As the war rages in Gaza, US President Joe Biden says he hopes a ceasefire can take effect by early next week.
Here’s how things stand on Tuesday, February 27, 2024:
Fighting and humanitarian crisis
- The Israeli military shot dead three Palestinian men in raids on the city of Tubas and the nearby al-Far’a camp in the occupied West Bank, the Wafa news agency reported.
- Footage authenticated by Al Jazeera’s Sanad verification unit shows a large crowd of hungry and desperate Palestinians in Gaza City scrambling for bags of flour.
- The Royal Jordanian Air Force carried out airdrops of aid off the coast of the Gaza Strip – the biggest airdrop operation so far to deliver much-needed aid to millions of Palestinians amid restrictions by Israeli authorities on aid entering the territory by road.
- The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has reported that newborn babies are dying in Gaza because their mothers are unable to access appropriate care.
- The Palestinian prime minister announced the resignation of his government on Monday, paving the way for a shake-up in the Palestinian Authority, which the United States hopes will eventually take on a role in post-war Gaza.
- President Joe Biden said he hopes a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that would pause hostilities and allow for remaining captives to be released can take effect by early next week.
Regional tensions and diplomacy
- The International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Monday held the last of a set of hearings examining the legal consequences of Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian lands.
- Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Monday the Israeli government failed to comply with at least one measure in the legally binding order from the ICJ in South Africa’s genocide case.
- HRW said Israel “continues to obstruct the provision of basic services and the entry and distribution within Gaza of fuel and lifesaving aid, acts of collective punishment that amount to war crimes and include the use of starvation of civilians as a weapon of war”.
- In the UN, the US Mission circulated a draft resolution to members of the UN Security Council that expresses support for diplomatic efforts to “urgently” reach a “temporary ceasefire” agreement, according to a copy seen by Al Jazeera’s Rami Ayari.
- The US Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces destroyed three unmanned surface vessels, two mobile antiship cruise missiles as well as an attack drone over the Red Sea and in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen on Monday.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
- Al Jazeera Arabic and local media are reporting that Israeli forces have raided the Far’a camp, south of Tubas in the occupied West Bank, resulting in intense fighting with Palestinian resistance groups including explosions.
- Raids and arrests have been reported elsewhere in the occupied West Bank.