Israel’s war on Gaza updates: ‘Humanitarian islands’ for Rafah civilians
With international community’s help, Israel’s military says it will transfer 1.4 million Palestinians to central Gaza ahead of its Rafah invasion.
- Israel’s military plans to transfer about 1.4 million Palestinian civilians trapped in southern Rafah city to “humanitarian islands” in the middle of Gaza before it launches a ground invasion.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the US government has yet to see an Israeli proposal to “get civilians out of harm’s way” in Rafah and ensures shelter, food and medicine.
- Israel’s military plans to transfer about 1.4 million Palestinian civilians trapped in southern Rafah city to “humanitarian islands” in the middle of Gaza before it launches a ground invasion.
- Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the US government has yet to see an Israeli proposal to “get civilians out of harm’s way” in Rafah and ensures shelter, food and medicine.
- Israeli attack hits a UN aid distribution centre in Rafah, killing at least one UNRWA staff member and wounding another 22.
- At least 31,272 Palestinians have been killed and 73,024 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from Hamas’s October 7 attack stands at 1,139 and dozens continue to be held captive.
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Here’s what happened today
We will be closing this live page soon. Here’s a recap of today’s events:
- An Israeli attack hit a UN aid distribution centre in Rafah, killing at least one UNRWA staff member and wounding more than 20 others.
- Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari says that there are plans to push a significant amount of the more than one million displaced Palestinians in Rafah towards “humanitarian islands” in the centre of the Gaza Strip in advance of Israel’s planned offensive on the city.
- Lebanon’s Hezbollah has said two of its fighters were killed in the Bekaa Valley after Israeli jets launched attacks on the area for a second consecutive day. Israel also killed a Hamas member in south Lebanon’s largest city Tyre when it attacked a car.
- An unpublished report by UNRWA details the extensive use of torture against Palestinians taken prisoner by the Israeli military in Gaza, including 21 agency staff members and 15 family members of UNRWA staff, an accusation Israel has denied.
- Israeli forces shot a Palestinian who allegedly stabbed two Israelis at a checkpoint near Jerusalem.
Report: US privately tells Israel it will accept small-scale Rafah offensive
A report from US news site Politico says that senior US officials have told their Israeli counterparts that the administration of President Biden will support the targeting of “high-value Hamas targets in and underneath Rafah”.
The report cites four unnamed US officials, who told Politico that the US wants Israel to avoid a large-scale invasion of the southern Gaza City, where some 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltered after fleeing Israeli bombardment in other parts of the Strip.
“In private conversations, top administration officials have signaled to Israel that they could support a plan more akin to counterterrorism operations than all-out war, four US officials said”, the report says.
“That, the administration officials argue, would minimize civilian casualties, decimate Hamas’ ranks and avoid scenes that have led to souring public opinion on Israel’s campaign and Biden’s handling of the war.”
The US has long said that it would require a plan to protect civilians in Rafah before it supported Israel’s promised Rafah invasion. Today, Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters that the US has yet to see such a plan.
Palestinians name a street after late US airman
Palestinians named a street in Jericho after Aaron Bushnell – the US airman who died after setting himself on fire to protest Israel’s war on Gaza.
Watch our video report below:
Getting aid into Gaza ‘very unpredictable’
Janti Soeripto, president of the charity Save the Children US, says it is “very unpredictable” which aid trucks can make it into Gaza and which ones are rejected.
“I saw a wooden toy box with games for children being rejected because the box was made of wood, and it had to be packed in carton boxes,” Soeripto, who was at the Rafah crossing in January, told Al Jazeera.
“Hygiene kits with soap, blankets and sanitary pads for women got rejected because there was a nail clipper in it. The list goes on.”
Moreover, Soeripto said even if trucks make it into Gaza, distribution inside was “problematic” amid the ongoing fighting in the coastal enclave.
“There’s so much rubble and destruction around that it is physically even hard to actually get the last mile in order to deliver our supplies when they make it in,” she added.
Attack on UN aid centre targeted Hamas commander: Israel military
Israel says its air strike on a UN food distribution centre in southern Gaza killed a Hamas commander after the UN said one staff member was killed and 22 others were wounded.
The Israeli military said the strike killed Mohammad Abu Hasna, whom the military described as a Hamas fighter who provided intelligence on Israeli troop positions, and was “also involved in taking control of humanitarian aid and distributing it to Hamas terrorists”.
In a statement, Hamas said Abu Hasna was a member of its police force and condemned his killing as a “cowardly assassination” meant to disrupt aid distribution.
Hamas identified another of the five killed as the head of an emergency committee for Rafah, Nidal al-Sheikh Eid.
WATCH: US woman rescued from Gaza rubble after Israeli air strike
An American woman living in Gaza was pulled from the rubble of an Israeli air strike after a two-hour operation to free her.
After she was freed, she had a message of solidarity with Palestinians facing Israel’s war. Watch the video below:
‘Who are you negotiating with if Hamas has been defeated?’
The leader of Hezbollah says Israel has already lost the war on Gaza, even if it launches a ground invasion of Rafah with the stated aim to “destroy” Hamas.
“Even if you go to Rafah, you have lost the war. Despite all the massacres, Gaza’s people will not surrender to you. The people of Gaza are still embracing the resistance,” Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech.
“Who are you negotiating with if Hamas has been defeated?” Lebanese media quoted him as saying.
“All Palestinian factions are unanimous in stopping the aggression, contrary to what is being reported that Hamas is obstructing the negotiations.”
EU Council president calls for pause in Gaza fighting
Charles Michel says a humanitarian pause is urgently needed, as well as the release of all captives.
“The EU will continue to insist on increasing urgently [needed] humanitarian aid, protection of all civilians and respect of international humanitarian law,” he said in a post on X.
Israel’s war on Gaza, raging since October 7, has caused mass civilian deaths, reduced vast areas to a rubble-strewn wasteland and sparked warnings of looming famine in the Palestinian territory of 2.3 million people.
With HH @TamimBinHamad @AmiriDiwan, agreed on the urgency to reach an agreement on a humanitarian pause & release of hostages. I thanked Qatar for its efforts.
The EU will continue to insist on increasing urgently humanitarian aid, protection of all civilians & respect of…
— Charles Michel (@CharlesMichel) March 13, 2024
Aid groups provide new evidence of Israel attack on staff members
Medical Aid for Palestinians and the International Rescue Committee provided new details of an Israeli air strike on a residential compound housing humanitarian workers and their families.
The January attack wounded several team members despite coordinates being shared with the Israeli military, which offered six different explanations that “ have not provided clarity” as to why it happened, a statement said.
“The variety of responses highlights a continued lack of transparency regarding what occurred. It is clear from this experience the Israeli military and government are either unable or unwilling to properly investigate this serious incident,” the groups said.
The statement called on Israel’s allies, including the US and UK, to launch “a full, independent and timebound investigation into the 18 January incident – and all reported attacks on deconflicted facilities and personnel”.
“As current suppliers of arms and munitions to Israel, governments such as the UK and the US have a particular responsibility to hold Israel accountable for this and other attacks on aid workers and civilians.”
Israeli army attacks Hezbollah
On X, the Israeli army says it recently attacked “military buildings used by the terrorist organization Hezbollah” inside Lebanese territory.
It claimed attacks on the areas of Mis al-Jabal and Ita al-Sha’ab in southern Lebanon. Additionally, the army said it carried out artillery attacks on the Wadi Hamool area.
Earlier in the day, Israel attacked a car in Tyre, south Lebanon’s largest city, killing two, including Hadi Mustafa, a Hamas member based in the Rashidieh Palestinian refugee camp near Tyre.
Criticism of Israel’s war and occupation is not anti-Semitism
Anti-Semitism, its prevalent nature, and the shame and guilt for the Holocaust that sit at the heart of Germany’s memory culture have indelibly shaped my life.
For many of Israel’s most ardent supporters, there is no space in the debate for those who criticise Israel’s actions. Nowhere is this more clear than in Germany, where German Jews, many of them Israelis, make up a disproportionate percentage of those detained for protesting against Tel Aviv’s warpath.
Violence begets violence. “Never again” must mean never again by anyone, against anyone.
You can read more of this opinion piece here.
Aid seekers injured by Israeli bullets in Gaza City
Al Jazeera’s correspondent reports that nine Palestinians awaiting aid distribution at the Kuwaiti roundabout in southern Gaza City were wounded by Israeli forces.
This roundabout has been the site of several attacks on aid seekers by Israel in recent weeks.
We will bring you updates on this attack as information comes in.
Israeli MPs approve revised wartime budget
Israel’s parliament has adopted a revised budget for 2024 allowing for more spending to finance the war against Hamas, now in its sixth month.
The new budget passed by a vote of 62 lawmakers to 55.
It modifies the budget passed in May 2023, increasing the spending limit by 70.4 billion shekels ($19.4bn), or more than 14 percent, according to a statement from Israel’s legislature, the Knesset.
Of that amount, 55 billion shekels ($15.1bn) could be allocated to the military and 15.5 billion ($4.1bn) could go “to finance civilian needs”, the statement said.
WATCH: How does US intelligence disagree with Israel on Gaza?
In its annual report, the US intelligence community says Hamas cannot be destroyed.
The group’s elimination is a core aim of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s merciless onslaught in Gaza.
So why is the US continuing to arm Israel to fight a war it doesn’t believe can be won?
EU, 5 other nations call on Israel to open additional crossings to Gaza
The European Union and five other countries in a joint statement called on Israel to open additional crossings besides the Cyprus maritime corridor so more aid can reach the coastal enclave.
“The ministers agreed there is no meaningful substitute to land routes via Egypt and Jordan and entry points from Israel into Gaza for aid delivery at scale,” it said, following a virtual ministerial meeting.
“The ministers underscored the need for Israel to open additional crossings so more aid can reach Gaza, including the north, and to ease overall customs restrictions to facilitate an increased flow of life-saving humanitarian assistance.”
While supporting 🇨🇾 maritime corridor, we call on 🇮🇱 to open additional crossings so more aid can reach #Gaza, including the North, and to ease overall customs restrictions.
Joint statement after ministerial meeting by @EU_Commission, 🇨🇾, 🇬🇧, 🇺🇲, 🇦🇪, 🇶🇦https://t.co/QQsK1BiOaG
— Janez Lenarčič (@JanezLenarcic) March 13, 2024
Blinken comments on Israeli attack on UNRWA facility
In his news conference, the US secretary of state has told reporters that the US offers its condolences to the families and loved ones of those who “apparently” were killed in today’s bombing of an aid distribution facility operated by the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees.
According to UNRWA, the attack killed at least one of its staff members and injured an additional 22 other people.
Blinken admitted that he did not know “the facts” of the incident, but said that he spoke to the Israeli army about it, which told him that they were investigating.
He said that the incident reinforces “the imperative of having much better and much more consistent deconfliction,” between humanitarian workers and the Israeli army, adding that the people working to distribute desperately needed humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip must “be able to do their jobs with as much security and as much confidence as possible”.
The Israeli military, the Israeli government, have a responsibility to make sure that humanitarian work can be carried out,” he continued, including not striking “clearly marked” humanitarian facilities.
Israeli attacks on aid trucks and Palestinians seeking the aid carried by those trucks have been frequent over the last several weeks, including in northern Gaza, which is on the verge of famine.
Israeli military says it will push Rafah’s civilians to ‘humanitarian islands’
Israeli army spokesperson Daniel Hagari says that there are plans to push a significant amount of the more than one million displaced Palestinians in Rafah toward “humanitarian islands” in the centre of the Gaza Strip in advance of its planned offensive on the city.
“We need to make sure that 1.4 million people or at least a significant amount of the 1.4 million will move. Where? To humanitarian islands that we will create with the international community,” Hagari told reporters at a briefing.
Hagari said those islands would provide temporary housing, food, water and other necessities to evacuated Palestinians. He did not say when Rafah’s evacuation would occur, nor when the Rafah offensive would begin, saying that Israel wanted the timing to be right operationally and to be coordinated with neighbouring Egypt, which has said it does not want an influx of displaced Palestinians crossing its border.
The US has frequently said that it will not support an Israeli invasion of Rafah without a clear plan to protect civilians there.
During its war on Gaza, Israel has frequently designated areas and corridors of movement for civilians as “safe zones” before bombing them, killing many.
Blinken says Israel has still hasn’t presented a plan to protect civilians in Rafah
The US government has been consistently saying that it would not support Israel’s promised invasion of Rafah without a “clear” plan from the Israeli government to protect the more than one million displaced Palestinians that are currently sheltering there.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says that the US government has “not seen such a plan” as of yet.
“We need to see a plan that will get civilians out of harm’s way if there is to be a military operation, and not only get’s them out of harm’s way, but ensures that they have shelter, food and medicine,” he said.
Protecting civilians must be ‘priority’ for Israel: US
Protecting and aiding civilians must be “job number one” for Israel in the war-battered Gaza Strip, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says.
“We look to the government of Israel to make sure this is a priority. Protecting civilians, getting people assistance they need, that has to be job number one, even as they do what is necessary to defend the country to deal with the threat posed by Hamas,” he told reporters.
US President Joe Biden has made contradictory statements about how he intends to approach mounting international concerns over Israel’s military actions.
On Saturday, he said an invasion of the southern city of Rafah would be a “red line” for Israel not to cross. Still, he said he would never “leave Israel” or “cut off all weapons” for the US ally.
‘Deep distress’ over Gaza war to sour St Patrick’s Day at White House
The annual White House celebration of St Patrick’s Day will be less festive because of Irish anger over US support for Israel’s attack on Gaza.
The SDLP, Northern Ireland’s smaller nationalist party, said it isn’t sending any representatives to Washington, DC, for Friday’s event.
“The White House St Patrick’s Day event is a party. We have taken the principled position that we won’t be attending that party,” said Claire Hanna, an SDLP lawmaker.
“This is about the deep distress that we and our constituents feel practically every hour of the day about what’s going on in Gaza, and our attempt to use whatever opportunities we have — parliamentary and otherwise — to contribute and create international momentum to end this,” the Washington Post quoted Hanna as saying.
Dutch PM Rutte calls on Netanyahu to step up humanitarian aid into Gaza
Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte urged his Israeli counterpart to “drastically reduce the level of force” unleashed on the coastal enclave.
“Further escalation must be prevented and an Israeli offensive in Rafah would cause a humanitarian disaster,” he added.
It was good to be in Israel and Egypt today to speak with Prime Minister Netanyahu (@IsraeliPM) and President El-Sisi (@AlsisiOfficial) about the alarming situation in the Middle East. All efforts must now be directed at agreeing an immediate pause in the fighting, leading to a… pic.twitter.com/6xkJyqywso
— Mark Rutte (@MinPres) March 13, 2024
‘Stop Arming Israel’ protesters block San Francisco airport in US
Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters have shut down part of the San Francisco International Airport to demand an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the end of all US military assistance to Israel.
Demonstrators chanted “Free, free Palestine” while holding a banner that read “Stop Arming Israel” as they blocked access to security gates inside the international terminal in northern California.
Protesters also halted traffic outside the departures entrance, blocking all lanes while marching in a circle with Palestinian flags.
Israel’s war on Gaza has sparked mass demonstrations in major cities across the United States and led to repeated interruptions at US President Joe Biden’s campaign events.
HAPPENING NOW: Protestors demanding a #CeasefireNOW and an end to the genocide in Gaza have SHUT DOWN the Intl Terminal at #SFO pic.twitter.com/ZjNGFsaRS8
— Critical Resistance (@C_Resistance) March 13, 2024
MSF condemns last months’ Jenin hospital attacks
The international medical charity Doctors Without Borders (Medecins Sans Frontieres, or MSF) says Israel’s attack was just the “latest act of appalling violence” at the facility.
“In the last months, our team has witnessed bullets and tear gas grenades being fired at the facility, a minor being killed, ambulances being obstructed, and healthcare professionals being targeted,” Samuel Johann, MSF project coordinator in Jenin, said in a series of posts on X.
“Shooting people in a hospital, or any act of violence in a healthcare facility, is completely unacceptable. We unequivocally condemn the continued attacks on healthcare facilities.”
South Africa says citizens fighting with Israeli forces in Gaza will be arrested
South Africa’s foreign minister has said that any of her country’s citizens who fight with the Israeli armed forces in Gaza will be arrested when they return home.
Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor made the comments earlier this week at a Palestinian solidarity event attended by officials from South Africa’s governing African National Congress Party.
“I have already issued a statement alerting those who are South African and are fighting alongside or in the [Israeli military]: We are ready. When you come home, we are going to arrest you,” Pandor said, to rapturous applause from the audience.
She also encouraged people to protest outside the embassies of what she called the “five primary supporters” of Israel and its military action in Gaza.
In December, the foreign ministry said that the South African government was concerned that some of its citizens or permanent residents had joined the Israeli military to fight in Gaza.
Those with dual South African-Israeli citizenship could be stripped of their South African citizenship, the foreign ministry said.