Israel admits ‘serious failures’ over deadly strike but insists aid workers were mistaken for Hamas: Updates

Biden and Netanyahu spoke on Thursday for first time since deaths of aid workers as pressure mounts on Sunak to withdraw arms sales

Biden told Netanyahu ‘urgent ceasefire essential’, says Blinken

Israel has admitted that “serious failures” were made by its forces after seven World Central Kitchen (WCK) aid workers were killed in an airstrike in Gaza.

The IDF announced on Friday that its internal investigation into the incident had concluded.

While admitting that a “grave mistake” was made, the IDF continued to claim innocence over the attack – insisting that the WCK workers were “misidentified” as Hamas militants. Two military officers have been dismissed from their positions following the findings, the IDF said.

More than 220 humanitarian workers have been killed in the conflict, according to the UN. Scott Paul of Oxfam said on Thursday: “The killing of aid workers in Gaza has been systemic.”

The announcement comes hours after Israel agreed to reopen two border crossings into Gaza to increase the flow of humanitarian aid, after President Joe Biden warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a call that future US support for Israel would be determined by its efforts to protect civilians and aid workers.

Meanwhile, former UK foreign secretary Alan Duncan is being investigated by Tory chiefs after he said pro-Israel “extremists” in the party should be kicked out over their refusal to support international law.

Key points

• Israel admits ‘grave mistake’ after seven aid workers killed in strike in Gaza
• Israel approves opening of two humanitarian routes into Gaza after call with Biden
• Calls grow for Rishi Sunak to stop UK arms trade to Israel
• Alan Duncan faces expulsion from Tory party for attacking ‘pro Israel extremist’ Conservatives
• Former officials speak out against Biden’s Israel support after aid worker killings
• World Central Kitchen calls for independent probe into Israeli air strike

[5 April 2024 16:46 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

EU's Borrell: Israel's new aid corridors are not enough to stop starvation in Gaza

Israel‘s decision to open up some new corridors for humanitarian aid in Gaza will still not be enough to prevent starvation in Gaza, said EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell on Friday.

“Following widespread condemnation of the killing of 7 @WCKitchen staffers by IDF and mounting international pressure, the Israeli gov will open some corridors for humanitarian aid. It’s not enough to prevent starvation in #Gaza,” wrote Borrell on X.

“The binding UN Security Council Resolution 2728 must be implemented. Now.” he added.

[5 April 2024 16:30 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

UN human rights body calls for halt to weapons shipments to Israel as concerns about Gaza war mount

The U.N.’s top human rights body called on countries to stop selling or shipping weapons to Israel in a resolution passed Friday that aims to help prevent rights violations against Palestinians amid Israel’s blistering military campaign in Gaza.

The 47-member-country Human Rights Council voted 28-6 in favor of the resolution, with 13 abstentions.

The sweeping measure takes aim at an array of Israeli actions such as impeding access to water and limiting shipments of humanitarian aid into Palestinian areas. It also calls on U.N.-backed independent investigators to report on shipments of weapons, munitions and “dual use” items — that have both civilian and military applications — that could be used by Israel against Palestinians.

[5 April 2024 16:00 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Israel admits ‘grave mistake’ and sacks senior officers after Gaza bombing kills seven aid workers

Israel has admitted its forces made a “grave mistake” after seven aid workers with World Central Kitchen (WCK) were killed in an airstrike.

The humanitarian group, which delivers food aid to war and disaster zones, said the seven were returning from coordinating an aid shipment in central Gaza when their three-car convoy was struck and they were killed.

Their deaths triggered a wave of international condemnation and shone a fresh spotlight on the dire conditions that Gaza’s besieged population is suffering from in the embattled enclave.

[5 April 2024 15:35 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

If ever there was a time for America to use its might to make Israel do right, it is now

Editorial: To dissuade Benjamin Netanyahu from his current deadly course in Gaza, and possibly beyond, it falls to Joe Biden to make America’s diplomatic, financial and military support firmly conditional. Depriving the US ally of its weapons of war – and adding to its international isolation – is becoming, sadly, inevitable:

“Stop it – stop it now.” It is not just Jill Biden who is begging her husband to act decisively to end the war in Gaza. The deaths of the seven heroic international aid workers have triggered a global howl of humanitarian anguish.

In all likelihood, Joe Biden, a compassionate and emotional man, doesn’t need Flotus to tell him what needs to be done. He has struggled with the painful dilemmas the present crisis has created for many months. He was as shocked as anyone at the atrocities committed by Hamas on 7 October.

Instinctively, the president stood by Israel. So did the world. But the president has also clearly been increasingly troubled by the conduct of the war. He has grown more outspoken about the casualties and breaches of international law. He has lifted the US veto at the UN and called for a ceasefire.

[5 April 2024 15:15 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

UN chief hopes Israel effectively boosts Gaza aid access

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Friday that he sincerely hopes Israel quickly and effectively boosts aid access to the Gaza Strip, describing the situation in the Palestinian enclave after six months of war as “absolutely desperate.”

“When the gates to aid are closed, the doors to starvation are opened. More than half the population - over a million people - are facing catastrophic hunger. Children in Gaza today are dying for lack of food and water,” Guterres told reporters.

“This is incomprehensible, and entirely avoidable,” he said. “Nothing can justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

“The Israeli government has acknowledged mistakes,” Guterres said. “But the essential problem is not who made the mistakes, it is the military strategy and procedures in place that allow for those mistakes to multiply time and time again.”

“Fixing those failures requires independent investigations and meaningful and measurable changes on the ground,” he said. “196 humanitarian workers have been killed and we want to know why each one of them was killed.”

Guterres also said he was “deeply troubled” by reports that the Israeli military has been using artificial intelligence to help identify bombing targets in Gaza. The Israeli military denies AI was used to identify suspected extremists and targets.

“No part of life and death decisions which impact entire families should be delegated to the cold calculation of algorithms,” Guterres said.

[5 April 2024 14:53 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Gaza war shatters Palestinian family and its simple dream of opening a pizzeria

Palestinian Redwan Abu Alkas lost his daughter in an Israeli airstrike. His home was destroyed and the family’s dream of opening its own business, a pizzeria in the once bustling Gaza Strip, was shattered.

The family had saved up the money and bought all the equipment. That was before the Israeli bombardment of one of the most densely populated areas in the world began in the conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas militants who rule Gaza.

“In this war, I lost my daughter, first of all. I used to have money to start a good project. I had gained enough experience from working in restaurants in Gaza Strip - I worked in most of the restaurants in Gaza - and now there is nothing,” Redwan told Reuters at a U.N.-run school being used as a shelter for displaced Palestinians.

“...I had a brother who was going to be my partner, he is now wounded. He might get better, he might not. All the money that I had for the project is gone because of price rises.”

Redwan’s brother, Hamza, is confined to a wheelchair. He was wounded while trying to secure food aid.

“I stopped going out and seeing people. I’m sitting in a wheelchair and in bed, being treated and sometimes circumstances prevent me from getting to the hospital to get treatment because of the occupation,” he said.

(REUTERS)

[5 April 2024 14:27 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Israel’s war has reached a tipping point – and risks spinning out of control

The US has made it clear it no longer trusts Israel’s actions in Gaza, writes Nomi Bar-Yaacov. The only way to get humanitarian aid safely in is with an immediate ceasefire, and an end to the war:

The Israeli army’s killing of seven international aid workers from the World Central Kitchen serves as a terrible reminder that the Israel-Hamas war has gone on for far too long.

Now is the time to end it with a comprehensive ceasefire agreement, the release of all the hostages, a return of the displaced Gazan population to their towns and villages, and the opening of a land crossing to allow unhindered flow of humanitarian aid.

Plans for the rehabilitation of Gaza coupled with a carefully mapped out plan for Palestinian statehood and Israeli normalisation with Arab states must follow suit.

Read more here:

[5 April 2024 14:00 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Ireland pulls multi-million euro investment in six Israeli companies

The Irish government has pulled millions of euros of investment from several Israeli companies.

The Irish National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) confirmed that it had made the decision to divest almost three million euros from its global equity portfolio in the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund (ISIF).

The divestment decision relates to shareholdings with a total value of 2.95 million euros in the following six companies: Bank Hapoalim BM; Bank Leumi-le Israel BM; Israel Discount Bank; Mizrahi Tefahot Bank Ltd; First International Bank and Rami Levi CN Stores.

Irish finance minister Michael McGrath said it was the "correct decision".

He said: "ISIF has determined that the risk profile of these investments is no longer within its investment parameters and that the commercial objectives of these investments can be achieved via other investments.

"The decision will be implemented as soon as possible over the coming weeks.

"I am advised ISIF will keep under review the alignment of relevant investments within its investment parameters and commercial objectives.

"While recognising the independence of ISIF in the management of the investment portfolio, I believe this is the correct investment decision in respect of the assets it manages on behalf of the State."

[5 April 2024 13:35 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

Labour calls for government to publish evidence on how UK arms exports are being used

Labour’s shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves called for the government to publish all the evidence about how UK arms exports were being used.

She said: “I think it is really important that policy is based on evidence, and it is the government’s duty to publish this evidence.

“It is not just Labour MPs that are calling for this: many people across the political spectrum and beyond are saying that the government must publish this evidence so that the right decisions can be made.

“UK law is really clear about this. If there is a risk that UK arms exports are going to be used in a way that risks breaching international law, the licences cannot be granted and that’s why it is now so important that they publish that evidence.”

She added: “I am incredibly concerned about the scenes that we are seeing unfold in Gaza, the failure to get aid in, the attacks on the aid convoys. The situation is of utmost concern.

“I was pleased to see that in the last few hours President Biden has called for an immediate ceasefire. That is right and proper. It is the only way now to get the much-needed aid into Gaza and avoid a man-made famine and it is the only way to get the Israeli hostages out of Gaza. That ceasefire must happen and it must happen now.”

[5 April 2024 13:17 · Maryam Zakir-Hussain]

500 police deployed for protests in London amid tensions over Israel-Gaza war

More than 500 officers are being deployed in central London to police an annual march in support of Palestine and a pro-Isreal counter protest outside the House of Parliament.

The Metropolitan Police announced details of a major policing operation ahead of the demonstrations on Friday amid tensions over the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The force said it has been in discussion with the organisers of both demonstrations – which are each subject to conditions under the Public Order Act.