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

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.

More than 70 percent of the victims are women and children, according to health officials.

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 on Tuesday.

The arrests were made across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Israeli air strikes hit the Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Tuesday, in what local media described as heavy bombardment. 

Initial reports say several people were killed and wounded.

If hungry people in Ukraine had been shot at and killed while queuing for food, the West would have rightly called it a war crime.

Likewise, if troops opened fire in Syria, the US and UK would rightly condemn it as another atrocity committed in this context.

However, when people are queuing for food in Gaza - where the UN has warned of the worst famine it has ever recorded - the US instead noted it would "complicate peace talks".

Early on 29 March, starving Palestinians were queueing for long-awaited deliveries of food in Gaza City’s al-Rasheed Street when Israeli forces opened fire on them. According to Gaza health officials, a minimum of 112 people were killed and 280 injured, the majority of whom appear to have been shot.

Fares Afana, head of the ambulance service at Gaza's Kamal Adwan Hospital, said medics found “dozens or hundreds” of bodies lying on the ground once they reached the scene. He said some wounded had to be carried to hospitals on donkey carts as there were not enough ambulances to take all the dead and wounded.

There are counterclaims that only a small group were fired upon and the majority were killed in the crush from the resulting panic - caused by the shooting. Either way, people would not have died if desperately hungry people had not been fired upon while queuing for food.

Read more: For humanity's sake, Israel's slaughter of those queuing for food must be punished by Othman Moqbel

An Israeli air strike killed 17 members of the Faqawi family in Khan Younis late on Monday, including children, according to local media.

The European Hospital in Khan Younis has received 25 people killed over the past day, Al Jazeera reported on Tuesday. 

One of two anti-ship ballistic missiles fired by Yemen's Houthis at the container vessel M/V MSC SKY II in the Gulf of Aden hit the ship and caused "damage", the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Tuesday.

Initial reports indicated no injuries and the Liberian-flagged, Swiss-owned container vessel did not request assistance and continued on its way, CENTCOM said in a statement.

A military spokesperson for the Houthis said on Monday that they targeted the "Israeli vessel" with "a number of suitable naval missiles". Houthis are targeting Red Sea shipping lanes in support of Palestinians in the Israeli war on Gaza.

The US military said that Houthis also launched an anti-ship ballistic missile from Yemen into the southern Red Sea, however it impacted the water with no damage or injuries to commercial or US Navy ships.

CENTCOM forces conducted strikes against two anti-ship cruise missiles that presented "an imminent threat" to merchant vessels and US Navy ships in the region, the statement added.

Good morning Middle East Eye readers, 

It's just after 8:00 am (6:00 GMT) in Palestine and Israel. Here are the latest developments on day 151 of Israel's war on Gaza: 

• Israeli jets pounded the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday morning with several air strikes, killing at least eight Palestinians, according to local media.

• Israeli forces opened fire again at crowds gathered in Gaza City to receive aid trucks late on Monday. According to Al Jazeera, several people were wounded.

• An elderly Palestinian man, identified as Abdel Rahman al-Dahdouh, died from malnutrition in Gaza City.

• In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces re-arrested Hanan Barghouti, a 59-year-old mother released in the November prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas, Wafa news agency reported.

• A group of lawyers have referred Australia's Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to the ICC, accusing him of complicity in the alleged genocide in Gaza.

Good evening Middle East Eye readers,

Israeli forces have killed at least 124 Palestinians and wounded 210 more over the past 24 hours in 13 "massacres", according to the Palestinian health ministry. 

This brings the Palestinian death toll in nearly five months to more than 30,534, with over 71,920 wounded and at least 7,000 missing, who are believed to be dead and buried under rubble. 

Israel destroyed 155 medical facilities in 150 days, the Palestinian health ministry said.

In other developments:

• The Israeli war on Gaza is a "powder keg" with the potential to spark broader conflict in the Middle East, UN human rights chief Volker Turk said on Monday.
• Israeli forces detained dozens of Palestinians from a residential complex in Khan Younis, according to local media. 
• Yazan al-Kafarna, a 10-year-old with cerebral palsy, dies of malnutrition in southern Gaza's Rafah.
• Israel's military spokesperson said that the United Nation's relief agency, Unrwa, in Gaza, has over 450 "military operatives" from Hamas and other armed groups on its payroll.
• The US backs a United Nations investigation into an incident involving aid delivery in Gaza last week that resulted in the deaths of dozens of individuals.
• The White House emphasised the necessity of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza to facilitate a hostage agreement and urged Hamas to agree to the existing terms.

During a meeting with Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz on Monday, US Vice President Kamala Harris pressed Israel for further actions to enhance the flow of aid to Gaza and emphasised the need for a "credible" humanitarian strategy prior to any military operation at Rafah, according to the White House.

"The Vice President and Minister Gantz discussed the situation in Rafah and the need for a credible and implementable humanitarian plan prior to contemplating any major military operation there given the risks to civilians," the White House said in a statement about the meeting.

"She urged Israel to take additional measures in cooperation with the United States and international partners to increase the flow of humanitarian assistance into Gaza and ensure its safe distribution to those in need," it said.

The leader of the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (Unrwa) cautioned on Monday that “without additional funding we will be in uncharted territory with serious implications for global peace and security.”

“We are functioning hand to mouth,” Philippe Lazzarini told the 193-member UN General Assembly.

The United States, as the primary contributor to Unrwa, along with other nations, suspended their financial support following allegations by Israel that 12 Unrwa employees participated in the Hamas-initiated assault on 7 October.

An unpublished investigation conducted by the United Nations’ agency for Palestinian matters has accused Israel of mistreating hundreds of Gazans detained during the war since 7 October, a report obtained by The New York Times revealed.

The report, prepared by Unrwa (the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East) claims that hundreds of Gazans were improperly detained by Israel during the conflict.

The report accuses Israel of holding the detainees, including at least 1,000 civilians who were later released without any charges, at three military locations within Israel, the Times reported.

The report said that the detainees encompassed both genders, with ages varying from 6 to 82 years. According to the report, some individuals died while in custody.

The draft document describes “a range of ill-treatment that Gazans of all ages, abilities and backgrounds have reported facing in makeshift detention facilities in Israel.”Such treatment, the report concluded, “was used to extract information or confessions, to intimidate and humiliate, and to punish.”

The White House emphasised the necessity of a temporary ceasefire in Gaza to facilitate a hostage agreement and urged Hamas to agree to the existing terms.

This call was made as negotiations for establishing a truce continued in Cairo on Monday. 

John Kirby, the national security spokesperson for the White House, told journalists that the US remains hopeful of finalising a deal to exchange a ceasefire for hostages before the beginning of Ramadan on 10 March.

Kirby added that Hamas has not yet accepted the terms of a suggested ceasefire agreement, which would involve a six-week ceasefire in return for releasing some hostages who are sick, elderly, and wounded. 

He also said that the US plans to increase humanitarian aid deliveries to Gaza through airdrops and is considering a maritime approach to transport additional assistance. He noted that the delivery of aid by trucks has faced delays due to resistance from certain members of Israel's cabinet.

"Israel bears a responsibility here to do more," he said.

The United States backs a United Nations investigation into an incident involving aid delivery in Gaza last week that resulted in the deaths of dozens of individuals, the State Department announced on Monday.

Health officials in Gaza reported that over 100 Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces on Thursday while awaiting an aid delivery.

Israel attributed the fatalities to the crowds that encircled the aid trucks, stating that the victims were either trampled or run over. Mohammed Salha, the acting director of Al-Awda Hospital, told the Associated Press that 80 percent of the wounded brought to the hospital suffered from gunshot wounds.

On Monday, Israel's military spokesperson said that the United Nation's relief agency, Unrwa, in Gaza, has over 450 "military operatives" from Hamas and other armed groups on its payroll.

"Over 450 Unrwa employees are military operatives in terror groups in Gaza. Over 450. This is no mere coincidence. This is systematic," said military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari in a briefing to reporters. 

He added that this information was already shared with the US.

"We sent the information that I am sharing now, as well as further intelligence, to our international partners, including the UN," he said. 

On Monday, Yahya Sarea, a military spokesperson for the Houthi faction, announced that the Iran-aligned group had launched an attack on the "Israeli ship MSC SKY" in the Arabian Sea.

"The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces carried out a targeting operation against an Israeli ship MSC SKY in the Arabian Sea with a number of suitable naval missiles, and the hit was accurate and direct," Sarea said in a televised speech.

Since mid-November, Houthi militants have consistently targeted international commercial ships with drones and missiles, claiming their actions are in support of Palestinians and against the military operations of Israel in Gaza.

Sarea mentioned that the event occurred just hours following another assault by Yemen's Houthis, during which they aimed at several US naval vessels in the Red Sea.

"Through these two operations, (we) confirm our ability to target warships and non-warships simultaneously," Sarea said, vowing to continue the attacks on ships passing Yemen until Israel's offensive against Gaza was halted.