Casualties:
- 30,878+ killed* and at least 72,402 wounded in the Gaza Strip.
- 424+ Palestinians killed in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem
- Israel revises its estimated October 7 death toll down from 1,400 to 1,147.
- 587 Israeli soldiers killed since October 7, and at least 3,221 injured.*
Key Developments:
- Israeli bombardments kill at least twelve civilians across the Gaza Strip
- Israeli military carries out mass arrest campaign in Khan Younis in southern Gaza
- UNRWA: An average of 63 women are killed every day in Gaza
- Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City documents its first case of a child starving to death
- Poll: 67 percent of Israelis doubt that a hostage release deal will be reached in time for Ramadan
- Israeli soldiers arrest and beat Palestinian worshippers at Al Aqsa Mosque
- UN: Israeli settlements are surging to record levels, to international condemnation
- European Commission President Ursula Von Der Leyen announces that maritime humanitarian aid corridor from Cyprus to Gaza will open this weekend
- US President Joe Biden focuses on foreign policy, war in Gaza during State of the Union address
- Protests demanding ceasefire in Gaza disrupt Biden’s State of the Union address
Biden criticized for “temporary pier” plan
U.S. President Joe Biden announced that he would build a “temporary pier” in Gaza to allow a maritime corridor to let humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip during last night’s State of the Union address.
“A temporary pier will enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance getting into Gaza every day.”
But dozens of humanitarian aid and NGO representatives argue that this is neither practical nor ethical–particularly given how many aid trucks are waiting to get into Gaza at the Rafah crossing.
“Where has the American conscience been for 153 days since the beginning of the war, as people in the Gaza Strip are under constant bombardment?” Salah al-Hams, a Doctor of Nursing at Gaza European Hospital, told Al Jazeera, pointing out the hypocrisy that, on top of taking weeks to build, the port itself would be very close to the Rafah crossing where hundreds of trucks are waiting for permission to enter.
Others argue that this is a band-aid solution, and is a sign of the lack of U.S. dragging its heels making a ceasefire deal with Israel.
“Five months on, it is long past time for the U.S., the UK and others to use their substantial weight to ensure that their ally Israel immediately reopens land crossings into Gaza,” MAP CEO Melanie Ward told Al Jazeera.
“Only an immediate and lasting ceasefire will allow us to deliver the massive humanitarian response that is required after five months of Israel’s indiscriminate bombardment and siege of the people of Gaza.”
Nevertheless, the European Commission is experimenting with a maritime humanitarian aid corridor this weekend, with ships expected to start sailing from Cyprus to Gaza as early as today.
Still, Israel’s bombardments across the Gaza Strip continue. Just last night, bombings in Rafah, Deir El Balah, and Gaza City killed at least 12 civilians, bringing the total number of deaths to 78 people, killed in the past twenty-four hours alone.
“A number of victims are still under the rubble and on the roads, as the occupation prevents ambulance and civil defense crews from reaching them,” the Gaza Health Ministry said in a statement, pointing out that their official casualty numbers do not include the thousands of people who are still missing and suspected to be trapped under the rubble.
In Khan Younis, the Israeli military is surrounding residential buildings, carrying out mass arrests in search of Hamas fighters.
Meanwhile, the Israeli military has reviewed the February 29 “flour massacre” where Israeli troops opened fire on Palestinians waiting for a humanitarian convoy, killing more than 100 people, and concluded that the soldiers only opened fire on people who were “engaging in a stampede and threatening the soldiers.”
“The command review found that IDF (army) troops did not fire at the humanitarian convoy, but did fire at a number of suspects who approached the nearby forces and posed a threat to them,” read the statement, which also alledged looting, a stampede and other dangerous behavior. The Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has rejected these claims, pointing out that the gunshot wounds that victims presented at the hospital point towards much more direct attacks, and is demanding an independent and impartial investigation.
On International Women’s Day, NGOs point out the war’s devastating impact on women
Given that it is International Women’s Day, UNRWA has pointed out that an estimated 9,000 women have been killed in Gaza since October 7, and that an average of 63 women are killed every day. An estimated 37 of these are mothers who leave their families behind.
Of course, this is just one element of the way that the war impacts women. Nearly one million women and girls have been displaced by Israel’s military assault and are now living in overcrowded shelters or camps.
Pregnant women are unable to safely give birth when there are almost no functioning hospitals left, and the number of miscarriages has increased by 300 percent, given the stress of the war. Meanwhile, displaced women and girls have been forced to use unhygienic scraps from their tents in lieu of pads and tampons.
“Even when I have my period, I can’t shower often or take care of my personal hygiene the way I used to. I can only shower in a tent that lacks four walls and a decent bath, and I feel my privacy is violated,” Reham, a Palestinian woman in Gaza, told the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. “We had to place a tank in a large hole we dug in the ground, which we use to relieve ourselves, along with five other families. I feel humiliated—I miss the simple comforts of my life before the attack.”
Making matters even worse, Israeli soldiers have openly mocked Palestinian women by posing for pictures with their personal items, taking high heels and bras and underwear as “souvenirs” of their conquests.
Israel approves new settlements, causing fury in the international community
A new report points out that the Israeli government is aligned–to a previously unprecedented level–with the Israeli settler movement to expand its control over the West Bank and East Jerusalem and integrate the occupied Palestinian territory into the state of Israel through settlement construction.
“Reports this week that Israeli plans to build a further 3,476 settler homes in Maale Adumim, Efrat and Kedar fly in the face of international law,” said UN Human Rights Chief Volker Turk
pointing out that this essentially adds up to Israel transferring its own population to territories that it occupies, violating international law.
“The West Bank is already in crisis,” he continued. “Yet, settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a Palestinian state.”
Israeli military raids continue across the West Bank, targeting several families in Hebron and surrounding villages, as well as Nablus, Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Qalqiliya. Israeli soldiers have also shut down several streets in Jerusalem today ahead of a marathon organized by Israeli settlers, and arrested and beaten Palestinians attempting to worship at Al Aqsa mosque.
Biden focuses on foreign policy during State of the Union address, while protestors call for a ceasefire outside
During last night’s State of the Union address, U.S. President Joe Biden focussed on foreign policy–reiterating his support for Israel while announcing that he would build a temporary pier of the Gaza port to facilitate aid being brought in through a maritime corridor.
“It’s also Biden trying to reaffirm fundamentally his support for Israel, first, and trying to assuage some of the criticism he’s getting from members of his own party about the U.S. response to Gaza,” Owen Jones told Al Jazeera. “I think it shows this is going to be one of the most important points leading up to the election.”
Meanwhile, pro-Palestine activists blocked the route of the President’s motorcade as he traveled to the Capitol for his State of the Union address, and around 500 protestors gathered on Pennsylvania Avenue outside of the U.S. capitol, chanting “stop funding Israel” and “ceasefire now,” pointing out just how little the U.S. President has done to stop the ongoing genocide.
“31,000 Palestinians massacred in the U.S.-perpetrated genocide in Gaza paid for with our tax dollars is Biden’s legacy,” said U.S. Campaign for Palestinian Rights Executive Director Ahmad Abuznaid in a statement. “Five months of protests demanding a permanent ceasefire and an end to arming Israel, followed by historic uncommitted votes, make it very clear that we won’t stop until we win.”
“I feel like they’re killing with my hands, with my tax dollars,” said Joanna, a 39-year-old accountant who attended the protests told Al Jazeera. “I just cannot be silent while genocide is happening. It’s wrong, and because it is wrong I have to use my voice every day.”
If we’re talking about the general situation this piece in the New Yorker has interesting things to say ( delete cookies for access ):
“Why America Isn’t Using Its Leverage with Israel- Senator Chris Van Hollen on the catastrophe in Gaza, and his differences with the Biden Administration...Well, we’re nowhere near where we need to be. We now have hundreds of thousands of people on the verge of starvation. We also passed the grisly marker where at least fifteen children have died of starvation, so the situation has gone from bad to worse. The primary cause has been the continued restrictions on assistance by the Netanyahu government.…There’s also the issue of continued arbitrary denial of things like maternity kits from being able to cross into Gaza on the claim that somehow a maternity kit is a dual-use item, and that also holds true with other items like water purifiers and things that clearly are not dual use. [Dual-use items are items which could potentially be used for military purposes, aside from their intended purposes.] When there’s one of those items on the truck, the whole truck has to be turned around and go back to the start, which is now taking up to several weeks in some cases…”
The whole thing is well worth reading, but I want to draw attention to Van Hollen’s comments on UNWRA:
” unrwa in Gaza is an organization of thirteen thousand people that provides schooling to Palestinians. It provides health care to Palestinians. The government of Israel says that up to fourteen members of unrwa out of the thirteen thousand participated in the awful October 7th attacks. The U.N. has its independent investigative arm reviewing that, and other countries who have looked at it have determined that Palestinians, innocent Palestinian civilians, should not be punished by denying aid through unrwa….anybody engaged in October 7th needs to be held totally accountable, but that innocent Palestinians in Gaza should not be denied food that can be distributed through unrwa.”
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/why-america-isnt-using-its-leverage-with-israel
It’s inevitable that potential problems with the “Mulberry Harbour” pier and sea supplies from Cyprus are being raised. Two big ones are: the time it will take to construct the pier, and the difficulty of getting supplies off the dockside and to the people who need them urgently. What is really needed is for Israel to open the gates and let supplies through by land. There are plenty of trucks queuing up although, such is the level of destruction in Gaza, they will have great difficulty moving to distribution points.
The European Union is planning to send a shipment to Gaza this weekend, but has said nothing about where it would land or how supplies would be distributed (not that I blame them for keeping quiet, knowing the IDF’s liking for boarding aid convoys and killing a few people on board).
On the face of it, there doesn’t seem to be much joined up thinking in these aid efforts. Perhaps, though, the aim is in part to put Israel on the spot. Israel wants to inspect cargoes in Cyprus for weapons (and maybe water filters) but it won’t play well if they object to items of cargo in front of the world’s media. There is also the real possibility of stand-offs with US and European armed forces. Perhaps, too, the US, UK and EU want to establish a presence on the ground in Gaza that Israel would attack at its peril.
Intensely disturbing. It is difficult to understand how it is possible that America is enabling this. Not the first time in my life I’ve felt that way, but that does not make it easier.
The Gaza port? What port? Didn’t Israel bomb it years ago? And what’s to stop Israel from bombing a temporary pier?
Here is an essay by two academics in the UK on what needs to be done to make the “pier” scheme workable:
https://www.juancole.com/2024/03/bidens-enough-improvements.html
“Not all humanitarian supplies are allowed into Gaza. Items are restricted, especially where Israel is citing concerns about potential use by Hamas. Various items, including filtration systems and even sleeping bags, have been blocked while others have been stuck in bureaucratic limbo, waiting weeks for clearance.
Even with clearance, there is no guarantee items will be allowed into Gaza. To scale up humanitarian aid, restrictions have to be lifted. Rules need to be clear and consistent. Allowing sufficient quantities of fuel to enter is critical to operate trucks, hospital equipment and water-purification plants.”
The authors are too polite to say so directly, but the subtext is clear: the Israelis must not be allowed to set the terms under which the scheme operates.