from thefreeonline On 20 Feb 2024 By Ali Harb and Brian Osgood at aljazeera.com
US envoy to UN uses third veto in Security Council to kill Algeria’s ceasefire resolution, saying it would harm truce negotiations between Israel and Hamas.
- World Food Programme has paused aid delivery in north Gaza, citing chaos caused by starvation and the “breakdown of social order”.
Dozens’ killed in Israel shelling of Gaza City
In the Zeitoun neighbourhood of the city, reports Palestinian news agency Wafa, Israeli army bombardment targeted several civilian homes, resulting in dozens of deaths and scores of injuries.
Scores killed and injured in Israeli shelling of civilian homes in Gaza City
The homes, Wafa says, belong to the Naim, Khalifa, Shenoura and Yasin families.
The agency’s correspondent reports that the majority of the injured remain trapped under rubble, even as civil defence crews labour to rescue them and transport them to the hospital. However, the crews have been prevented from reaching many by the intensity of the Israeli bombardment.
US says it continues to believe that genocide has not occurred in Gaza
![A Palestinian child tries to pick up spilled flour during aid distribution in north Gaza. [Screengrab/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-20-at-12.14.37-1708432951.png?resize=570%2C380&quality=80)
State Department spokesperson Miller has reiterated that the US does not believe that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute genocide, as countries such as South Africa and some experts on international law have suggested.
Asked about recent comments by Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva comparing the war in Gaza to the Holocaust, Miller said the US “obviously” disagrees with those comments.
“We have been quite clear that we do not believe that genocide has occurred in Gaza,” he added.
27m ago
(19:40 GMT)
Israel arrests six children in occupied West Bank: Report
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports, citing security sources, that Israeli forces detained five children aged 13 and one 16 year old in the village of Aboud, near Ramallah.
Israel regularly arrests Palestinian children – often over minor alleged offences – and keeps them in custody for prolonged periods of time without due process under so-called “administrative detention”.
37m ago
(19:30 GMT)
US says Palestinians detainees ‘must be treated humanely’ after sex assault claims
US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller has said that detained individuals “must be treated humanely” following UN reports of sexual abuse of Palestinian detainees by Israeli forces, but declined to offer any follow-up steps that may be taken on the matter.
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said in a statement on Monday that it had received information that Palestinian women and girls have “reportedly been arbitrarily executed in Gaza, often together with family members, including their children”.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/19/un-experts-warn-of-israeli-violations-against-palestinian-women-girls
“We have been clear that civilians and detainees must be treated humanely, and in accordance with international humanitarian law. We strongly encourage Israel to thoroughly and transparently investigate credible allegations and ensure accountability for abuses and violations,” Miller told reporters.
The US has yet to take any concrete steps to address widespread reports that Palestinian detainees, many rounded up and held without charge by Israeli forces, have been subjected to torture and inhumane conditions.
46m ago
(19:20 GMT)
Palestinian presidency slams US for blocking UNSC ceasefire measure
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’s office says the US veto at the UN Security Council defies the international community and gives Israel “an additional green light for the Israeli occupation to continue its aggression against the people of Gaza and to launch a bloody assault against Rafah”.
The Palestinian presidency also said that it holds the US administration responsible for “supporting and providing protection” to Israel’s “barbaric attacks” against children, women and the elderly in Gaza.
“This policy makes the United States a partner in the crimes of genocide and ethnic cleansing and the war crimes Israeli forces are committing,” a statement from the office reads.
It added that the US is advancing its own Security Council draft resolution that would call for pauses in the fighting only to justify its veto against the ceasefire proposal.
56m ago
(19:10 GMT)
Report: Houthi missile downs US drone over Yemen
Media outlet Al-Monitor reports, citing a US official, that a surface-to-air missile fired by the Yemeni group took down an MQ-9 Reaper drone near Hodeidah.
Yesterday, the group claimed to have shot down a US drone over Yemen, which it said “was carrying out hostile missions against our country on behalf of the Zionist entity”. US officials said they were investigating after a drone crashed over Yemen.
If confirmed, this will be the second US MQ-9 shot down by the group in recent months. The Pentagon acknowledged in November that an MQ-9 was shot down over the Red Sea.
1h ago
(19:01 GMT)
Israeli forces raid Jenin, clashes erupt
Reporting from Nablus, the occupied West Bank
An Israeli force has stormed the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and clashed with armed Palestinians there, local sources say.
Sounds of fierce fighting and shooting were heard as more Israeli military enforcements, backed by bulldozers, arrived in several areas of the city. Israeli drones were spotted over the area, as well.
At least three Palestinians have been injured in the raid, but Israeli forces prevented medics from reaching them, according to witnesses.
We will bring you more information on the situation in Jenin as soon as it becomes available.
1h ago
(18:50 GMT)
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Israeli forces have carried out at least two air strikes on the coastal town of Ghaziyeh in southern Lebanon, according to the Israeli military and Lebanese state media.https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/19/israeli-air-strikes-target-ghaziyeh-in-southern-lebanon
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