Israel’s war on Gaza live: US to build port as Israel blocks aid via roads

This live page will close soon. Here are some of the main developments today:

• A Hamas delegation has left Egypt without an agreement being reached, but talks are slated to continue next week.
• The US plans to build a new port in Gaza to get more humanitarian aid into the territory, as Israel continues to block aid from getting into the Strip.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says not invading Rafah would mean losing the war, but pledges that will not happen.
• The European Union’s foreign policy chief has called for more “pressure” on Israel to grant unimpeded access to humanitarian aid in Gaza.
• The UN and the international community have condemned Israel’s plan to build 3,500 new illegal settlement housing units in the occupied West Bank.
• Some 20 Palestinians who were arrested during Israeli army raids on homes in the occupied West Bank include a woman journalist and a female activist.

As the Gaza war entered its sixth month today, UN relief chief Martin Griffiths says these are six facts that should “keep us all awake at night”.

He said more than half a million people are on the brink of famine and children are dying of hunger while only half of planned aid missions for February were allowed in by Israel.

Lawlessness is hindering aid distribution, “last resort” aid deliveries like airdrops are becoming increasingly common, and more than 160 UN staff have been killed, Griffiths said.

The under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and emergency relief also pointed out that the remaining captives in Gaza have not yet been released.

The hostilities in Gaza entered their sixth month today. pic.twitter.com/O0thbnr3I5

— Martin Griffiths (@UNReliefChief) March 7, 2024

Will airdrops of food help the people of Gaza on the brink of famine?

That’s the case the Biden administration is making to the public as Israeli war cabinet minister Benny Gantz visited Washington this week.

Meanwhile, as Israel blocks aid, Palestinians are being forced to take extreme measures to avoid starvation.

Listen below:

Gaza resident Nariman Abu al-Saud gave birth to a daughter on October 9, two days after the war began.

“At the current prices, I can’t even buy food for my children,” she said. “My baby daughter gets awful skin infections because I can’t get nappies,” she said. “There’s no baby formula even.”

With the vast majority of Gaza’s population displaced and desperately needed aid only trickling in, health officials have reported that 20 people in the enclave have died from malnutrition and dehydration.

The World Food Programme said on Tuesday that Israel must allow road access to northern Gaza to avoid famine, highlighting how desperate the situation is.

You can read more of this story here.

A group of top UN experts said in a statement that “international crimes continue to take place on a daily basis in the Gaza Strip” by the Israeli military.

The experts, including UN special rapporteurs on extrajudicial executions and torture, said the October 7 attack by armed Palestinians may have seen actions amounting to enforced disappearances and ill-treatment of captives.

They also said Israel’s actions since have resulted in the “deaths of tens of thousands of protected persons, including a large number of children, women and the elderly, which may amount to grave breaches of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, including war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

Their statement welcomed provisional rulings by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for Israel to stop acts constituting genocide, but warned that “much more needs to be urgently done in order to effectively and measurably stop any further carnage in Gaza”.

Groups of masked and armed men, called the People’s Protection Committee, are patrolling Rafah, on the lookout for black market pricing.

Watch our video to learn more:

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has been targeted with a new lawsuit by students and a nonprofit organisation alleging it allows anti-Semitism on campus.

The lawsuit says students have “suffered injury to themselves and their educational experience” and have felt unsafe attending classes, with some professors leaving the university.

The lawsuit is demanding that the top US university undertake preventive measures including firing staff and expelling students who engage in perceived anti-Semitic behaviour.

It wants the university to communicate to the school community that it will “condemn, investigate, and punish any conduct that harasses members of the Jewish community, or others on the basis of their ethnic or ancestral background.”

A statement from MIT said the university does not typically comment on pending litigation, and that it has established processes concerning discrimination and harassment in place.

Foreign Minister Hanke Bruins Slot says the decision to expand settlements “must be reversed”.

“Such actions create further tensions and threaten the two-state solution,” she posted on X.

Israel’s plan to build thousands of new homes in the occupied West Bank is facing widespread condemnation from several countries, including some of Tel Aviv’s staunchest allies.

The Gaza Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra has provided an update on the challenges facing women in the Gaza Strip.

Here are his translated comments:

• The international community denies the rights of Palestinian women and is silent about the ongoing Israeli violations against them.
• Israeli forces have killed about 9,000 women, including thousands of mothers, pregnant women, and health personnel.
• Around 60,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip suffer from dehydration, malnutrition and lack of proper health care.
• About 5,000 pregnant women in the Gaza Strip give birth every month in harsh, unsafe and unhealthy conditions as a result of bombing and displacement.
• We call on women’s institutions around the world to stand alongside Palestinian women and mobilise energies to demand an end to the Israeli aggression.

Israeli officials speaking anonymously to Israeli media are welcoming the decision by the Biden administration to set up this port in the sea that will help with the delivery of aid.

This official also said the Israelis will be involved in the planning with the United States.

Reports mentioned that there will be screenings of this aid at that port in Cyprus, where it will then go on to its final destination in Gaza.

So the Israelis are going to be involved in this, but their level of involvement is still unknown. Once the president of the United States formally makes that announcement, we can expect more information.

Additionally, Israel’s war cabinet is meeting this evening. So it could be something on the agenda for them to discuss as well.

The commander of the US army’s Central Command (CENTCOM) says its area of operations – the Middle East – is facing a situation the likes of which have not been seen for decades.

“Today, the central region faces its most volatile security situation in the past half-century. This is not the same central region as last year,” said General Michael Kurilla, testifying today before the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“The convergence of crisis and competition make [the CENTCOM area of operations] the most likely region to produce threats against the US homeland, trigger a regional conflict and derail the national defence strategy.”

Kurilla said Iran has “exploited what they saw as a once-in-a-generation opportunity to reshape the Middle East” in the Gaza war, using the “axis of resistance” it backs across the region.

He said the Iran-aligned network of political and armed groups in Iraq, Syria, Yemen and Lebanon boasts “advanced, sophisticated weaponry”.

NEWS: General Says Centcom Area Facing 'Volatile Security Situation' https://t.co/a8HGd6WTVX

— Department of Defense 🇺🇸 (@DeptofDefense) March 7, 2024

The organisers of the Eurovision song contest approved a revised Israeli song for participation in the contest despite international calls for boycott.

The song “Hurricane” performed by singer Eden Golan has been approved by Eurovision and will be fully unveiled during a live broadcast by Israeli public broadcaster Kan on Sunday.

Israel had initially submitted a song called “October Rain” that was rejected by Eurovision because it contained clear political messaging about the October 7 attack that started the war on Gaza.

Lyrics including lines like “writers of the history/stand with me” and “I’m still wet from the October rain” had prevented its entry, but the song was rewritten and has now been approved.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog had pushed for the artists to revise the song in order to prevent an Israeli rejection at the contest.

Israeli song “Hurricane” got the EBU approval and they will participate in Eurovision 2024!

The song will be out on March 10th at 8:30PM CET 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/aBLMHCsPsU

— Eurovision News (@EurovisionNewZ) March 7, 2024

UN’s special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wennesland, says all settlements are “illegal under international law” and they were a “driver of conflict” in the occupied West Bank, he said in a statement.

“I urge Israel to cease all settlement activity [and] refrain from provocative actions.”

I condemn yesterday's reported advancement by #Israel of plans for ~ 3,400 housing units in settlements in o. West Bank. All settlements are illegal under international law, & I urge #Israel to cease all settlement activity & refrain from provocative actions.
Full statement:👇 pic.twitter.com/m0uLhaQsmW

— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) March 7, 2024

Barak Ravid, reporter for US news outlet Axios, says that William Burns secretly arrived in Egypt yesterday to engage in talks with Egyptian officials about ongoing negotiations to bring about a truce in Israel’s war on Gaza.

Citing a US official, Ravid added that Burns headed to Doha today for a meeting with Qatar’s prime minister.

Meanwhile, Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 said that CIA director will next travel to Israel to meet with officials, all in the name of reaching a ceasefire deal before the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which starts March 10.

The chances of a deal being reached to secure the release of Israeli captives held in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, and for a ceasefire in the war, do not currently look promising.

Several days of negotiations in Cairo have ended with Hamas and Israel still far apart on their negotiating positions.

BREAKING: CIA director Bill Burns secretly arrived in Egypt on Wednesday night for talks with Egyptian officials on the Israel-Hamas hostage deal, a U.S. official tells me. Burns arrived in Doha on Thursday for similar talks with the Prime Minister of Qatar

— Barak Ravid (@BarakRavid) March 7, 2024

Rockets fired from inside Gaza by Palestinian fighters are again activating alarms and defence systems in Israel.

Sirens blared in Sderot in western Negev desert and surrounding areas. Rocket alerts were also raised in Nahal Oz near the Gaza Strip, which has been a frequent target of attacks since the start of the war.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has renewed his promise to invade Rafah in southern Gaza, saying the military will operate against “all of Hamas’s battalions throughout the Strip” including Rafah.

“Whoever tells us not to operate in Rafah, is telling us to lose the war – and that will not happen,” he told a soldiers’ graduation ceremony at a military training base.

At the same time, we will take vigorous action in the other sectors, against whoever seeks to destroy us, including on the northern front. Whoever has not yet been convinced by our strength would do well to look at what is happening to the enemy strongholds in Gaza.”

Netanyahu claimed the fight against Hamas “monsters” will help prevent the next 9/11 and that “the entire civilised world should support” the Israeli army and state.

Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic are reporting that Israeli jets have hit the Jabalia camp.

Moreover, our colleagues say a house was targeted in an Israeli air raid near Quba Mosque, also in northern Gaza.

We will bring you updates on these attacks as soon as we get additional information.

This week, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation and Associated Press news agency cited unnamed government sources as saying Canada would reverse its January 26 decision to pause funding for UNRWA.

However, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, when asked directly whether this was the case, has said Ottawa was waiting for the results of an internal UN probe into Israeli allegations that 12 UNRWA staff had been involved in Hamas’s October 7 attacks, in which 1,139 people were killed.

“We’re not making any announcements today. … We will continue to look at this situation. We will continue to watch the UN as it looks into what’s happening within this organisation,” he told reporters in Toronto.

“The ongoing humanitarian crisis and disaster in Gaza is heart-wrenching for everyone. We know how important it is to get aid into Gaza,” Trudeau said, adding that people in the enclave faced starvation.