As ICJ hearings continue, the United States vetoed a UN resolution calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Here's what happened on Wednesday, February 21, 2024.
Combat and humanitarian crisis
- Médecins Sans Frontières, known by its French initials “MSF”, said Israeli forces had bombed a shelter housing MSF staff in Almawashi, near Khan Yunis in southern Gaza.
- According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 103 Palestinians were reported killed and 142 injured in Israeli attacks on Gaza in the 24 hours from Monday to Tuesday afternoon.
- The World Food Program said it had suspended food deliveries to isolated northern Gaza, citing attacks and a breakdown in security in the area. The weakening of aid operations threatens to deepen misery across the territory, where Israeli air and ground attacks have killed more than 29,000 Palestinians.
Regional tensions and diplomacy
- The United States has vetoed a widely supported United Nations resolution with Arab support calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Israel's war in Gaza.
- Before the vote, Algeria's ambassador to the United Nations, Amal Bendjama, said: “A vote in favor of this resolution will support the right to life of the Palestinian people. On the contrary, a vote against it will support their right to exist. It means supporting brutal violence and collective punishment against people.”
- China's UN Ambassador Zhang Jun said the US veto was “suppressing” the “overwhelming consensus” of Security Council members on the Gaza ceasefire.
- Separately, South Africa has ruled before the United Nations' highest court that Israel is responsible for apartheid against the Palestinians and that Israel's occupation of land sought for a Palestinian state is “intrinsically and fundamentally illegal.” he claimed. Israel rejects such claims.
- The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) described reports of the looting of homes in the Gaza Strip by Israeli soldiers as “a sign of genocide and ethnic cleansing.”
- And in Yemen, Houthi rebels claimed to have attacked the Israeli cargo ship MSC Silver with numerous missiles in the Gulf of Aden, near the entrance to the Red Sea.
In today's session, Amb. Dr. Riyad Mansour criticized the Security Council for failing to comply with the UN Security Council's requests. #ceasefire in #Gaza “By the end of this session, more than 25 #Palestinian There will be deaths due to the council's inaction, which means more infants will be killed. ” @Algeria UN @united nations #UNSC pic.twitter.com/J9d0LT3bvs
— Palestinian State (@Palestine_UN) February 21, 2024
Violence in the occupied West Bank
- Israeli forces destroyed infrastructure and fired live ammunition in Jenin as they continued to raid dozens of homes in the occupied West Bank city, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
- The Israeli military announced that three people were killed in an airstrike targeting a “terrorist group” in Jenin. Palestinian militants said they responded by using explosives against Israeli military vehicles.
- Israeli forces also arrested minors in the town of al-Qader, south of Bethlehem.