The investigation by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), summarized in a report seen by Reuters, said its personnel did not record any exchange of fire across the border between Israel and Lebanon for more than 40 minutes before the Israeli Merkava tank opened fire.

“The firing at civilians, in this instance clearly identifiable journalists, constitutes a violation of UNSCR 1701 (2006) and international law,” the UNIFIL report said, referring to Security Council resolution 1701.

The seven-page report dated February 27 said further: “It is assessed that there was no exchange of fire across the Blue Line at the time of the incident. The reason for the strikes on the journalists is not known.”

Under resolution 1701, adopted in 2006 to bring an end to the war between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, UN peacekeepers were deployed to monitor a ceasefire along the 120 kilometer (75 mile) demarcation line, or Blue Line, between Israel and Lebanon.

As part of their mission, UN troops record violations of the ceasefire and investigate the most egregious cases.

Besides killing Abdallah, the two tank rounds also wounded six other journalists at the scene.

Asked about the UNIFIL report, Israel Defense Forces (IDF) spokesperson Nir Dinar said Hezbollah had attacked the IDF near the Israeli community of Hanita on October 13. It responded with artillery and tank fire to remove the threat and subsequently received a report that journalists had been injured.

“The IDF deplores any injury to uninvolved parties, and does not deliberately shoot at civilians, including journalists,” Dinar said. “The IDF considers the freedom of the press to be of utmost importance while clarifying that being in a war zone is dangerous.”

He said the General Staff’s Fact Finding and Assessment Mechanism, which is responsible for reviewing exceptional events, will continue to examine the incident.

According to the IDF’s website, the fact finding team submits its reviews to the Israeli military’s legal affairs department, which decides whether a case warrants a criminal investigation.

Visuals of the incident

Reuters editor-in-chief Alessandra Galloni has called on Israel to explain how the attack that killed Abdallah, 37, could have happened and to hold those responsible to account.

The UNIFIL report was sent to the United Nations in New York on February 28 and has been shared with the Lebanese and Israeli militaries, two people familiar with the matter said.

“(The) IDF should conduct an investigation into the incident and a full review of their procedures at the time to avoid a recurrence,” the report said in its recommendations. “The IDF should share their investigation’s findings with UNIFIL.”

For its investigation, UNIFIL sent a team to visit the site on October 14, and also received contributions from the Lebanese Armed Forces and from an unnamed witness who was present on the hill when the strikes occurred, the report said.

Details of incidents in UNIFIL’s area of operations are included in regular reports by the UN Secretary-General on the implementation of Security Council resolution 1701. UNIFIL’s investigations, however, are not usually made public and Reuters was unable to determine if there would be any UN follow-up.

UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti said he was not in a position to discuss the investigation.

UNIFIL’s findings lend further support to a Reuters investigation published on December 7 that showed that seven journalists from Agence France-Presse, Al Jazeera and Reuters, were hit by two 120 mm rounds fired by a tank 1.34 km away in Israel.

The group of reporters had been filming cross-border shelling from a distance in open area on a hill near the Lebanese village of Alma al-Chaab for nearly an hour before the attack.

The day afterwards, the IDF said it already had visuals of the incident and it was being investigated. The IDF has not published a report of its findings to date.

UNIFIL said in its report that it sent a letter and a questionnaire to the IDF requesting their assistance. The IDF replied with a letter but did not answer the questionnaire.

Reuters has not seen a copy of the IDF letter, the contents of which were summarized in the UNIFIL report. – Rappler.com

The charity ship Open Arms was seen sailing out of Larnaca port in Cyprus, towing a barge containing flour, rice and protein.

The journey to Gaza takes about 15 hours but a heavy tow barge could make the trip considerably longer, possibly up to 2 days. Cyprus is just over 200 miles (320 km) north-west of Gaza.

The US military said its vessel, the General Frank S. Besson, was also en route to provide humanitarian relief to Gaza by sea. The US military also said it had parachuted more than 27,600 meals and 25,900 bottles of water into northern Gaza.

The UN estimates a quarter of the population in the pulverized enclave are at risk of starvation, and aid is barely scratching the surface of daily needs. The UN has previously accused Israel of blocking aid to Gaza.

Jordanian state media said there had been seven humanitarian air drops on Monday, with Jordan, the US, Egypt, France, and Belgium participating. Morocco was also scheduled to join the effort, Israeli media reported.

The conflict has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, with many cramped into makeshift tents with little in the way of food or basic medical supplies in the southern city of Rafah.

Palestinian media reported that seven Palestinians were killed and dozens wounded in Israeli gunfire when crowds were awaiting aid trucks at the Kuwait Square in Gaza City early on Tuesday.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres has appealed for a truce, the release of hostages and the removal of obstacles to life-saving aid. He said a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah could put the people of Gaza in “an even deeper circle of hell”.

Fighters from Hamas, which administers Gaza, killed 1,200 people in an Oct. 7 attack on Israel and took 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, an assault that sparked one of the bloodiest wars in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities, while infrastructure has been obliterated.

Hamas’ ‘Shadow Man’

Israel was checking on Monday whether it had killed Hamas’s deputy military leader in an airstrike in Gaza, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said. If confirmed, Marwan Issa will be the highest-ranking official from the Islamist militant movement killed by Israel in five months of war.

Issa, known as the ‘Shadow Man’ for his ability to stay out of sight, was one of three top Hamas leaders who planned the October 7 attack on Israel and is believed to have been directing Hamas’s military operations since then.

Speaking at a briefing with reporters, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel had bombed the Al-Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday night following intelligence about the location of Issa, second-in-command of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.

Two Hamas leaders – Issa and another commander responsible for Hamas weapons in Gaza – used the underground compound that Israeli jets struck in a joint operation with Israel’s Shin Bet security service, Hagari said.

“Beside them in the tunnel there were other terrorists,” he said, but added that it was still not clear whether Issa had been killed. A Palestinian source said the Israelis had hit a place where they thought Issa was hiding, but could give no details.

Ceasefire hopes fading

Negotiations on a ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas remain deadlocked in Cairo. Israel says any ceasefire must be temporary and that its goal remains the destruction of Hamas. Hamas says it will release hostages only as part of a deal that ends the war.

Hopes of a ceasefire for Ramadan were dashed on Monday when an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City killed 16 people and wounded several others, Palestinian health officials said.

Israel also killed two Palestinians in an airstrike on a house in the southern city of Khan Younis as residents were breaking the first day of the Ramadan fast, Gaza health officials said.

The Israeli military did not immediately comment on those incidents, but said its forces killed about 15 militants in central Gaza and that commandos targeted sites believed to be used by Hamas militants in Khan Younis.

Pro-Palestinian groups elsewhere continued to make their presence felt. Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it had launched several drones at an outpost in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Monday.

The US Central Command said early on Tuesday that Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles into the Red Sea toward merchant vessel Pinocchio, adding that there was no injuries or damage reported. – Rappler.com

If his death is confirmed, Marwan Issa will be the highest-ranking official from the Islamist militant movement killed by Israel in five months of war that has pulverized the coastal enclave and killed tens of thousands of Palestinians.

Issa, known as the ‘Shadow Man’ for his ability to stay out of sight, was one of three top Hamas leaders who planned the October 7 attack on Israel that triggered the war and who are believed to have been directing Hamas’s military operations since then.

Speaking at a briefing with reporters, IDF spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said Israel had bombed the Al-Nusseirat refugee camp in central Gaza on Saturday night following intelligence about the location of Issa, second-in-command of Hamas’s military wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades.

Two Hamas leaders – Issa and another commander responsible for Hamas weapons in Gaza – used the underground compound that Israeli jets struck in a joint operation with Israel’s Shin Bet security service, Hagari said.

“Beside them in the tunnel there were other terrorists,” he said but added that it was still not clear whether Issa had been killed.

A Palestinian source said the Israelis had hit a place where they thought Issa was hiding, but could give no details of his fate.

“There still aren’t indications with certainty,” Chili Tropper, an Israeli cabinet minister, told Israel’s Channel 13 television on Monday.

“If indeed Marwan Issa was eliminated, who in many ways is Hamas’ military chief of staff, it’s a great achievement by the IDF and Shin Bet, he said.

Fighters from Hamas, which administers Gaza, killed 1,200 people in the October 7 attack and took 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies, an assault that sparked one of the bloodiest wars in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Israel’s retaliatory military campaign on the densely populated enclave has killed more than 31,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza authorities, while infrastructure has been obliterated and hundreds of thousands are now close to famine.

Issa now on Israel’s ‘most wanted’ list

Issa is on Israel’s “most wanted” list, together with Mohammed Deif, commander of the al-Qassam Brigades, and Hamas’s Gaza leader, Yahya Sinwar.

Issa’s death, if confirmed, could also complicate efforts to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages, although Israel says talks are continuing through Egyptian and Qatari mediators.

Hamas blames Israel for refusing to give guarantees to end the war and withdraw troops. Israel wants a temporary truce to secure the release of hostages in return for letting some Palestinians prisoners go free, but has said it will not stop its war until it has defeated Hamas.

Negotiators had wanted a halt in hostilities for Ramadan, which began on Monday, but an Israeli airstrike on a house in Gaza City killed 16 people and wounded several others, Palestinian health officials said.

Israel also killed two Palestinians in an airstrike on a house in the southern city of Khan Younis as residents were breaking the first day of the Ramadan fast, Gaza health officials said.

The IDF did not immediately comment on those incidents. But it said its forces had killed about 15 militants in close combat and airstrikes in central Gaza and that commandos had targeted sites believed to be used by Hamas militants in Khan Younis.

Pro-Palestinian groups elsewhere continued to make their presence felt. Lebanon’s Hezbollah said it had launched several drones at an outpost in the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Monday, and two other incidents were reported in Red Sea waters where Yemen’s Houthis have been attacking ships.

At least one civilian has been killed and several others injured after Israel launched four strikes on eastern Lebanon’s city of Baalbek on Monday, two security sources and the Baalbek governor, Bashir Khader, told Reuters.

Israeli strikes had been mostly limited to the southern border region of Lebanon, although they have edged further north in recent weeks, a broadening of Israel’s campaign, a Lebanese security source told Reuters.

Guterres appeals for truce, hostage release, aid

The conflict has displaced most of Gaza’s 2.3 million people, with many cramped into makeshift tents with little in the way of food or basic medical supplies in the southern city of Rafah.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres appealed for a truce in Gaza, the release of hostages and the removal of obstacles to life-saving aid. He said a threatened Israeli assault on Rafah could put the people of Gaza in “an even deeper circle of hell.”

The UN estimates a quarter of the population are at risk of starvation, and is barely scratching the surface of daily needs. Aid agencies are now focusing on delivering aid by sea and through air drops. The UN has previously accused Israel of blocking aid to Gaza.

Jordanian state media said there had been seven humanitarian air drops on Monday, with Jordan, the US, Egypt, France and Belgium participating. Morocco was also scheduled to join the effort, Israeli media reported.

The US military said it had parachuted more than 27,600 meals and 25,900 bottles of water into northern Gaza.

A government source in Cyprus said a vessel carrying 200 tons of aid was scheduled to set sail on Monday. The US military said its vessel, the General Frank S. Besson, was also en route to provide humanitarian relief to Gaza by sea.

Senior Hamas official Basem Naim welcomed the aid corridor but urged the US to work to end the war. – Rappler.com

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Nearly 31,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza during the five month long war, that began after Hamas militants attacked Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people and seizing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

The Gaza health ministry does not break down the death toll between civilians and Hamas militants but has said that 72% of those killed were women and children. Hamas dismisses Israel’s toll for militants as attempts to portray “fake victories.”

Netanyahu told German media company Axel Springer, which owns Politico and Germany’s Bild newspaper and broadcaster Welt TV, that extending Israel’s offensive into Rafah in southern Gaza was key to defeating Hamas.

“We are very close to victory … Once we begin military action against the remaining terror battalions in Rafah, it is only a question of weeks” until the intensive phase of fighting is concluded, Bild newspaper quoted Netanyahu as saying.

Biden and his aides have urged Netanyahu in strong terms not to launch a major offensive in Rafah until Israel crafts a plan for mass evacuation of civilians. More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million people are sheltering in the Rafah area.

Asked by MSNBC on Saturday whether an invasion of Rafah would be a red line, Biden said: “It is a red line but I’m never going to leave Israel. The defense of Israel is still critical. So there’s no red line (in which) I’m going to cut off all weapons so they don’t have the Iron Dome to protect them.”

Politico quoted Netanyahu as saying on Sunday that Israeli forces would push into Rafah, adding: “You know, I have a red line. You know what the red line is, that October 7 doesn’t happen again. Never happens again.”

Three quarters of Hamas battalions had been destroyed and halting the offensive now would only allow them to regroup, Bild quoted Netanyahu as saying. – Rappler.com

Ursula von der Leyen’s comments came a day after President Joe Biden announced plans for the US military to build a “temporary pier” on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast, amid UN warnings of famine among the territory’s 2.3 million people.

Negotiations on a possible ceasefire in Israel’s war against Hamas, now in its fifth month, remained deadlocked in Cairo, while the UN human rights office urged Israel not to extend its military offensive into the border town of Rafah, saying this would cause a further “massive loss of life.”

EU Commission President von der Leyen said a pilot test run of food aid collected by a charity group and supported by the United Arab Emirates could be leaving Cyprus as early as Friday.

“We are launching this Cyprus maritime corridor together, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates, and the United States,” she said after visiting facilities in Larnaca, Cyprus.

“We are now very close to opening this corridor, hopefully this Saturday to Sunday and I’m very glad to see an initial pilot will be launched today.”

U.S. officials say building the pier described by Biden could take weeks. Meanwhile, hospitals in northern Gaza are already reporting children dying of malnutrition. The U.N. says opening up more land routes should remain the priority.

“No U.S. boots will be on the ground,” said Biden, who did not indicate where the planned pier might be located. Most of Gaza’s coast is beach and larger ships would be unable to approach it without dredging.

Pentagon spokesperson Air Force Major General Patrick Ryder said planning for the temporary port system was still in the early stages and would take “likely up to 60 days” to complete, involving some 1,000 troops, though none would be deployed ashore.

“It’s going to take time to build,” British foreign minister David Cameron told reporters, adding that Israel should open its port at Ashdod north of Gaza for more aid deliveries in the meantime.

Some aid agencies say discussions of elaborate air and sea routes to bring aid into Gaza are a distraction when Israel is restricting existing access routes by land.

“There’s an easier, more efficient way of bringing in assistance and that is via the road crossings that connect Israel with Gaza,” said Juliette Touma, spokesperson for UNRWA, the UN relief agency for the Palestinians.

Michael Fakhri, a UN special rapporteur on the right to food, told reporters in Geneva, it was “absurd” that Washington was discussing complicated new routes to reach a territory blockaded by its own ally.

“From a humanitarian perspective, from an international perspective, from a human rights perspective, it is absurd in a dark, cynical way,” he said.

Israel says it is not blocking aid through two checkpoints on the southern edge of Gaza, and blames U.N. and other agencies for failing to transport and deliver enough of it. Humanitarian agencies say that is nearly impossible in a war zone, and Israel is responsible for ensuring safe access.

‘Stop the killing’

Hassan Maslah, a displaced Palestinian from Khan Younis now sheltering in Rafah, said instead of promising to build a new port, Washington should stop arming Israel.

“All these American weapons are killing our kids, and killing us wherever we go. We don’t need aid from them, we need them to stop the killing, stop the death,” he said, as Gazans sifted through rubble nearby after another Israeli airstrike.

The United States and other countries have also been airdropping supplies, though the amounts involved are small.

Five Palestinians were killed and several were wounded when boxes of aid dropped by planes fell on them by mistake in northwest Gaza on Friday, said Mahmoud Basal, spokesman of the Civil Emergency Service in Gaza.

Some footage showed dozens of people running as the boxes were dropped, shouting to one another to avoid the boxes.

Separately, Palestinian health officials said eight people from one family had been killed in an Israeli air strike on their house in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip.

Ceasefire talks stalled

Time is rapidly running out for ceasefire talks to reach an agreement on a proposed six-week truce that Washington had hoped would be in place by Ramadan, expected to start on Sunday, March 10.

Egyptian security sources have said the ceasefire talks, taking place in Cairo without an Israeli delegation, would resume on Sunday, amid fears that violence could escalate across the region during the Muslim holy month.

Biden said reaching a deal by the start of Ramadan was “looking tough,” though US Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeated Washington’s assertion that an Israeli-approved ceasefire proposal is on the table, and it is now up to Hamas to accept it.

“The issue is Hamas. The issue is whether Hamas will decide or not to have a ceasefire that would benefit everyone,” Blinken said. “The ball is in their court. We’re working intensely on it, and we’ll see what they do.”

Hamas rejects this characterization of the talks as an attempt by Washington to deflect blame from Israel should the negotiations fail.

Israel has said any ceasefire must be temporary and that its goal remains the destruction of Hamas. Hamas says it will release its hostages only as part of a deal that ends the war.

The Islamist group precipitated the war by killing 1,200 people and abducted 253 in a rampage into Israel on October 7, according to Israeli tallies. In response, Israel launched a ground offensive and aerial bombardment of the densely populated Gaza Strip which, as of Friday, had killed at least 30,878 Palestinians and wounded 72,402, according to the Hamas-run enclave’s health ministry. – Rappler.com

Planning for the operation, initially based on the island of Cyprus, does not envision deployment of US military personnel in Gaza.

Biden’s announcement came as he seeks to cool anger among many in his Democratic Party over his support for Israel in its offensive in Gaza since October 7, given the steep toll on civilians in the Palestinian enclave.

Senior administration officials who had briefed reporters on the plan before the speech also said Hamas was delaying a new deal with Israel on a six-week ceasefire and the release of hostages because the Islamists who rule Gaza have not agreed to free sick and elderly captives.

The deal “is on the table now and has been for more than the past week,” said an official, referring to stalled negotiations in Egypt, adding that the temporary ceasefire was needed “to bring immediate relief to the people of Gaza.”

Hamas blamed the stalemate on Israel’s rejection of its demands to end its offensive and withdraw its forces.

Biden’s decision to order the construction of the temporary port came amid UN warnings of widespread famine among the enclave’s 2.3 million Palestinians after nearly five months of fighting between Israeli troops and Hamas.

Large swaths of Gaza have been destroyed and most of its population displaced by intense Israeli bombardments and fighting ignited by Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel.

Israel says Hamas’ incursion claimed 1,200 lives and saw the Islamists abduct 253 hostages.

In his speech, Biden said more than 30,000 Palestinians had been killed. “Most of whom are not Hamas,” he added. “Thousands and thousands are innocent women and children.”

Sea deliveries to Gaza

Biden told Congress he was directing the US military to lead an emergency mission to set up a “temporary pier” on the Gaza coast to receive ships carrying food, water, medicine and temporary shelters.

“No US boots will be on the ground,” he added.

Washington will work with European and regional partners and allies to build an international coalition of countries that would contribute capabilities and funds, the officials said.

An Israeli official said Israel “fully supports the deployment of a temporary dock” on Gaza’s coast and the operation would be carried out “with full coordination between the two parties.”

Sigrid Kaag, the UN humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, welcomed Washington joining the initiative developed by Cyprus to create a maritime corridor to deliver goods to Gaza.

“We welcome this. At the same time I cannot but repeat – air and sea is not a substitute for land and nobody says otherwise,” Kaag told reporters earlier on Thursday after briefing the UN Security Council behind closed doors.

Although Israel is increasing the number of aid-bearing trucks allowed into Gaza and the United States and other countries have been airdropping supplies, the assistance getting in it still insufficient, one of the US officials said.

“We’re not waiting for the Israelis” to let in more aid, the official added. “This is a moment for American leadership.”

The temporary port would increase humanitarian assistance to Palestinians and officials there would work with UN and humanitarian aid organizations that “understand the distribution of assistance within Gaza,” the official said.

The operation would “take a number of weeks to plan and execute”, the official said, adding that the required US forces are in the region or would soon begin moving there.

The operation would build on a Cypriot initiative that calls for gathering humanitarian aid in the island’s port city of Larnaca, 210 nautical miles from Gaza, officials have said.

That would permit Israeli officials to screen shipments before they head to Gaza.

While the temporary port will initially be military-run, Washington envisions it becoming a commercially run facility, the official said. – Rappler.com

The Houthis claimed responsibility for the attack, which set the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged ship True Confidence ablaze around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen’s port of Aden.

In an earlier message on X responding to the Houthi claim, Britain’s embassy wrote: “At least 2 innocent sailors have died. This was the sad but inevitable consequence of the Houthis recklessly firing missiles at international shipping. They must stop.”

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2 Filipinos dead in Gulf of Aden Houthi attack

The Houthis have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November in what they say is a campaign in solidarity with Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

Britain and the United States have been launching retaliatory strikes against the Houthis, and the confirmation of fatalities could lead to pressure for stronger military action.

CENTCOM said the Houthi strike also injured at least four crew members and caused “significant damage” to the ship. Earlier, a shipping source said four mariners had been severely burned and three were missing after the attack.

The Greek operators of the True Confidence said the vessel was drifting and on fire. They said no information was available about the status of the 20 crew and three armed guards on board, who included 15 Filipinos, four Vietnamese, two Sri Lankans, an Indian and a Nepali national.

A US defense official said smoke was seen coming from the True Confidence. The official, who also declined to be identified, told Reuters a lifeboat had been seen in the water near the ship.

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) agency said it had received a report of an incident 54 nautical miles southwest of Aden, which lies near the entrance to the Red Sea, adding the vessel had been abandoned by the crew and was “no longer under command.”

“Coalition forces are supporting the vessel and the crew,” UKMTO said.

Stephen Cotton, general secretary of the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF), the leading seafarers union, called for urgent action to protect its members.

“We have consistently warned the international community and the maritime industry about the escalating risks faced by seafarers in the Gulf of Aden and Red Sea. Today … we see those warnings tragically confirmed,” Cotton said.

Four days ago, the Rubymar, a UK-owned bulk carrier, became the first ship to sink as a result of a Houthi attack, after floating for two weeks with severe damage from a missile strike. All crew were safely evacuated from that vessel.

The Houthi attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to re-route to longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa. The cost of insuring a seven-day voyage through the Red Sea has risen by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

While the militia has said it would attack vessels with links to the United Kingdom, the United States and Israel, shipping industry sources say all ships could be at risk.

The True Confidence is owned by the Liberian-registered company True Confidence Shipping and operated by the Greece-based Third January Maritime, both companies said in their joint statement. They said the ship had no link to the United States. – Rappler.com

Negotiators from Hamas militants, Qatar, and Egypt – but not Israel – are trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in time for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.

Despite speculation negotiations were at an impasse, the US said on Wednesday that a truce accord was still possible.

“We continue to believe that obstacles are not insurmountable and a deal can be reached…so we’re going to continue to push for one,” US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in Washington.

But South Africa, which in January brought a case at the World Court in The Hague accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza, on Wednesday asked the court to order new emergency measures including a stop to hostilities because Palestinian civilians were facing starvation.

“The threat of all-out famine has now materialized. The court needs to act now to stop the imminent tragedy,” the South African presidency said in a statement.

The Gaza health ministry said two Palestinians, aged 15 and 72, died of dehydration and malnutrition in Al Shifa and Kamal Adwan hospitals on Wednesday, raising the toll of such deaths in just over a week to 20. Reuters could not verify the deaths.

Fears were also mounting that the Gaza conflict could spread in the Middle East, especially after a series of attacks on vessels in the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden by Iran-aligned Houthi forces acting in solidarity with the Palestinians.

In the latest strike, at least three sailors were killed in a Houthi attack on a Greek-owned freighter, US military officials said, the first deaths reported since the Yemeni group began the strikes against shipping in one of the world’s busiest sea lanes.

The US State Department said it would continue to hold the Houthis accountable for such attacks.

‘We are showing flexibility’

Hamas pledged to continue the Cairo talks, but officials in the Palestinian militant group said a ceasefire must be in place before hostages are freed, Israeli forces must leave Gaza and all Gazans must be able to return to homes they have fled.

“We are showing the required flexibility in order to reach a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people, but the occupation is still evading the entitlements of this agreement,” Hamas said in a statement.

A source had earlier said Israel was staying away from the Cairo talks because Hamas refused to provide a list of hostages who are still alive. Hamas says this is impossible without a ceasefire as hostages are scattered across the war zone.

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim said the Islamist group had presented its own draft deal and was awaiting a response from Israel, and that “the ball now is in the Americans’ court.”

US President Joe Biden on Tuesday, March 5, said ally Israel was cooperating and urged Hamas to accept the “rational offer” Israel had made.

Israeli forces, which began their offensive in Gaza after the deadly Hamas raid on Israel on Oct. 7, have continued bombarding the Palestinian enclave since the talks began in Cairo on Sunday, and the dire humanitarian situation in the densely populated coastal strip has deteriorated further.

“Every day costs us dozens of martyrs. We want a ceasefire now,” Shaban Abdel-Raouf, a Palestinian electrician and father of five from Gaza City, who is now in southern Khan Younis, told Reuters via a chat app.

Health officials in Gaza said the number of people confirmed killed in Israel’s offensive had now passed 30,700. It reported 86 deaths in the past 24 hours and witnesses said the Israeli bombardments continued in Khan Younis, the southern city of Rafah and areas in central Gaza.

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Need for ‘dramatically more’ aid

The US and Britain on Wednesday reiterated calls for increased aid to Gaza. Washington has pressed Israel to open another border cross in north Gaza to get more aid there.

About 250 aid trucks entered Gaza on Tuesday, the US and Israel said. Miller added, “We need to see dramatically more go in.”

But Israeli government spokesperson Eylon Levy insisted Israel was not imposing any restrictions on aid and was facilitating increased shipments of food, medicine and other supplies, blaming problems on poor UN distribution in Gaza.

“We’re working with the private sector, working with airdrops as well,” Levy said. “Send the aid, we’ll get it in.”

The Biden administration faced growing calls from fellow Democrats to increase pressure on Israel to ease the humanitarian crisis, with some saying they may try to stop military assistance if conditions for civilians do not improve.

The deal presented to Hamas for Gaza would free some of the hostages it still holds following the October 7 attack, in which Israel said 1,200 people were killed and 253 abducted. Palestinian prisoners held in Israel would also be released. – Rappler.com

The third revision of the text – first proposed by the US two weeks ago – now reflects blunt remarks by Vice President Kamala Harris. The initial US draft had shown support for “a temporary ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war.

The US wants any Security Council support for a ceasefire to be linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza. Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies.

Washington had been averse to the word ceasefire.

It has vetoed three draft council resolutions – two of which would have demanded an immediate ceasefire – during the five-month-long war. Most recently, the US justified its veto by saying that such council action could jeopardize efforts by the US, Egypt, and Qatar to broker a pause in the war and the release of hostages.

US President Joe Biden said on Tuesday it was in the hands of Hamas whether to accept a deal for a ceasefire as delegations held a third day of talks with no sign of a breakthrough.

The US traditionally shields Israel at the United Nations, but it has also abstained twice, allowing the council to adopt resolutions that aimed to boost aid to Gaza and called for extended pauses in fighting.

In retaliation for the October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel launched a military assault on Hamas in Gaza that health authorities say has killed more than 30,000 Palestinians with thousands more bodies feared lost amid the ruins.

Washington has been stepping up pressure on its ally Israel to do more to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the UN has warned that a quarter of the 2.3 million people in the enclave are on the brink of famine.

The United States has said it plans to allow time for negotiations on its draft and will not rush to a vote. To pass, a resolution needs at least nine votes in favor and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, Russia, or China. – Rappler.com

Senior Hamas official Bassem Naim told Reuters the militant group had presented its proposal for a ceasefire agreement to the mediators during two days of talks, and was now waiting for a response from the Israelis, who stayed away from this round.

“(Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu doesn’t want to reach an agreement and the ball now is in the Americans’ court” to press him for a deal, Naim said.

Israel has declined to comment publicly on the talks in Cairo.

A source told Reuters earlier that Israel was staying away because Hamas had rejected its demand to furnish a list of all hostages who are still alive. Naim said this was impossible without a ceasefire first as hostages were scattered across the war zone and held by separate groups.

The Cairo talks had been billed as a final hurdle to reach the war’s first extended ceasefire – a 40-day truce during which dozens of hostages would be freed and aid would be pumped into Gaza to stave off a manmade famine, ahead of Ramadan, which is due to begin at the start of next week.

Egyptian security sources said on Monday they were still in touch with the Israelis to allow the negotiations to continue without an Israeli delegation present.

Washington, which is both Israel’s closest ally and a sponsor of the ceasefire talks, has said an Israeli-approved deal is already on the table and it is up to Hamas to accept it. Hamas disputes this account as an attempt to deflect blame from Israel if the talks collapse with no deal.

The United States has also called on Israel to do more to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, where more than 30,000 people have been killed by Israel’s assault, launched after Hamas attacks that killed 1,200 people in October.

Hunger stalks Gaza

Famine is now gripping the besieged Gaza Strip as aid supplies, already sharply curtailed since the start of the war, have dwindled to barely a trickle over the past month. Whole swathes of the territory are completely cut off from food. Gaza’s few functioning hospitals, already overwhelmed by the wounded, are now filling with children starving to death.

Ahmed Cannan, a toddler with sunken eyes and an emaciated face, lay on a bed at Al-Awda clinic in Rafah, wrapped in a yellow cardigan. He had lost half his weight since the start of the war and now weighs just 6 kg (13 pounds).

“His situation worsens each day. God protect us from what is coming,” his aunt, Israa Kalakh, told Reuters.

Nurse Diaa Al-Shaer said such emaciated children were now pouring into the clinic in unprecedented numbers: “We will face a large number of patients who suffer from this, which is malnutrition,” she said.

The situation is worst in the north of Gaza, beyond the reach of aid agencies or news cameras. Gaza health authorities say 15 children hav`e died of malnutrition or dehydration at one hospital.

Israel says it is willing to allow in more aid to Gaza through the two checkpoints on the southern edge of the territory it has permitted to open, and blames UN and other aid agencies for failing to distribute it more widely.

The aid agencies say this has become impossible with a breakdown of law and order, and it is up to Israel, whose troops have stormed Gaza’s towns and patrol them, to provide access and security for food distribution.

“The sense of helplessness and despair among parents and doctors in realising that lifesaving aid, just a few kilometres away, is being kept out of reach, must be unbearable,” said Adele Khodr, UNICEF regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. – Rappler.com