Live blog: 'Up to 60 days' for US to establish Gaza port — Pentagon

Friday, March 8, 2024

2100 GMT — The US plan to establish a temporary port for aid deliveries to besieged Gaza will take up to 60 days to carry out and will likely involve more than 1,000 American personnel, the Pentagon has said.

Pentagon spokesperson Major General Pat Ryder told journalists that the United States will "establish a temporary offshore maritime pier that allows for shipping vessels to transfer cargo to smaller vessels to transport and offload cargo to a temporary causeway for the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza."

"We anticipate that it'll take over 1,000 US forces to participate in building this capability" and "up to 60 days in order to deploy the forces and construct the causeway and the pier," Ryder said.

Once established, the new facility "could provide more than two million meals to the citizens of Gaza per day," he said, adding that "there will be no US forces on the ground in Gaza" as part of the effort, in which Washington will be "working with regional partners."

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2030 GMT — Biden says Netanyahu needs to do more on Gaza aid

US President Joe Biden has said that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must allow more aid into besieged Gaza after he was caught on a hot mic saying he would confront the Israeli premier over the war.

"Yes, he does," Biden told reporters when asked if Netanyahu needed to do more to let in relief, following his comments on to a senator on Thursday that he would have a "Come to Jesus meeting" with the Israeli leader.

2026 GMT — Loss of lives in Gaza due to aid airdrop malfunction shows urgent need for ceasefire: UN

The loss of lives in Gaza due to an aid airdrop malfunction shows an urgent need for a ceasefire in the besieged Palestinian enclave, the UN said.

Responding to Anadolu Agency's question on the airdrop incident, Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said: "We're extremely saddened by the reports of people who have been killed during airdrops ... This should be a reminder of why we need an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, why we need more access by road, why we need better coordination with the Israeli authorities and better deconfliction."


He further stated the "tragic accident is a symptom of the fact that we do not have an environment in which we can do large scale predictable humanitarian delivery."

The Civil Defence Service in the besieged Palestinian enclave on early Friday said at least five people were killed as aid boxes dropped from a plane fell on them in Gaza City.

2014 GMT — Canada to resume funding to UN Palestinian refugee agency

Canada will resume funding to the UN Palestinian refugee agency, International Aid Minister Ahmed Hussen said, becoming one of the first international donors to announce such a move.

"Canada will be lifting its temporary pause on funding to [UNRWA]," Hussen said in a statement, but did not say exactly when this would happen.

"UNRWA plays a vital role in Gaza."

1809 GMT — No compromise on Israel's Gaza withdrawal for ceasefire — Hamas

Hamas has said there would be no compromise on the Palestinian group's demand that Israel withdraw from Gaza to secure the release of hostages seized in the October 7 attack.

"Our top priority to reach a prisoner exchange deal is the complete commitment for the halt of aggression and an enemy withdrawal, and there is no compromise on this," Abu Obeida, spokesman for the Qassam Brigades, said in a televised statement.

The statement came as hopes dimmed for a new truce in the five-month-old Israeli war on Gaza triggered by Hamas's unprecedented attack on southern Israel on October 7.

Mediators had been scrambling to lock in a truce before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is set to begin as early as Sunday depending on the lunar calendar.

1854 GMT — EU says Gaza to get aid by sea

An international effort gathered pace to get desperately needed humanitarian relief into Gaza by sea.

The dire conditions more than five months into Israel's war have led some countries to airdrop food and other assistance over besieged Gaza, but a parachute malfunction turned the latest operation lethal.

European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen expressed hope a maritime corridor could open this Sunday, though crucial details of the planned operation remained unclear.

1829 GMT — Blinken says 'ball in court' of Hamas on ceasefire

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it remained up to Hamas to accept a ceasefire with Israel, as hopes dimmed for a new truce in the five-month-old war.

"The issue is Hamas," Blinken said, a day after President Joe Biden called in his State of the Union address for an "immediate" six-week truce that would allow humanitarian aid into war-ravaged Gaza and free hostages.

"The ball is in their court. We're working intensely on it," Blinken said as he met Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan. "But there's no doubt in my mind that getting to this ceasefire with the release of hostages would be a profound benefit to everyone involved."

1747 GMT — Yemenis rally in support of Gaza in Sanaa

Thousands of Yemeni people participated in a mass rally in the Houthi-held Sanaa in support of the Palestinian people in Gaza facing a devastating Israeli onslaught since October 7.

The Houthis' military spokesman, Yahya Saree, said the Yemeni people continue their support to "the steadfast Palestinian people in Gaza" who gathered in a mass rally in the Al Sabeen Square in Sanaa.

The rally was called upon by the Houthis under the title "In support of Gaza, our hits to intensify," in reference to the group's escalating of its attacks in the Red Sea against Israel-linked ships and the US-UK military ships.

1741 GMT — US proposal to build aid port off Gaza 'cynical': UN expert

A US plan for a temporary port off Gaza to bring in aid is a cynical play for a US audience and will not avert mass starvation, a UN rights expert said.

Michael Fakhri, the United Nations special rapporteur on the right to food, dismissed the measure. "No-one has asked for a maritime pier — not the Palestinian people, not the humanitarian aid community," he told a briefing in Geneva.

Neither a pier, nor the increasing airdrops over Gaza would "prevent starvation and famine by any definition," Fakhri said.

1605 GMT — Gaza air drop kills five: hospital medic

A medic at Gaza's largest hospital said a humanitarian airdrop in the north of the Palestinian territory killed five people and wounded 10.

The casualties were taken to Gaza City's Al Shifa hospital, the emergency room's head nurse, Mohammed al Sheikh, told AFP. Sheikh said the deadly airdrop occurred north of the coastal Al Shati refugee camp.

A witness from the camp said he and his brother followed the parachuted aid in the hope of getting "a bag of flour."

"Then, all of a sudden, the parachute didn't open and fell down like a rocket on the roof of one of the houses," said Mohammed al Ghoul.

1652 GMT — Türkiye in talks to ensure unity among Palestinians: Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye is in talks with all parties to ensure unity among different Palestinian factions.

"We are meeting with all parties to ensure unity among our Palestinian brothers," President Erdogan said at a Turkish Youth Foundation event in Istanbul.

"We are making every effort with our heart, tongue, and hands to put an end to the massacre in Gaza and the oppression in Palestine, without giving in to any threats," he added.

1645 GMT — Biden in a hot mic moment shows his growing frustration with Netanyahu

President Joe Biden's growing frustration with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continues to mount, with the Democrat captured on a hot mic saying that he and the Israeli leader will need to have a "come to Jesus meeting."

The comments by Biden came as he spoke with Senator Michael Bennet, D-Colo, on the floor of the House chamber following Thursday night's State of the Union address.

In the exchange, Bennet congratulates Biden on his speech and urges the president to keep pressing Netanyahu on growing humanitarian concerns in Gaza. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were also part of the brief conversation.

Biden then responds using Netanyahu's nickname, saying, "I told him, Bibi, and don't repeat this, but you and I are going to have a 'come to Jesus' meeting."

1556 GMT — Two Israelis injured in blast near Israeli settlement in West Bank

Two Israelis were injured in a blast near the Israeli settlement of Homesh in the northern occupied West Bank, Israeli media reported.

The Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that Palestinian gunmen opened fire at an Israeli military post in the area before detonating a bomb.

The Israeli army launched a manhunt to nab the suspects behind the attack. No further information was provided about the incident, or the identity of the injured Israelis.

1255 GMT — Israeli settlements in occupied Palestine illegal: Austria

Austria reminded Israel once again that Jewish settlements in occupied Palestine are illegal.

"We condemn the approval of additional settlement units in the occupied West Bank and call on Israel to withdraw this unnecessary provocation," the Austrian Foreign Ministry said on X.

Reiterating that the settlements are illegal, the ministry also emphasised that the settlements are obstacles to any negotiations and the viability of the two-state solution.

The ministry said the United Nations and most of the international community consider settlements in the occupied territories since 1967 to be illegal, warning that they undermine the chances of addressing the conflict according to the two-state solution.

1241 GMT — The courage of Gaza's women will change the world: UN official

As International Women's Day honours the resilience of women against adversity, a striking testament emerges from Gaza, where Palestinian women have demonstrated "unparalleled strength" in the face of relentless Israeli attacks.

Despite enduring months of siege that have deprived them of basic necessities like water, food, and medicine, these women persevere and hope, fighting for the survival of themselves and their families.

Olga Cherevko, a spokeswoman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) spoke to Anadolu about the devastation she witnessed in Gaza, where she returned during the current Israeli offensive after working there from 2014 to 2017.

1234 GMT — Doctors Without Borders expresses concern on wellbeing of its staff in Israeli detention

Medical charity Doctor Without Borders, also known by its French acronym MSF, expressed concern about the wellbeing of one of its staffers who remains in Israeli detention for three weeks.

"We are deeply concerned about our staff member who was detained at a checkpoint by Israeli forces while trying to leave Nasser hospital in Gaza on 15 February," the humanitarian organisation said in a statement.

"Israeli authorities confirmed he is in their custody. We call on them to treat him with dignity & ensure his wellbeing."

1217 GMT — Britain to join US, other partners in opening maritime corridor to deliver aid to Gaza

Britain will join the US and other international partners to open a maritime corridor to "deliver aid directly to Gaza," the foreign secretary announced.

"Alongside the US, the UK and partners have announced we will open a maritime corridor to deliver aid directly to Gaza," said David Cameron, stressing that the two million people in the besieged Palestinian enclave are in "desperate humanitarian need."

On Tuesday, US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US is working to open up a maritime corridor to deliver humanitarian aid to the enclave, and President Joe Biden later said they would set up a floating pier off the coast of the enclave.

1042 GMT — Ship carrying aid heads to Gaza as test of new corridor: EU

A ship will head to Gaza carrying humanitarian aid, the European Commission president said, as international donors launch a sea corridor to supply the territory, which faces widespread hunger and shortages of other essential supplies after nearly five months of war.

A ship belonging to Spain’s Open Arms will make a pilot voyage to test the sea corridor, Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Greek-administered Southern Cyprus, where she's inspecting preparations for the sea corridor.

It’s been waiting at Greek-administered Southern Cyprus's port of Larnaca for permission to deliver food aid from World Central Kitchen, a US charity founded by celebrity chef Jose Andres.

1032 GMT — Expanding Israeli settlements a ‘war crime’: UN

Expanding Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories constitutes "a war crime" and risks eliminating "any practical possibility" of a viable Palestinian state, the United Nations rights chief has warned.

Volker Turk said there had been a drastic acceleration in Israel's illegal settlement building in the occupied West Bank, at the same time as it wages a relentless war in the Palestinian besieged territory of Gaza.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said creating and expanding settlements amounted to the transfer by Israel of its own civilian population into occupied territories.

1027 GMT — Israel denies targeting journalists after report on Lebanon fire

The Israeli military has denied it targets reporters after an expert report gave further details of a tank crew opening fire and killing a journalist and wounding others in Lebanon last year.

The military said it "does not deliberately shoot at civilians, including journalists" after a probe by the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research (TNO) found troops "likely" opened fire on the journalists with a machine gun after deadly shelling.

The strike in southern Lebanon near the Israeli border on October 13 instantly killed Reuters journalist Issam Abdallah.

0950 GMT — Israeli army chief orders ‘plans for a ground operation’ in Lebanon: Report

Israel's Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has instructed the Israeli military to “prepare several possible plans for a ground operation in Lebanon,” Israeli media reported.

“Because of the possibility of a general war breaking out in the north, the Israeli army is preparing the option of a ground operation in Lebanon,” the Israeli Channel 13 reported.

“Army Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has assigned Brig. Gen. Chico Tamir to formulate a plan to start a ground manoeuvre against Hezbollah,” it added.

The channel pointed out that "Tamir had great experience in the northern sector when he was in his last position as deputy commander of the Northern Corps of the Israeli army."

0943 GMT —UN rapporteur calls for investigation, end to ‘many layers of violence’ against Palestinian women

For Palestinian women, there are “many layers of violence that is being perpetuated against them” by Israel, according to Reem Alsalem, the UN special rapporteur on violence against women and girls.

In an interview with Anadolu for International Women’s Day, marked annually on March 8, Alsalem stressed that there should be “no impunity” for any crimes of gender-based violence.

“Any crimes of gender-based violence that may h ave been committed in the context of Palestine or Israel, like in the rest of the world, should be, first of all, investigated independently and impartially,” she said.

“There should be no impunity for these crimes.”

0858 GMT — Israel kills 78 more Palestinians in Gaza, death toll at 30,878

At least 78 Palestinians have been killed and 104 others injured in the last 24 hours as Israel continued its onslaught on besieged Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry said.

The ministry said in a statement that Israeli forces committed eight massacres against families in Gaza in the past 24 hours.

“Many people are still trapped under rubble and on the roads as rescuers are unable to reach them,” the statement said, adding: “72 percent of victims of the Israeli aggression on Gaza are children and women."

Flouting the International Court of Justice’s provisional ruling, Israel continues its onslaught on Gaza where at least 30,878 Palestinians have been killed, mostly women and children, and 72,402 injured since October 7, according to Palestinian health authorities.

0857 GMT — US, Israeli defence chiefs discuss Gaza

In a phone call, US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin and Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant have discussed Gaza more than five months into a controversial Israeli offensive on the Palestinian enclave.

“Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III spoke with Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant today about Israeli operations against Hamas in Gaza,” the Pentagon said in a statement.

“Secretary Austin discussed the Department of Defense’s humanitarian airdrops to Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” it added.

The statement said Austin underlined the vital importance of boosting humanitarian assistance through every available means of entry and guaranteeing the secure dispensation of aid upon its arrival in Gaza.

0436 GMT — Half of planned Gaza aid missions failed due to Israel: UN

UN humanitarian officials have said that in February half of the 224 missions they planned for delivering aid to areas in Gaza where coordination with Israeli authorities is required got it and succeeded — and half did not.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters that the UN paused operations in north Gaza following Israeli naval fire that hit a UN-coordinated food convoy heading there on February 5.

As a result, he said, only 24 UN aid missions to the besieged north were planned in February — and just six were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

By contrast, Dujarric said, of the 200 UN missions planned for areas south of Wadi Gaza where access required coordination, 105 were facilitated by Israeli authorities.

0330 GMT — Biden acknowledges 30,000+ Palestinians killed by Israel in Gaza

US President Joe Biden has said Israel's war in besieged Gaza "has taken a greater toll on innocent civilians than all previous wars in Gaza combined," acknowledging over 30,000 Palestinians were killed in last 153 days, including thousands of women and children.

Biden also announced that the US military will set up a temporary port off Gaza as Israel tightens its chokehold on the enclave, even though its main ally Washington has been airdropping aid in Gaza but also has reportedly approved 100 military sales to Tel Aviv since October 7.

The US President said the temporary pier on the Gaza coast will "enable a massive increase in the amount of humanitarian assistance" going to Gaza, adding there will no US military boots on the ground.

Telling Israel not to use aid as a "bargaining chip", Biden said, "The only real solution to the situation is a two-state solution over time."

0118 GMT — 'Stop arming Israel': US protesters rally amid Biden SOTU

Pro-Palestinian activists have carried out demonstrations across key parts of the US capital as President Joe Biden prepares to deliver the annual State of the Union address.

Hundreds of demonstrators demanding an immediate ceasefire in the besieged Gaza unfurled a large Palestinian flag and staged a sit-in on a major roadway the president would normally use to reach the Capitol building, just minutes before he is set to address a joint session of Congress.

"Biden's legacy is genocide," read one banner that was unfurled on Pennsylvania Ave. Another contained a list of the names of the thousands of children who have been killed in Gaza since October.

"The People Demand: Stop Arming Israel," another banner said.

2356 GMT — Hamas calls killings of 27 Palestinians in Israeli jails as 'war crimes'

The Palestinian resistance group Hamas has said that the spate of killing of Palestinians from besieged Gaza held by the Israeli army at military facilities are "war crimes" that require an international probe.

In a statement, Hamas said that what Israeli media revealed on the deaths of 27 Palestinians while they were being held at Israeli military facilities is "further evidence of the scale of the crimes, violations and atrocities that Palestinian detainees are exposed to in occupation prisons."

The statement also said that such incidents require an international investigation by international legal groups.

The Palestinian group urged the International Committee of the Red Cross to shoulder its legal and humanitarian responsibilities in checking the Palestinian detainees' arrest conditions "amid a deliberate Israeli blackout" of such information.

2000 GMT — Israel kills, wounds 'dozens of civilians' in Gaza strikes

Israel has killed and wounded dozens of Palestinian civilians in a series of aerial attacks targeting different areas in besieged Gaza, WAFA news agency said, citing local and medical sources.

At least nine Palestinian civilians were killed in Deir al Balah, at least one near the Al-Nabulsi and Al-Kuwait roundabouts, and another one in Jabalia.

"Israeli occupation forces opened machine gunfire on civilians awaiting for aid trucks near the Al-Nabulsi and Al-Kuwait roundabouts in the west and south of Gaza City," WAFA said, resulting in casualties.

"The victims were subsequently transported to the Al-Shifa Medical Complex."

Dozens of others were wounded in those areas, according to the official Palestinian news agency.

2221 GMT — Top English cleric 'deeply horrified' by Israeli carnage

England's top cleric, the archbishop of Canterbury, has said that he is "deeply horrified" by Israel's bombardments and siege of Gaza and condemned the killing of Palestinian civilians.

"I condemn the killing of Palestinian civilians, the destruction of homes and neighbourhoods, and pushing people to the brink of starvation – there is no moral justification for this," Justin Welby said on X.

His remarks came after his conversation with Munther Isaac, a Palestinian Christian pastor and theologian.

"In listening to him, I continue to be deeply horrified by Israel's bombardment and siege of Gaza. I renew my commitment to stand in solidarity with our Palestinian Christian brothers and sisters and with the people of Gaza," Welby added.

2029 GMT — Pro-Palestine protestors shut down office of New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat

A group of pro-Palestine protestors have temporarily shut down the office of US Representative Adriano Espaillat in protest of his support for Israel and taking donations from the pro-Israel lobby group, American Israel Public Affairs Committee.

In a video that went viral on social media, protestors were heard chanting: "Espaillat, you are a liar", "Espaillat, you cannot hide" and "You set Gaza on fire."

Protestors accused the New York congressperson of supporting "Palestinian suffering" and taking $30,000 in donations from AIPAC.

Multiple arrests were made, according to reports.

For our live updates from Thursday, March 7, click here.