Gaza: Israeli forces kill 6 seeking aid, strike UNRWA distribution centre

The live blog has now ended and will be back tomorrow at 9am GMT. You can find the latest coverage from Israel's war on Gaza here.

The Israeli media have denied opening fire on Palestinians waiting for aid at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City, with military spokesperson Avichay Adraee saying on X that the reports are incorrect.

Gaza's health ministry have said that at least 20 people have been killed by Israeli forces at the roundabout.

UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron has said he welcomes the appointment of Mohammad Mustafa as the new Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority in a post on X.

"The formation of a new Palestinian government for the West Bank and Gaza, accompanied by an international support package, is one of the vital elements for a lasting peace."

I welcome the appointment of Mohammad Mustafa as Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.

The formation of a new Palestinian government for the West Bank and Gaza, accompanied by an international support package, is one of the vital elements for a lasting peace.

— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) March 14, 2024

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said early on Friday that it had received a report that missiles passed near a ship 50 nautical miles (93 km) southwest of al Hodeidah, Yemen.

"The Master reported two missiles flying over the vessel and heard two loud blasts in the distance," the UKMTO said in an advisory note, referring to the person in command of the ship.

It added that the vessel reported no damage and that the crew are reported safe.

"The vessel is proceeding to its next port of call. Authorities are investigating," the advisory said.

Houthi militants have repeatedly launched drones and missiles against international commercial shipping in the Gulf of Aden since mid-November, saying they are acting in solidarity with Palestinians against Israel's military actions in Gaza.

Their Red Sea attacks have disrupted global shipping, forcing firms to take longer and more expensive journeys around southern Africa, and stoked fears that the Israel's war on Gaza could spread and destabilise the wider Middle East.

The United States and Britain have carried out strikes against Houthi targets in response.

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)

Gaza's health ministry have announced that 20 people have been killed, and 155 injured, following an Israeli attack on Palestinians at the Kuwaiti roundabout. 

Many of the injured are being taken to the Al-Shifa Hospital. 

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) organisation said early on Friday that it has received a report of an incident 50 nautical miles southwest of al Hodeidah, Yemen.

It added that "authorities are investigating", without giving any more details.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office said a new Gaza truce proposal presented by the Islamist group Hamas to mediators on Thursday was still based on "unrealistic demands."

The statement said an update on the issue will be presented to the war cabinet and extended security cabinet on Friday. 

(Reuters)

A new Israeli attack on Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid at the Kuwaiti roundabout in Gaza City has killed 14, with a further 150 injuries, according to Gaza's health ministry.

In an earlier statement the health ministry said that the injured were arriving at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, although it said that the death toll is expected to rise.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas said on Thursday it presented to mediators a comprehensive vision of a truce deal that is based on stopping the Israeli "aggression" against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, providing relief and aid, the return of displaced Gazans to their houses, and the withdrawal of Israeli forces.

The vision also included the group's stance on the prisoners-hostages exchange deal, Hamas added in a statement, but did not elaborate.

(Reuters)

The US on Thursday finalized its draft UN Security Council resolution on Israel's war on Gaza, traditionally the final step before asking for a vote on the text that would back international efforts to broker an immediate ceasefire as part of a hostage release deal.

The final draft, seen by Reuters "unequivocally supports international diplomatic efforts to establish an immediate and sustained ceasefire as part of a deal that releases the hostages, and that allows the basis for a more durable peace to alleviate humanitarian suffering."

It was not immediately clear when or if the US would ask the 15-member council to vote on the text negotiated over the past month. To pass, a resolution needs at least nine votes and no vetoes by the US, France, Britain, Russia or China.

The US could still make further changes to the draft.

The US has wanted any Security Council support for a ceasefire to be linked to the release of hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

The US-drafted council resolution condemns the 7 October Hamas attacks and emphasizes concern that an Israeli ground offensive into Rafah in southern Gaza "would result in further harm to civilians and their further displacement including potentially into neighboring countries."

Washington had been averse to the word ceasefire.

(Reuters & The New Arab Staff)

Thousands in Israel took to the streets on Thursday in two separate protests, one demanding an immediate release of hostages from Gaza and another calling for drafting ultra-Orthodox Jewish men into the military.

The protests were public displays of growing divisions in Israeli society and politics five months into the Gaza war.

Protesters calling for the release of hostages marched from a Tel Aviv square carrying enlarged images of women held in Gaza, briefly blocking the highway at one point.

"Bringing them back as soon as possible will be the only image of victory from this damned war," one woman yelled into a megaphone. Others chanted: "Deal, now!"

In another protest on Thursday, Israelis protested against Netanyahu's coalition government, demanding an end to the exemption of ultra-Orthodox Jewish men from compulsory military service.

Leading Israeli news site Ynet reported that some 10,000 people participated in the demonstration, also held in Tel Aviv.

(Reuters)

 The leader of Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis said in a televised speech on Thursday that Houthis' operations targeting vessels will prevent Israel-linked ships from even passing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope.

Around 34 Houthi members have been killed since the militia began to attack shipping lanes in solidarity with the Palestinians in the Gaza war, the Houthis' leader, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, added. 

(Reuters)

The UN's Palestine refugee agency UNRWA has said that only 12 hospitals are still partly operational in Gaza in a post on X.

"According to UNFPA (United Nation's Population Fund), just 2 provide maternity services, with some 180 women giving birth every day."

"UNRWA continues to offer medical care in health centres & shelters, including for post-natal & high-risk pregnancies."

Only 12 hospitals are still partly operational in #Gaza 📍

According to @UNFPA, just 2 provide maternity services, with some 180 women giving birth every day.@UNRWA continues to offer medical care in health centres & shelters, including for post-natal & high-risk pregnancies pic.twitter.com/cT57lxkPj7

— UNRWA (@UNRWA) March 14, 2024

US Congress is an independent branch of the government and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer's call for new elections in Israel are his comments and not those of the administration of President Joe Biden, State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Thursday.

When asked if there was no frustration in the administration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Miller said: "There are a number of things we wanted to see Israel do differently," he said.

European foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said after meetings in Washington on Thursday that the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza was not a natural disaster but a "man-made" one.

Borrell, in a briefing with reporters at the EU's offices in Washington, said that world leaders needed to put more pressure on Israel to open borders for humanitarian access to Gaza.

(Reuters)

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas named Mohammad Mustafa on Tuesday as prime minister of the Palestinian Authority (PA), the state-run Palestinian news agency Wafa said on Thursday.

Mustafa's appointment comes after mounting pressure to reform the governing body of the occupied Palestinian territories and improve its governance in the occupied West Bank where they are based.

Mustafa replaces former Prime Minister Mohammed Shttayah who, along with his government, resigned in February.

(Reuters)

The Palestine Red Crescent Society announced on X that its ambulance teams have recovered the bodies of 15 Palestinians from Hamad City in Khan Younis after the withdrawal of occupation forces. 

They were transported to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.

🚑PRCS ambulance teams retrieved 15 martyrs from the city of Hamad in Khan Yunis after the withdrawal of occupation forces and transported them to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital.
📷Filmed by PRCS volunteer: Atallah Ghaith#Gaza pic.twitter.com/csbWaHIs8e

— PRCS (@PalestineRCS) March 14, 2024

A residential house in the Al-Zuhur neighbourhood, north of Rafah, has been targeted by Israeli airstrikes. 

The Quds News Network is reporting casualties.

A massacre followed Israeli airstrikes on a residential complex in the Al-Zuhur neighborhood, north of Rafah. pic.twitter.com/OzqmEa3o6M

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 14, 2024

Israel on Thursday defended its policies on admitting trucks into Gaza, calling on the United Nations to send more convoys of aid to the enclave.

"If the UN wants to see more aid in north Gaza, it should coordinate more convoys," said Elad Goren, head of the civil department at COGAT, a defence ministry body governing civilian affairs in the occupied Palestinian territories.

Goren also said 99 percent of aid trucks sent to Gaza were "approved", pushing back on reports by the UN and NGOs that cumbersome Israeli inspections are blocking food and other essentials.

Israeli protesters have also blocked vital aid at the border with Gaza to preventing essential supplies like food, fuel, water, and medicine from entering.

The EU's foreign policy chief told Spanish media that he hopes to reach a ceasefire to stop the current war on Gaza.

"There is a negotiation that is still ongoing, and we all hope that an agreement can be reached in the coming days," Borrell told Spanish public radio RNE.

The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (PMFA) and Expatriates put out a statement on X, condemning Israel for putting up iron barriers at three gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

PMFA says the gates are “in blatant violation of international law” and in breach of its obligations as an occupying power.

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates// condemns the occupation putting iron barriers at a number of Al-Aqsa’s gates#Gaza_under_attack#CeasefireNow#Palestine#Israeliwarcrimes pic.twitter.com/0j6IG5cbYK

— State of Palestine - MFA 🇵🇸🇵🇸 (@pmofa) March 14, 2024

Six people were killed, and at least 83 were wounded after Israeli forces opened fire on Palestinians waiting for food in Gaza City - according to Wafa.

Local sources and witnesses reported that Israeli forces opened gunfire on a crowd of people waiting at the Kuwait roundabout south of Gaza City for relief aid to arrive.

The Israeli military did confirm that its troops did fire on civilians collecting aid packages on Al-Rashid Street on 29 February, where 112 Palestinians died and hundreds more injured in what was dubbed the 'Flour Massacre'.

Thousands of civilians have lost limbs and are suffering from severe trauma injuries which have been worsened by the collapsed health system following Israel's mass bombardment of Gaza, a charity said on Thursday.

UK-registered Humanity & Inclusion said they have treated thousands of people with amputated limbs, and warned that the overwhelmed medical system is leaving patients with untreated burns and fractures.

Reham Shaheen from Humanity & Inclusion said that "70 to 80% of the people coming to hospital have been amputated or have spinal cord injuries".

"It is due to the type of weapons used. Humanity & Inclusion alone has many people on its waiting list for assistive devices. Everything is out of stock. Supply is our main challenge, along with security concerns about how to move between hospitals and shelters without being killed or injured".

Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor reports that thousands of people with chronic and serious diseases, including kidney failure patients, are facing a "slow death" amid Israel's war on Gaza.

There are between 1,000 and 1,500 kidney failure patients in the Strip who are no longer receiving dialysis services as a result.

The organisation notes that these patients' health conditions are deteriorating due to a lack of medical services, medications, and other essentials, along with the collapse of the health system, which has strained hospitals.

An Israel bombing has killed nine family members at the Bureij refugee camp near Deir el-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.

Al Jazeera reports the family's home was "reduced to rubble" and caused sheer destruction in the entire area.

9 شهداء وعدد من الإصابات جراء قصف إسرائيلي على منزل في مخيم البريج وسط قطاع غزة#فيديو #حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/YKWRw8fczr

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 14, 2024

Jordan is denouncing Israel for installing iron barriers at three gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

A statement by the Jordanian Foreign Ministry described the installation as a "dangerous and unacceptable act".

The Ministry's official spokesperson, Sufian Qudah, expressed concern over the continuing efforts of Israeli authorities to restrict access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, emphasising the importance of ensuring unhindered entry for worshipers.

BREAKING| Israeli forces start installing steel barricades on the entrances to Al Aqsa mosque in occupied Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/wv7WJ1V8h9

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 14, 2024

Pro-Palestinian protesters blocked the gate at The New York Times distribution centre in Queens on Wednesday to protest against the outlet’s coverage of the war on Gaza - according to the NYPD,

The police said delivery trucks could not enter or exit during the protest.

#NOW NYPD making arrests of protesters who were blocking the entrance to the New York Times building in Manhattan. pic.twitter.com/0fLjpbFtRi

— Bello Ahmad Binanchi🐦🇳🇬 (@itz_flexible) March 14, 2024

One man has been "seriously injured" in a stabbing attack at the Beit Kama junction in southern Israel, around 55km southwest of Jerusalem.

According to Israeli media, a 22-year-old snuck up behind the victim and stabbed him. The victim managed to shoot and neutralise him.

Another man, 65, sustained light injuries during the attack.

Egypt’s top diplomat on Thursday made an emotional appeal for an urgent increase in humanitarian aid going into Gaza by land, even as an aid ship loaded with some 200 tons of food was on its way to the enclave, where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been driven to the brink of starvation.

The push to get food in by sea, along with a recent campaign of airdrops into isolated northern Gaza, highlighted the international community’s frustration with the growing humanitarian crisis and with Israel's restrictions that have prevented more aid getting in by land.

Israeli airstrikes target the Al-Shati refugee camp in northern Gaza, as reported by the Quds News Network.

Breaking | Israeli airstrikes target Al-Shati refugee camp, in northern Gaza. pic.twitter.com/KuDOL4BB7p

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 14, 2024

The Israeli army conducted a raid that targeted a food and aid warehouse in the Nuseirat camp market, according to Al Jazeera.

The strike has killed eight people.

مشاهد توثق اللحظات الأولى لغارة إسرائيلية استهدفت مستودعًا للمواد الغذائية والمساعدات في سوق مخيم #النصيرات وسط قطاع #غزة قبل قليل#حرب_غزة #فيديو pic.twitter.com/mi8f16V3WO

— الجزيرة فلسطين (@AJA_Palestine) March 14, 2024

Hamas is calling on Palestinians to rally on Friday to break the "siege" on the flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Jerusalem.

The group said in a statement on Thursday: "We urge our people to urgently participate in defending Al-Aqsa Mosque against the Israeli aggression," Anadolu reports.

UNRWA spokeswoman Juliette Touma told Al Jazeera that the Israeli strike that hit the UN warehouse in Rafah on Wednesday caused minimal damage to the supplies and was still distributing aid.

The Gaza health ministry said earlier that four people were killed in the "bombing", while the agency said 22 staff members were injured.

A second ship with food aid to Gaza was being loaded in Cyprus, a charity arranging the mission said on Thursday, as the first ship in a pilot trial of maritime deliveries neared the besieged Palestinian enclave.

World Central Kitchen (WCK) said it was loading a vessel at Larnaca port with 300 tonnes of food aid - including legumes, canned tuna, vegetables, rice and flour.

"Our pallets should be screened and loaded by the end of the day Cyprus time," WCK said in a statement. It did not say when the vessel would set sail.

An Israeli general leading troops in Gaza has delivered rare public criticism of the country's political leadership, demanding it "be worthy" of the soldiers "fighting against Hamas in the Palestinian territory".

Brigadier General Dan Goldfus, head of the 98th division deployed in Gaza's central southern city of Khan Yunis, also appeared to enter into a row over exempting ultra-Orthodox Jews from military service.

He was subsequently summoned by the military leadership for his comments, which breached a long-standing taboo on uniformed officers publicly wading into politics.

In a press release, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP) and the International Rescue Committee (IRC) are raising concerns to the US and UK governments and requesting support to find out why the airstrike in Al Mawasi in Gaza took place and to receive assurance it would not happen again. 

The airstrike happened on 18 January by the Israeli military on a residential compound housing the Emergency Medical Team (EMT) and members of MAP’s local team and their family members.

Solar panels at the Baptist hospital in Gaza were destroyed by air-dropped aid, journalist Anas al-Sharif reported on Wednesday. 

#عاجل| تدمير ألواح الطاقة الشمسية فوق المستشفى المعمداني بغزة؛ جراء سقوط صناديق مساعدات #الإنزال_الجوي

— أنس الشريف Anas Al-Sharif (@AnasAlSharif0) March 13, 2024

Israel arrested at least 20 Palestinians from the West Bank, including former detainees, last night, according to The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club. 

This brings the total of Palestinians who have been detained by Israel to 7,585 since 7 October.

The Commission of Detainees’ Affairs and the Palestinian Society Prisoner’s Club: Israel kidnapped at least 20 Palestinians from the West Bank last night, including former abductees, bringing the total of Palestinians, who have been kidnapped since October 7, to 7585.… pic.twitter.com/8DrF7ZzvM9

— Quds News Network (@QudsNen) March 14, 2024

The EU's humanitarian aid and crisis management chief, Janez Lenarčič, said on Thursday that pockets of famine are already in Gaza and could spread to the whole region.

Speaking to journalists, he urged Israel to open more road routes to deliver aid to Gaza. 

(Reuters)

Several Israeli women were seen blocking the main Ayalon Road in Tel Aviv on Thursday, demanding a deal to release Israeli captives in Gaza, the Israeli Channel 12 reported

The channel reports that police were called to disperse the protesters, who continued to disrupt traffic until police managed to reopen the road half an hour later.

A first boat loaded with 200 tonnes of food aid was making slow progress towards the Gaza Strip on Thursday as efforts grew to bring more humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian territory besieged by Israel.

UNRWA, the leading UN aid agency in Gaza, said an Israeli strike a day earlier hit one of its warehouses in the southern city of Rafah, killing an employee. However, Israel later claimed a Hamas militant was killed in the rocket strike.

Donor nations, aid agencies and charities pushed on with efforts to rush food to the territory of 2.4 million people, where famine looms after more than five months of war.

Israel will try to "flood" the Gaza Strip with humanitarian aid from a variety of entry points, the leading military spokesman said on Wednesday as international pressure mounted to address the growing problem of hunger in the besieged enclave.

After more than five months of war in Gaza, aid agencies have warned that the area's 2.3 million population 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 into Gaza and blames failures by the aid agencies for delays, but it has faced mounting demands even from its closest allies to do more.

(Reuters)

The EU on Wednesday called on Israel to open additional crossings besides the Cyprus maritime corridor so that more aid can reach Gaza.

"While supporting the Cyprus maritime corridor, we call on Israel to open additional crossings so more aid can reach Gaza, including the North, and to ease overall customs restrictions", EU Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarcic said on social media platform X.

(Reuters)

At least 31,341 Palestinians have been killed and 73,134 wounded since Oct. 7 in Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip, the enclave's health ministry said on Thursday. 

(Reuters)