Monday, March 4, 2024

0236 GMT — United States Vice President Kamala Harris called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and described the situation in Gaza as “devastating.”

During remarks in Alabama to mark the 59th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the day state law officers attacked Civil Rights demonstrators on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Harris said the ceasefire would get hostages out and much-needed aid into Gaza.

“And given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire for at least the next six weeks, which is what is currently on the table,” she added.

“This would allow us to build something more enduring to ensure Israel is secure and to respect the right of the Palestinian people to dignity, freedom and self-determination,” she said.

More updates 👇

0040 GMT — More than 127 Palestinians killed by Israeli army in Gaza ‘flour massacre’

The Israeli army recently killed more than 127 Palestinians and wounded over 760 in just two days by targeting civilians who were desperately trying to obtain humanitarian aid, despite the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza.

Last Thursday, however, Israeli forces opened fire on a crowd of Palestinians waiting for trucks carrying aid at Al Nabulsi roundabout area south of Gaza.

The ICJ adjudicates disputes between states and its orders are legally binding, but it has no means of enforcing its judgments.

The Israeli army claimed that members of the crowd approached its soldiers, putting them at risk, so they responded by opening fire.

0005 GMT — Pro-Palestinian activists storm Israeli Consulate in Chicago

A group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators stormed the Israeli Consulate building in the US state of Illinois to protest Israel’s war on Gaza.

Kuffiya, a pro-Palestinian group, posted on X that some of its activists entered the consulate in Chicago to protest the killing of over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza.

A video showed protesters chanting “Freedom for Palestine” and unfurling a banner saying “Stop the US-backed Israeli genocide.”

Protesters marched in downtown Chicago carrying Palestinian flags and calling for a ceasefire, blocking some streets to traffic.

2352 GMT — Israel bombs ‘makeshift cemetery’ in northern Gaza

Israeli warplanes targeted a “makeshift cemetery” built by residents of the Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza, causing the bodies of Palestinians recently killed by Israeli forces to emerge.

“The Israeli army bombed a mass grave containing the bodies of hundreds of martyrs who were recently buried,” Ahmed al Kahlot, the director of civil defence in northern Gaza, told Anadolu.

“The bombing resulted in the destruction of the cemetery and the emergence of bodies from beneath the soil,” he added.

Al Kahlot noted that civil defence teams are working diligently to re-bury the bodies.