Live

Palestinians risk lives for aid as Israel's restrictions deepen hunger crisis

Palestinians risk lives for aid as Israel's restrictions deepen hunger crisis
By Usaid Siddiqui and Brian Osgood
Published On 19 Feb 2024
  • A Hamas official says Israel is refusing to withdraw from Gaza, rejecting the return of displaced Palestinians to their homes and failing to commit to allowing enough aid to the territory, leaving nothing to agree on.
  • UN experts, including the special rapporteur on violence against women and girls, say they are distressed by reports of “multiple forms of sexual assault” against Palestinian female detainees by Israeli forces.
19 Feb 2024 - 23:59
 (23:59 GMT)

Thank you for joining us

This live page is now closed. You can follow our ongoing coverage of Israel’s war on Gaza here.

To learn about the International Court of Justice case against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, click here.

And you can always read more about the conflict here.

19 Feb 2024 - 23:45
 (23:45 GMT)

Here’s what happened today

We will be closing the live blog soon. Here’s a recap of the day’s main events:

  • UNICEF released a report documenting hunger in Gaza and warning of an “explosion in preventable child deaths” in the territory, finding that nearly 16 percent of children below the age of two in northern Gaza are acutely malnourished.
  • Israel has carried out heavy strikes in southern Lebanon in what it says was retaliation after a drone launched from Lebanon crashed near Tiberias, increasing fears over an escalation with Hezbollah.
  • Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he “does not recognise” the legitimacy of the ICJ case considering Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories, adding later that Israel will maintain control of the occupied West Bank and Gaza.
  • Hamas claimed attacks against Israeli troops in Khan Younis, as a senior official from the group said its fighters are continuing to confront Israel’s forces with strong determination.
  • Brazil recalled its ambassador to Israel following a diplomatic spat with the country after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva compared the assault on Gaza to the Holocaust.
  • Gaza’s Health Ministry said the number of Palestinians killed in the war on Gaza has surpassed 29,000, with humanitarian conditions continuing to deteriorate.
19 Feb 2024 - 23:30
 (23:30 GMT)

Gaza starvation ‘result of Israeli policy’ with tacit US support: Analyst

Senior fellow at the Middle East Institute Khaled Elgindy has blamed Israel, which is imposing a suffocating siege on Gaza, for the widespread hunger in the territory, which has been documented by a recent UN report.

“Reminder that the mass starvation in Gaza is a direct result of Israeli policy to severely restrict food, water, medicine to Gaza’s civilian population of 2.3 million, which it could not have sustained without the tacit support of the Biden admin,” Elgindy wrote in a social media post.

19 Feb 2024 - 23:15
 (23:15 GMT)

Israel is failing to reach its goals in Gaza: Hamas

Senior Hamas official Khalil al-Hayya says Israel has failed terribly in achieving its objectives of returning the captives held in Gaza and dismantling Palestinian armed resistance in the territory.

Al-Hayya dismissed Israeli claims of defeating Hamas in northern Gaza, saying the group is still fighting across the territory with strong determination.

“As the occupation has failed in eliminating the resistance’s capabilities in the north of the Strip and the central area and Khan Younis, it will fail in attempting to wrest its control over Rafah,” al-Hayya told Al Jazeera.

19 Feb 2024 - 23:00
 (23:00 GMT)

Photos show aftermath of Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon

Israeli raids hit the town of Ghaziyeh, near Sidon, deep inside south Lebanon.

Black smoke rises from an industrial site hit by an Israeli air strike near the coastal town of Ghaziyeh in southern Lebanon, February 19 [Mohammed Zaatari/AP]
Israel says the attack targeted Hezbollah infrastructure but local reports said the raids hit civilian factories [Hassan Hankir/Reuters]
Civil defence workers check a burning warehouse, attacked by Israeli strikes [Mohammed Zaatari/AP]
A crowd surveys the aftermath of the attack [Mohammed Zaatari/AP]

19 Feb 2024 - 22:45
 (22:45 GMT)

Arab Group expresses support for Algeria’s UN resolution versus US measure

The Arab Group, a coalition of Arab states that promote common interests at the United Nations, has released a statement in support of a Security Council draft resolution by Algeria calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.

The US has said it will not allow such a measure to pass. Washington also put forward its own resolution calling instead for a temporary pause in the fighting.

The US has argued that calling for an immediate ceasefire could upend ongoing talks in search of a deal between Hamas and Israel, but in a statement, the Arab Group said that Algeria’s resolution could strengthen those efforts “rather than jeopardizing them”.

“The time has come for the Security Council, entrusted with the primary responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, to act decisively and make a resolute decision before it is too late,” the statement reads, as reported by Al Jazeera’s Rami Ayari.

19 Feb 2024 - 22:32
 (22:32 GMT)

Saudi Arabia says Rafah assault would be ‘completely unacceptable’

The kingdom’s Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud has warned against an Israeli offensive on Rafah.

“The potential prospect of military operations in Rafah, the last safe haven in the south, and without any clear mechanisms to protect the civilians; this is completely unacceptable,” bin Farhan said in an interview with France 24.

“When I talk to our partners the international community, they all agree that the pathway to stability in our region, in Palestine, and for the security for Israel is towards a Palestinian State.”

19 Feb 2024 - 22:19
 (22:19 GMT)

Houthis say they downed US drone

The Yemeni armed group says its “air defences” hit an American MQ9 aircraft over the Hodeidah governorate using a locally manufactured ground to air missile “while it was carrying out a hostile mission against our country”.

The group shared footage of what it said was the drone after it was downed.

The US and the UK have been carrying out military raids inside Yemen in response to the Houthis’ attacks on shipping lanes in the Red Sea. The Yemeni group says it is targeting Israel-linked ships to help bring an end to the war on Gaza.

19 Feb 2024 - 22:08
 (22:08 GMT)

Netanyahu says will submit legislation to reject calls for Palestinian state

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said in a video statement that he will submit legislation to the Knesset rejecting “international efforts to force on us a Palestinian state” amid growing calls for a two-state solution.

The move follows the unanimous passage of a similar measure at the cabinet level yesterday. Netanyahu also reiterated that Israel will maintain “full security control” of the occupied West Bank and Gaza after the war.

“For five months we have been running an unprecedented political campaign,” he said, according to the Times of Israel. “This campaign allowed our fighters the freedom of action to achieve all the goals of the war.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the establishment of a Palestinians state [Abir Sultan/Pool via Reuters]
19 Feb 2024 - 21:57
 (21:57 GMT)

UK maritime group says received reports of drone attack on vessel in Red Sea

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) group has said that it has received reports of a drone assault on a vessel in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait.

“UKMTO has received a report of an incident 60NM [111km] north of Djibouti, Djibouti,” the group said in a report today.

“The Master reports that the vessel has been hit by an Uncrewed Aerial System resulting in superficial damage to the accomodation superstructure. The crew are reported to be safe and the vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.”

19 Feb 2024 - 21:45
 (21:45 GMT)

14 people wounded in Lebanon following Israeli strikes: Report

Lebanon’s state-run National News Agency (NNA) says 14 people in the country were wounded in Israeli air raids near Sidon earlier today.

The NNA says that the strikes on Ghaziyeh injured mostly “Syrian and Palestinian workers”.

Smoke rises from a site hit by an Israeli raid near the town of Ghaziyeh on Lebanon’s coast, February 19, 2024 [Hassan Hankir/Reuters]
19 Feb 2024 - 21:33
 (21:33 GMT)

If you’re just joining us

It is now just past 11:30pm (21:30 GMT) in the occupied Palestinian territories and Israel.

Here’s a recap of the main events of the past few hours:

  • The Israeli military has attacked Sidon, deep inside south Lebanon, claiming that it hit Hezbollah weapons depots, but local reports say it targeted civilian factories.
  • Dozens of European countries call for an “immediate” pause to the fighting in Gaza and renew warnings against Israel’s looming Rafah assault.
  • The US proposes a UN Security Council measure that would call for a “temporary” ceasefire in a rival measure to the Algerian proposal that would urge ending the war.
  • UNICEF releases a report documenting hunger in Gaza and warning of an “explosion in preventable child deaths” in the territory.
  • Israeli settlers attack the villages of Burqa and Huwara in the occupied West Bank.
  • Yemen’s Houthis claim attacks on two US ships in the Gulf of Aden.
19 Feb 2024 - 21:20
 (21:20 GMT)

Israel ‘not serious’ about reaching a captives deal: Senior Hamas official

Khalil al-Hayya says Benjamin Netanyahu is only looking to prolong the war and suffering of the Palestinian people to save his own position as Israel’s prime minister.

“The Israeli occupation refuses to allow displaced Palestinians in Gaza to return to their homes in the north and the south. The Israeli occupation is not giving any indication that it will stop this aggression,” al-Hayya told Al Jazeera.

“The Israeli occupation, to this moment, has not given any guarantees that it will allow enough aid into Gaza or the rehabilitation of hospitals and bakeries and infrastructure. Even the tents, the Israeli occupation has not given a clear approval to allow them in.

“Then what can we agree on?”

Netanyahu had called Hamas’s demands to reach a deal that would lead to the release of the Israeli captives in Gaza in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and secure a prolonged pause to the fighting “delusional”.

But al-Hayya said that it is Israel that is using “lies” to derail the talks and avoid meeting Palestinians’ demands.

19 Feb 2024 - 21:10
 (21:10 GMT)

Only three days of drinking water available at Khan Younis hospital: Red Crescent

Israeli forces have targeted and damaged a water desalination station at al-Amal Hospital, the Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) has said.

“Available drinking water at Al-Amal Hospital is only sufficient for three days,” the group said in a post on X.

Earlier, the PRCS said the situation inside the Khan Younis hospital was “highly dangerous due to a 28-day-long siege”.

19 Feb 2024 - 21:00
 (21:00 GMT)

Brazil recalls envoy to Israel following spat over Lula’s comments on Gaza

Brazil’s foreign ministry has said that the country’s ambassador to Israel has been called home, following an Israeli announcement that Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva would be “persona non grata” until he retracted comments drawing parallels between Israel’s war on Gaza and the Holocaust.

“Given the gravity of the statements this morning by the government of Israel, Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira … has summoned the Israeli ambassador, Daniel Zonshine, to report today to the foreign ministry,” the foreign ministry said.

“He also recalled the Brazilian ambassador in Tel Aviv, Frederico Meyer, for consultations. He will depart for Brazil tomorrow.”

‘It’s not a war of soldiers against soldiers. It’s a war between a highly prepared army and women and children,’ Brazil’s President Lula had said of the war on Gaza [File: Ueslei Marcelino/Reuters]
19 Feb 2024 - 20:50
 (20:50 GMT)

Knesset vote to expel Israeli lawmaker over support for ICJ genocide case fails

An effort by Israeli right-wing lawmakers to expel Knesset member Ofer Cassif from the legislature over his support for the ICJ case accusing Israel of genocidal acts in Gaza has failed to move forward, falling five votes short of the 90 needed.

That effort was promoted by Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who called Cassif a “terror-supporting Knesset member who incites against Israel in time of war”. Domestic opponents of Israel’s war in Gaza have faced intense pressure, including arrest over social media posts in support of Palestinians.

Before the vote, Cassif flatly rejected claims that he supports armed violence by groups like Hamas and said the push to expel him was part of a campaign of “political persecution and silencing of every critical voice in general and of Arab citizens and their representatives in the Knesset in particular”.

Israeli lawmaker Ofer Cassif, centre, takes part in a protest against efforts to displace a Palestinian family in Jerusalem on June 16, 2023 [File: Mahmoud Illean/AP Photo]
19 Feb 2024 - 20:40
 (20:40 GMT)

More than 200 percent increase in Israeli settler attacks on Nablus: Official

By Ayman Nobani

Reporting from Nablus, occupied West Bank

Since October 7, and compared with the same months in previous years, settler attacks have intensified by 208 percent, Nablus’s acting Governor Ghassan Daghlas has said.

“The attacks have intensified, especially after more settlers were getting armed by the Israeli government, military checkpoints were closed, and barriers were imposed, tightening the siege on Nablus governorate,” Daghlas told Al Jazeera.

Twelve military checkpoints currently encircle Nablus city and its surrounding villages; the Israeli army has also installed 10 gates at the entrances to villages and towns south of Nablus, Daghlas said.

“This is something we have not experienced since the second Intifada. The Israeli occupation is clear in its intention, which is to strike the beating heart of the West Bank – Nablus – which connects its centre and its north,” he added.

19 Feb 2024 - 20:30
 (20:30 GMT)

The foundation feeding thousands in Hebron impoverished by Israel’s war

By Mosab Shawer

Hebron’s Tikkiyya Ibrahimiyya, a charitable foundation, has been a refuge for the poor and the needy since its founding in 1279, making it one of the oldest such organisations in the region.

Before October 7, the Tikkiyya provided about 1,000 meals a day.

It relied on donations to allow it to make that much food, and the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Awqaf and Religious Affairs provides money for salaries and administrative costs.

That was until the war on Gaza caused a chain reaction of economic distress with tens of thousands of workers from Gaza trapped in the occupied West Bank and unable to go home or work while economic activity has ground almost entirely to a halt.

The Palestinian Authority has had to shore up the Tikkiyya’s funding in light of the thousands of additional people who need to be fed.

You can read more on the Tikkiyya Ibrahimiyya here.

Cooks prepare food at the Tikkiyya Ibrahimiyya charity in Hebron in the occupied West Bank [Mosab Shawer/Al Jazeera]
19 Feb 2024 - 20:20
 (20:20 GMT)

WHO official urges ‘proper medical evacuation’ at Nasser Hospital

WHO Representative for the West Bank and Gaza Rik Peeperkorn, who was part of a World Health Organization team that visited the besieged Nasser Hospital days ago, describes a harrowing situation at the medical centre.

“The hospital is currently not functional. More patients need to be transferred out, including the completely exhausted staff,” Peeperkorn told Al Jazeera.

The WHO team was allowed to bring “very few” medical supplies, food and water into the hospital, Peeperkorn said.

He added there was an urgent need for a “proper medical evacuation” into Egypt.

“The hospital is quite damaged … the degradation of health services needs to stop,” Peeperkorn told Al Jazeera. “A number of countries in the region and even in Europe have reached out and are willing to accept patients. We estimate that at least 8,000 patients need to be referred out of Gaza.”

Palestinian patients rest as they arrive in Rafah after they were evacuated from Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis due to the Israeli ground operation, February 15, 2024 [File: Mohammed Salem/Reuters]
19 Feb 2024 - 20:10
 (20:10 GMT)

‘Steep rise’ in malnutrition in Gaza reported

An analysis by the Global Nutrition Cluster, which monitors the nutritional needs of populations under emergency circumstances, has found that nearly 16 percent of children under the age of 2 in northern Gaza are “acutely malnourished”.

Before the war, that figure was 0.8 percent for children under the age of 5. “Such a decline in a population’s nutritional status in three months is unprecedented globally,” its report reads.

“The Gaza Strip is poised to witness an explosion in preventable child deaths, which would compound the already unbearable level of child deaths in Gaza,” UNICEF official Ted Chaiban said in a news release. UNICEF is the lead agency in the Global Nutrition Cluster.

The report also found that at least 90 percent of children under 5 were affected by one or more infectious diseases and 70 percent have had diarrhoea in the past two weeks.

More than 95 percent of households said that adults were restricting the amount of food they eat so children would have more, and 64 percent of households said they were eating only one meal a day.

According to the report, “95 per cent of pregnant and breastfeeding women face severe food poverty.”

Famine is spreading in Gaza because of the Israeli siege, which is severely restricting the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory.