been in opposing South Africa’s apartheid system. 

“We can’t stand back now. We must be with them. And I think one of the things we must not allow is a failure of courage. It’s extremely important that we continue with this. We talked to the South African people; they understand why it is we have taken up this moral cause,” she said. 

Israel's plan for a military operation against Rafah will “exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences,” said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Friday. 

Guterres said on social media that he was alarmed by reports that “the Israeli military intends to focus next on Rafah”.

“Half of Gaza’s population is now crammed into Rafah with nowhere to go,” he said.

There are an estimated 12 million tonnes of debris from Israel’s destruction of residential houses in the Palestinian territory that will take more than four years to clear, the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) said in its latest situation report.

More than 650,000 people have no homes left to return to in Gaza with many more unable to return because their homes are damaged.

An “escalation in fighting” in Rafah will mark another “devastating turn in a war” said Unicef executive director Catherine Russell on Friday. 

“Unicef is urgently calling on the parties to refrain from military escalation in Rafah Governorate in Gaza where over 600,000 children and their families have been displaced – many of them more than once,” she said in a statement.

In televised remarks on Wednesday, Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu ordered Israeli troops to “prepare to operate” in Rafah.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

Here are the latest developments from Israel's war on Gaza, which enters its 126th day today: 

• Israeli military strikes on two homes in Rafah in southern Gaza have killed at least eight people and injured 18
• Six Palestinians were shot in confrontations with Israeli forces who raided Beit Furik town, east of Nablus, in the occupied West Bank
• US Central Command (CENTCOM) said it conducted “seven self-defence strikes” against Houthi targets in Yemen, including against four “unmanned surface vessels” and seven “anti-ship cruise missiles"
• Israeli forces carry out arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank
• UNICEF chief calls on Israel to ‘refrain from military escalation’ in Rafah

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

At least 27,840 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October, the Palestinian health ministry said on Thursday. 

More than 67,317 have been wounded from Israel’s aggression on the blockaded territory the ministry added. 

In its latest press release the Palestinian Prisoners Society said that the number of Palestinians arrested by Israel in the occupied West Bank over the past four months is more than 6,920. 

In other developments: 

• Former students at a high school in the South African city of Cape Town have raised concerns that the seat of learning is serving as a recruitment tool for the Israeli army.
• Iraq has reiterated its call to end the US military presence in the country following the death of a high-ranking militia commander in a "unilateral strike” in Baghdad.
• France's former president, Francois Hollande, has called French citizens killed in Gaza “collateral victims”, during an event paying tribute to people killed in Israel on 7 October.
• Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights organisation, has published a video showing violent masked Israeli settlers rampaging through Bizzariya, a Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank. 
• US President Joe Biden will host Jordan's King Abdullah in Washington on 12 February, the White House said on Thursday.
• The Hague mayor Jan van Zanen announced on Thursday that additional security measures have been implemented at the Israeli embassy in The Hague following a threat "that must be taken extremely seriously".
• The US Senate advanced a $95.34bn bill encompassing assistance for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, following the Republicans' blocked compromise legislation that aimed to significantly reform immigration policy.
• The White House said that it would oppose any significant military initiatives by Israel in Rafah.

The White House said on Thursday that it would oppose any significant military initiatives by Israel in Rafah, noting that Secretary of State Antony Blinken had explicitly communicated US apprehensions about such operations.

"Any major military operation in Rafah at this time, under these circumstances, with more than a million - probably more like a million and a half - Palestinians who are seeking refuge and have been seeking refuge in Rafah without due consideration for their safety would be a disaster, and we would not support it," White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.

On Thursday, the US Senate advanced a $95.34bn bill encompassing assistance for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan, following the Republicans' blocked compromise legislation that aimed to significantly reform immigration policy.

Senators backed a procedural motion by 67-32, exceeding the 60-vote threshold to advance the bill. Seventeen Republicans voted in favour, in a shift after they blocked the broader bill on Wednesday.

"This is a good first step. This bill is essential for our national security, for the security of our friends in Ukraine, in Israel, for humanitarian aid for innocent civilians in Gaza, and for Taiwan," Majority Leader of the Senate Chuck Schumer said in the Senate after the vote.

The 100-member chamber has not yet announced a schedule for the final vote on the bill, with some senators indicating a readiness to extend the session into the weekend if needed.

On Thursday, United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres committed to taking swift action in response to any new evidence provided by Israel concerning the alleged "infiltration of Hamas" into the United Nations.

Guterres emphasized the UN's vigilance against any attempts by Hamas to compromise the integrity of the world body.

The United States warned on Thursday that an Israeli military action in Rafah, conducted without careful planning or consideration, would result in a "disaster".

"We would not support the undertaking of something like this without serious and credible planning as it relates to the more than a million people who are sheltering there, as well as without considering the impacts on humanitarian assistance and the safe departure of foreign nationals," State Department deputy spokesperson Vedant Patel told reporters.

Patel mentioned that the US had yet to observe indications of Israel engaging in substantial planning for the mentioned operation, despite a meeting between US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israel's war cabinet on Wednesday.