Israel-Palestine live: US vice president calls for ‘immediate’ six-week ceasefire
Live Updates
A federal appeals court has granted a motion to expedite the appeal of a lawsuit that accuses Biden of failing to stop an unfolding genocide in Gaza.
The lawsuit was originally dismissed last month by a district court. However, the judge said in his ruling that there was a plausible case for genocide in Gaza.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and law firm Van Der Hout LLP were seeking the expedited appeal, citing the current conditions in Gaza amid Israel's war "including mass starvation, intentionally inflicted upon plaintiffs, their families, and all the residents of Gaza".
“The Ninth Circuit’s grant of our motion to expedite is important, as the dire and unlivable conditions in Gaza must be addressed urgently,” Johnny Sinodis of Van Der Hout LLP said in a statement shared with MEE.
“Each day that the US continues its unrestrained support of Israel, more and more innocent women and children are slaughtered by Israel’s assault and indiscriminate bombing campaign.
The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza is reporting that four children have died and seven others are in critical condition due to dehydration and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan hospital in northern Gaza.
The administration of the Kamal Adwan hospital announced earlier that they were halting operations as the facility had run out of fuel.
Reporting by Reuters
The International Centre of Justice for Palestinians, a UK-based rights group, has issued a notice to Trinity College, a constituent school of the University of Cambridge, warning that its investments in certain companies could make it potentially complicit in Israeli war crimes, and "plausible genocide".
Last week, MEE reported that the University of Cambridge's wealthiest college has invested millions of dollars in companies arming, supporting and profiting from Israel's war on Gaza.
Using information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, MEE found that Trinity College has investments worth millions of dollars in American, British and Japanese companies which are directly involved in Israel's current military offensive in Gaza.
You can read that story by clicking here.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society said that seven of its members remain in Israeli detention for the 20th consecutive day, and is calling for their release.
The individuals were arrested when Israeli forces raided al-Amal Hospital, and among them are ambulance crew members, anaesthesia technicians, and a doctor.
A report by Haaretz says that the Israeli army has fired on its own territory five times since the war in Gaza began in October.
On at least two occasions, Israeli army fire resulted in damage to buildings within Israel.
In one incident, a tank fired shells into Kibbutz Hanita on the northern border with Lebanon, and in another, a tank fired shells from Gaza hitting the Sderot city hall.
Military officials said "necessary lessons were learned" and that the platoon commander responsible for the Kibbutz Hanita event was dismissed from his role.
Research group Forensic Architecture, which specialises in state violence, says it has uncovered evidence that Israeli advocates at the ICJ presented 'misleading descriptions' to the court.
The claims made by the group are detailed in a thread on social media site X, and include inaccurate Israeli claims that Palestinian fighters were operating in hospitals and other civilian buildings.
Forensic Architecture says that the claims that civilian sites were used by Palestinian fighters were then used to justify military targeting of those places.
NEW REPORT: We analysed the visual material presented by Israel at the @CIJ_ICJ hearing on 12 Jan '24. We found 8 instances of the Israeli legal team misrepresenting materials presented through incorrect annotations and misleading descriptions. Full report https://t.co/Oxh4pT6jel
— Forensic Architecture (@ForensicArchi) February 28, 2024
All parties involved in the ongoing conflict in Gaza have carried out “clear violations of international humanitarian law including possible war crimes”, the UN's top human rights official, Volker Turk, has said.
Turk said he wants independent investigations into violations committed during the war to hold perpetrators to account and end "entrenched impunity”.
In a statement, the UN official singled out Israel for using devastating weaponry in built-up areas and called on the Israeli military to allow displaced Palestinians to return to their homes.
Video captured by Al Jazeera shows a fire breaking out on the roof of a building that forms part of the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
According to the news outlet, the blaze broke out after shelling by the Israeli military.
Despite serving the sick and displaced, Gaza's hospitals have been a key target for the Israeli army since it began its military campaign in Gaza in October.
Nearly all of the besieged territory's major medical facilities are either out of service or heavily damaged.
اندلاع حريق في أحد مباني مجمع ناصر الطبي بخان يونس جراء استهدافه بقذائف مدفعية#حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/kSYAJ9WXI0
— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) February 28, 2024
A speech by a former member of a US special forces unit is going viral on social media, in the aftermath of the self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell in protest at the killing of Palestinians.
Alan Shebaro from McKinney, Texas, told a council meeting on 20 February that US taxpayer money should not be used to support Israel's campaign in Gaza.
"I know war. What's going on in Palestine right now is not a war," Shebaro said.
A number of serving and former members of the US military have publicly expressed their opposition to US support for Israel in recent weeks.
The full clip featuring Shebaro can be viewed here.
Alan Shebaro, US Special Forces veteran, speaks out against US support for Israel’s genocide in Gaza:
— Going Underground (@GUnderground_TV) February 28, 2024
‘What’s going on in Palestine right now is not a war. It is the dehumanisation, it’s the genocide, it’s the ethnic cleansing of a specific people to take their land.’… pic.twitter.com/pwgyIipg9F
In a post on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said that the amount of aid going into Gaza had decreased month-on-month since January.
There was a 50 percent decrease in aid reaching Palestinians in Gaza in February compared with January.
In late January, the International Court of Justice ordered Israel to ensure the provision of humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza, but the statement by Unrwa suggests Israel has taken no steps towards that end.
🔹Unable to reach north #Gaza & parts of south Gaza safely. Aid convoys reportedly continue to come under fire & denied access by Israeli Authorities
— UNRWA (@UNRWA) February 28, 2024
🔹50% reduction in supplies entering compared to January
🔹44% of @UNRWA schools directly hit or damagedhttps://t.co/L0pkBwbnzI pic.twitter.com/MQ59S6jIku
A group of more than 50 broadcast journalists have sent an open letter to the embassies of Israel and Egypt in the UK calling for “free and unfettered access” to Gaza for foreign media.
They wrote: “Almost five months into the war in Gaza, foreign reporters are still being denied access to the territory, outside of the rare and escorted trips with the Israeli military.
“We urge the Governments of Israel and Egypt to allow free and unfettered access to Gaza for all foreign media.
Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi said he hopes a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas could be reached within days.
“We hope that in the coming days, we will reach a ceasefire and that there will be real relief for the people of Gaza,” Sisi said on Wednesday, during a speech at an event for the differently abled.
His comments follow similar remarks made by US President Joe Biden that a ceasefire deal could be reached as soon as next Monday, though Hamas denied a deal is close, citing big gaps in the negotiations.
The Lebanese armed movement Hezbollah will halt attacks on Israel if Hamas agrees to an extended truce, according to a report by Reuters.
Two sources told the news agency that the Iran-backed armed group would "immediately" end operations the "moment the truce is declared".
The statement echoes previous comments by Hezbollah's leader Hassan Nasrallah, who said his fighters would only stop their attacks when a ceasefire deal is reached in Gaza.
Hezbollah has been involved in a simmering conflict on Lebanon's southern border with Israel, which has yet to develop into full-scale conflict, despite casualties on both sides.
According to Reuters, 200 Hezbollah fighters have been killed by Israel since 7 October, as well as 50 Lebanese civilians. At least 12 Israeli soldiers and around six civilians have been killed.
Read more: Hezbollah 'will halt attacks' on Israel if Hamas approves truce deal
Ismail Haniyeh, the political leader of Hamas, said the group was showing flexibility in ceasefire negotiations but would not fall for the "political traps" of the US and Israel, and that fighters were ready to continue fighting.
Addressing the ongoing war in a televised speech from Beirut, Haniyeh also urged Palestinians to march to Al-Aqsa Mosque during the month of Ramadan, expected to start on 10 March.
"The siege of Al-Aqsa and the siege of Gaza are one and the same,” Haniyeh said.
Israeli authorities have put severe restrictions on Palestinians wishing to reach Al-Aqsa Mosque since October, when its onslaught in Gaza began.
Haniyeh also called on the international community, especially Arab countries, to confront and restrain Israel from launching a ground invasion of Rafah and ending the starvation of Palestinians.
He also warned that the rise in Israeli attacks in the occupied West Bank was part of a comprehensive plan to displace Palestinians.
