After more than five months of war in Gaza, aid agencies have warned that the area’s population of 2.3 million face a growing risk of famine unless food supplies are stepped up sharply and they have accused Israel of not doing enough to ensure sufficient aid gets through.

Israel says it has placed no limits on the amount of aid that it will allow in to Gaza, and blames failures by the aid agencies for delays but it has faced mounting demands even from its closest allies to do more.

“We are trying to flood the area, to flood it with humanitarian aid,” military spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari told a group of foreign reporters.

Earlier on Wednesday, the military announced that six aid trucks with supplies from the World Food Organization had entered the northern part of the Gaza Strip, where the hunger crisis has been especially acute, through a crossing in the security fence known as the 96th gate.

More such convoys would follow as well as deliveries from other entry points, complemented by air drops and seaborne aid cargoes, Hagari said.

“We are learning and improving and doing different changes so as not to create a routine but to create a diversity of ways that we can enter,” he said.

Hagari acknowledged, however, that getting supplies into the enclave was only one part of the problem and more needed to be done to solve the problem of how to distribute it fairly and efficiently to desperately needy people.

“The problem inside Gaza is the distribution problem,” he said.

The challenges in delivering and distributing aid safely were given stark illustration earlier this month when a convoy of aid trucks was surrounded by thousands of people trying to get supplies and troops opened fire.

Scores of people were killed in the incident although there were sharply differing accounts from Palestinian health authorities, which said most of those killed were shot dead and Israel saying most were trampled to death or run over by trucks in the panic.

Most aid that comes into Gaza is cleared by Israel at Kerem Shalom, a customs station at the border point between Egypt, Israel and Gaza and then brought in through the southern city of Rafah, the main passenger crossing point between Egypt and Gaza.

But as aid agencies have struggled to distribute aid, that has become increasingly problematic and there have been growing demands from world powers including the United States and the European Union for more crossing points to be opened up.

The United States has already conducted emergency air drops of food into Gaza and is working on opening up a maritime corridor into the enclave.

A ship carrying aid is currently approaching Gaza in a pilot trial of maritime delivery, that is expected to be followed up by a US military effort to set up a dock on Gaza’s coast that will enable distribution of up to two million meals a day. – Rappler.com

The Yemeni Houthi group launched a missile on bulk carrier True Confidence on March 6, which led to the deaths of two overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and the serious injuries of another two. There were 15 Filipino seafarers aboard True Confidence.

Upon arrival in Manila on Tuesday from Djibouti, the Filipinos reunited with their families, escorted by various government agencies.

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Speaking on behalf of the crew, 2nd officer Mark Anthony Dagohoy told reporters it was difficult to recall the details of the incident which led to their vessel becoming engulfed in flames.

Dagohoy said the crew was aware that they were headed to a high-risk area, and they were trained to face precarious situations. While he felt anxious, he said he pushed through because of strength from his family and faith.

“Sa ngayon… ayaw ko [na bumalik]. Pero ang seafarer ay malaking parte ng trade…. ‘Yun lang kasi talaga ang way na dadaanan doon, wala naman po ibang dadaanan. So alam naman po namin yung pinasok namin ng mga kasamahan ko rin po,” he said.

(As of the moment, I don’t want to go back. But seafarers are a big part of trade, and sometimes that is the only route. We know the risks we are taking.)

Dagohoy said they felt “okay” following the attack since there was support from their families, the government, and their manning agency. He also said he was close to the two crew members who died.

“Nalulungkot po talaga [kami] ng grabe. Kasi nakakasama namin ‘yung mga ‘yun doon… mga salo-salo. Tapos biglang ganon ang pangyayari. Napakasakit po sa amin, lalo na po sa pamilya,” he said.

(We are devastated. Because we bonded with them over meals, and then things turned out that way. It really hurts for us, especially for the families.)

As of Tuesday evening, recovery operations were still underway to retrieve the remains of the three workers, including the two Filipinos, who died in the attack.

The two Filipinos hospitalized in Djibouti – one with severe burns, and another who had to have his leg amputated – are set to arrive in the Philippines via air ambulance when they are cleared for discharge.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Israeli embassy in Manila expressed condolences to the Philippines and families of the fallen OFWs.

“The attacks by the Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean violate the freedom of navigation, threaten the welfare of seafarers, and impact the shipment sector, supply chains, and prices of oil,” the embassy said.

The Houthis claim to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinian people, who have faced increased assaults from Israel, particularly in besieged enclave Gaza.

Not about the money

The International Bargaining Forum classifies the Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen as a warlike and high-risk area. Seafarers who know they are headed for this area have the right to refuse an assignment. If they do decide to go ahead, they are entitled to bonuses, and double compensation in the event of disability and death.

As seen in previous crises, such as the repatriations of OFWs in Israel following the breakout of the war between Israel and Hamas, some workers were still willing to go back to work after enduring war trauma for the sake of earning for their families.

Could this possibly entice OFWs to take the risk of going into warlike areas, if it means a bonus? The Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) so far is not so worried.

“We don’t see it as enticement in a way that people will put themselves in danger, but rather, there will be a seafarer who will say, ‘I’m willing to come on board, I think my ship owner can provide adequate protection, I have been with my ship owner for 10, 15 years,’ so there is a level of loyalty with the ship owner, but, ‘I have to be adequately compensated for taking a risk together with my ship owner,'” said DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Cacdac.

Cacdac said that it was no different from hazard pay.

The DMW did not have specific data yet on how many Filipino seafarers were now refusing work in the high-risk areas, but the Department of Foreign Affairs noted how this was the first reported instance of Filipino casualties in the “practically daily” Houthi attacks in the region.

“That means the manning agencies are following or have option to refuse Filipinos on board,” said Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega in the earlier briefing.

Philippine authorities also mentioned how ships can divert routes instead of going through the high-risk areas, such as through the Cape of Good Hope near South Africa. While it takes more time than going through the Suez Canal, “safety is paramount,” De Vega said. – Rappler.com

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Houthis will only release 17 OFW hostages if war in Gaza ends – DFA

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

“We’re still working with friendly governments to see if they could be released, but the Houthis are consistent in their statement that it would need an end to the war in Gaza before they will release the ship or the seafarers,” Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega said in a Malacañang press briefing on Tuesday.

More than 100 days since their ship was captured by the Houthis, the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) remain on board in Al Hudaydah, off the coast of Yemen. They are “safe” and able to contact their families, according to De Vega.

The Filipinos are only one group of nationals that were taken hostage aboard the Galaxy Leader, along with Romanians, Bulgarians, Mexicans, and Ukrainians.

Philippine envoys are in touch with their counterparts in working together for their release but De Vega said that “there simply seems to be no solution other than what they demand.”

“At the very least, one thing we’re always in touch with the Houthis about is to ensure that they are treated well and they are able to contact their families. There was a time they could not, but now they are able to contact their families again,” he said.

De Vega wished to remind the families of the 17 seafarers that they “have not been forgotten.”

Meanwhile, recovery operations are still underway to retrieve the remains of the two OFWs that died in a Houthi attack on the True Confidence bulk carrier in the Gulf of Aden on March 6.

Eleven of the surviving Filipinos are set to arrive in Manila on Tuesday evening. Two remain hospitalized in Djibouti – one suffered severe burns, while the other needed his leg amputated. These two are set to return to the Philippines via air ambulance in the coming days, the DFA said.

While Houthi attacks occur on ships in the area “practically daily” De Vega said, this is the first time Filipino casualties were reported. Philippine authorities believe that more Filipino seafarers are refusing voyages in “war-like and high-risk” areas.

The Houthis claim to be acting in solidarity with the Palestinian people, who have faced increased assaults from Israel, particularly in besieged enclave Gaza.

The following are the war-like and high-risk areas the DFA recognizes: the Yemeni coast, southern section of the Red Sea, Gulf of Guinea, Sea of Azov, Strait of Kerch, the Black Sea, and all ports in Ukraine. – 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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Oppenheimer takes home seven awards out of 13 nominations including Best Picture at the 96th Academy Awards on Sunday, March 10. — 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

“We in the Department of Migrant Workers sincerely extend our deepest condolences to the family and kin of our slain, heroic seafarers,” the DMW said, withholding the seafarers’ names.

There were 15 Filipinos onboard True Confidence. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said in a separate statement that the remaining 13 had been brought by the Indian Navy to Djibouti, where three of them were hospitalized due to “serious injuries.” They are in stable condition.

The DMW reported that the remaining 10 Filipinos were “safe and secure” in a hotel in Djibouti City, where they spoke to Philippine officials via video call.

Senior DMW officials also met with the families of the two Filipinos who died in the attack.

On board, there were also four Vietnamese, two Sri Lankans, an Indian, and a Nepali.

A Reuters report, citing the US Central Command (CENTCOM), said a total of three seafarers died.

The DMW vowed full support and assistance to the remaining Filipino crew, including their repatriation.

The attack on the Greek-owned, Barbados-flagged civilian bulk carrier True Confidence led to the deaths of at least three seafarers, according to earlier reports.

True Confidence was on fire and drifting around 50 nautical miles off the coast of Yemen’s port of Aden. The United States Central Command said the Houthi attack caused “significant damage” to the ship and severe burns to some of the crew onboard.

Citing the ship’s manning agency, the DMW said a missile struck the vessel’s fuel bunker section, causing an explosion and engulfing the ship in flames. The explosion’s magnitude forced the crew to evacuate immediately.

On Friday, March 8, the DMW and DFA said that the manning agency had yet to recover the remains of the Filipinos, which were still on the ship.

“We’re not sure about the final plan on retrieving the bodies, but it’s the responsibility of the manning agency. They have to find a way,” Foreign Undersecretary Eduardo de Vega told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo Serbisyo.

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3 killed in first fatal Houthi attack on Red Sea shipping, CENTCOM says

High-risk area

The Houthis, a Yemeni militia group, have been attacking ships in the Red Sea since November 2023 in an apparent solidarity campaign with Palestinians during the war between Israel and Hamas.

It was also in November when the Houthis took hostage 17 Filipino seafarers in the Galaxy Leader cargo ship on the Red Sea.

In February, the International Bargaining Forum expanded the scope of “high risk areas” (HRAs) to the entire Gulf of Aden, a decision the DMW welcomed.

“The expansion of the scope of ‘high risk areas’ to include the Gulf of Aden serves as a necessary step towards providing stronger protection and promoting stricter security measures to safeguard Filipino seafarers and all seafarers working onboard ships navigating in such HRAs,” said DMW Officer-in-Charge Hans Cacdac when the decision was released.

The expanded HRA ranges from the entire southern section of the Red Sea and the entire Gulf of Aden off the coast of Yemen in the Arabian Peninsula, and stretches to the coast of Eritrea in the Horn of Africa.

Filipino seafarers onboard ships that navigate in HRA waters have the right to refuse sailing, avail of company-funded repatriation, and compensation and bonuses. They are also entitled to double compensation in the event of death or disability.

“The Philippine government remains steadfast in the belief that through diplomacy and adherence to international law, the inter-related conflicts affecting the region at present will eventually be resolved, leading to the resumption of free and unimpeded commerce, and freedom of navigation for the world economy and the international community,” the DFA said.

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

In a statement on Friday, March 8, the Japanese embassy in Manila expressed solidarity with Filipinos after the death of the two OFWs.

“Japan expresses heartfelt condolences to the families of two Filipino seafarers who lost their lives by a missile attack. We deeply respect their dedication in a foreign land,” the embassy said.

The embassy added that it will continue to work with the Philippines “toward the peaceful resolution of conflicts as well as lasting peace and stability all across the world.” – Rappler.com