Middle East crisis live: UN team saw ‘large number of gunshot wounds’ among Gaza food aid injured; Biden hopes for ceasefire by Ramadan | Israel-Gaza war

More than 200 MPs from 12 countries have committed themselves to trying to persuade their governments to impose a ban on arms sales to Israel, arguing they will not be complicit in “Israel’s grave violation of international law” in its assault on Gaza.

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The letter, organised by Progressive International, a network of socialist MPs and activists focused on international justice, is seen as the best practical measure possible to bring public anger over the 30,000 deaths of Palestinians in Gaza into the heart of parliaments, where calls for an immediate unconditional ceasefire have so far fallen on deaf ears or been rejected by national governments.

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The organisers believe governments supplying arms are vulnerable to legal challenges given the scale of devastation in Gaza that they say extends beyond any definition of self-defence or proportionality.

The signatories are all MPs in parliaments where the governments allow arms sales to Israel. Nine are current or former leaders of political parties, including the former UK Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn; the leader of the Green party in the Australian senate, Larissa Waters; the coordinator of France Unbowed, Manuel Bompard; the national secretary of the Workers’ party of Belgium, Peter Mertens; the Canadian MP and member of the Progressive International council, Niki Ashton; the Brazilian federal deputy Nilto Tatto; the former leader of Die Linke, Bernd Riexinger; the leader of the Spanish party Podemos, Ione Belarra; the leader of the Dutch Socialist party, Jimmy Dijk; the Irish teachta dála (member of parliament) Thomas Pringle; and the former co-chair of the Peoples’ Democratic party in Turkey, Sezai Temelli. There were two signatories from the US – Democratic congresswomen Cori Bush and Rashida Tlaib.

Pro-Palestine protests are to continue across the UK on Saturday after the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak warned that democracy was being targeted by “extremists”.

In an address to the nation on Friday, the prime minister spoke about “forces here at home trying to tear us apart”, in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks by Hamas against Israel.

Speaking outside 10 Downing Street, Sunak said “our democracy itself is a target” and decried a recent “shocking increase in extremist disruption and criminality”.

He described the victory of George Galloway in the Rochdale byelection as “beyond alarming”. He also spoke directly to those taking part in pro-Palestine protests, urging organisers to demonstrate peacefully and “with empathy”.

He said he had told senior police chiefs the public expected the protests to be policed rather than simply managed.

Sunak said: “I want to speak directly to those who choose to continue to protest: don’t let the extremists hijack your marches. You have a chance in the coming weeks to show that you can protest decently, peacefully and with empathy for your fellow citizens.

“Let us prove these extremists wrong and show them that even when we disagree, we will never be disunited.”

You can read the full piece here:

Gaza ceasefire negotiations are due to resume in Cairo on Sunday, reports Reuters citing Egyptian security sources on Saturday.

The parties agreed on a duration of Gaza truce, hostage and prisoner releases, they said, adding that the completion of the deal still requires an agreement on the withdrawal of Israeli forces from northern Gaza and a return of its residents.

We will update with any additional information as it comes in.

Julian Borger

The US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Joe Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after Israeli troops opened fire on Gazans seeking food aid.

The use of airdrops is a spectacular but inefficient way of delivering aid, and Friday’s announcement suggests that Biden had given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza.

Critics suggested it represented no more than a gesture, which obscured Biden’s reluctance to use US leverage to force Israel to be more cooperative in the delivery of humanitarian aid.

“Airdrops are not the solution to relieve this suffering, and distract time and effort from proven solutions to help at scale,” the International Rescue Committee aid organisation said. “All diplomatic focus should be on ensuring Israel lifts its siege of Gaza.”

Israel is facing growing international pressure for an investigation after more than 100 Palestinians in Gaza were killed when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire on Thursday.

Israel said people died in a crush or were run over by aid lorries although it admitted its troops had opened fire on what it called a “mob”. But the head of a hospital in Gaza said 80% of injured people brought in had gunshot wounds.

On Friday, a UN team that visited some of the wounded in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital saw a “large number of gunshot wounds”, UN chief Antonio Guterres’s spokesman said.

The hospital received 70 of the dead and treated more than 700 wounded, of whom around 200 were still there during the team’s visit, spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.

“I’m not aware that our team examined the bodies of people who were killed. My understanding from what they saw in terms of the patients who were alive getting treatments is that there was a large number of gunshot wounds,” he said.

The UK called for an “urgent investigation and accountability”. In a statement, David Cameron, the foreign secretary, said: “The deaths of people in Gaza waiting for an aid convoy were horrific … this must not happen again.” Israel must allow more aid into Gaza, Lord Cameron added.

You can read the full piece by my colleagues, Harriet Sherwood in London, Emma Graham-Harrison in Jerusalem and Julian Borger in Washington, here:

The Palestinian Authority hopes a ceasefire can be agreed in Gaza in time for Ramadan, its foreign minister, Riyad al-Maliki, said on Saturday.

Speaking at a news conference at a diplomatic forum in Antalya, Tukrey, Maliki said the Palestinian Authority would be “the only legitimate authority” to run Gaza after the war, reports Reuters. The Palestinian Authority, which exercises limited self rule in parts of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, lost control of Gaza to the Hamas militant group in 2007.

Israel and Hamas have been negotiating through mediators over a possible ceasefire in Gaza, with the aim of halting fighting in time for Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, which will start on 10 or 11 March, depending on the lunar calendar.

The latest figures from the Gaza health ministry, which is run by Hamas, said 92 Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes and 156 were injured in the past 24 hours.

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According to the statement, at least 30,320 Palestinians have been killed and 71,533 have been injured in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October.

The ministry does not distinguish between combatants and non-combatants.

An Israeli drone strike killed three Hezbollah fighters in south Lebanon on Saturday, reports Reuters citing security sources in Lebanon.

The men were killed when the car they were in was targeted on a coastal road near the town of Naqoura, the sources said. The Israeli army said it was checking reports on the incident.

Israeli strikes since October have killed more than 200 Hezbollah fighters and 50 civilians in Lebanon, while attacks from Lebanon into Israel have killed a dozen Israeli soldiers and five civilians. Tens of thousands of Israelis and Lebanese have fled villages on both sides of the frontier.

Like the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, Hezbollah is an ally of Iran. It says its campaign at the border aims to support Palestinians under Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip.

Hezbollah signalled this week that it would halt its attacks if Israel’s Gaza offensive stops, but it is also ready to keep on fighting if the Gaza war continues. On Friday, Hezbollah announced the deaths of four members killed in Lebanon.

Israeli defence minister Yoav Gallant last Sunday indicated that Israel planned to increase attacks on Hezbollah in the event of a Gaza ceasefire, but was open to a diplomatic deal to withdraw Hezbollah fighters from the border.

Lebanon’s caretaker prime minister Najib Mikati told Reuters on Thursday a halt to fighting in Gaza as early as next week would trigger indirect talks to end hostilities at the border.

African Union chief Moussa Faki Mahamat on Saturday strongly condemned “the mass killing of Palestinians queueing for humanitarian aid” and urged an international probe after dozens died after a rush on an aid convoy in Gaza, reports AFP.

“Mahamat strongly condemns an attack by Israeli forces, that killed and wounded more than 100 Palestinians seeking life-saving humanitarian aid,” the bloc said in a statement dated Friday but posted on X on Saturday.

“The chairperson calls for an international investigation into the incident to bring the perpetrators to account,” the statement said, urging “an immediate and unconditional ceasefire”.

French president Emmanuel Macron said on Friday he was angered by what Gaza authorities said was the shooting of more than 100 Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid and demanded “truth and justice” regarding the role of Israeli soldiers in the incident, reports Reuters.

Gaza health authorities said Israeli forces on Thursday shot dead more than 100 Palestinians as they waited for an aid delivery, but Israel blamed the deaths on crowds that surrounded aid trucks, saying victims had been trampled or run over.

An Israeli official also said troops had “in a limited response” later fired on crowds they felt had posed a threat. He dismissed the casualty toll given by Gaza authorities but gave no figure himself.

In a post on X, Macron wrote:

Deep indignation at the images coming from Gaza where civilians have been targeted by Israeli soldiers. I express my strongest condemnation of these shootings and call for truth, justice, and respect for international law.”

He said it was imperative for an immediate ceasefire in the war to be put in place.

Macron also wrote: “The situation in Gaza is terrible. All civilian populations must be protected. A ceasefire must be implemented immediately to allow humanitarian aid to be distributed.”

Speaking on France Inter radio on Friday, French foreign minister Stéphane Séjourné said Paris would back the UN’s call for an independent investigation.

“The humanitarian situation has been catastrophic for several weeks now and what happened is indefensible and unjustifiable. Israel needs to be able to hear it and it needs to stop,” Séjourné told France Inter.

“We have gone a step further, people are fighting for food and there are riots. I heard the request from the secretary general of the UN to open an independent investigation and I think that France will support this,” Séjourné said.

World leaders have called for an investigation and a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war after dozens of desperate Palestinians were killed rushing an aid convoy.

AFP reports that Israeli troops opened fire as Palestinian civilians scrambled for food supplies during a chaotic melee on Thursday that the Hamas-run territory’s health ministry said killed more than 100 people in Gaza City.

The Israeli military said a “stampede” occurred when thousands of Palestinians surrounded the convoy of 38 aid trucks, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries, including some who were run over. An Israeli source acknowledged troops had opened fire on the crowd, believing it “posed a threat”.

Gaza’s health ministry called it a “massacre” and said 115 people were killed and more than 750 were injured.

A UN team that visited some of the wounded in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital on Friday saw a “large number of gunshot wounds”, a spokesperson for the UN chief, António Guterres, said.

Stephane Dujarric said the hospital received 70 of the dead and treated more than 700 injured, of whom about 200 were still there during the team’s visit.

He said:

I’m not aware that our team examined the bodies of people who were killed. My understanding from what they saw in terms of the patients who were alive getting treatments is that there was a large number of gunshot wounds.

The casualties came after a World Food Programme official warned: “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza.”

It has gone 10.30am in Gaza and Tel Aviv and this is our latest Guardian blog on the Middle East crisis. Here’s an overview of the most recent key developments.

World leaders have called for an investigation and a ceasefire in the Israel-Gaza war after more than 100 Palestinians were killed as they rushed at an aid convoy and Israeli troops opened fire.

The Israeli military said a “stampede” occurred when thousands of Palestinians surrounded the convoy of trucks, leading to dozens of deaths and injuries, including some who were run over.

A United Nations team that visited some of the wounded in Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital on Friday saw a “large number of gunshot wounds”, said a spokesperson for the UN secretary general, António Guterres.

The hospital received 70 of the dead and treated more than 700 injured, of whom about 200 were still there during the team’s visit, the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, the US president, Joe Biden, said he was “hoping” for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire deal by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan – which will start on 10 or 11 March – but that agreement was still not sealed.

“I’m hoping so, we’re still working real hard on it,” he said in Washington of a deal. “We’re not there yet.”

In other headlines:

• The US will start airdrops of food and emergency supplies into Gaza in the next few days, Biden has announced, amid UN warnings of famine and after the food aid deaths. Friday’s announcement suggests the US president has given up on being able to persuade Israel in the near future to coordinate a large-scale ground-based relief effort under the threat of mass starvation across Gaza, reports Julian Borger in Washington.

• At least 30,228 Palestinians have been killed and 71,377 injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza since 7 October, the Gaza health ministry has said. The Hamas-run ministry on Friday gave the total casualties in the past 24 hours as 193 Palestinians killed and 920 injured, which included those killed or hurt in the aid convoy incident.

• The US military struck a Houthi missile it said was prepared to launch from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen towards the Red Sea. US central command claimed on Friday the surface-to-air missile “presented an imminent threat to US aircraft in the region”. It also said the Iran-backed Houthis launched an anti-ship ballistic missile into the Red Sea in the late evening, causing no impact or damage to vessels.

• Hamas said on Friday that seven more hostages seized during its 7 October attack on Israel had died because of Israeli military operations in Gaza. The claim was in a statement attributed to a spokesperson for its military wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades.

• The EU has said it will resume funding the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine (UNRWA) next week, after the two parties came to an agreement to allow EU-appointed experts to audit the way it screens staff to identify extremists. Israel has accused 12 UNRWA employees of taking part in the Hamas attack inside Israel on 7 October. A month after the Israeli allegations, UN investigators have yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims.

• A member of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards navy serving as a military adviser in Syria was killed in a suspected strike by Israel on Friday. Israel also launched air raids over Lebanon.

• Nearly 20,000 worshipers were able to reach the al-Aqsa mosque for Friday prayers despite significant restrictions on the entry of worshipers imposed by Israeli security forces. There were arrests, and some worshippers were denied entry and forced to pray outside the compound.

The US president, Joe Biden, said on Friday he was “hoping” for a ceasefire deal in the Israel-Hamas conflict by the Muslim holy month of Ramadan but agreement was still not sealed.

“I’m hoping so, we’re still working real hard on it. We’re not there yet,” he told reporters at the White House when asked if he expected a deal by Ramadan, which will start on 10 or 11 March, depending on the lunar calendar.

“We’ll get there but we’re not there yet – we may not get there,” Biden added, without elaborating, as he headed to his helicopter.

Agence France-Presse (AFP) also reports that Biden had said at the beginning of this week that he expected a deal by Monday for a six-week halt in the fighting between Israel and Hamas, but has steadily walked back the timeline.

The president announced earlier on Friday that the US would soon start airdropping aid to Gaza, a day after dozens of desperate Palestinians were killed rushing an aid convoy.

Biden has said the incident could complicate talks, but would not comment on Friday on what was holding up a deal, adding:

I’m not going to tell you that because that’ll get involved in the negotiations.