Israel-Palestine live: US vice president calls for ‘immediate’ six-week ceasefire

Gaza City's mayor said in a statement that wells are now unable to pump water in the city due to the war and lack of electricity.

He condemned the Israeli blockade and called on countries to send solar panels to the city in order to power the wells.

Hello MEE readers. A day after Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for food in northern Gaza, the number of calls from the international community demanding an investigation into the incident is growing.

Meanwhile, the government of Nicaragua has submitted an application to the International Court of Justice, accusing Germany of being complicit in the genocide in Gaza.

In a press release issued by the Nicaraguan government, Managua said that Germany provided Israel with "political, financial, and military support" despite knowing that "the military equipment would be used in the commission of serious breaches of international law".

Here is what else you need to know from today:

• White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the US is redoubling efforts to establish a maritime corridor that could see humanitarian aid getting into Gaza.

• In a speech outside his Downing Street office, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for increased policing around pro-Palestine rallies in the country, saying he wants police to "not merely manage these protests, but police them".

• President Joe Biden said on Friday the US military would drop humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in the coming days.

• The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza announced that three more Palestinians were found dead at al-Rashid Street in Gaza City, where Palestinians waiting for food aid were killed by Israeli forces. This raises the total death toll to 115.

• The spokesperson of the armed wing of Hamas said that seven captives have been killed in Israeli air strikes in recent weeks. This takes the death toll among captives as a result of Israeli bombing to over 70.

• A member of Iran's Revolutionary Guard navy serving as a military adviser in Syria was killed in a suspected Israeli strike.

Ahead of the presidential election in November, Middle East Eye spoke to several Muslim voters who are planning on voting for former US President Donald Trump rather than Joe Biden out of protest over the latter's support for Israel.

“I am not a fool. And I'm not foolish enough to say that Trump is a beacon of morality. He is far from it,” said Imran Salha of the Islamic Center of Detroit. 

“We will teach all politicians in the future that the demise of their political career could come at the hands of the organisers who support Palestine.”

Read the full story by clicking below.

'Just because I can': The Arabs and Muslims voting for Donald Trump out of spite

US President Joe Biden on Friday said he hoped there would be a ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas by the time of Ramadan, which starts on 10 March.

The remarks come after Biden claimed that he expected a ceasefire deal to be agreed upon by Monday.

"We’re not there yet," he told reporters.

Israel’s military said it struck several Hezbollah military sites in Ramyeh, a Lebanese border town, claiming it killed one Hezbollah member.

The Israeli army also published video footage it said was of the attack.

A Girl Scout troop from St Louis, Missouri, is splitting from the organisation after the troops faced legal threats over an attempt to hold a fundraiser for children in Gaza.

Rather than selling cookies, which Girl Scout troops across the US do every year beginning in January, Troop 149 - all of whom are Muslim - decided they would instead sell handmade Palestinian-themed bracelets to raise money for children in Gaza suffering from Israel's war on the besieged enclave.

The troop then received an email, shared with The Washington Post, stating: “Girl Scouts is a non-partisan organization that does not take sides in political situations.”

The Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri asked the troop to edit social media posts about the fundraiser, saying it was unsanctioned and shouldn't be affiliated with the organisation.

Then, in another email, the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri told the troop that "they had failed to remove all references to the Girl Scouts and threatened to 'engage our legal counsel' if she did not".

A spokesperson for Girl Scouts of the USA told The Washington Post that it lifted its fundraising restriction for three months at the start of the war on Gaza. Troop 149 began its fundraiser a few days after the restriction was put back in place.

White House spokesperson John Kirby told reporters that the US is redoubling efforts to establish a maritime corridor that could see humanitarian aid getting into Gaza.

Kirby said that Cyprus could potentially be used as part of the maritime corridor. He added that the US would “continue to push Israel to facilitate more trucks going in and more routes being opened”.

The news comes after global condemnation of Israel's actions on Thursday, when it opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for food aid, killing at least 115, according to the Palestinian health ministry.

President Joe Biden said on Friday the US military would drop humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip in the coming days, and that Washington would be doing everything it could to get more aid into the besieged enclave.

Biden said the aid flow into Gaza was not nearly enough and that he wanted hundreds of more aid trucks to get in.

Reporting by Reuters

In a speech outside his Downing Street office, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak called for increased policing around pro-Palestine rallies in the country, saying he wants police to "not merely manage these protests, but police them".

He also made further concerning comments, conflating segments of the pro-Palestinian movement in the UK with "extremists", and added that people in the country on a UK visa could be deported if they "choose to spew hate".

Sunak said that the election of veteran left-wing politician George Galloway to a parliamentary seat was "beyond alarming", accusing him of dismissing the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October.

Four US officials, speaking to Reuters on condition of anonymity, said that President Joe Biden is expected to announce today his intention to order a military air drop of humanitarian aid into Gaza.

Nicaragua has formally submitted an application to the International Court of Justice against Germany, accusing the country of both failing to prevent a genocide of Palestinians in Gaza, and also of having "contributed to the commission of genocide".

The filing comes after the Latin American nation sent a warning last month to Germany, the UK, the Netherlands, and Canada, saying it would take the countries to the ICJ over allegations that weapons they are providing Israel are being used in a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Nicaragua was one of several countries, along with Turkey, Jordan, Venezuela, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Maldives, and Namibia, to support South Africa’s genocide case against Israel in January.

You can read the full application here. For more updates on this, check out our story here.

British maritime security firm Ambrey said it received multiple reports of another incident involving the Rubymar cargo ship, and Yemenis were reportedly harmed during the incident, which occurred on 29 February.

The Rubymar, which was abandoned in the southern Red Sea after being targeted by Yemen's Houthis on 18 February, was approximately 16 nautical miles west of Yemen's Mokha at the time of the second incident, Ambrey said in an advisory note.

Reporting by Reuters

The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza announced that three more Palestinians were found dead at al-Rashid Street in Gaza City, where Palestinians waiting for food aid were killed by Israeli forces.

The total death toll now stands at 115, with 760 wounded, the ministry added.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said it was able to set up a few camps for displaced Palestinians in southern Gaza. The camps have been able to accommodate 5,100 families, making up a total of 28,324 people.

The spokesperson of the armed wing of Hamas said Friday that seven captives have been killed in Israeli air strikes in recent weeks.

In a brief communique, Abu Obaida said this takes the death toll among captives to over 70 due to Israeli bombing.

"We have been keen all along to preserve the lives of the prisoners, but it has become clear that the enemy leadership is deliberately killing its prisoners to get rid of this issue," Abu Obaida said. 

He added that the price Hamas would take in exchange for the captives would be the same even if five or 10 of them remained alive. 

The group had previously aimed to free all Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the Israeli captives it captured on 7 October. 

Middle East Eye could not independently verify Hamas' latest statement. 

Israel previously said at least 30 captives have died in Gaza, some by Israeli fire.