Live Blog Update| Israel's genocide in Gaza
This is an entry from: Israel-Palestine live: Unicef says over 13,000 children killed in Gaza

Evening update

10 March 2024 23:47 GMT

Good evening Middle East Eye readers.

MEE's live coverage from Gaza will shortly be closing for the evening.

On the eve of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, here are today's main developments.

The Palestinian Ministry of Health announced on Sunday that Israeli forces had killed 85 people in attacks, which also wounded at least 130 people. The Israeli military struck the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the central Gaza Strip, on Sunday afternoon, killing and wounding several people.

This brought the total number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since 7 October to at least 31,045 with 72,654 injured, according to the Gaza health ministry.

Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Sunday that the Palestinian group was still open to talks with Israel, after mediators so far failed to secure a Ramadan truce in the Gaza conflict. "I say clearly that the one who bears responsibility for not reaching an agreement is the occupation (Israel)… However, I say that we are open to continuing negotiations," Haniyeh said in a televised speech.

Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it had fired dozens of rockets into northern Israel after Israeli strikes the day before killed five people in southern Lebanon, including three of the group’s members. Hezbollah said it had launched “dozens of katyusha-type rockets” in the morning on the Israeli village of Meron, five miles from the border.

A member of Gaza's municipality emergency committee told Al Jazeera on Sunday that Israeli forces had destroyed at least 1 million sqm of roads in Gaza since the start of the war. 

Saudi Arabia's King Salman bin Abdulaziz said on Sunday the international community must assume its responsibilities to halt what he called "brutal crimes" against Palestinians in Gaza. In a speech read on his behalf by Saudi Minister of Media Salman al-Dosari, the king also said the international community must help provide safe humanitarian passages in the enclave.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday rejected US President Joe Biden's comment that Israel's approach to the war in Gaza was "hurting Israel more than helping Israel". 

"If he meant by that that I'm pursuing private policies against the majority, the wish of the majority of Israelis, and that this is hurting the interests of Israel, then he's wrong on both counts," Netanyahu said in an interview with Politico.

Other significant developments on Sunday included:

  • Egypt has been in contact with senior Hamas and Israeli figures in an effort to restart negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip ahead of Ramadan, Reuters reported, citing two Egyptian security sources.
  • The US Central Command announced that it has carried out a joint air-drop with Jordan on northern Gaza. "A US C-130 dropped over 11,500 meal equivalents, as well as other food including rice, flour, pasta, and canned food," Centcom said in a post on X.
  • The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed Sweden and Canada's decision to resume funding to the UN aid agency Unrwa. Israel on Saturday had slammed the decision, saying supporting Unrwa was a "serious mistake".
  • A protest broke out on Sunday in Amsterdam over the visit by Israel's President Isaac Herzog to attend the opening in the Netherlands' capital of the national Holocaust Museum. Protesters flooded the streets demanding an immediate ceasefire.