Only a quarter of planned aid being delivered to Gaza because of Israeli restrictions, U.N. says
Out of the 29 planned aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip, only seven have successfully reached their destinations this year because of "several access constraints" imposed by Israel, the U.N. Office for the Coordination for Humanitarian Affairs said yesterday in a report.
The deliveries form only 24% of the planned deliveries, down from 70% in December last year.
"These denials paralyze the ability of humanitarian partners to respond meaningfully, consistently and at-scale, to the hundreds of thousands of people who remain in northern Gaza," the OCHA said, as access to central Gaza and southern Gaza also diminishes.
Pro-Palestinian protesters arrested over alleged plot to disrupt London Stock Exchange
Six pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested by British authorities, London's Metropolitan Police said yesterday in a statement, over an alleged attempt to disrupt the London Stock Exchange today.
The plan attempted to cause "damage and ‘locking on’ in an effort to prevent the building opening for trading," the police said, adding the six remained in custody.
"We believe this group was ready to carry out a disruptive and damaging stunt which could have had serious implications had it been carried out successfully," Detective Superintendent Sian Thomas said.
China calls for Gaza peace conference
HONG KONG — China has urged a “larger-scale, more authoritative and more effective” international peace conference to achieve the “peaceful coexistence” of Israel and Palestine.
International society should “listen carefully” to the “legitimate concerns” of countries in the Middle East, Foreign Minister Wang Yi told reporters yesterday in a joint news conference with Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry in Cairo.
“The top priority for now is to stop the war as soon as possible,” Wang said. “Ensuring humanitarian relief is a moral imperative.”
He also emphasized the need to implement a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.
“The future arrangements for Gaza must fully respect the will of the Palestinian people,” he said. “A cease-fire and an end to the fighting are fundamental prerequisites for the governance of Gaza, and ‘Palestinians ruling Palestinians’ is the basic principle for exploring the future of Gaza.”
U.S. shoots down missile fired toward American destroyer in Red Sea from Houthi-controlled Yemen
The U.S. said it shot down an anti-ship cruise missile fired toward a Navy destroyer yesterday afternoon in the Red Sea.
U.S. military officials said that the missile was fired toward the USS Laboon from Iranian-backed Houthi militant areas of Yemen.
No injuries or damage were reported.
The news comes days after the U.S. and Britain launched military strikes against the Houthi rebels in Yemen, who for weeks have been targeting shipping vessels.
The Houthis have said their strikes are in support of Hamas and last week vowed retaliation for attacks.
Keeping warm in a Rafah camp
Displaced Palestinians warm by the fire last night at a makeshift camp west of Rafah, in southern Gaza, near the Egyptian border.
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