The US vetoes a supported UN decision demanding an instantaneous humanitarian ceasefire, whereas ICJ hearings proceed.
Right here’s how issues stand on Wednesday, February 21, 2024:
Combating and humanitarian disaster
- Docs With out Borders, recognized by its French initials MSF, mentioned the Israeli army has bombed a shelter internet hosting MSF workers in al-Mawasi close to Khan Younis in southern Gaza.
- Within the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday afternoon, 103 Palestinians had been reported killed and 142 injured by Israeli assaults on Gaza, in keeping with the UN Workplace for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
- The World Meals Programme mentioned it has paused deliveries of meals to remoted northern Gaza due to assaults and the breakdown of civil order within the area. The weakening of the help operations threatens to deepen distress throughout the territory, the place Israel’s air and floor offensive has killed over 29,000 Palestinians.
Regional tensions and Diplomacy
- The US vetoed an Arab-backed and extensively supported UN decision demanding an instantaneous humanitarian ceasefire in Israel’s struggle on Gaza.
- Earlier than the vote, Algeria’s UN Ambassador Amar Bendjama mentioned: “A vote in favour of this draft resolution is a support to the Palestinians’ right to life. Conversely, voting against it implies an endorsement of the brutal violence and collective punishment inflicted against them.”
- China’s Ambassador to the UN Zhang Jun mentioned that the US’s veto “stifles” an “overwhelming consensus” among the many UNSC’s members on a ceasefire in Gaza.
- Individually, South Africa argued on the United Nations’ prime courtroom that Israel is accountable for apartheid towards the Palestinians and that Israel’s occupation of land searched for a Palestinian state is “inherently and fundamentally illegal”. Israel rejects such claims.
- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has described Israeli troopers’ reported looting of properties in Gaza as a “symptom of genocide and ethnic cleansing”.
- And in Yemen, the Houthi rebels claimed they struck an Israeli cargo ship, the MSC Silver, within the Gulf of Aden close to the doorway to the Pink Sea with various missiles.
At in the present day’s session, Amb. Dr. Riyad Mansour condemned the Safety Council’s failure to name for a #ceasefire in #Gaza “By the time this session ends, over 25 #Palestinians will be dead due to the Council’s inaction, It means more babies will be murdered.” @AlgeriaUN @UN #UNSC pic.twitter.com/J9d0LT3bvs
— State of Palestine (@Palestine_UN) February 21, 2024
Violence within the occupied West Financial institution
- Israeli forces destroyed infrastructure and fired stay rounds in Jenin, as raids on dozens of properties proceed within the metropolis within the occupied West Financial institution, in keeping with the Palestinian information company Wafa.
- The Israeli army mentioned it had focused a “terrorist cell” with an air strike in Jenin, killing three folks. Palestinian armed teams mentioned that they had responded by utilizing explosive gadgets towards Israeli army automobiles.
- Israeli forces additionally arrested a minor within the city of al-Khader, south of Bethlehem.