Israel-Palestine live: Unicef says over 13,000 children killed in Gaza

The Gaza health ministry said the Palestinian death toll from Israel's current war on Gaza has risen to 31,112.

At the 96th Academy Awards, “Zone of Interest” director Jonathan Glazer used his Oscar acceptance speech to speak out against what he called the hijacking of Jewishness and the Holocaust by Israel’s occupation and conflict in Gaza.

“Our film shows where dehumanisation leads, at its worst,” Glazer said, accepting his award for Best International Feature Film.

“We stand here as men who refute their Jewishness and the Holocaust being hijacked by an occupation which has led to conflict, for so many innocent people.”

READ MORE: Oscar-winning director calls out 'hijacking' of Holocaust by Israel in acceptance speech

Morocco will start airdropping aid into northern Gaza today, Israel's Kan public broadcaster reports.

Kan says that six Hercules transport aircraft from Morocco's air force are en route to Israel, where they will refuel at the Ben Gurion Airport before heading to northern Gaza.

The airdrop was reportedly coordinated with Israel, and meant to mark the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Mirjana Spoljaric, head of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), met with Ismail Haniyeh, head of Hamas's political bureau in Doha, Qatar.

While the ICRC does not partake in negotiations, it said it was ready to facilitate the implementation of humanitarian aspects of any agreements.

“The visit by President Spoljaric is part of ICRC’s direct discussions with all sides in the conflict and other members of the international community in the region and beyond to improve respect for international humanitarian law and relieve the humanitarian suffering of people in Gaza and Israel,” the organisation said in a statement.

An Israeli strike on a home in Gaza City killed at least 16 people on Monday, Palestine's Wafa News Agency reported.

The strike hit the Abu Shamaleh family home, with the majority of casualties being women and children.

Israel's permanent representative to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called on secretary general Antonio Guterres to resign.

Speaking to the Israeli army's radio, Erdan claimed that “Ninety percent of his time is occupied with the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip" while pressuring Israel to stop its war.

"I call on him to resign."

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• US president Joe Biden said the suffering of Palestinians is "front of mind" to him in his Ramadan message and says he will work on ensuring more aid reaches Gaza while trying to ensure a six-week ceasefire
• Unrwa says "extreme hunger" is spreading in Gaza as the holy month of Ramadan begins, calls for an "immediate ceasefire" during the month
• Israel continued bombing Gaza on the first day of Ramadan, killing at least ten people in an air raid on southern Rafah
• Pro-Palestine protesters shut down the flow of traffic ahead of the 96th Academy Award ceremony in Los Angeles, while several celebrities in attendance, including Billie Eilish and Mark Ruffalo, wore a red pin expressing their support for a ceasefire in Gaza
• Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit says that Israeli citizens were "almost certainly" killed by Israeli helicopters during their response to the Hamas-led attacks on 7 October

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. 

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 as several Muslim nations announced the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan would begin on Monday.

Mediators had been pushing for a new truce in the war, now in its sixth month, before Ramadan began.

However, Haniyeh, who is in self-exile in Qatar, on Sunday said Israel was unwilling to meet Hamas's conditions for a deal that would have seen hostages held by militants exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israel.

He reiterated that Hamas wanted a durable ceasefire, a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza, the return of displaced Gazans to their homes and ramped-up access to humanitarian aid in the besieged territory where famine looms.

Haniyeh said he was in contact with mediators "hours before this speech" but to no avail.

"If we receive from the mediator brothers a clear position on the occupation with its commitment to withdrawal, stopping the aggression, and the return of the displaced, then we are ready" to complete a deal, he said. 

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.

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 to mark the start of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the king also said the international community must help provide safe humanitarian passages in the enclave.

Egypt is in contact with senior Hamas and Israeli figures on Sunday in an effort to restart negotiations for a truce in the Gaza Strip ahead of Ramadan, Reuters reported, citing two Egyptian security sources.

According to Reuters, Egypt's contacts with Hamas and Israeli intelligence agency Mossad were carried out under a mandate from the Egyptian presidency in an effort to bring the two sides' divergent positions together, the sources said, without providing further details.
 

The Israeli army on Sunday announced that a soldier has been killed overnight in Gaza.

The soldier was identified as sergeant Michael Gal, 29, who was killed in south Gaza.

The total number of Israeli ground forces killed since the start of the invasion now stands at 249.
 

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs welcomed on Sunday Sweden and Canada's decision to resume funding to the UN aid agency Unrwa. 

In a statement posted on X, the ministry said that reinstating funding is  necessary for "securing a lifeline for Palestinian refugees".

"Israel's longstanding systematic campaign, propaganda and state-sponsored attacks on UNRWA and incitement against UN employees must be rejected and confronted by the international community," the statement added.
 

The US Central Command announced on Sunday that it has carried out a joint air-drop with Jordan on northern Gaza. 

"A U.S. 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.

"These airdrops are part of a sustained effort, and we continue to plan follow on aerial deliveries," added Centcom.