20:30 Palestine Action spray-painted a 1914 piece depicting Lord Arthur Balfour at the University of Cambridge.
Footage circulating on social media showed the Pro-Palestine protesters vandalizing the historic portrait of the British foreign secretary who was responsible for the infamous Balfour Declaration of 1917 during WWI.
The declaration stated that the British government supported "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people."
It was issued at a time when Arab Palestinians comprised the overwhelming population of Palestine and Jews comprised a minuscule minority in the country.
"Britain’s support for the continued colonisation of Palestine hasn’t wavered since 1917," Palestine Action said in a statement.
Since the start of the Israeli war on Gaza on 7 October, hundreds of thousands of people in the UK have taken part in pro-Palestine demonstrations across the country, demanding London cease its military and political support to Tel Aviv and call for an immediate ceasefire.
20:00 After weeks of silence, Abu Obeida, the spokesperson for Ezz Eddin Qassam, the military wing of Hamas, released a defiant, 15-minute video message to supporters.
Abu Obeida's message comes as international mediators failed to reach a truce deal between Hamas and Israel before the start of the holy month of Ramadan.
Here are the highlights of Abu Obeida's message.
- The war is entering its sixth month, and the enemy is still carrying out a true Nazi holocaust against our people.
- The laws of the world stand helpless in the face of a usurping occupier devoid of human values.
- Our people stand in the face of an unprecedented Zionist-American aggression in history.
- This battle establishes a new stage worldwide, the title of which is that rights can only be taken by force.
- The outdated laws of the international community are designed to protect injustice and aggression under the influence of the American administration.
- The 7 October epic operation came in response to a decades-long aggression that culminated in an attempt to Judaize and demolish Al-Aqsa.
-The Zionist orgy escalated with the arrival of the most extremist and Nazi government to power in the entity, which was planning what to do.
- An unjust and trembling hand rises in the Security Council to disrupt every attempt, even if it is formal, to support the oppressed.
- We have been fighting the enemy for the 154th day, inflicting heavy losses on its officers, soldiers, mercenaries, and vehicles, and we have more.
- The enemy will not rest easy on our land and will not succeed in bringing security to itself before our people obtain their rights.
- We welcome Ramadan with jihad and unity in a time when men are proud.
- Hamas's first and foremost precondition for agreeing to a prisoner swap deal is the complete end of the Israeli aggression and the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza.
19:00 Francesca Albanese, the UN Special Rapporteur for Palestine, has called for an arms embargo and economic sanctions on Israel as the only effective means to address the ongoing "genocide" in Gaza.
In a series of tweets, Albanese responded to posts by António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and the German foreign office, emphasizing the need for concrete actions in response to Israel's actions.
Responding to Secretary-General Guterres, Albanese stated that an arms embargo and economic sanctions are crucial to halt the Israeli war on Gaza.
In a separate tweet, Albanese addressed the issue of illegal settlements in the West Bank.
She highlighted the fact that Israel has been constructing illegal settlements for 56 years, with 300 such settlements currently existing in the West Bank and East Jerusalem alone.
Albanese expressed doubt that mere words of condemnation would suffice to undo the decades of impunity and defiance of international humanitarian law (IHL) exhibited by Israel.
Instead, she argued that diplomatic, political, and economic measures would likely be more effective in addressing the issue.
18:30 A medic at Gaza's largest hospital said Friday a humanitarian airdrop in the north of the Palestinian territory killed five people and wounded 10.
The casualties were taken to Gaza City's Al-Shifa hospital, the emergency room's head nurse, Mohamed Al-Sheikh, told AFP.
Sheikh said the deadly airdrop occurred north of the coastal Al-Shati refugee camp.
A witness from the camp told AFP he and his brother followed the parachuted aid in the hope of getting "a bag of flour."
"Then, all of a sudden, the parachute didn't open and fell like a rocket on the roof of one of the houses," said Mohammed al-Ghoul.
"Ten minutes later I saw people transferring three martyrs and others injured, who were staying on the roof of the house where the aid packages fell," the 50-year-old told AFP.
The United States and Jordan are among the countries to have carried out airdrops in northern Gaza, where hundreds of thousands of people are facing dire conditions after more than five months of Israeli bombardment and total blockade.
Referring to the five killed on Friday, the government media office in Gaza said airdrops were "futile" and "not the best way for aid to enter."
The United Nations has said airdrops or a proposed maritime aid corridor cannot be a substitute for land deliveries, urging more trucks to be permitted to reach Gaza through more border crossings.
17:45 At least 20 people have died from malnutrition and dehydration at the Kamal Adwan and Shifa hospitals in northern Gaza, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
Most of the dead are children — including ones as old as 15 — as well as a 72-year-old man.
It’s not just Israeli bombs that have killed children in Gaza — now tens are dying of hunger too.
UN officials have long warned over the risk of famine in the strip that has been under Israel’s bombardment and blockade for the past five months.
Hunger is most acute in northern Gaza, which has been isolated by Israeli forces and has suffered long cutoffs of food supply deliveries.
According to Dr. Rik Peeperkorn, UN World Health Organization (WHO) Representative for the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the majority of the missions conducted by the UN health agency in the northern region were rejected in January. Out of the total 16 missions, only three were approved, while four faced obstacles and nine were outright denied.
Furthermore, during February, no missions were facilitated at all, Dr. Peeperkorn added.
17:00 Renowned Egyptian visual artist Mohamed Abla has returned the Goethe Medal as an act of protest over what he described as Germany's "absolute and unconditional support” for Israel’s ethnic cleansing of Palestinians.
"I announce my outrage and condemnation of the official position of the German government towards the massacres and extermination that the Palestinian people are subjected to," Abla wrote on Facebook on Wednesday while returning the Goethe Medal he received in 2022.
Abala expressed his initial pride and happiness in being associated with the renowned poet and thinker Goethe but said now it is “no longer appropriate” to keep the medal amid the German’s position.
"Today, we all see the position of the German government regarding the genocide of the Palestinian people in Gaza, and its absolute and unconditional support for those who commit murder and ethnic cleansing of the isolated civilians, mostly children and women."
Speaking to the media about his decision, Abla said “The Germans themselves have suffered numerous wars, killings and violations. How can they accept that such violations are now happening to the others?"
16:00 The Palestinian health ministry in Gaza said Friday at least 30,878 people have been killed in the territory during more than five months of the Israeli war on the strip.
The latest toll includes 78 fatalities over the past 24 hours, a ministry statement said, while 72,402 people have been wounded in Gaza since the war broke out on October 7.
15:30 The UN human rights office says in a report published Friday that the establishment and expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem amount to a war crime.
The report covers the one year from 1 November 2022 to 31 October 2023, when it says roughly 24,300 housing units in existing settlements in the West Bank were “advanced” — the highest number in a year since monitoring began in 2017. It deplored an increase in building new settlement homes in recent months.
“The West Bank is already in crisis. Yet, settler violence and settlement-related violations have reached shocking new levels, and risk eliminating any practical possibility of establishing a viable Palestinian state,” UN human rights chief Volker Türk said. He presented the report to the Human Rights Council on Friday.
Israeli settlement around Ramallah in the occupied West Bank. AP
15:00 In a joint statement on Friday, the European Commission, the Republic of Cyprus, the United Arab Emirates, the United States, and the United Kingdom announced their endorsement of the activation of a maritime corridor to deliver crucial humanitarian assistance to the Gaza Strip
"The decision comes in response to the dire humanitarian situation faced by innocent Palestinian families and children in Gaza, who are in urgent need of essential supplies."
The statement acknowledges "the Cypriot leadership in establishing the Amalthea Initiative, which outlines a secure mechanism for shipping aid from Cyprus to Gaza via the sea."
"Building upon this model, the coalition of nations aims to deliver significant additional aid by sea, working in coordination with the UN Senior Humanitarian and Reconstruction Coordinator for Gaza, Sigrid Kaag."
"The United Arab Emirates has played an instrumental role in mobilizing support for the Amalthea Initiative, resulting in the initial shipment of food by sea to the people of Gaza."
"The participating nations also plan to convene senior officials in Cyprus to discuss ways to expedite the establishment of the maritime channel, which will complement existing land and air routes, including those from Egypt and Jordan."
Read the full statement here
Parachutes drop supplies into the northern Gaza Strip, as seen from southern Israel, Friday, March 8, 2024. AP
14:20 As the world marks International Women’s Day on 8 March, Israel continues bombarding and blockading the Gaza Strip, with women and children bearing the brunt of its genocidal war.
Since 7 October, Israel has killed approximately 9,000 women in Gaza while over 2,100 others are missing and half a million women have been made homeless, according to UNRWA.
These women were killed alongside more than 16,000 of their children.
Israel has killed nearly 31,000 and wounded more than 72,000 Palestinians since the start of its aggression on Gaza.
13:50 The Egyptian Red Crescent Society (ERCS) announced the distribution of 30,000 iftar and suhoor meals daily to Palestinians facing starvation conditions in the Israeli-besieged Gaza Strip during the Holy month of Ramadan.
The ERCS is preparing a makeshift kitchen at its food supply centre in North Sinai’s Sheikh Zuwaid City to support and alleviate the suffering endured by displaced Palestinian families in the strip.
“With every hot meal, we send a message: You are not alone, we are with you until we overcome this crisis,” read a statement by the ERCS on Wednesday.
12:50 UN humanitarian officials say that in February half of the 224 missions they planned for delivering aid to areas in the Gaza Strip where coordination with Israeli authorities is required got it and succeeded — and half did not.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters Thursday that the UN paused operations in north Gaza following Israeli naval fire that hit a UN-coordinated food convoy heading there on 5 February.
As a result, he said, only 24 UN aid missions to the besieged north were planned in February — and just six were facilitated by Israeli authorities.
By contrast, Dujarric said, of the 200 UN missions planned for areas south of Wadi Gaza where access required coordination, 105 were facilitated by Israeli authorities.
The UN spokesman said humanitarian workers in Gaza face risks from the Israeli war in Gaza including bombings.
Despite the many challenges, he said, last week 19 of the UN’s humanitarian partners provided health services to some 80,000 patients and over a dozen World Health Organization teams treated 13,000 patients. He issued an urgent appeal for tents, tarpaulins, blankets, bedding and other shelter supplies.
12:30 President Joe Biden ordered the US military Thursday to set up a temporary port off the coast of Gaza, joining international partners in trying to carve out a sea route to deliver food and other aid to desperate Palestinian civilians cut off by the Israeli war on Gaza and by Israeli restrictions on humanitarian access by land.
While reiterating his support for Israel, Biden used the announcement and the bright spotlight of his State of the Union speech to renew months of US calls to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to change how he conducts the war, including by allowing in more aid to Gaza and doing more to protect humanitarian workers there.
“To the leadership of Israel I say this: Humanitarian assistance cannot be a secondary consideration or a bargaining chip,” Biden declared before Congress.
He repeated calls as well for Israel to do more to protect civilians in the fighting, and to work toward Palestinian statehood as the only long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
12:00 Israel’s halt in renewing visas for international aid workers in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank is kneecapping aid work just when it's needed the most, a coalition of humanitarian and nongovernmental groups says.
Israel’s welfare ministry has paused the visa renewal process since early February, saying it doesn’t have the bandwidth to investigate aid workers’ potential affiliations to militant groups.
At least 99 humanitarian workers have seen their visas expire or have visas that will expire in the coming six months, according to Faris Arouri, the director of the coalition. Those facing impending deportation orders have left while others remain in Israel without proper documentation, he said Wednesday.
The coalition, called the Association of International Development Agencies, or AIDA, says its members have played a critical role and are desperately needed more than five months into the Israeli war on Gaza.
AIDA has called on the Israeli government to immediately resume processing the visas.
The coalition represents 80 aid organizations, including Amnesty International, Doctors Without Borders, the Norwegian Refugee Council and Save the Children.
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