Middle East crisis live: Hamas ‘showing flexibility’ in negotiations with Israel but prepared to continue fighting, says leader
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Hamas leader: group ‘showing flexibility’ in negotiations with Israel but prepared to continue fighting
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday the group is showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel but at the same time it was ready to continue fighting.
The two sides have been negotiating around a draft framework that would reportedly see a six week pause in fighting and the release of hostages held in captivity by Hamas for Palestinians who have been detained by Israel.
He called on the Arab world to work to end the starvation in Gaza, and for the “axis of resistance” to step up efforts on behalf of Gaza’s population. Earlier today Qatar denounced Israel for what it called the “deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people”.
In a televised speech from Beirut, Reuters reports Haniyeh also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to march to al-Aqsa mosque to pray on the first day of Ramadan.
Israel has already said that it will continue to impose restrictions on access to the mosque for Muslims. Since 7 October many people have had to carry out Friday prayers in Jerusalem’s streets as Israeli security forces have been preventing access to the mosque. Ramadan is expected to start on the evening of Sunday 10 March.
Key events
Patrick Wintour
Patrick Wintour is the Guardian’s diplomatic editor
Houthi leaders have denied they have targeted critical underwater sea telecommunication cables, as Yemen’s UN recognised government warned of an imminent marine environmental disaster if a cargo ship struck by the rebels last week was not quickly rescued.
The Rubymar, a Belize-flagged but British-owned bulk carrier, has been drifting in the Red Sea after it was struck by two missiles. The ship is leaking an 18-mile oil spill and carrying 41,000 tonnes of volatile fertiliser.
The attack on the Rubymar inflicted the most significant damage so far on a commercial ship since the Houthis started targeting vessels in November. The Houthis say their attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea are in solidarity with the stricken people of Gaza. It has long been feared that the Houthis might extend their actions by disrupting internet traffic and cutting sea cables.
The Houthis, an Islamist movement that seized Yemen’s capital in 2015, insist they are solely targeting Israeli linked ships in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza, and say they will consider ending the months-long attacks if Hamas agreed a ceasefire.
Read more here: Houthis deny targeting underwater cables amid marine disaster warning
More than 7,300 arrests by Israeli security forces in occupied West Bank since 7 October
The Palestinian Prisoner’s Society says that since 7 October, Israeli security forces have arrested more than 7,300 people in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. It said there were at least 35 arrests made overnight in multiple raids across the occupied territory.
Hamas leader: group ‘showing flexibility’ in negotiations with Israel but prepared to continue fighting
Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh said on Wednesday the group is showing flexibility in negotiations with Israel but at the same time it was ready to continue fighting.
The two sides have been negotiating around a draft framework that would reportedly see a six week pause in fighting and the release of hostages held in captivity by Hamas for Palestinians who have been detained by Israel.
He called on the Arab world to work to end the starvation in Gaza, and for the “axis of resistance” to step up efforts on behalf of Gaza’s population. Earlier today Qatar denounced Israel for what it called the “deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people”.
In a televised speech from Beirut, Reuters reports Haniyeh also called on Palestinians in Jerusalem and the Israeli-occupied West Bank to march to al-Aqsa mosque to pray on the first day of Ramadan.
Israel has already said that it will continue to impose restrictions on access to the mosque for Muslims. Since 7 October many people have had to carry out Friday prayers in Jerusalem’s streets as Israeli security forces have been preventing access to the mosque. Ramadan is expected to start on the evening of Sunday 10 March.
The Times of Israel is carrying some quotes from ex-hostages and family members of hostages, who spoke before setting out from the site of the Nova music festival for Jerusalem on a four-day march calling for the release of the hostages.
Niv Cohen, a survivor from the festival attack, said “I’m still here, standing. But my soul was left behind, somewhere among these trees where I hid for so many hours”. Two of his friends are still held captive in Gaza
Dekel Lifschitz, whose grandfather is being held, said ““We’re a big family in Israel, and we’re waiting to see 134 people of this family. This is for all of us who live here and want the most obvious thing, that our country will have our back. Grandpa, be strong, your nation is coming for you.”
Sharon Alony Cunio, who was part of the hostage release deal in November but whose husband remains in Gaza, said she had not been able to join earlier protest marches, but “I’m marching this time for my husband and all the hostages, in this important struggle.”
Summary of the day so far …
It is just gone noon in Gaza and Tel Aviv, and 1pm in Doha and Sana’a. Here are the headlines …
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Qatar has accused Israel of facilitating “the deliberate starvation of the Palestinian people” and called on the international community to apply more pressure on Israel, saying it was “painful” that the delivery of aid was still an issue. Foreign ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said “There are two and a half million people living in complete absence of health and emergency services. Aid should be freely provided without restrictions.”
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Israel’s military has claimed it struck “eight significant terror targets” in Gaza overnight which it said had been responsible for rockets fired towards the Israeli city of Ashkelon. The IDF also announced that two further soldiers had been killed during its ground operation inside Gaza.
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At least 29,954 Palestinians have been killed and 70,325 injured in Israel’s military assault on Gaza since 7 October, the Hamas-led health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday. It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
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Gaza’s al-Awda hospital has had to suspend all surgical operations after its operating theatres were destroyed.
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Families of some of the hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza have started a four-day march to demand their release. The route started at the site of the Nova music festival, scene of some of the worst atrocities during the 7 October attack, and will finish in Jerusalem.
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Israel’s military has said it has carried out air raids on what it described as “a Hezbollah weapons storage facility” and “a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site” in southern Lebanon. Israeli media reported a building was damaged after rockets hit Israel’s northernmost city of Kiryat Shmona, and the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades claimed it had launched 40 Grad missiles from southern Lebanon at military targets in northern Israel.
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Russian media is reporting that representatives of Hamas and Fatah will meet in Moscow on Thursday to discuss the possibility of a united Palestinian government across both Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
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A group of more than 50 broadcast journalists have sent an open letter to the embassies of Israel and Egypt calling for “free and unfettered access” to Gaza for foreign media.
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The stricken Belize-flagged Rubymar, which was en route from the UAE to Europe via the Red Sea when she was hit by a Houthi attack on 20 February, has begun to sink.
There is also a demonstration being held in Sana’a in Yemen, in solidarity with the Palestinian people. Here are some images sent over the news wires from that gathering.
We reported earlier that families of people still being held hostage in Gaza are staging a protest march to demand their release, which started from the site of the Nova music festival which was attacked on 7 October, and will continue to Jerusalem. The march is expected to last four days. Here are some pictures from the protest.
Palestinian news agency Wafa reports the 20 Palestinians have been detained by Israeli security forces in Yatta, which is near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
At least 29,954 Palestinians have been killed and 70,325 injured in Israel’s military assault on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza said in a statement on Wednesday.
At least 76 people have been killed by Israeli military action in the last 24 hours, according to the Hamas-led ministry. The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants in the figures.
It has not been possible for journalists to independently verify casualty figures being issued during the conflict.
Organisers of pro-Palestinian demonstrations in the UK have responded to recent government statements about protests with their own joint statement. The group, which includes Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Friends of Al-Aqsa, Stop the War and the Muslim Association of Britain, said:
Since October, hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of London and their local areas calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, yet politicians have denounced these peace protesters as “hate marchers” for expressing the majority view.
Under intense political pressure from the government, political commentators, and a range of pro-Israel groups pushing to have the protests banned, the policing of the demonstrations has been increasingly aggressive and restrictive. It has been marked by unprecedented use of restriction orders, pressure on the organisers not to march, and violent arrests of protesters.
The groups are planning to host a press conference at parliament in London later today.
Earlier, home secretary James Cleverly said pro-Palestine protesters have “made their point” and questioned the value of continuing demonstrations, while UK policing minister Chris Philp said the government might consider increasing the amount of notice that protesters have to give to police when organising large-scale demonstrations.
Israel claims it has carried out air raids on Hezbollah targets in southern Lebanon
Israel’s military has said it has carried out air raids on what it described as “a Hezbollah weapons storage facility” and “a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site” in southern Lebanon.
In a statement published to its official Telegram channel, it said:
Following the sirens sounded in the area of Kiryat Shmona in northern Israel earlier today Wednesday, approximately ten launches which crossed from Lebanon into northern Israel were identified. The IDF Aerial Defense Array successfully intercepted a number of the launches. In response, the IDF struck the sources of the fire in Lebanon.
A short while ago, IDF fighter jets struck a Hezbollah weapons storage facility and military structures in the area of Ramyeh in southern Lebanon. Additionally, overnight, the IDF struck a Hezbollah weapons manufacturing site in the area of Khirbet Selm.
Earlier Israeli media reported that a building was damaged after rockets hit Israel’s northernmost city of Kiryat Shmona, and the Hamas Al-Qassam Brigades claimed in a Telegram message that it had launched 40 Grad missiles from southern Lebanon at military targets in northern Israel. Israeli authorities have not reported any casualties.
Families of people still being held hostage by Hamas in Gaza are staging a protest march today calling for their return. The march starts at the site of the Nova music festival, scene of some of the worst atrocities during the 7 October attack inside Israel, and will go to Jerusalem.
Israel believes 134 hostages are still being held in Gaza, of which it believes 32 people have been killed.
In the UK, repeated protests calling for an end to the fighting in Gaza have become a thorny political issue, leading to a row in parliament last week over MPs voting for a ceasefire, and a renewed scrutiny on the security and safety of MPs, who claim they are being targeted by protesters.
Appearing on television this morning in the UK, policing minister Chris Philp said that protests would be allowed to continue, saying “We are a free country and people have the right to protest, so we will continue to police those protests,” however he indicated that the government might consider a change in the law so that organisers have to give authorities more advanced notice of the intention to stage a demonstration.
He told viewers:
For very, very large protests where we’re talking about tens of thousands, or possible even hundreds of thousands of people, it may make planning for the police easier if it’s more like a couple of weeks, but that’s just something the home secretary’s thinking about, and certainly nothing’s been decided.
Philp said that to date about 600 arrests have been made at protests over the Gaza conflict since 7 October.
The policing minister said there would be a meeting in Downing Street in London today including prime minister Rishi Sunak to discuss the police response to protests directly outside MPs’ houses. “We can’t cede an inch of territory to people who seek to intimidate our elected representatives,” he told broadcaster LBC.
Earlier the home secretary, the equivalent of an interior minister, James Cleverly, had questioned the value of the continuing demonstrations in the UK, saying pro-Palestine protesters have “made their point”.
“I’m not sure that these marches every couple of weeks add value to the argument. They’re not really saying anything new,” he told the Times newspaper.
Hamas claims to have launched missiles from Lebanon aimed at Israeli military targets
Hamas has said it launched two missile salvoes consisting of 40 Grad missiles from southern Lebanon into northern Israel.
Reuters reports Al-Qassam Brigades said in a statement on its Telegram channel it had bombed the headquarters of the 769th Eastern Brigade and the airport barracks in Beit Hilal.
There have been frequent exchanges of fire over the UN-drawn blue line that separates Israel and Lebanon since 7 October. Israel has evacuated some northern communities, and has repeatedly told Hezbollah and other anti-Israeli forces in the area that they must back-off and respect the UN mandated demilitarised zone between the blue line and the Litani river.
Yesterday the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, Unifil, described what it saw as “a disturbing shift” in the intensity of fire being exchanged.
Israeli media is also this morning reporting that a building was damaged after rockets hit Israel’s northernmost city of Kiryat Shmona.
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