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ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
🔴 Live: US submits draft UN resolution calling for ‘immediate ceasefire’ in Gaza
The United States has submitted a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages” in the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said late Wednesday, adding he hoped it would send “a strong message, a strong signal”. In the West Bank, at least four Palestinians were killed in an Israeli operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp early Thursday. Follow our liveblog for all the latest developments in the Israel-Hamas war.
Issued on: 21/03/2024 – 04:36
Modified: 21/03/2024 – 09:47
2 min
Palestinians walk past the ruins of houses destroyed during Israel’s military offensive, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, March 20, 2024.
Palestinians walk past the ruins of houses destroyed during Israel’s military offensive, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Gaza City, March 20, 2024. © Dawoud Abu Alkas, Reuters
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FRANCE 24
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Summary:
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will meet foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan while in Cairo Thursday as he pushes for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Emirati international cooperation minister and the general secretary of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) executive committee will also attend. Egyptian security sources said Arab nations will stress the urgency of developing plans for a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Arab foreign ministers and a top Palestinian official will meet US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Cairo on Thursday as he pushes for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
More than a third of the US Senate’s Democrats call on President Joe Biden’s administration to take “bold” action towards establishing a Palestinian state, in the latest pushback against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
At least 31,988 Palestinians have been killed and 74,188 wounded since Israel started its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
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9 minutes ago
9 minutes ago
Satellite images show 35 percent of Gaza’s buildings destroyed, UN says
Satellite images analysed by the United Nations Satellite Centre (UNOSAT) show that 35% of the Gaza Strip’s buildings have been destroyed or damaged in the Israel offensive in the Palestinian enclave.
UNOSAT used high-resolution satellite images collected on February 29 and compared them with images taken before and after the start of the latest conflict. It found that 35 percent of all buildings in the Gaza Strip – 88,868 structures – had been damaged or destroyed.
“The governorates of Khan Younis and Gaza have experienced the most significant rise in damage, with Khan Yunis seeing 12,279 additional damaged structures and Gaza experiencing 2,010,” UNOSAT said.
“Khan Younis City has been hit particularly hard, with 6,663 newly destroyed structures,” it said.
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24 minutes ago
Vessel reports shots fired near Yemen’s Nishtun
A merchant vessel reported shots from a skiff approximately 109 nautical miles south of Yemen’s Nishtun, British security firm Ambrey said on Thursday.
Four armed people aboard a skiff approached the vessel and reportedly shot at the merchant vessel, and a private armed security team aboard returned fire, Ambrey added.
The vessel reportedly increased speed and was no longer under threat by the skiff, with no damage or injuries reported, Ambrey said.
The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations agency reported the same incident.
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26 minutes ago
UN agencies, 36 countries mull aid to Gaza through Cyprus
Officials from 36 countries and UN agencies gathered in Cyprus on Thursday to discuss how to expedite aid to besieged Palestinians in Gaza via a sea route launched last week. The meeting is attended by Sigrid Kaag, the UN’s senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, as well as Curtis Ried, chief of staff of the US National Security Council.
Under an agreement hammered out with Israel, cargoes can undergo security inspections in Cyprus by a team including Israel, eliminating the need for screenings at its final offloading point to remove potential hold-ups in aid deliveries.
One vessel left Cyprus last week and distributed aid in Gaza, while another two are expected to depart in coming days, subject to weather conditions.
“We are discussing how we can max up operational capacity both in terms of departure and means of transport and also in relation to the reception and distribution methodology,” said Constantinos Kombos, Cyprus’s foreign minister. Delegates would also discuss the creation of a fund to coordinate operational activities of the initiative, he said, but clarified it was not a donor’s conference.
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an hour ago
Death toll in Israeli West Bank operation rises to four
The death toll rose to four on Thursday in an Israeli operation in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Red Crescent said.
“Palestine Red Crescent ambulance teams have just transported an 18-year-old young man who was killed by the Israeli occupation forces in Nur Shams camp,” the group said on X, formerly Twitter, adding his death brought the toll to four.
Two of the four Palestinians were killed by an air strike and two by live bullets, the Red Crescent said.
Israeli forces involved in the operation withdrew from the camp in the morning, AFP journalists reported.
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2 hours ago
Gaza death toll nears 32,000, health authority in Hamas-controlled territory says
More than 31,988 Palestinians have been killed and 74,188 injured in Israel’s military offensive on Gaza since October 7, the Gaza health ministry said on Thursday.
Some 65 Palestinians were killed and 92 injured in the past 24 hours, the ministry added in a statement.
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2 hours ago
Blinken meets with Saudi Crown Prince to discuss Gaza
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Thursday said he met with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and the kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan to discuss the humanitarian crisis in Gaza and efforts to increase aid to Palestinians.
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4 hours ago
Israeli army says it has killed 50 Palestinian gunmen at Gaza’s al Shifa hospital
The Israeli military said on Thursday that it killed more than 50 Palestinian gunmen over the past day in fighting around the Gaza Strip’s Shifa hospital.
The military said it was continuing with its “precise operational activity in the Shifa hospital”.
“Over the past day, more than 50 terrorists were eliminated during exchanges of fire, and terrorist infrastructure and weapons storage facilities were located. Since the start of the operation, over 140 terrorists have been eliminated in the area of the hospital,” it said.
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4 hours ago
US circulates draft UN resolution calling for Gaza ceasefire
The United States has circulated a draft UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages” in the Gaza Strip, Secretary of State Antony Blinken said while on a tour of the Middle East that will include a stop in Israel.
Key Israel backer the United States has vetoed previous UN Security Council votes on the nearly six-month war, objecting as recently as in February to the use of the term “immediate” in a draft submitted by Algeria. In recent weeks, however, Washington has upped the pressure on its ally.
“We actually have a resolution that we put forward right now that’s before the United Nations Security Council that does call for an immediate ceasefire tied to the release of hostages, and we hope very much that countries will support that,” Blinken said in Saudi Arabia.
“I think that would send a strong message, a strong signal,” he told Saudi media outlet Al Hadath.
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7 hours ago
Two killed in Israeli air strike in West Bank: Palestinian Authority
Two Palestinians, who the Israeli military said posed a “threat” to its soldiers, were killed by an air strike in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority said early Thursday.
Israel’s military said shortly after midnight that it was carrying out an operation in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nur Shams, which adjoins the town of Tulkarm in the northwest of the West Bank.
“During the operation, an aircraft struck two terrorists who posed an immediate threat to the forces,” the Israeli army said in a brief message.
The Palestinian Authority’s health ministry also said two people had been killed by Israeli fire in the Nur Shams camp and that their bodies had been transferred to a hospital in Tulkarm.
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8 hours ago
US military, coalition forces destroy Houthi drone, unmanned surface vessel
The US military and coalition forces destroyed an unmanned aerial vehicle and an unmanned surface vessel launched by Yemen’s Houthis in the Red Sea on
Wednesday, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement.
“There were no injuries or damage reported to US or coalition ships,” the statement read.
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9 hours ago
Israel submits assurances to US on use of weapons
Israel has submitted written assurances as required by the US State Department
stating its use of American-supplied weapons are not being used to violate humanitarian laws in Gaza, a US official said on Wednesday.
Israel had until a Sunday deadline to submit written assurances. The State Department will assess by early May whether Israel’s assurances are credible and report to the US Congress.
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Yesterday’s key developments:
A Senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said in a Beirut press conference on Wednesday that Israel’s response to the group’s latest Gaza ceasefire proposal was negative after mediators handed it over.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he was still determined to carry out a Rafah ground offensive despite the misgivings expressed by US President Joe Biden.
A preliminary investigation into UNRWA, the embattled United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, has found “critical areas” which need to be addressed, a United Nations spokesperson said Wednesday.
Saudi Arabia announced Wednesday it will donate $40 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which has faced massive funding cuts and calls for its abolition spearheaded by Israel.
Canada has not approved new arms exports permits to Israel since January 8 and this freeze will continue until Ottawa can ensure the weapons are used properly, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Wednesday.
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN’s counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
