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

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Israeli forces have killed at least 83 Palestinians and wounded 142 more over the past 24 hours in nine "massacres", according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

This brings the Palestinian death toll in nearly five months to more than 30,800, with nearly 73,000 wounded and at least 7,000 missing, believed to be dead and buried under rubble.

Twenty-seven Palestinian detainees kidnapped by Israeli soldiers from Gaza since October have died during interrogations, Haaretz said on Thursday. 

In other developments:

• Norway has issued formal advice against any trade or business activities with illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
• The Israeli army said on Thursday that it carried out air strikes on buildings in the southern Lebanon towns of Aitaroun and Ayta.
• The bodies of 47 Palestinians have been returned to Gaza by Israeli forces and have been buried in a mass grave on Thursday.
• Israel accused South Africa on Thursday of acting "as the legal arm of Hamas" after Pretoria again petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take measures against Israel.
• Israel is destroying Gaza's food system as part of a "starvation campaign", according to a UN expert. 
• US President Joe Biden is set to reveal plans for the US military to build a port along the Mediterranean coast of Gaza to receive humanitarian aid.

An Israeli official said on Thursday that Israel supports the US initiative to construct a "temporary dock" along the Gaza coast for the delivery of humanitarian aid via sea and will collaborate with the United States on the project's development.

The official, who spoke anonymously, said that Israel "fully supports" the establishment of the facility.

This statement came following announcements from US officials that President Joe Biden will declare in his State of the Union address the construction of a port by the US military to facilitate the delivery of food, medicine, and other supplies to civilians in the blockaded Palestinian territory.

UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday that while the priority for the international community should be to enhance the large-scale distribution and entry of aid into Gaza through land routes, any method that facilitates additional aid reaching the enclave is "obviously good".

"Any way to get more aid into Gaza, whether by sea or airdrop, is obviously good," Dujarric said.

However, he added, delivering aid by land is efficient in terms of cost and volume, and "we need more entry points and we need a larger volume of aid to come in by land".

In his upcoming State of the Union address on Thursday, US President Joe Biden is set to reveal plans for the US military to build a port along the Mediterranean coast of Gaza to receive humanitarian aid, senior administration officials said.

During his address to Congress, Biden will announce that he has directed the US military "to undertake an emergency mission to establish a port in Gaza, working with like-minded countries and humanitarian partners", one of the officials said.

The official mentioned that the temporary port would significantly boost humanitarian aid to Palestinians by "hundreds of additional truckloads" daily. They also said that the US would manage security coordination with Israel and would collaborate with the UN and humanitarian aid organisations that "understand the distribution of assistance within Gaza". They also said that Cyprus would provide the initial supplies.

Ahead of International Women's Day, several of the UK's largest international aid charities and networks gathered on Millenium Bridge, holding a floral wreath and calling for an immediate ceasefire.

In a statement, the organisations, which included Action Against Hunger, GAPS and Oxfam, highlighted the "devastating effect" the conflict has had on the lives and dignity of women and girls.

"Women in Gaza are having to give birth in shelters, in their homes, in the streets amid rubble, or in overwhelmed health care facilities," they said.

"Pregnant and breastfeeding women are particularly vulnerable as illness and hunger have spread."

The lack of clean drinking water and hygiene facilities have also increased the risks facing women and girls, the organisations said.

Israel is destroying Gaza's food system as part of a "starvation campaign", according to a UN expert. 

"Israel is not only denying and restricting the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza. Israel is destroying the food system in Gaza," Michael Fakhri, UN special rapporteur on the right to food, said in a speech to the UN Human Rights Council on 

"Israel has mounted a starvation campaign against the Palestinian people in Gaza."

He said that Israel was targeting small-scale fishers as part of the campaign, including by denying them access to the sea and destroying boats. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Thursday that the Israeli military will continue to operate all over Gaza, Reuters reported. 

Netanyahu said that this would include Rafah, where around 1.9 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering. 

The Israeli army said on Thursday that it carried out air strikes on buildings in the southern Lebanon towns of Aitaroun and Ayta ash-Shab a short while ago.

Footage shared by the army account showed a large explosion amidst buildings in the towns. 

Israeli settlers blocked a checkpoint at the entrance of the occupied West Bank city of Nablus on Thursday, Haaretz reported. 

The checkpoint was opened for the first time since being closed at the start of the war. 

The settlers arrived at the checkpoint to protest the checkpoint's opening, blocking traffic.

A Palestinian journalist reported on Thursday that Israeli forces have airdropped Ramadan leaflets on Gaza, calling people to feed the needy. 

The journalist denounced it as an example of “psychological torture”.

The poster reads “provide for the needy and speak kindly.”

It also states that they wish that their fasts are accepted, ahead of Ramadan, the holy month which is set to start next week.

The poster comes at a time where 20 Palestinians, including children, have died from malnutrition and dehydration since the start of the war.

Israel has cut off all aid, electricity, water and fuel from Gaza since 9 October. 
 

The bodies of 47 Palestinians have been returned to Gaza by Israeli forces and have been buried in a mass grave on Thursday.

In video footage shared online, the bodies are lowered into the ground. The bodies were originally taken from the vicinity of the al-Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis last month. 

The Israeli army is set to carry out internal investigations into the military's failures in the lead-up to the Hamas led attack on 7 October.

According to reports, the investigation will cover a time frame from the border riots in Gaza until 10 October 2023. 

The findings of the investigation are expected to be presented by commanders to Israeli army Chief of Staff Lt General Herzi Halevi at the beginning of June.

"We experienced difficult incidents at the beginning of the fighting, we failed to protect civilians, a task of utmost importance.

"If we do not courageously analyse what we have done, we will find it difficult to learn and improve, we will find it difficult to stand up to the citizens of Israel and say that we have looked into it and learned and will know how to protect them better," Halevi said in a statement. 

British TV news heads have admitted “mistakes” were made in their coverage of the war in Gaza, but defended their reporting at a meeting in the Houses of Parliament.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Centre For Media Monitoring (CFMM), senior executives at BBC News and Sky News said they had attempted to take on board criticism about their reporting, which pro-Palestinian groups say has been too sympathetic to Israel at the expense of the people of Gaza.

“It is a uniquely difficult story to cover and we are striving to cover the story impartially and to bring clarity to the audience but that is very difficult in a story that is highly polarised,” said Richard Burgess, director of news content at the BBC.

Responding to criticisms made by CFMM in a report launched on Wednesday, Burgess said that as a 24-hour news service it was inevitable that there would be mistakes made.

“I hope we are transparent about that when we do it,” he said. “It’s impossible not to make mistakes, we will make mistakes.”

For the full story, click on the link below. 

UK news chiefs admit 'mistakes' but defend Gaza reporting

Israel accused South Africa on Thursday of acting "as the legal arm of Hamas" after Pretoria again petitioned the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to take measures against Israel.

A South African government spokesperson dismissed the accusation.

"South Africa continues to act as the legal arm of Hamas in an attempt to undermine Israel's inherent right to defend itself and its citizens, and to release all of the hostages," Israel's foreign ministry said.

"The repeated requests for provisional measures made by South Africa in order to assist Hamas are yet another cynical exploitation of the International Court of Justice in the Hague, which has already twice rejected the baseless attempts to deny Israel its right and obligation of self-defense," it said.

Clayson Monyela, a spokesperson for South Africa's department of international relations and cooperation, said: "South Africa has spelled out its concerns in its application to the ICJ. They (Israel) know what they are doing. It is absurd to keep saying that South Africa is acting on behalf of Hamas."

South Africa in January asked the World Court to declare that Israel was committing genocide in Gaza and to order Israel to stop its military campaign in Gaza. The court did not do this but instead issued a more general order that Israel must make sure it prevents acts of genocide.

South Africa is now asking the top UN court to order further steps against Israel, which it said was breaching measures already in place.

It said those in Gaza were facing starvation and asked the court to order that all parties cease hostilities and release all hostages and detainees.

Reporting by Reuters 

Twenty-seven Palestinian detainees kidnapped by Israeli soldiers from Gaza since October have died during interrogations, Haaretz said on Thursday. 

The detainees were held at temporary prison camps at the Sde Teiman base and the Anatot detention facility.  

The causes of their deaths were not detailed by the Israeli army, according to Haaretz, the Israeli newspaper. 

However, confirmation of their deaths comes amid mounting reports of physical, psychological and sexual abuse used by Israeli soldiers and officers against Palestinian prisoners in recent weeks. 

Israeli troops have detaineed hunderds of Palestinian civilians since the ground invasion of Gaza started in late October. They include children - the youngest aged six - , the elderly - the oldest aged 82 - and many women.