Southeast Asian and Australian leaders have called for a quick and lasting ceasefire in Gaza, describing the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian territory as “dire”.
“We urge for an immediate and durable humanitarian ceasefire,” said the leaders of 11 nations — including Muslim-majority Indonesia and Malaysia — after days of diplomatic wrangling over the text.
The deteriorating situation in Gaza was a topic of fierce debate as leaders from the 10-nation ASEAN bloc convened in Melbourne for a three-day summit with their Australian counterparts.
“We condemn attacks against all civilians and civilian infrastructure, leading to further deterioration of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza including restricted access to food, water, and other basic needs,” ASEAN and Australia said.
“We call for rapid, safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access to all those in need, including through increased capacity at border crossings, including by sea.”
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0803 GMT — Britain to warn Israel’s Gantz over famine in Gaza
Britain will warn Israel that its patience is running thin over the “dreadful suffering” in Gaza, where a lack of aid is leading people to die of hunger, foreign minister David Cameron said.
Cameron, who is due to meet Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz, told the parliament that Israel’s handling of aid for Gaza, as the occupying power, raised questions over its compliance with international law.
“We are facing a situation of dreadful suffering in Gaza,” Cameron told the upper House of Lords.
“I spoke some weeks ago about the danger of this tipping into famine and the danger of illness tipping into disease; and we are now at that point.
“People are dying of hunger; people are dying of otherwise preventable diseases.”
0519 GMT — Hamas shows ‘flexibility’ for truce amid Israeli reluctance
The Palestinian resistance group Hamas said in a statement they will continue negotiating through mediators until they reach a ceasefire agreement with the Israelis.
“We are showing the required flexibility in order to reach a comprehensive cessation of aggression against our people, but the occupation is still evading the entitlements of this agreement,” Hamas added.
Negotiators from Hamas, Qatar and Egypt — but not Israel — are in Cairo trying to secure a 40-day ceasefire in the war between Israel and Hamas in time for the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins early next week.
0419 GMT — Biden calls on Hamas to accept ceasefire by Ramadan
US President Joe Biden called on Hamas to accept a Gaza ceasefire deal by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, while the Palestinian resistance group warned talks for a truce and hostage release cannot go on “indefinitely”.
Egypt’s Al Qahera News, said the talks would continue for a fourth consecutive day on Wednesday.
“There’s got to be a ceasefire because Ramadan — if we get into circumstances where this continues to Ramadan, Israel and Jerusalem could be very, very dangerous,” the US president told reporters from Maryland.
0330 GMT — Blinken meets Qatari counterpart for ceasefire in Gaza
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has met with his Qatari counterpart amid efforts to reach a six-week ceasefire between Israel and Hamas in exchange for a hostage deal.
Blinken said ahead of his meeting with Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani at the State Department that there is an “opportunity for an immediate ceasefire that can bring hostages home, that can dramatically increase the amount of humanitarian assistance getting to Palestinians who so desperately need it, and can also set the conditions for an enduring resolution.”
“And it is on Hamas to make decisions about whether it is prepared to engage in that ceasefire,” he added.
0243 GMT — South Africa warns of ‘unbelievable tragedy’ if talks fail on ceasefire in Gaza
South Africa’s foreign minister warned that if talks on the release of hostages and a ceasefire in Gaza fail, there will be an “unbelievable tragedy and catastrophe.”
Naledi Pandor told public broadcaster SABC that they have asked their ambassador at the United Nations to make all efforts to talk to other ambassadors and encourage the passing of an urgent resolution for a ceasefire.
“We think at the moment that everybody should be focused on an immediate ceasefire,” Pandor said.
0123 GMT — US says shot down missile, drones launched by Yemen’s Houthi
A US destroyer has shot down drones and a missile launched by Yemen’s Houthi toward it in the Red Sea, American officials said, as the Indian navy released images of it fighting a fire aboard a container ship earlier targeted by the Houthis.
The Houthi attack involved bomb-carrying drones and one anti-ship ballistic missile, the US military’s Central Command said.
The US later launched an air strike, destroying three anti-ship missiles and three bomb-carrying drone boats, Central Command said.
0118 GMT — Trump supports Israel in its Gaza carnage
Republican presidential frontrunner Donald Trump has expressed his support for Israel’s carnage in besieged Gaza, in his most explicit comments yet on the fighting, as international pressure grows on the United States to rein in its ally.
“Yes,” Trump responded when asked during an interview on Fox News if he was “in Israel’s camp.”
The interviewer then asked if the former president was “on board” with the way Israel was executing its invasion in Gaza.
“You’ve got to finish the problem,” Trump responded.
0107 GMT — Chile excludes Israeli firms from LatAm’s top aerospace fair
Chile has said it will exclude Israeli firms from Latin America’s biggest aerospace fair, to be held in Santiago in April.
“By decision of the Government of Chile, the 2024 version of the International Air and Space Fair [FIDAE], to be held between 9 and 14 April, will not have the participation of Israeli companies,” a Defence Ministry statement said.
It did not give a reason, but the government of leftist President Gabriel Boric has been critical of what he has called Israel’s “disproportionate” response to the October 7 surprise blitz by Palestinian resistance group Hamas.
0052 GMT — US says Israeli ministers blocking Gaza aid deliveries
The US State Department said that extremist Israeli ministers are preventing aid deliveries from entering the besieged Gaza, raising questions about the legality of continued US assistance to Israel.
“Some of the obstacles that we have seen from the Israeli political establishment, you have seen ministers in the Israeli government block the release of flour from the port at Ashdod. You have seen ministers of the Israeli government supporting protests that blocked aid from going into Karem Shalom [Karem Abu Salem],” spokesperson Matthew Miller told reporters, referring to a key border crossing between Israel and Gaza.
“All of those things are obstacles coming from ministers inside the Israeli government that we have called out, that we have said are unacceptable, and that we have said should end,” he added.
Miller’s comments raise questions about part of a 1961 law that prohibits the US from providing aid to any country “when it is made known to the President that the government of such country prohibits or otherwise restricts, directly or indirectly, the transport or delivery of United States humanitarian assistance.”
0036 GMT — US pushes UN to back temporary Gaza truce to free captives
The United States has revised language in a draft United Nations Security Council resolution to back “an immediate ceasefire of roughly six weeks in Gaza together with the release of all hostages,” according to the text seen by the Reuters news agency.
The third revision of the text — first proposed by the US two weeks ago — now reflects blunt remarks by Vice President Kamala Harris.
The initial US draft had shown support for “a temporary ceasefire” in Israel’s carnage on the blockaded Palestinian enclave.
The US wants any Security Council support for a ceasefire to be linked to the release of hostages held in Gaza.
2203 GMT — ‘62% of pro-Biden voters’ oppose US arms transfer to Israel
More than 50 percent of Americans oppose arms shipments to Israel and 62 percent of respondents who voted for President Joe Biden in 2020 want US to halt weapon transfer to Tel Aviv until its attacks end against besieged Gaza, while only 30 percent of Trump voters support halt, according to a US think tank.
“Fifty-two percent of Americans agree that the US government should halt weapons shipments to Israel until Israel stops its attacks on Gaza,” the Center for Economic and Policy Research [CEPR] said in a statement, citing a new YouGov poll it commissioned.
CEPR said the poll revealed, “a major partisan split as 62 percent of the respondents who voted for President [Joe] Biden in 2020 agree with the statement ‘The US should stop weapons shipments to Israel until Israel discontinues its attacks on the people of Gaza,’ while just 14 percent disagree.”
“By contrast, only 30 percent of Trump voters support halting US weapons shipments, while a majority [55 percent] oppose, and another 15 percent say they are unsure,” it added.
The poll was conducted between February 27 — March 1.
2300 GMT — Protesters demand Gaza ceasefire during sit-in at Dutch parliament
A group of protesters have staged a sit-in in the Dutch parliament in The Hague, the Netherlands in solidarity with Palestinians.
The demonstrators occupied the entrance hall, chanting slogans such as “The Netherlands, shame on you,” “Ceasefire now” and “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.”
During a session held by lawmakers, another group hung a Palestinian flag in the visitors ‘ area in the House of Representatives.
During his speech while the protest was taking place, House Speaker Martin Bosma, who is also a member of the far-right Islamophobic PVV party, said they would file a complaint against the demonstrators.
Police later dragged the protesters away.
2234 GMT — French minister says Israeli war in Gaza must stop
Israel’s brutal war on besieged Gaza must stop, as the humanitarian situation there is “intolerable,” France’s minister of state for development and international partnerships said.
Chrysoula Zacharopoulou stressed the “absolute necessity” for Israel to comply with international humanitarian law.
Her remarks came during a session in parliament where French opposition lawmaker Thomas Portes raised concern over the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the besieged enclave.
Criticising Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne’s stance on Gaza, Portes said: “How long will France continue to watch the massacre in Gaza without taking action?”
2134 GMT — Pro-Palestine group sues Canada over military exports to Israel
Pro-Palestine and human rights advocates in Canada have filed a lawsuit against the federal government to stop it from allowing companies to export military goods and technology to Israel.
The lawsuit, filed in a federal court, argues that Canadian laws prevent military exports to Israel because there is “substantial risk” they could be used to violate international law and commit serious acts of violence against women and children, according to a statement from the applicants.
The applicants include the Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights group, the Palestinian organisation Al-Haq and four individuals.
