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

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to address the press later this afternoon.

The address will be focused on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
 

The UN agency Unrwa said on Wednesday that at least one of its staff members has been killed and another 22 have been wounded after Israeli forces hit a food distribution centre in the eastern part of Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip.

“Today’s attack on one of the very few remaining Unrwa distribution centres in the Gaza Strip comes as food supplies are running out, hunger is widespread and, in some areas, turning into famine,” said Unrwa commissioner general Philippe Lazzarini. 
 

The Israeli parliament announced on Wednesday that it has given its final approval to an amended state budget for the year, in order to continue funding the war on Gaza. 

The newly amended budget adds tens of billions of extra shekels to spending on defence and compensation to households and businesses affected by the 7 October attack. 

The decision came after two days of intense debate in parliament.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party welcomed the vote, adding that it will “guarantee the continuation of the war until complete victory”.

The British defence secretary, Grant Shapps, has said that he has decided to put a stop to Britain’s humanitarian air drops on Gaza, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The report added that the decision was over his concern for harm to civilians. 

The decision comes after five Palestinians were killed by failed air drops last week, while videos showed children scrambling to get aid dropped from high altitudes in areas that could pose danger to their lives. 

Earlier today, an Al Jazeera journalist reported that some aid was dropped above a hospital, destroying its solar panels.

Aid dropped from the air on Gaza has destroyed solar panels on the Baptist hospital in Gaza, Anas al-Sharif, a journalist on the ground, said on Wednesday.

Last week, air-dropped aid on Gaza killed five people after a parachute failed. 

The incident caused a pallet to come crashing down into a crowd of people waiting for food in north Gaza, close to al-Shati refugee camp. 

Israeli forces have bombed a civilian car in Rafah, local Palestinian media announced on Wednesday.

According to reports, the bomb struck northern Rafah and killed two civilians. 
 

Israeli forces have shot dead three Palestinians in two separate attacks in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, Reuters reported. 

The shootings bring the total number of Palestinians killed within hours to six. 
 

South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor announced on Wednesday that Israeli army soldiers holding South African citizenship will be arrested upon entering the country.

According to Haaretz, the comments were made during a conference on South Africa's solidarity with the Palestinians.

 "I have already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and who are fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defence Force. We are ready. When you come home, We're going to arrest you," she said. 
 

SBS News reports that the Australian government retracted a series of visitor visas from families who left Gaza as they were boarding their flights.

Advocacy group Palestine Australia Relief and Action (PARA) expressed its concern over the move as it tries to bring Palestinian families from Gaza to Australia through Egypt.

“This whole uncertainty and not knowing what's going on is causing significant distress and significant concern amongst the community and the family members in [Australia],” PARA co-founder Rasha Abbas told SBS News.

“We're really asking the government to show some compassion towards the Australian family members and their family members who've left the horrors of Gaza.”

PARA identified several cases where individuals were given their visas, went through the Rafah crossing and boarded their flights to Egypt, before being notified while transiting between flights that their visas had been cancelled.

The UK government will only decide whether to resume funding to Unrwa after it receives interim reports of two investigations looking into Israeli allegations against the agency.

Foreign Office minister Andrew Mitchell told MPs on Tuesday that the next British payment to the largest organisation operating in Gaza was not due until April.

Meanwhile, he said, enough funds had come forward to "ensure that adequate supplies are available", and that the UK, the US, Germany, Australia, Italy, Finland, the Netherlands and Switzerland would await the interim reports.

"The view we take is that when we have seen those, we very much hope we will have the reassurance to recommence funding," Mitchell said. "We are very much trying to resolve this matter as speedily as we can."

The decision of the UK and the seven others stands in contrast to the EU, Sweden and Canada, which have proceeded with or resumed funding to Unrwa this month.

READ MORE: UK awaits Unrwa investigation reports before deciding on funding

Salama Maarouf, the head of the Gaza government's media office, said in a statement that aid shipments from Cyprus prove that efforts to support Palestinians in Gaza are "weak, and that they remain below the minimum required in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe that is afflicting our people."

The media office focused particularly on the plight of Palestinians in the northern half of the Gaza Strip, where it said that more than 700,000 people are "suffering from a clear war of starvation".

"According to what was announced, the ship’s load does not exceed the load of one or two trucks, and it will take days [to arrive]," the statement read. "It is not yet known where it will dock and how it will reach the Gaza coast, and in addition to that it will be subject to inspection by the occupation army."

Maarouf called for aid convoys to be brought in by land through the known crossings of Rafah or Kerem Shalom, and proposed the activation of the Mintar/Karni, Shujaiya and Beit Hanoun crossings.

"The international community must act urgently, before it is too late, to save those who are dying of hunger," the statement said.

Al Jazeera reports that an Israeli air strike targeting an Unrwa aid distribution centre in Rafah, southern Gaza Strip killed four people.

Israel's far-right national security minister, Itamar Ben Gvir, headed to the country's Department of Internal Police Investigations (DIPI) to express his support for the police officer accused of shooting and killing a Palestinian teenager during clashes in East Jerusalem last night.

The police claimed that Rami Hamdan al-Halhouli shot fireworks "directly" at security forces in the area, but video footage shows him shooting in the air.

Ben Gvir lambasted the DIPI's questioning of the officer.

“It is outrageous to me that the Department of Internal Police Investigations even dared to invite the fighter here for questioning, it is shameful and disgraceful,” he said, accompanied by the officer's lawyers.

He added that he has previously reinstated police officers suspended by the DIPI, and that he will give his support to the questioned officer, claiming he and his colleagues were “doing exceptional work”.

In response, Israeli Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara ordered Ben Gvir to cease his involvement in the case, warning that his actions constitute “illegal interference”.

The number of Palestinians killed by Israel's war on Gaza has risen to 31,272, according to Gaza's health ministry.

Additionally, 73,024 people have been wounded.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant reportedly proposed Majed Faraj, the head of the Palestinian Authority's intelligence apparatus, as a potential candidate to temporarily manage the Gaza Strip.

Faraj, a close associate of the PA's President Mahmoud Abbas, has a close working relationship with Israel. He is also in charge of coordinating with Israel's Shin Bet security agency, the CIA, as well as other international intelligence bodies.

He is also considered to be one of the PA figures who could replace Abbas as Palestinian president.

According to Israel's public broadcaster, Kan, Gallant's proposal came in closed-door meetings amid fears that Hamas is regaining a foothold in the Gaza Strip by reportedly taking control of the humanitarian aid entering the enclave.

Al Jazeera, quoting Israeli media, said that Faraj already started working on building an armed force in the south of the Gaza Strip, comprised of families that do not endorse Hamas. The unit will allegedly be tasked with managing aid deliveries from the south to the north of Gaza.