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

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, is due to travel to Cyprus later this week, as the bloc works towards establishing a possible humanitarian corridor in support of people in Gaza, Reuters reported on Wednesday. 

Her spokesperson said that it would be via the Mediterranean island.

"Our efforts are focused on making sure that we can provide aid to Palestinians," the spokesperson said during a briefing with journalists, adding: "We all hope that this opening [of the corridor] will take place very soon."
 

The director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that children in Gaza who have survived Israeli bombing may not now survive famine. 

In a post on X, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for more aid into Gaza and an immediate ceasefire, and shared a video detailing the situation in the Strip. 

A 64-year-old man was stabbed in northeastern Jerusalem on Wednesday, the Times of Israel reports.

The assailant seems to have fled the scene. Israeli police have launched an investigation.

An Israeli state inquiry found that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was personally responsible for the April 2021 Mount Meron crowd crush, in which 45 Jewish pilgrims were killed.

While the commission did not sanction Netanyahu, internal pressure from political rivals increased as the findings say there was "reasonable basis" to conclude the PM knew the site was dangerous.

“The report published today shows that the disaster could have been prevented. The writing was on the wall. It indicates criminal negligence, arrogance and disconnection, it indicates complete irresponsibility,” opposition leader Yair Lapid told reporters. “If Netanyahu were an ordinary citizen, he would stand trial today for causing death by negligence and go to prison.”

Lapid repeated his calls for Netanyahu to resign.

War cabinet minister Benny Gantz welcomed the findings of the commission, while other opposition parliamentarians said Netanyahu was responsible for the crush just as they find him responsible for the 7 October Hamas-led attack.

Palestine's foreign ministry condemned Israel's "genocidal war" in Gaza, particularly focusing on the struggles faced by over 500,000 Palestinians in the northern half of the enclave.

"The occupation is attempting to depopulate the northern Gaza Strip through escalating bombardment, deepening famine, and creating strife and chaos," the ministry said in a statement.

Al Jazeera reports that Israeli forces fired at Palestinians near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint in the centre of the Gaza Strip, killing seven people and injuring 10.

The UK’s secretary of state for science, innovation and technology, Michelle Donelan, has been forced to apologise and pay damages after she accused academics of “sharing extremist views” and supporting Hamas. 

Donelan published a letter to UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) urging them to cut links with academics Kate Sang and Kamna Patel, citing her “disgust and outrage” at their appointment to an expert advisory group on equality, diversity and inclusion. 

Donelan’s letter referenced Sang reposting an article from The Guardian in October, which was headlined “Suella Braverman urges police to crack down on Hamas support in UK”.

Sang reposted the article with the comment: “This is disturbing.”

The organisation, which is responsible for channelling £3bn in higher education research funding, suspended both academics while carrying out investigations into allegations.

READ MORE: UK minister pays damages after accusing academics of supporting Hamas

The Palestinian health ministry said that the death toll from malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza has risen to 18.

“The famine is deepening and will claim thousands of lives if the aggression is not halted and humanitarian and medical aid is not immediately brought in,” their statement read.

The ministry accused Israel of "deliberately" starving thousands of people in northern Gaza and urged the international community and the UN to stop the war and avoid a "health catastrophe."

Israeli government ministers announced that a planning body advanced permits for 3,500 new West Bank settlement homes near Jerusalem.

The Higher Planning Committee of the Civil Administration, which oversees the construction of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, has reportedly not met since June due to the war in Gaza. The council is headed by far-right Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

Smotrich said that 18,515 West Bank settlement homes were approved of over the past year, a record number.

Israeli settlements in the West Bank are considered illegal under international law, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken recently expressing his disapproval of them.

The life of Shaima al-Sawaf was turned upside down in an instant.

The 38-year-old, who has lived in Jordan since her marriage in 2013, lost 50 members of her family after an Israeli missile weighing hundreds of kilograms struck their home in Gaza.

Among those killed were:

• Her father, Mustafa

• Her mother, Maha

• Her brothers, Mahmoud, Montaser, Marwan, and Ahmed

• Her nieces and nephews, Bara’, Maha, Karam, Shahd, and Omar

• Her sister-in-law, Zein.

READ MORE: One woman mourns the loss of 50 family members in Israeli strikes

In a joint statement, Australia and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or ASEAN, called for “an immediate and durable humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza.

“We condemn attacks against all civilians and civilian infrastructure, leading to further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza including restricted access to food, water, and other basic needs,” the statement read.

The statement comes after days of arguing over the language to be used in the text during the three-day summit in Melbourne.

Most notably, Singapore, a state that enjoys close ties to Israel, stood against an earlier suggestion that would have the statement condemn "the use of starvation" in Gaza.

Israel's National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir slammed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's decision to permit a similar number of worshippers into Jerusalem's Al Aqsa Mosque as it has in previous years in the first week of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

According to Ben Gvir, the decision "shows that Prime Minister Netanyahu and the small cabinet think that nothing happened on 7 October.

"This decision endangers the citizens of Israel and may allow an image of victory for Hamas," he added.

Netanyahu said the decision will apply for the first week of Ramadan, with a security review to be conducted every week.

While US president Joe Biden easily won the Minnesota Democratic primary on Tuesday, the surprise weight of the "uncommitted" protest vote over Biden's strong support for Israel was shown as almost 20 percent of Democratic voters chose this option, or over 45,000 votes.

The voters endorsing this choice included Muslim Americans, students, suburban women and liberal Jewish activists according to Edison Research.

This follows the Michigan primary last week, where over 100,000 Democratic voters chose "uncommitted" on their ballot, or 13 percent of the vote.

British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said he would tell Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz that the UK's patience has "run very thin" over the lack of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza in their expected meeting on Wednesday night.

Speaking during a parliamentary foreign affairs debate, Cameron said a “whole series of warnings need to be given [to Israel], starting with the meeting I have with minister Gantz when he visits the UK tomorrow."

The Chilean government announced that Israeli firms will be banned from the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE) in Santiago in April.

“By decision of the Government of Chile, the 2024 version of the International Air and Space Fair (FIDAE), to be held between 9 and 14 April, will not have the participation of Israeli companies,” the defence ministry said in a statement.

While the government does not specify a reason, Chile's leftist president Gabriel Boric has been critical of Israel's "disproportionate" response in Gaza following the Hamas-led 7 October attack. The country also hosts the largest Palestinian diaspora outside of the Middle East.