Author: ALJAZEERA

Six children have died from dehydration and malnutrition at hospitals in northern Gaza, the Health Ministry in the besieged Palestinian territory has said, as the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the besieged enclave worsens. Two children died at al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the ministry said on Wednesday. Earlier it reported that four children died at the Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, while seven others remained in critical condition. “We ask international agencies to intervene immediately to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in northern Gaza,” Health Ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said in a statement, as Israel’s attacks on Gaza continue. “The…

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Senior official Basem Naim says there is ‘space for flexibility’, but Hamas wants guarantee of a total ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops.A senior official from the Palestinian group Hamas has dampened hopes of an immediate ceasefire deal with Israel, saying there was still a long way to go before an agreement could be secured. “The gap is still wide. We have to discuss a lot of points with the mediators,” Basem Naim, the head of political and international relations for Hamas, told Al Jazeera from Istanbul on Wednesday. This comes after United States President Joe Biden said he…

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Pakistani national charged with smuggling missile components to Iran-aligned group targeting Red Sea shipping.A Pakistani national accused by US officials of carrying Iranian-made missile parts to Houthi rebels in Yemen is to remain behind bars awaiting trial. During a detention hearing in a federal court on Tuesday, federal prosecutors charged Muhammad Pahlawan with attempting to smuggle a warhead and other weapons. The suspect was arrested in January amid US efforts to avert the Iran-aligned Houthis targeting of shipping in the Red Sea. In court documents, federal prosecutors said Pahlawan refused to slow the unflagged dhow when the US Navy attempted…

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Israel and Hamas played down chances of a breakthrough in ceasefire talks soon, a day after US President Joe Biden said it was imminent.Here’s how things stand on Tuesday, February 28, 2024: Fighting and humanitarian crisis Gaza’s Ministry of Health said 96 people were killed and 172 wounded over the past 24 hours, in its most recent daily update. The Palestine Red Crescent Society also released footage of its ambulance teams searching for survivors under the rubble at the scene of an Israeli air attack in the city of Deir el-Balah in central Gaza. Meanwhile, a two-year-old Palestinian child called…

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Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman has sought to position himself as a potential mediator to end war between Ukraine and Russia.Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has held talks in Saudi Arabia with the Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) in an attempt to push for an end to the invasion of Ukraine and the return of prisoners of war from Russia. A statement on Zelenskyy’s website said the two men discussed a Ukrainian plan to end the conflict, and said that the president had thanked MBS for his mediation role. “The head of state [Zelenskyy] noted in particular Saudi Arabia’s…

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Officials from the United Nations have accused Israel of “systematically” blocking aid from reaching desperate Palestinians in Gaza, warning that at least one-quarter of the enclave’s population was a step away from famine without urgent action. The warnings on Tuesday came as footage from northern Gaza showed Israeli forces again opening fire on Palestinians gathering to collect food in the area. It was not immediately clear if the shooting led to deaths or injuries. Israel’s war on Gaza, now in its fifth month, has killed at least 29,878 Palestinians, most of them women and children. The assault began after Hamas…

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