The Latest | Israel says it will reopen border crossing with hard-hit northern Gaza
Members of the Abu Draz family hold the bodies of their relatives killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at their house in Rafah, southern Gaza, Thursday, April 4, 2024. Credit: AP/Fatima Shbair
Israel says it's taking steps to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip, including reopening a key border crossing into hard-hit northern Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office announced the plans early Friday, just hours after President Joe Biden told him that future U.S. support for the war in Gaza depends on Israel taking more action to protect civilians and aid workers. The announcement did not elaborate on quantities or types of items to be let in.
Still, despite their differences, the Biden administration has continued to provide Israel crucial military aid and diplomatic support for Israel's six-month war against Hamas. Israel faces growing international isolation after its forces killed seven aid workers helping deliver food in Gaza.
The Palestinian death toll soared above 33,000 people on Thursday, with another 75,600 wounded, Gaza's Health Ministry said. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its tally, but says women and children make up two-thirds of the dead.
The United Nations says much of the population in northern Gaza is on the brink of starvation. The top United Nations court has concluded there is a “plausible risk of genocide” in Gaza — a charge Israel strongly denies — and the U.N. Security Council has issued a legally binding demand for a cease-fire.
The war began on Oct. 7, when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 people hostage.
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A ship belonging to the Open Arms aid group and is one of three ships loaded with canned food destined to Gaza, has returned to the Cypriot port of Larnaca, Cyprus, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Cyprus, which has played a key role in setting up the maritime corridor, said the ships that had arrived Monday were returning to the Mediterranean island nation with some 240 tons of undelivered aid, after Israeli airstrikes on aid workers delivering food in Gaza killed at least seven people. Credit: AP/Petros Karadjias
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Members of the World Central Kitchen aid group, transports the body of one of the six foreign aid workers who were killed in an Israeli strike, at a hospital morgue in Rafah, Wednesday, April 3, 2024. Credit: AP/Fatima Shbair
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Here's the latest:
ISRAEL SAYS IT'S TAKING STEPS TO ALLOW MORE AID INTO GAZA, AFTER REBUKE FROM U.S.
JERUSALEM — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office says his Security Cabinet has approved a series of “immediate steps” to increase the flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza, including the reopening of a key crossing into hard-hit northern Gaza that was destroyed in the Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
A statement early Friday said the Erez crossing would be temporarily reopened for the first time since the Hamas attack. It also said Israel would allow its port in Ashdod to process aid shipments bound for Gaza, and to increase Jordanian aid shipments through another land crossing.
“This increased aid will prevent a humanitarian crisis and is necessary to ensure the continuation of the fighting and to achieve the goals of the war,” Netanyahu’s office said.
The announcement did not elaborate on quantities or types of items to be let in.
The decision came after U.S. President Joe Biden called on Israel, in a phone conversation with Netanyahu, to take steps “to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering and the safety of aid workers.”
The United Nations says much of the population in northern Gaza is on the brink of starvation.
The heavily fortified Erez crossing served for years as the only passenger terminal for people to move in and out of the territory. It was heavily damaged when Hamas militants stormed the facility on Oct. 7 and has remained closed ever since.
U.N. SECURITY COUNTIL TO MEET ABOUT ATTACKS ON AID WORKERS IN GAZA
UNITED NATIONS – The U.N. Security Council will hold an emergency meeting about attacks on humanitarian workers in Gaza and the risk of famine in the conflict-torn territory.
The meeting for Friday was requested by Algeria, the Arab representative on the council, joined by Guyana, Slovenia and Switzerland. Israeli airstrikes earlier this week killed seven aid workers from the charity World Central Kitchen, which has demanded an independent investigation.
A U.N. aid convoy is scheduled to head out Thursday night after the U.N. paused night operations for 48 hours, said U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric. He told reporters the convoy “will hopefully make it to the north.”
“Because of what happened to World Central Kitchen, we had to pause … and regroup and reassess all sorts of factors,” he said.
Speaking more broadly, Dujarric said, “We have seen a disregard in this war for international humanitarian law. We have seen hospitals used as points of combat. We have seen humanitarian sites, which were clearly notified, being either taken over or destroyed.”
He said the current notification system for humanitarian aid deliveries goes through a Civilian Liaison Unit, then it involves COGAT, the Israeli military body in charge of Palestinian civilian affairs, and then it goes to the Israeli military's Southern Command.
Dujarric said the U.N. would like “to have more direct contact with the military as opposed to going through a number of layers of military-civilian coordination as it does now.”
On the health front, Dujarric said, the World Health Organization reached two hospitals in Gaza City — Al Sahaba and Al Ahil — and delivered supplies and carried out assessments.
But he said Israel has still not given WHO permission to visit Shifa Hospital, and has not provided a reason. The hospital was devastated by a two-week Israeli raid, which saw heavy fighting with militants, and an earlier raid in November.
The WHO team spoke with patients who were able to leave Shifa after Israel’s recent military operation there ended, he said.
”They described dire conditions during the siege, with no food, water or medicine available,” Dujarric said. “One patient said that doctors there resorted to putting salt and vinegar on people’s wounds in place of antiseptics, which are non-existent.”
U.S. MILITARY SAYS PLAN TO BUILD PIER FOR GAZA AID IS STILL ON SCHEDULE
WASHINGTON — The U.S. military is on schedule to build a pier off the Gaza coast to expand humanitarian aid deliveries, the Defense Department said Thursday, even as other agencies have pulled back after Israel killed several aid workers.
The pier will be on line by the end of the month or early May, said Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, the Pentagon press secretary.
“Everything is on track, on schedule at this point,” Ryder said. He said Israel has agreed to provide security on the shore as aid is transferred and distributed, but details are still being worked out.
On Thursday, several of the Army boats carrying soldiers and equipment for the pier construction were docked in the Canary Islands for fuel and maintenance and are expected to continue on into the Mediterranean Sea. And a ship operated by the Military Sealift Command, the USNS Benavidez is in the Mediterranean Sea, near Crete, carrying some of the larger equipment for the project.
TRUMP SAYS ISRAEL HAS TO GET GAZA WAR OVER ‘FAST’ AND WARNS IT IS ‘LOSING THE P.R. WAR’
WASHINGTON — Former President Donald Trump offered a tough message to Israel in its war against Hamas on Thursday, urging the country to “Get it over with.”
In an interview with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, Trump said Israel is “absolutely losing the PR war” and called for a swift resolution to the bloodshed.
“Get it over with and let’s get back to peace and stop killing people. And that’s a very simple statement,” Trump said. “They have to get it done. Get it over with and get it over with fast because we have to -- you have to get back to normalcy and peace.”
The presumptive GOP nominee, who has criticized President Joe Biden for being insufficiently supportive of Israel, appeared to question the tactics of the Israeli military as the civilian death toll in Gaza continues to mount. Trump's comments also demonstrated the similarities between his and Biden’s positions.
GROUP OF GLOBAL STATESMEN CALL FOR COUNTRIES TO STOP ARMING ISRAEL
JERUSALEM — A group of elder statesmen called on the U.S. and other nations to stop providing arms to Israel, saying Thursday the country is committing “systematic violations” of international law in its offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The group, which calls itself the Elders and was founded by Nelson Mandela in 2007, said a halt in weapons transfers was needed to prevent a planned Israeli assault on Gaza’s southernmost city of Rafah. The group includes former world leaders and former high-ranking U.N. officials.
“Countries providing arms to Israel cannot legitimately claim that violations of international humanitarian law are not taking place, or that they supplied arms without this knowledge,” it said in a statement.
It said the United States, Israel’s closest ally, should lead the charge, adding, “We are deeply concerned that the Biden administration continues to approve arms transfers, appearing to accept Israel’s assurances” that it is complying with international law.
In a statement, the group said Israel was unlawfully obstructing humanitarian aid and causing hunger in Gaza.
Israel says it has waged its offensive in Gaza in accordance with international law and that it places no limit on the amount of food and other supplies entering the territory.
However, it has allowed entry of aid to only through two main crossings, and aid groups say it has become nearly impossible to distribute aid inside Gaza because of Israeli restrictions and airstrikes. On Monday, Israeli airstrikes killed seven aid workers in a convoy returning from distributing food in northern Gaza.
Critics also say Israel’s bombardment and ground assaults in Gaza use indiscriminate fire with little regard for civilian casualties. Israel’s offensive, launched in response to the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants, has now killed over 33,000 Palestinians. Israel says it tries to avoid harming civilians and blames their deaths on Hamas because the militants operate in dense, residential areas.
BIDEN TELLS NETANYAHU THAT FUTURE U.S. SUPPORT FOR GAZA WAR DEPENDS ON NEW STEPS TO PROTECT CIVILIANS
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden has told Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that future U.S. support for Gaza war depends on new steps to protect civilians and aid workers.
Biden and Netanyahu spoke Thursday by phone days after Israeli airstrikes killed seven food aid workers in Gaza. In the call, Biden also told Netanyahu that an “immediate cease-fire is essential” and urged Israel to reach a deal “without delay,” according to the White House.
“He made clear the need for Israel to announce and implement a series of specific, concrete, and measurable steps to address civilian harm, humanitarian suffering, and the safety of aid workers,” the White House said in a statement following the call. “He made clear that U.S. policy with respect to Gaza will be determined by our assessment of Israel’s immediate action on these steps.”
The White House has said the U.S. has no plans to conduct its own investigation into the killings.
SPANISH CHARITY ENDS MISSION TO DELIVER FOOD TO GAZA BY SEA
LARNACA, Cyprus — Open Arms, a Spanish charity normally focused on rescuing migrants from the Mediterranean Sea, says it’s ending its mission to deliver food by sea to Gaza after an Israeli airstrike killed seven workers from a related charity.
The Spanish foundation had provided one of its ships, the Open Arms, to transport food aid in two trips sponsored by World Central Kitchen, a U.S. charity that has accused Israel of deliberately targeting its workers.
Open Arms blamed the Israeli military for the deaths in a statement Thursday, adding that Monday's attack “marks a painful turning point in our efforts to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.”
Open Arms made the first sea delivery of 200 tons of food aid on March 15 and it took part again in a three-ship flotilla that reached Gaza last weekend with 400 tons of food.
The charities said that the second shipment would make one million meals. However nearly 300 tons have returned to Cyprus aboard the ships following the death of six World Central Kitchen foreign workers and their Palestinian driver.
Open Arms' founder, Oscar Camps, said that Gaza had become “a dystopian laboratory where people’s blood flows while war technologies are tested and perfected, directed by increasingly automated algorithms that allow human responsibility to be diluted, using technology and trivializing evil.”
“What else needs to happen for global society to react? How much more humanity must be lost in this genocide?” Camps wrote in the statement.
CANADA'S TRUDEAU PUSHES BACK ON NETANYAHU SAYING AID WORKERS' KILLING IS COST OF WAR
TORONTO — Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he “takes issue” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's assertion that the killing of seven aid workers in Gaza was part of the cost of war.
“I have to directly take issue with what Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday when he said ‘Well, this just happens in conflicts and in war time,’” Trudeau said. “No! It doesn’t just happen and it shouldn’t just happen.”
Aid workers are risking their lives to help people in Gaza, Trudeau said, and “that is not OK that they get hit by targeted missiles like this.”
Netanyahu's comments were: “Unfortunately over the last day there was a tragic incident of an unintended strike of our forces on innocent people in the Gaza Strip. This happens in war.”
Canadian army veteran Jacob Flickinger was among those killed while delivering food aid for World Central Kitchen.
Trudeau called for a fully transparent and rapid investigation into what happened, speaking to reporters in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
World Central Kitchen is demanding an independent investigation on the strikes, which the group says were no accident since Israel was well aware of the aid workers’ location.
BIDEN AND NETANYAHU HOLD PHONE CALL AFTER ISRAEL KILLS FOREIGN AID WORKERS IN GAZA
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone Thursday, days after an Israeli air strike killed seven aid workers in Gaza and further complicated the leaders’ increasingly strained relationship.
That's according to a person familiar with the leaders’ conversation and who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to comment publicly.
The leaders conversation comes as the charity World Central Kitchen called for an independent investigation into the Israeli strikes that killed the group’s staff members, including an American citizen.
The White House has said the U.S. has no plans to conduct its own investigation even as they called on Israel to do more to prevent the killing and wounding innocent civilians and aid workers as it carries out its operations in Gaza.
Biden and Netanyahu last spoke on March 18.
Biden was expected to reiterate his concerns about Netanyahu’s plan to carry out an operation in the southern city of Rafah, where about 1.5 million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, as Israel looks to eliminate Hamas following the militant group’s deadly Oct. 7 attack.
Despite their differences, the Biden administration has continued to provide Israel crucial military aid and diplomatic support.
