A ship taking almost 200 tonnes of food to Gaza left a port in the Greek Administration of Southern Cyprus early in a pilot project to open a new sea route for aid to a population on the brink of famine.
The charity ship Open Arms was seen sailing out of Larnaca port in southern Cyprus island, towing a barge containing around 200 tonnes of flour, rice and protein.
The mission, mostly funded by the United Arab Emirates, is being organised by US-based charity World Central Kitchen (WCK), while Spanish charity Proactiva Open Arms is supplying the ship.
“Our goal is to establish a maritime highway of boats and barges stocked with millions of meals continuously headed towards Gaza,” said WCK founder Jose Andres and chief executive officer Erin Gore in a statement.
Israel:100 projectiles fired into the country from Lebanon
The Israeli military says about 100 projectiles have been launched from Lebanon into Israel, in some of the heaviest fire emanating from Israel’s northern neighbour since the start of the war in Gaza.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage following Tuesday’s strikes, which appeared to be in response to Israeli air strikes deep inside Lebanon a day before.
The military has said it struck sites belonging to the Lebanese Hezbollah’s aerial forces in retaliation for previous Hezbollah attacks.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the launches from Lebanon.
CIA chief urges truce for starving Palestinian children in Gaza
CIA Director William Burns has said that a ceasefire is needed to provide starving children in Gaza with the necessary humanitarian assistance amid Israel’s ongoing attacks on the Palestinian enclave.
“The reality is that there are children who are starving. They’re malnourished as a result to the fact that humanitarian assistance can’t get to them. It’s very difficult to distribute humanitarian assistance effectively unless you have a ceasefire,” said Burns during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing.
He said a pending hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas which will initially allow a temporary ceasefire and enable people to get the much-needed humanitarian aid has “great value.”
US conducts ‘self-defence’ strikes against Houthi targets
The US carried out “self-defence strikes” against Houthi targets in Yemen, the United States Central Command (CENTCOM) has said.
“Between 8:50 a.m. and 12:50 p.m. (Sanaa time) on March 11, Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen into the Red Sea toward the merchant vessel Pinocchio, a Singaporean-owned, Liberian-flagged ship,” CENTCOM said on X.
The missiles did not impact the vessel and there were no injuries or damage reported, it added.
Civilians in Israel, Palestine ‘cannot be abandoned’: UN official
Civilians in Israel and Palestine “cannot be abandoned,” the top UN official on sexual violence in conflict has said.
“Civilians and their families in both Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territory cannot be abandoned by the international community,” Pramila Patten told the UN Security Council, where she provided a snapshot of her recent report on Israel and Palestine.
Massacre in Palestine should be kept at top of global agenda: Turkish minister
The ongoing humanitarian crisis in besieged Gaza due to Israel’s devastating military assault should not be forgotten, a Turkish minister has said, calling for a united effort to end the tragedy.
“When discussing equality, we cannot ignore the ongoing humanitarian crisis as a result of Israel’s actions towards Palestinians, which lead to immense human suffering,” Family and Social Services Minister Mahinur Ozdemir Goktas told the 68th UN Commission on the Status of Women [CSW] in New York.
Türkiye strongly condemns the Israeli attacks in Gaza and reiterates its call for an immediate ceasefire and rapid and unhindered humanitarian aid, the minister said, adding Ankara stands with the Palestinian people, considering that 70 percent of those who lost their lives are women and children.
“We need to keep the ongoing massacre in Palestine at the top of the global agenda and redouble our efforts towards putting an end to this tragedy. We must unite in our shared sense of pain and ensure that our voices are heard stronger and louder,” she said.
‘2,000 medical staff’ in northern Gaza lack meals to break Ramadan fast
The Palestinian Health Ministry has said that 2,000 medical staff working at hospitals in the northern besieged Gaza had no meals to break their fasting with while on duty on the first day of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
“The medical personnel are too exposed to the starvation that hits the northern Gaza Strip,” Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al Qudra said in a statement.
He called on international relief organisations to move urgently to provide meals for the medical staff.
Yemen’s Houthis target ‘US ship Pinocchio’ in Red Sea
Yemen’s Houthis have targeted what was described as the “US ship Pinocchio” in the Red Sea, according to a speech of the group’s military spokesperson Yahya Sarea.
“The naval forces of the Yemeni Armed Forces, with the help of God Almighty, carried out a targeting operation against the American ship Pinocchio in the Red Sea with a number of appropriate naval missiles, and the hit was accurate, thanks to God,” Sarea said in a statement.
Sarea warned the group will escalate their operations during the month of Ramadan “in support and assistance to the oppressed Palestinian people and to our mujahideen brothers in the Gaza Strip.”
Despite attacks from the US-British coalition and other navies, the Houthis have escalated their campaign of attacks on “Israel-owned or Israel-bound” vessels in one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.
Houthis say their attacks will continue until Israel stops its siege and invasion of Gaza.
Undercover Israeli units kill Palestinian man in occupied West Bank
Israeli troops have shot dead a Palestinian man, Mohammad Jaafar Mustafa Jabr, near the town of Attil in Tulkarm, the occupied West Bank, WAFA news agency said, citing local sources.
The agency said the shooting took place when an undercover special force opened fire at two young men inside a commercial shop located at the junction near the town of Attil, which resulted in both sustaining critical wounds.
The sources say that the Israeli forces prevented ambulance vehicles from reaching the two victims. One of them was transferred to a hospital.
The other one, Jabr, was left bleeding to death.
