Following a veto at the UN Security Council of an American resolution on the need for an “immediate and sustained ceasefire” in Israel’s war on Gaza, a new vote on an alternative text has been postponed to Monday, diplomatic sources have said.
The postponement of the vote, originally planned for Saturday, was intended to allow further discussions of the draft, the sources said.
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0314 GMT — Palestinian president accuses Israel of ‘deliberately causing thirst’ in Gaza
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has accused Israel of “deliberately causing thirst” and spreading diseases in Gaza, according to the Palestinian news agency, WAFA.
Abbas made the remarks on World Water Day, which is celebrated annually on March 22.
“World Water Day this year comes at a time when our Palestinian people in Gaza are experiencing, like never before, the most heinous inhuman crimes of the occupation, which have claimed the lives of thousands of innocent victims, including martyrs, wounded, mostly children, women, and elderly,” he said.
0216 GMT — US military strikes 3 Houthi underground storage sites in Yemen
The US military has said it had struck three underground storage facilities used by Yemen’s Houthis, as they continue to launch attacks on shipping in the Red Sea.
US forces “conducted self-defence strikes against three Houthi underground storage facilities in Yemen,” Central Command (CENTCOM) said in a statement, adding that it has also registered four anti-ship ballistic missiles fired by the Houthis toward the Red Sea throughout Friday.
2250 GMT — Yemeni Houthi group reports additional US-UK strikes on Sanaa
The Yemeni Houthi group HAS reported a series of US and UK airstrikes on the capital, Sanaa, which is under the group’s control.
“American-British aggression targeted the capital Sanaa,” said Houthi-run al-Masirah Channel in a statement.
The television station, however, did not elaborate on the raids or if they resulted in property damage or casualties.
2220 GMT — UN chief Guterres to visit Gaza border
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres will visit the Egypt-Gaza border city of Rafah on Saturday to reiterate his call for a humanitarian ceasefire in the Israel-Palestine war, his spokesman said.
Guterres, who is currently in Brussels, will arrive in Egypt on Friday evening for “his annual Ramadan solidarity trip which comes this year in turbulent times, with the conflict in Gaza,” spokesman Farhan Haq said.
While there, the secretary general will meet aid workers on the Egyptian side of Rafah, which is split over the border with Gaza and has been a key gateway for humanitarian supplies reaching the territory.
Guterres will also visit a hospital in el-Arish, an Egyptian city which sits close to the Gaza border.
2205 GMT — Hamas hails Russia, China for vetoing ‘misleading’ US resolution
Palestinian resistance group Hamas has praised Russia, China, and Algeria for voting against a US-proposed UN Security Council resolution that tried to link a ceasefire in Gaza to the release of Israeli captives from Gaza.
“We appreciate the stance of Russia, China, and Algeria, who rejected the US draft resolution that is biased to the [Israeli] aggression on our [Palestinian people,” Hamas said in a statement.
Hamas said the US resolution used “misleading wording” and was complicit with Israeli goals to continue its aggression on Gaza, and tried to give Israel “cover and legitimacy to the genocidal war against our Palestinian people in Gaza.”
The US-sponsored resolution was vetoed by Russia and China. Algeria also voted “no,” while Guyana abstained, and the remaining 11 Security Council members voted in favour.
1946 GMT — Lebanon to complain to UN, saying Israel disrupts navigation systems
Lebanon will file an urgent complaint with the UN Security Council over what it called Israel’s violation of its sovereignty by disrupting its navigation systems, the Foreign Ministry said.
In a statement, the ministry said Israel was affecting the safety of civil aviation in the airspace of Beirut’s Rafic Hariri International Airport.
“Lebanon also holds Israel internationally responsible for the consequences of any accident or disaster cause d by Israel’s deliberate policy of jamming air and ground navigation systems, and deliberately disrupting signal receiving and transmitting devices,” the statement read.
