Published March 12, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his policies after President Joe Biden said in an exclusive interview with MSNBC that he was “hurting Israel more than helping.”
- The Muslim holy month of Ramadan has begun in much of the world, with no sign of the cease-fire the U.S. has been pushing for, mounting fears of a famine in the Gaza Strip and concerns that tensions could erupt around holy sites in Jerusalem.
- The Palestinian foreign ministry condemned restrictions on Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque following reports that Israeli forces restricted access to worshippers last night, particularly young men. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said freedom of worship would be protected but warned that Israel would fight against any attacks.
- A U.S. Army vessel carrying equipment to build a pier off the Palestinian enclave’s coast has left for the Mediterranean, but the first ship carrying 200 tons of food aid remains docked in Cyprus after delays. Aid agencies have criticized the plan for a maritime humanitarian corridor, saying it falls far short of meeting the needs of Gaza’s population of 2.2 million.
- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has defended his policies after President Joe Biden said in an exclusive interview with MSNBC that he was “hurting Israel more than helping.” Netanyahu also vowed to move ahead with plans for a military offensive in Rafah, the southern Gaza city where 1.5 million Palestinians are sheltering.
- The death toll in Gaza has surpassed 31,000, according to the enclave’s Health Ministry, including at least 25 people who have died of starvation. The Israeli military said at least 247 soldiers have been killed since the ground invasion of Gaza began.
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SOURCE: www.nbcnews.com
RELATED: Ramadan brings no relief as Israel-Hamas war rages in Gaza
Displaced Palestinians bake bread before an iftar meal, the breaking of fast, on the first day of the Muslim holy fasting month of Ramadan, in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on March 11, 2024, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the militant group Hamas.
Published March 12, 2024
PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES — The first day of Ramadan on Monday arrived like others for Palestinians in war-ravaged Gaza: stalked by famine and disease, shivering in tents and threatened by bombs more than five months into fighting between Israel and Hamas militants.
As the Muslim world welcomed the holy month and its customary daytime fast, many Gazans faced bombardment that saw residents once more search through the rubble of destroyed homes for survivors and bodies.
A UN report, citing the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, said 25 people have now died from malnutrition and dehydration, most of them children.
“We are running out of time,” Cindy McCain, head of the World Food Programme (WFP), said on Monday. “If we do not exponentially increase the size of aid going into the northern areas” of Gaza, she said, “famine is imminent.”
The United Nations has reported particular difficulty in accessing northern Gaza for deliveries of food and other aid.
Gazans throughout the territory are feeling shortages even more during Ramadan.
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SOURCE: www.philstar.com
