Updates: Israel kills nearly 100 people in Gaza in 24 hours, halts aid

Before you go, here is a selection of stories:

• Watch our video on how the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has been labelled a “death trap” here.
• Read about how pro-Palestine protesters in the UK called for an arms embargo and sanctions against Israel here.
• Watch the latest episode of The Take on how Israel’s military industry profits from war in Gaza here.

We’ll be closing this live page soon. Here’s a recap of the day’s major developments:

• The Israeli military continued its deadly attacks across the Gaza Strip, including in Jabalia, Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis.
• The United States vetoed a United Nations Security Council resolution demanding an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza – the fifth time it has done so in support of Israel since the war broke out.
• Two settler attacks on villages just east of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank wounded dozens of Palestinians.
• In a survey, 93 percent of Palestinian and international NGOs operating in Gaza said their existing aid stores in Gaza are completely or nearly exhausted, as Israel continues to impose severe restrictions on the entry of humanitarian assistance into the Gaza Strip.

The Freedom Flotilla Coalition (FFC) has denounced Israel’s “threat” to attack its vessel bringing humanitarian aid to Gaza and breaking its blockade.

“Israel has no legal authority to control or enforce a maritime closure on Gaza and, therefore, no lawful basis to intercept the Madleen,” said Huwaida Arraf, human rights attorney and FFC steering committee member.

“Such an act would constitute a blatant violation of international maritime law and a direct defiance of the ICJ’s binding orders requiring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.”

Yasemin Acar, another member on board the ship, said: “We call on people of conscience, institutions, and governments to take action now: demand that Israel refrain from attacking the Madleen and defend life and dignity in Gaza.”

The controversial Gaza Humanitarian Foundation says its few aid sites in Gaza will remain closed on Thursday as Palestinians continue to starve.

“Our distribution sites will not open as early as tomorrow morning as in the past days, due to maintenance and repair work being done at the sites. We will share information on opening times as soon as work is complete,” it said in a statement.

The Israel-US-backed foundation has replaced decades of UN-led aid distribution, with hundreds of distribution points. Meanwhile, Israel still continues to block desperately needed humanitarian relief from entering Gaza.

Progressive Congresswoman Pramila Jayapal says 92 members of the US House of Representatives have called for the administration of US President Donald Trump to use “all diplomatic tools at its disposal” to ensure more humanitarian aid enters Gaza.

“Innocent civilian lives — children and babies — can be saved by ensuring that much-needed aid gets to Gazans,” Jayapal said in a statement.

“This humanitarian crisis is man-made and can be solved by allowing aid trucks to enter Gaza. Every diplomatic tool in our toolbox must be used to ensure that this happens.”

The US Education Department says Columbia University has not met accreditation standards because of what the government says is a failure to protect Jewish students from alleged anti-Semitism amid pro-Palestine protests on campus.

The Trump administration has sought harsh measures against students involved in pro-Palestine activism, even arresting and attempting to deport international students over their criticism of Israel’s devastating war on Gaza.

Protesters formed what they described as a “red line” around Parliament today.

It was intended to symbolise what they said were the repeated red lines that the UK allowed Israel to cross, and as they called for the UK to suspend its normal relations with Israel, a full arms embargo and sanctions.

Palestine’s ambassador to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, has addressed the Security Council. Here are some of his main points:

• This draft resolution had a simple goal, demanding a ceasefire that would allow the beginning of the monumental work needed to end the horrific humanitarian situation; to stop the genocide; to release hostages and prisoners; and to get the Israeli occupying forces out of Gaza before they get a chance to implement their plans to destroy our people.
• The draft resolution also demanded an end to the engineered starvation that has brought an entire civilian population, 2 million people, among them 1 million children, to the edge of famine, and then used aid to lure them and confine them to an extremely limited area of the Gaza Strip, clearly to facilitate their expunction and annexation.
• The UN has stated Gaza is the hungriest place on Earth. It is the only defined territory in the world where the entire population is at risk of famine.
• Can this council act, as demanded by the charter that unifies all of us, to respect and honour the principles reflected and contained in that charter, our constitution?
• This has to stop. Israel has to end this punitive, illegal siege. It has to open all crossings and allow aid to reach Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip.

Once again, the United States finds itself isolated on the Security Council when it comes to the situation in Gaza, just like it was in November.

The last time a ceasefire draft resolution was before the council, 14 members voted for it. The United States was the only one against it.

In November, we heard from Dorothy Shea, the US ambassador, basically saying anything that undermines Israel’s security is a non-starter for the United States.

It’s worth reiterating: This is the fifth time the United States has vetoed a Security Council Gaza ceasefire resolution since October 2023.

The mayor of Deir Dibwan has told our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic that 35 Palestinians have been injured in the settler attack we’ve been reporting on near Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.

Local sources said Israeli forces assaulted Palestinians during a raid in the Kuttab neighbourhood of Tulkarem, in the north of the occupied West Bank.

Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on October 7, 2023, at least 972 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in attacks by the Israeli army and settlers across the occupied West Bank, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.

Marco Rubio says in a statement he spoke with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud about the situation in Gaza, as well as efforts to stabilise Syria.

Last month, Rubio suggested US “engagement” is what led Israel to allow a limited amount of aid into Gaza after a months-long blockade on food, medicine and other basic supplies. At a Senate hearing, he appeared to acknowledge that more aid needs to reach the Palestinians in Gaza.

The US has refused to directly criticise Israel’s decision to prevent food and medicine from reaching Gaza.

Ayman Odeh, a Palestinian lawmaker in the Israeli Knesset, says efforts to have him impeached are part of a campaign of intimidation by far-right politicians seeking to silence dissent against Israel’s actions in Gaza.

He was forcefully removed from the poidum in the Knesset several weeks ago while delivering remarks critical of the war.

“The move to impeach me is part of a campaign of political persecution led by the far right, in an attempt to ensure the complete victory of Kahanism in the upcoming elections,” Odeh said in a social media post.

“Since the beginning of the war, calls for genocide have been heard in the Knesset from coalition members – and none of them have been dismissed. But when an Arab MK [member of parliament] tells the truth and tries to tear down the wall of silence about the criminal policies of the fascist government, they rush to try to oust him.”

Since December 10, 2024, just two days after the stunning collapse of more than 53 years of the al-Assad family, Israel has waged a campaign of aerial bombardment that has destroyed much of Syria’s military infrastructure, including major airports, air defence facilities, fighter jets and other strategic infrastructure.

Over the past six months, Israeli forces have launched more than 200 air, drone or artillery attacks across Syria, averaging an assault roughly every three to four days, according to the Armed Conflict Location and Event Data project.

Read the full story here.

Here are the latest developments:

• The Palestinian Prisoners Society said at least 10,400 Palestinians are being detained in Israeli custody as Israeli forces continue to carry out large-scale arrests in the occupied West Bank. The group says that number includes 440 minors and 49 women and does not include Palestinians held in Israeli military camps. One-third are being held without charge through a controversial practice known as “administrative detention”.
• A survey of Palestinian and international NGOs operating in Gaza found that 93 percent said that their existing aid stores in Gaza were completely or nearly exhausted, as Israel continues to impose severe restrictions on the entry of humanitarian assistance into the Strip. About one-third of the organisations surveyed also said they have staff who have been injured or killed in Israeli attacks.
• The Israeli Defence Ministry said arms exports hit an all-time high last year, despite ongoing calls to end such agreements with Israel over abuses in Gaza and elsewhere.
• US President Donald Trump said time is “running out” to reach an agreement that would limit Iran’s ability to acquire nuclear weapons, as negotiations between the US and Iran slouch forward.

I think the United Nations Security Council has been looking at what has been transpiring in Gaza, just like the rest of the world has been watching, and they’re deeply frustrated.

They’re frustrated the council has not been able to do anything to stop the bloodshed, to open up the border crossings, to get more aid in to the people of Gaza who need it the most. And I think you’re sensing, particularly from the elected 10 members of the council, but really universally, deep, deep, frustration that they have to do more.

The last time the Security Council had a resolution on Gaza was in November of last year – 14 Security Council members voted for it, one did not, and that was the United States, which vetoed it.

That was the fourth time the US has vetoed a Gaza ceasefire resolution. Since November until now, you’ve seen the killing continue, the starvation of Palestinians in Gaza continue, and I think this was the moment when the Security Council as a whole said that they have to get this draft through to get more pressure on the Israelis to stop.

Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, says the ideal outcome of the upcoming Security Council vote for a ceasefire in Gaza “is a strong unified voice”.

“Calling for an end to the conflict, for full access to the UN and its partners, for the release of the hostages, and for us to get back on track to a two-state solution regardless how distant that dream may currently be,” Dujarric told Al Jazeera.

The UN Security Council will vote at 20:00 GMT on a resolution calling for a ceasefire and unrestricted humanitarian access in Gaza, a measure expected to fail because of a US veto.