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

Good morning Middle East Eye readers,

Here are the latest updates:

• An Israeli strike on a family home in Deir al-Balah killed three civilians
• The World Food Programme says Israel's military denied the entry of a food aid convoy into northern Gaza, preventing the UN agency's first attempt to deliver aid to the starving region since 20 February
• CBC News reports that the Canadian government will resume funding the Unrwa aid agency after receiving an interim report from the UN regarding the staff members Israel accused of having taken part in the 7 October attacks
• The US is urging the UN Security Council to back a resolution that calls for an immediate, but temporary ceasefire in Gaza
• UK MP Rosena Allin-Khan said Israel blocked UK-provided water filters from entering Gaza
• Hamas says Israel rejected its demands for a permanent ceasefire, but says it will continue negotiating.

Good evening readers of Middle East Eye,

Israeli forces have killed at least 97 Palestinians and wounded 123 more over the past 24 hours in 10 "massacres", according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

This brings the Palestinian death toll in nearly five months to more than 30,631, with over 72,043 wounded and at least 7,000 missing, believed to be dead and buried under rubble.

The World Health Organization (WHO) said that malnutrition in northern Gaza was "particularly extreme".

"The situation is particularly extreme in northern Gaza," said Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative for Gaza and the West Bank.

In other developments:

• The Israeli army has re-arrested 11 Palestinian children and women released in November as part of a prisoner exchange deal with Hamas, the Prisoners Affairs Commission said.
• An Israeli air strike killed 17 members of the Faqawi family in Khan Younis late on Monday, including children, according to local media.
• Dr Mohammed Qudaih, a prominent Palestinian doctor in Gaza, has spoken out against Israelis threatening to have him killed in a Telegram channel.
• The US Central Command announced that they have conducted a combined humanitarian assistance air-drop into northern Gaza with the Royal Jordanian Air Force.
• Two female staff members at the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights have been killed by Israeli bombing in the past week, the rights organisation B’Tselem announced on Tuesday. 
• In the first week of Ramadan, Israel will permit a similar number of worshippers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem as in past years.
• The United States is exploring both military and commercial avenues to transport humanitarian aid into Gaza via sea routes.

On Tuesday, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani to talk about the possibility of a ceasefire tied to the release of hostages in Gaza, according to a US statement.

The statement from the White House also mentioned that Sullivan and Al Thani committed to maintaining regular communication. 

The United States does not intend to deploy US troops to Gaza as a means to enhance aid distribution efforts, the Pentagon stated on Tuesday.

The comments diminish the prospect of a US military-operated port or another landing site for maritime aid delivery.

“At this time there are no plans to put U.S. forces on the ground in Gaza,” Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder, the Pentagon’s chief spokesperson, told a news conference.

Lebanon's caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati announced on Tuesday that indirect negotiations aimed at ceasing hostilities along the Lebanese-Israeli border are set to commence in the upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which begins next week.

In an interview with local broadcaster Al Jadeed, Mikati said that Lebanese officials are currently examining a proposal verbally put forth by US envoy Amos Hochstein.

Hochstein's visit to Beirut on Monday aimed to promote a diplomatic approach to resolving the conflicts involving the Lebanese armed group Hezbollah and Israel.

The United States is exploring both military and commercial avenues to transport humanitarian aid into Gaza via sea routes, the White House announced on Tuesday.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby explained to reporters that using maritime routes allows for a larger volume of aid to be transported, but it presents more logistical challenges.

He added that trucks are the preferred method for delivery.

On Tuesday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan warned that Israel would encounter "very serious consequences" should it prevent Palestinian Muslims from accessing sacred sites during the upcoming month of Ramadan.

"We are conveying our messages to the relevant authorities regarding the need to prevent provocations ahead of the upcoming month of Ramadan," Erdogan told a joint press conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ankara.

"The demands of radical Israeli politicians to restrict Muslims' access to the Harem al Sharif are complete nonsense. The consequences of taking such a step will undoubtedly be very grave."

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz focused on the immediate necessity of facilitating humanitarian aid delivery in a meeting on Tuesday, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said.

According to Miller, they also talked about working towards a six-week ceasefire agreement in Gaza.

He added that the hurdles to achieving a ceasefire in Gaza can be overcome, emphasising that Washington believes an agreement between Israel and Hamas is feasible.

In the first week of Ramadan, Israel will permit a similar number of worshippers to enter the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem as in past years, according to a statement from the office of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday.

The agreement to maintain the number of worshippers allowed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the first week of Ramadan was reached with senior Israeli security officials in a meeting focused on preparations for the upcoming Muslim fasting month, though a specific number was not disclosed.

"During the first week of Ramadan a similar number of worshippers will be allowed on the Temple Mount as in previous years," the statement said.

"Every week a security assessment will be conducted and a decision will be made accordingly."

A prisoner exchange would only be possible following the establishment of a ceasefire, senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Tuesday.

"We say to Washington, what is more important than sending aid (to Gaza) is stopping its supply of weapons to Israel," he told a press conference in Beirut.

This follows US President Joe Biden's comments that a potential for a ceasefire is contingent upon hostage release.

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the potential for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, contingent upon the release of Israeli hostages, depends on Hamas.

Biden told reporters that a ceasefire was crucial to facilitate the delivery of additional aid to Gaza.

"We must get more aid into Gaza," Biden told reporters.

An Israeli strike in the southern Lebanese town of Houla killed a mother, father, and their son on Tuesday, the town's mayor Shakib Koteish told Reuters.

"It was a three-floor house, now it's all the way collapsed and the rescue workers are still working to see who is left under it," he said.

No other information has been provided as of yet. 

A 16-year-old Palestinian boy has been fatally shot by Israeli forces in the town of Huwwara, south of Nablus, Wafa news agency reported, citing local sources.

Reportedly, Muhammad Hisham Shehada was shot in the head by Israeli forces, who also prevented ambulance crews from accessing the area.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that the situation in the Gaza Strip is "simply unacceptable" and that Israel must "maximise every possible means and every possible method to get aid to those who need it".

Speaking at the sixth Qatar-US Strategic Dialogue in Washington, he said the US would "press every single day" for the delivery of more aid to Gaza.

A Jewish-Palestinian social justice group is organising an aid convoy to bring humanitarian aid to Gaza. The convoy will travel from Tel Aviv, Yafa and Haifa to Karem Abu Salem (Kerem Shalom) border crossing on Thursday.

Standing Together said in a post on X that "the Israeli government does not allow sufficient basic humanitarian aid to get to the hungry millions in Gaza, and when a little aid does enter, battalions of settlers block it".

"We are not standing by anymore. This coming Thursday, we are all mobilising to demand an end to starvation in Gaza," the group added.