U.S., Partners to Establish Maritime Corridor for Humanitarian Aid to Gaza
Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, European Union, and United Nations are working with the United States to set up a sea corridor to ship aid into the Gaza Strip; it is the first seaborne aid operation to Gaza in at least a decade and comes as international humanitarian agencies warn that around three hundred thousand civilians in the enclave’s north are approaching famine (FT)
Meanwhile, Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories have expanded by a record amount, stated the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk in a new report (Al Jazeera)
The Biden administration said last month the settlements were “inconsistent” with international law after Israel announced new housing plans in the occupied West Bank (PBS). The report documented 24,300 new Israeli housing units in the occupied West Bank during a one-year period through October 2023, which it said was the highest on record since monitoring began in 2017 (OHCHR).
U.S. to Build Temporary Port for Aid Delivery
During his State of the Union address, President Biden announced that the U.S. military would build a temporary port on Gaza’s Mediterranean coast to receive humanitarian aid by sea (BBC)
Planning for the operation—initially based on the island of Cyprus—does not envision the deployment of U.S. military personnel in Gaza (Reuters). Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Patrick Ryder stated that the floating pier is expected to take one to two months to build and become fully operational; he added it will require as many as one thousand U.S. military personnel to complete (CNN).
Kamala Harris Meets With Israel’s Benny Gantz in Washington
Benny Gantz of Israel’s war cabinet has traveled to Washington today to meet with U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan, and senior lawmakers, Gantz’s office said; they are due to discuss efforts to establish a temporary cease-fire and hostage deal in the Israel-Hamas war, increase humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, and reduce Palestinian civilian casualties (Reuters)
In a speech yesterday, Harris called for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, saying Hamas should agree to a proposal that is currently on the table and that Israel should be doing more to allow aid into the enclave; the United States began airdropping aid into Gaza over the weekend amid difficulties in humanitarian access (NYT)
Meanwhile, Hamas envoys arrived in Egypt yesterday for the latest round of cease-fire negotiations, but Israel did not send a delegation after learning that Hamas refused to share a list of hostages who were still alive (NYT)
UN Experts Find Evidence of Sexual Assault By Hamas During October 7 Attack
A United Nations team found “clear and convincing information” that some women and children taken back to the Gaza Strip experienced rape and sexualized torture, and that there were “reasonable grounds to believe” that the violence may be ongoing (UN)
Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris stated that “people in Gaza are starving” and called for “an immediate ceasefire” as part of a hostage deal between Israel and Hamas (NYT)
She also demanded that the Israeli government do more to facilitate the flow of significantly more aid (Axios).
U.S. Airdrops Aid to Gaza for the First Time
Three C-130 U.S. military planes delivered more than 38,000 meals into a territory where the United Nations says at least 576,000 people are one step away from famine conditions (Reuters)
Gaza Mass Casualty Event Highlights Aid Delivery Challenges
More than one hundred people died, and hundreds more were wounded yesterday during the distribution of humanitarian aid in the northern Gaza Strip, Gaza health officials said; Israeli officials said a stampede caused most of the deaths, while Palestinian officials blamed Israeli gunfire (NYT)
The event underscores the immense difficulty of delivering humanitarian aid to the region, which is plagued by starvation and disease amid the war between Israel and Hamas (Al Jazeera)
World leaders voiced alarm and grief after the deadly event, which prompted renewed calls for a cease-fire; U.S. President Joe Biden called it “tragic and alarming” in a call with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi yesterday (WaPo)
He also said the incident would complicate ongoing cease-fire negotiations (Reuters)
Several leaders have called for independent investigations of the event (Semafor)
Gaza Health Ministry Reports Over Thirty Thousand People Have Died in Enclave Since October 7
The health ministry, which is run by Palestinian militant group Hamas, does not distinguish between fighters and civilians in its death count; the new milestone suggests around one of every seventy-three Palestinians in the Gaza Strip has been killed (NYT)
An article in the British medical journal The Lancet looking at the first weeks of mortality reports found the deaths were among population groups “that are likely to be largely civilian” (The Lancet)
Meanwhile, Russia invited all Palestinian factions, including Hamas and Fatah, to a meeting in Moscow to discuss governance reform in the Palestinian territories (CNN)
Palestinian Authority Foreign Affairs Minister Riyadh al-Maliki said yesterday that he did not expect “miracles” from today’s meeting (Al Jazeera)
Separately, Palestinian factions met in Moscow to discuss forming a new government just days after the Palestinian Authority government resigned (Financial Times). The objective of the talks was to unite the factions under the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), a coalition of parties that signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1993, and to form a new government in the Palestinian Authority (PA) (CNN).
Jordan, Partners Airdrop Aid to Gaza
Planes from Egypt, France, and the United Arab Emirates joined a Jordanian aid drop along the coast of the Gaza Strip, Jordan’s military said; humanitarian groups usually only drop aid by plane as a last resort when it is difficult to reach recipients via ground transport (NYT)
The United States also announced $53 million in new humanitarian aid for Gaza, bringing total U.S. aid to Gaza during the current war to $180 million (AFP)
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Offers Resignation
Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh offered to resign today, opening the door to a potential leadership overhaul at the organization; he said he hoped to allow for new political arrangements following the current war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas (FT)
Officials from the United States and other countries have long called for such a step, as the PA faces financial challenges and remains unpopular with the public; Shtayyeh’s government will rule in a caretaker capacity until PA President Mahmoud Abbas accepts his resignation (Reuters)
Shtayyeh’s announcement comes as negotiators continue to meet to consider a deal for a cease-fire and hostage release in the Israel-Hamas war (WaPo)
Israel to Take Part in Paris Weekend Talks on Gaza Cease-Fire, Hostage Deal
Negotiations on a potential deal are set to include delegates from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar; U.S. envoy to the Middle East and North Africa Brett McGurk met with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel yesterday ahead of the talks (Al-Monitor)
UN Agencies, Aid NGOs Issue Joint Call to Step Up Humanitarian Efforts in Gaza
The heads of nineteen UN agencies and major global charities issued a joint letter outlining urgent steps to “salvage” humanitarian efforts in the Gaza Strip amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas; the letter also called for an immediate cease-fire, the immediate release of hostages, and reliable access points to provide aid, saying that humanitarian workers “can only do so much” under current movement restrictions (UN)
Increasing humanitarian aid in the enclave is also a priority of U.S. and other international diplomats as they continue to work toward a cease-fire deal between Israel and Hamas during talks in Egypt this week (The National)
Earlier this week, the World Food Program froze its aid deliveries to northern Gaza due to challenging security conditions (WaPo)
Humanitarian workers have been unable to regularly pick up supplies from the Gaza border due to a security breakdown, a spokesperson for the UN humanitarian office said; the territory’s health-care system has collapsed, and some desperate residents confronted with hunger and disease have halted aid convoys to seize supplies (Reuters)
U.S. Floats Temporary Cease-Fire in Gaza in Draft UN Resolution
The United States circulated a draft resolution at the UN Security Council proposing a temporary cease-fire in the war between Israel and Palestinian militant group Hamas “as soon as practicable;” the draft would also require Hamas to release the hostages taken during its October 7 attack and says that a potential Israeli ground invasion of the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah “should not proceed under current circumstances” (AP)
The U.S. proposal comes as Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz said Hamas would face an offensive in Rafah if they do not release their hostages by March 10 (Times of Israel)
Separately, twenty-six European Union (EU) countries warned Israel yesterday against carrying out an offensive in Rafah, where some 1.5 million refugees are sheltered (Reuters)
Algeria, meanwhile, has put forth a separate draft resolution at the Security Council that calls for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza; Washington has signaled it would veto such a resolution over concerns that it could put current talks about a potential hostage release deal at risk (Reuters)
Brazil Recalls Ambassador to Israel in Row Over Gaza War Comments
Israel summoned Brazil’s ambassador in the country after Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, also known as Lula, compared Israel’s military campaign in Gaza to the Holocaust; Israel said Lula was not welcome in the country until he revoked his comments, and Brazil subsequently recalled its ambassador in Israel for consultations (Bloomberg)
Israel Behind Attacks on Iranian Gas Pipeline, Officials Say
Two Western officials and an Iranian military strategist associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps said that the attacks indicated a deep knowledge of Iran’s energy infrastructure and constituted a significant escalation in Israel and Iran’s years-long shadow war; the Western officials also claimed that Israel was responsible for a separate attack inside a chemical plant near Tehran on Thursday, though local media said the explosion was caused by an accident with the factory’s fuel tank (NYT)
Israeli Forces Carry Out Operation in Southern Gaza Hospital
Israeli forces entered Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis today after telling civilians sheltering in the hospital to evacuate in what was part of their operations to target Hamas; an Israeli military spokesperson said Hamas had previously held hostages at the hospital (CNN)
Nasser is one of a few hospitals still operating in the Gaza Strip and a World Health Organization (WHO) official warned that it could soon cease to function; at least ten civilians were killed in the recent hostilities, the WHO official said (NYT)
Israeli Media: Netanyahu Pulled Out of Cease-Fire Talks
Israeli media announced that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left cease-fire negotiations in Cairo; Netanyahu’s office has not confirmed or denied the reports, but the prime minister posted on social media that “strong military pressure and very tough negotiations” is the key to obtaining the release of the remaining hostages and emphasized the success of the military operation in Rafah that rescued two hostages on Monday (NYT)
Biden Shields Palestinian Migrants From Deportation for Eighteen Months
President Joe Biden signed an executive order deferring the removal of most Palestinian migrants for eighteen months, citing the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories; the order is expected to protect several thousand people (CBS)
United States Examines Possible Weapons Misuse by Israel
The State Department’s investigation is an attempt to determine whether Israel used U.S.-supplied weapons against civilians, which would constitute a war crime and put further pressure on the Biden administration to impose conditions on arms transfers to Israel (WSJ)
Israel-Lebanon Tensions Escalate in Deadly Strike Exchange
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) carried out several strikes in retaliation for Hezbollah’s rocket fire that resulted in two casualties in northern Israel yesterday, killing four people, including three militants (NYT)
The escalation comes after months of lower-scale violence across the border and Western diplomatic efforts to contain regional tensions (WaPo)
Leaders of Egypt, Turkey Meet for First Time in Twelve Years
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has been seeking better relations with Egypt and other countries in the region since 2021 and said today’s discussion with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi would focus on Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip; the leaders’ meeting in Cairo is part of a diplomatic thaw between the two countries, which had grown apart after a 2013 military coup in Egypt (Reuters)
Hezbollah Fires Missiles into Israel, Injures Two
The Lebanese militia said the two separate strikes targeted Israeli soldiers and a police building in Kiryat Shmona; the attacks happened amid de-escalation talks mediated by Western countries, including France and the United States (NYT)
U.S. Senate Passes $95.3 Billion Aid Bill for Israel, Taiwan, Ukraine
The bill was approved today by a vote of 70–29 after a rare overnight session of debate; Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) worked closely on the legislation (AP)
CIA, Mossad Leaders Hold Hostage, Cease-fire Talks in Egypt
The directors of the U.S. and Israeli intelligence services and Qatar’s prime minister are in Cairo today for a meeting about a potential hostage release and cease-fire deal in the Gaza Strip, Egyptian media reported (AFP, Times of Israel)
The talks come after U.S. President Joe Biden said yesterday that he would do “everything possible” to seek a six-week cease-fire deal that would also see the release of hostages held by Palestinian militant group Hamas (FT)
Biden’s comments on the deal were some of his most detailed yet and came after he met with Jordan’s King Abdullah II; Biden said he supported a pause that would allow “the time to build something more enduring” and reiterated U.S. opposition to the forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza (Bloomberg)
Dutch Court Bars Transfer of Fighter Jet Parts to Israel
A Dutch court ruled that the government should stop sending parts for F-35 fighter jets to Israel over concerns of a risk that Israel is conducting human rights violations in its war against Hamas; the Netherlands’ trade minister said the government would appeal the ruling (FT)
Israel Rescues Two Hostages From Rafah in Southern Gaza
Israel’s military announced the rescue of two Israeli-Argentinian hostages from the southern Gaza Strip city of Rafah; air strikes carried out as cover for the raid killed at least sixty-seven Palestinians, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry (Reuters)
Meanwhile, U.S. President Joe Biden is meeting with Jordan’s King Abdullah II at the White House to discuss negotiations regarding a potential pause in fighting and the release of the remaining hostages held by Hamas (CNN)