Israel admits ‘serious failures’ over deadly strike on WCK aid workers in Gaza: Live

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.

Protestors must not “cross the line into criminality”, the Metropolitan Police has warned, adding that the force will “police without fear or favour right up to the line of the law”.

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“I wouldn’t listen to them. I wouldn’t take any instruction from them. Israel knows what they’re doing,” Mr Trump said.

As Benjamin Netanyahu’s government bows to pressure to open another entry point for aid into Gaza, some Israeli officials have warned that there could be a repeat of the deadly convoy airstrike blunder because of fundamental flaws in the aims and conduct of the war.

Two officers of the Israel Defense Forces – a colonel and a major – are to be dismissed over the attack on vehicles belonging to World Central Kitchen (WCK). The incident killed seven charity employees – three of them British – and drew international condemnation.

But a number of officials, some in the security sphere, have told The Independent that the conditions for what happened were created by a number of factors, including unclear rules of engagement in Gaza; indiscipline and a sense of impunity among soldiers; inflammatory rhetoric from hard-right politicians; and the disdain of some in the military for a defence ministry unit known as Cogat – the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories – because the liaison group is deemed to be “too soft” on Palestinians.

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President Joe Biden on Friday wrote to the leaders of Egypt and Qatar, calling on them to press Hamas for hostage deal with Israel, according to a senior administration official, one day after Biden called on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to redouble efforts to reach a cease-fire in the six-month-old war in Gaza.

The official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss the private letters, said Biden’s national security adviser will meet Monday with family members of some of the estimated 100 hostages who are believed to still be in Gaza.

The letters come as Biden has deployed CIA Director Bill Burns to Cairo for talks this weekend about the hostage crisis.

Colombia has asked the International Court of Justice to allow the country to intervene in South Africa’s case accusing Israel of genocide in the Gaza Strip, the court said Friday.

In its application, Colombia called on the court to ensure “the safety and, indeed, the very existence of the Palestinian people”.

The ICJ, the highest U.N. court, can allow states to intervene and give their views. Several states have said they would also seek to intervene in the case but so far only Colombia and Nicaragua have filed a public request.

Last week ICJ judges ordered Israel to take all necessary and effective action to ensure basic food supplies arrive without delay to Palestinians in Gaza.

In January the ICJ, also known as the World Court, ordered Israel to refrain from any acts that could fall under the genocide convention and to ensure its troops commit no genocidal acts against Palestinians in Gaza.

Egyptian authorities this week arrested 10 activists who participated in a pro-Palestinian protest where they accused the government of contributing to the siege of Gaza and called for the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador, a human rights lawyer said.

Egypt’s government has condemned Israel’s campaign in Gaza and has played a central role, along with the U.S. and Qatar, in trying to broker a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas. But it has largely banned public protests, and criticism of the country’s ties with Israel is highly sensitive.

On Wednesday, nearly 200 people rallied outside the building of the Journalist Syndicate in Cairo, waving the Palestinian flag and chanting slogans: “What a disgrace! Egypt is helping the siege!” and “No to the Israeli Embassy! No to normalization”. They also raised banners reading “Open the Rafah crossing” and “Glory to the Palestinian resistance.”

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A fresh round of talks aimed at arranging a Gaza ceasefire in exchange for hostages held by Hamas militants is being planned for Cairo this weekend with U.S. representation, the White House said on Friday.

CIA Director Bill Burns will lead the U.S. delegation, a U.S. official said.

White House national security spokesperson John Kirby said President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Thursday to empower his negotiators in Cairo so that a deal can be reached as soon as possible.

The United States and its allies view a ceasefire as essential to allowing more humanitarian aid to get into Gaza amid fears of famine among the Palestinians there.

Under the most recent proposal, Israel and Hamas would agree to a six-week ceasefire in exchange for the release of sick, elderly and wounded hostages held by Hamas. Progress on a deal has been stalled for weeks.

Kristyan Benedict, Amnesty International UK’s Crisis Response Manager, said: “These killings were only the latest in a sickening death toll of aid workers in Gaza, and the Israeli authorities have a decades-long history of cover-ups.

“Years of so-called ‘investigations’ by Israel into abuses committed by its forces in Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem have worked to deny justice for grieving families.

“The Prime Minister, the Foreign Secretary and other ministers need to finally start confronting the reality of Israeli war crimes in Gaza and take action now to ensure there are consequences.

“The UK should immediately stop transfers of arms to Israel and fully support efforts by the International Criminal Court and the International Court of Justice to examine the long catalogue of Israeli atrocities in Gaza.”

“I have never seen this much dissent,” Charles Blaha, former director of the State Department’s Office of Security and Human Rights, told The Independent, amid growing disquiet over president Joe Biden’s Gaza policy.

“I was in the State Department for 32 years, including during the Iraq War, and I have never seen this much unhappiness. It was even worse than Iraq. So yeah, people are concerned,” Mr Blaha, who maintains contact with current staffers, said.

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Pro-Palestinian protesters take part at a demonstration on Al Quds Day in London.