Israel-Palestine live: Biden urges Egypt, Qatar to press Hamas for hostage deal

China said Friday it supported steps by the UN Security Council to end fighting in Gaza, while not saying whether Beijing, a permanent council member with veto power, would support a US draft resolution on the need for an immediate ceasefire.

"China supports the Security Council in taking further responsible and meaningful actions as soon as possible to make unremitting efforts to end the fighting in Gaza at an early date," Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Lin Jian said.

Reporting by AFP

Finland will resume funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency Unrwa, its foreign trade and development minister said on Friday.

Reporting by Reuters

Four Israelis were wounded in an exchange of fire with at least one suspected Palestinian man near a settlement in the occupied West Bank, according to Israeli media.  

The incident started in the early hours of Friday after a bus carrying Israelis came under fire near Dolev and Talmon settlements northwest of Ramallah. 

No one was wounded in the initial attack. However, after troops were deployed to the scene, gunfights were reported and are still ongoing, according to Israeli reports. 

The World Health Organisation (WHO) and its partners have lost contact with health personnel at al-Shifa hospital, according to the agency's chief.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Thursday that WHO was "seeking information on the patients’ condition and if they are receiving needed care" as a deadly Israeli raid continues for a fifth day. 

"Accessing Al-Shifa is now impossible, and there are reports of health workers being arrested and detained," he said in a post on X. 

"A planned mission to Al-Shifa today had to be cancelled due to lack of security."

Britain and Australia declared the need for an "immediate cessation of fighting" in Gaza on Friday, as diplomatic pressure built on Israel to ditch a planned ground assault on the southern city of Rafah.

After a meeting of Australian and UK foreign and defence ministers in Adelaide, the allies issued a statement that stressed the "urgency of an immediate cessation of fighting in Gaza to allow aid to flow and hostages to be released".

They also said they shared concern over the "potentially devastating consequences" of an attack on Rafah "given the large number of displaced persons taking refuge in the area and lack of safe spaces in Gaza".

Reporting by Reuters and AFP

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

It's 7:50 am (5:50 GMT) in Palestine and Israel. Here are the latest developments on day 168 of Israel's war on Gaza: 

• The United States will submit a draft resolution to the UN Security Council Friday on the need for "an immediate ceasefire as part of a hostage deal" after previously vetoing several similar resolutions. 

• US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to land in Israel on Friday to press for a ceasefire in Gaza as Israel's Mossad chief heads back to Qatar for more talks on a deal with mediators. 

• Israeli assault on al-Shifa hospital and western areas of Gaza City continue for a fifth day in a row. The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor said at least 200 Palestinians have been killed in the hospital premises, many of whom were "victims of extrajudicial executions".

• In a joint statement on Friday, ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates have called for crossings between Israel and Gaza to be opened for the delivery of aid.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

More than 31,988 Palestinians have been killed and 74,188 wounded by Israeli forces since 7 October, the Palestinian health ministry said on Thursday.

The Israeli military has said that it killed more than 50 "terrorists" around al-Shifa hospital in Gaza.

In other developments:

• Analysis by the United Nations Satellite Centre (Unosat) found that 35 percent of Gaza's buildings have been destroyed or damaged by Israel's war on the enclave. 
• The Palestinian Prisoners Society said that Israeli forces arrested 25 Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem over Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.
• A burning object was thrown at the Israeli embassy in The Hague on Thursday morning, according to Dutch police.
• A Palestinian man who had converted to Judaism was shot dead by an Israeli reservist near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. 
• David Barnea, the head of Israel's intelligence, is scheduled to visit Qatar this Friday for discussions with mediators working towards a ceasefire in Gaza and the releasing of hostages.
• On Friday morning, the United States will present a resolution to the United Nations Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal for a vote.
• Leaders of the European Union demanded an "immediate" humanitarian pause in Gaza, aiming for it to pave the way to a ceasefire.

On Thursday, leaders of the European Union demanded an "immediate" humanitarian pause in Gaza, aiming for it to pave the way to a ceasefire.

"Strong and unified statement of EU leaders on the Middle East at #EUCO tonight!" Charles Michel, the president of the council, posted on social media platform X.

"The EU calls for an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire."

At the beginning of last February in Khan Younis, an Israeli military drone targeted and killed four civilian youths with missiles as they attempted to enter their demolished homes.

The scenes are shown in a graphic video released today.

Warning: Due to the graphic images, the video may cause distress

On Friday morning, the United States will present a resolution to the United Nations Security Council demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal for a vote, a spokesperson announced.

“The United States has been working in earnest with Council members over the last several weeks on a Resolution that will unequivocally support ongoing diplomatic efforts aimed at securing an immediate ceasefire in Gaza as part of a hostage deal, which would get hostages released and help enable a surge in humanitarian aid," Nate Evans, spokesperson for the US mission to the United Nations, said on Thursday.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during an interview on Al Arabiya that the US has submitted a draft United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages" in Gaza.

The US has repeatedly vetoed previous UNSC draft… pic.twitter.com/uckR5f3SBQ

— Middle East Eye (@MiddleEastEye) March 21, 2024

On Thursday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced that the United States is actively pursuing a deal to secure the release of hostages and establish a ceasefire in the war in Gaza, amidst ongoing discussions in Doha.

Blinken said there remains difficult work to get to an agreement but "I continue to believe it's possible."

He also added that Israel must intensify its efforts to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

David Barnea, the head of Israel's intelligence, is scheduled to visit Qatar this Friday for discussions with mediators working towards a ceasefire in Gaza and the releasing of hostages, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Thursday.

According to the statement, during his visit, Barnea is set to have meetings with CIA director Bill Burns of the US, Qatar's Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, and Egypt's intelligence head Abbas Kamel.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron has refuted several claims made by an Israeli government spokesperson about aid getting into Gaza in a letter made public on Thursday.

Eylon Levy was serving as the Israeli government’s English-language spokesperson when he responded to posts on X by Cameron and Alicia Kearns, Conservative MP and chair of the foreign affairs committee, calling for Israel to allow more aid to enter Gaza.

Among other comments, Levy wrote in a now-deleted post, “I hope you are also aware that there are NO limits on the entry of food, water, medicine or shelter equipment into Gaza, and in fact the crossings have EXCESS capacity. Test us. Send another 100 trucks a day to Kerem Shalom and we’ll get them in.”

He also wrote that Kerem Shalom crossing into Gaza was closed on Saturdays at the request of the UN because undistributed aid was piling up. 

After the exchanges, Kearns wrote to Cameron, asking the foreign secretary to investigate Levy’s claims and also to contact the Israeli government and take them up on Levy’s offer.

This week, it was reported that Levy had been dismissed from his role following the spat.

Some reports suggested that the Israeli Prime Minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu, sought to dismiss Levy over his participation in protests in Israel against judicial reforms before the war.

On Thursday, in the latest chapter, Kearns has made Cameron’s response to Levy's claims public:

A Palestinian man who had converted to Judaism was shot dead by an Israeli reservist near an Israeli settlement in the occupied West Bank. 

David ben Avraham, 63, who was born Sameh Zeitoun, was shot dead on Thursday morning after being searched by soldiers, who found a knife in his bag, according to Israel's Ynet News. 

The knife was reportedly for self-defence purposes, and there was no suggestion he had used it to attack anyone at the time he was killed. The Israeli army said it was investigating the killing. 

The incident took place at a bus stop near the Elazar settlement, one of a cluster of illegal settlements known as Gush Etzion, south of Bethlehem in the occupied West Bank. 

Avraham reportedly converted to Judaism in honour of his grandfather, who had saved 25 Jews during the 1929 riots in Hebron.

The head of the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said that only the expansion of land crossings into Gaza can help prevent famine.

"Recent efforts to deliver food by air and sea are welcome, but only the expansion of land crossings will enable large scale deliveries to prevent famine," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.