Call for “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, Israel accuses UNRWA of employing “more than 450 terrorists”… What you need to know

Ceasefire talks between Israel and Hamas resumed in Cairo on Monday, March 4, a day after a call from the United States. “Immediate Ceasefire” In the Gaza Strip, siege and famine threatened after nearly five months of war. Israeli bombardment of the Palestinian territory continues unabated, killing 124 people in 24 hours, according to the Health Ministry in the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. On Monday, according to the Hamas government and witnesses, Israeli bombings mainly targeted Rafah and Khan Younes in the south, Nusraat in the center, Jabalia and Gaza City in the north. The Israeli army said its troops wanted to encircle the western part of Khan Younis, where “Terrorists are on the run”.

A Hamas delegation is also in Cairo, but Israel is not participating in the talks. Mediator countries have been trying for weeks to broker a compromise between the two camps to secure a cease-fire agreement that would, among other things, allow the release of hostages in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

Before any agreement, Hamas demands a specific ceasefire, an increase in humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, the return of thousands of displaced civilians to the north and an Israeli military withdrawal from the territory. Israel rejects these terms and says it wants to continue its offensive until Hamas is eliminated. It also demanded that the Islamic Movement provide a list of hostages in Gaza.

to achieve “Total Victory” Against Hamas, Israel announced it was preparing a ground offensive on Rafah, a city located in the far south of the Gaza Strip, opposite the closed border with Egypt, where, according to the UN, some 1.5 million Palestinians are in a desperate situation. humanitarian situation. There is a drought “almost inevitable”, according to the UN, for Gaza’s 2.2 million residents, a large part of the population. The health system has also collapsed due to the war and lack of electricity threatens the functioning of the last hospitals in service. “Electricity is a matter of life and death in hospitals”Hiba Tibi, director of NGO Care in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, said.

Israel accused UNRWA of employing “more than 450 terrorists”.

The Israeli army has accused the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) of using “Over 450 terrorists” in Gaza. “According to intelligence services, more than 450 terrorists affiliated with terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip, mainly Hamas, are also employed by UNRWA”.The army said in a statement.

The Israeli military also released what it said was a recording “Terrorist working as Arabic teacher at UNRWA school”. WHO “Describes his entry into Israeli territory and says he is taking Israeli women hostage” was retained during the attack on 7 October. world These allegations could not be independently verified.

For its part, UNRWA blamed Israel “Torture” According to a press release sent to Agence France-Presse (AFP), against some of its arrested employees. “Some of our staff reported to UNRWA teams that they were forced to confess under torture and ill-treatment” When they were “Questions about relations between UNRWA and Hamas and involvement in the October 7 attacks on Israel”.UN agency clarified.

Violence between Lebanon and Israel: US ambassador advocates “diplomatic solution”.

An American ambassador in Beirut assured that there was a diplomatic solution “The Only Way Out” to end cross-border clashes that have pitted the powerful Lebanese Hezbollah against Israel since the start of the war in Gaza. Amos Hochstein’s visit comes as a missile fired, according to the Israeli military, killed a foreign farm worker from Lebanon in the north of the country. In retaliation, the army said it attacked two “Military Sites” of the pro-Iranian Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

“The United States is convinced that a diplomatic solution is the only way to end hostilities (…) », Amos Hochstein, US President Joe Biden’s special coordinator for energy security, told reporters. The ambassador met with the Speaker of the Lebanese Parliament, Hezbollah ally Nabih Bari, and Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati.

He assured that his country “Worked tirelessly for a cease-fire in Gaza”While adding that this does not make sense “automatically” Violence ceases on the Lebanese front. “This is why we are here today”he said.

Belgium sends plane to drop aid to Gaza

As part of an international operation involving the United States, France and Jordan, Belgium has sent a military plane loaded with humanitarian aid to be dropped on Gaza, Belgian officials announced to AFP.

The humanitarian aid will first be transported to Jordan, where Israeli officials will inspect it, then it will be dropped on the Palestinian territory, no earlier than Wednesday, said Colonel Bruno Beekmans, commander of the Belgian air base at Melsbroek, near Brussels, from where the plane took off. “We don’t decide when we can go (in Gaza)We will be told when, and we will respect that.”He declared.

Permission from Israeli authorities is required because Israel controls the airspace over the Gaza Strip. A Belgian military cargo plane, an Airbus A400M, will make one more round trip between Brussels and Jordan to deliver more aid ahead of an airdrop operation in Gaza, according to Belgian authorities. Jordan has conducted sixteen operations to drop humanitarian aid into Gaza since October 7, including one carried out by French aircraft.

Ten children die of malnutrition in Gaza hospital, WHO chief says

A team from the World Health Organization (WHO), which visited two hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip this weekend, described the situation. “Quite Strange”Ten children are dying of starvation in one in two institutions, WHO chief declares.

The WHO team visited Kamal-Adwan Hospital in Beit Lahiya and Al-Awda Hospital in Jabaliya. “This is the first visit since the beginning of October 2023 despite our efforts to gain regular access to the northern Gaza Strip”Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus writes on X. These are the findings of the interview “Quite Strange”He continued the description “A particularly dire situation in al-Awda, where a building was destroyed”.

Kamal-Adwan Hospital, the only pediatric hospital north of the Palestinian enclave, “full of patients”. “Ten children die due to lack of food”It continues.

Hamas says it does not know ‘who is alive or dead’ among the hostages in Gaza

Hamas ignores “Who’s Alive or Dead” Among those held hostage in the Gaza Strip after a bloody attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement in southern Israel on October 7, a senior official told AFP.

“We do not know exactly who among those killed by the strike is alive or dead (Israel) or hunger »Bassem Naim from Cairo confirmed. “Prisoners are held by several groups in different places”he added.

About 250 people were abducted and taken to Gaza during an unprecedented Oct. 7 Hamas attack in Israel that left 1,160 dead, mostly civilians, according to AFP figures from official Israeli data. According to Israeli authorities, 130 hostages are still in Gaza, 31 of whom are believed to be dead. About 100 others were released along with 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel during the November ceasefire.