6:05 p.m
Mahmoud Abbas accepts the government's resignation
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has accepted the resignation of Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh's government, the presidency said in a statement.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh attends the weekly cabinet meeting in the West Bank city of Ramallah on February 26, 2024. — © IMAGO/Ayman Nobani / IMAGO/Xinhua
“The President issued a decree accepting this resignation and instructed Mohammed Shtayyeh and his government to remain in office temporarily until a new government is formed,” emphasizes the Presidency.
5:06 p.m
Hezbollah attacks an Israeli military base in response to raids in eastern Lebanon
Hezbollah says it has bombed an Israeli military base in Gaza for the first time since the war began in response to attacks on eastern Lebanon, leaving two dead in the ranks of the powerful Lebanese formation.
Hezbollah “fired 60 Katyusha rockets at the Nafah base” in the occupied Golan Heights “in response” to Israeli attacks on the Baalbeck region in the Bekaa Valley, the pro-Iranian formation announced. When questioned by AFP, the Israeli army said “dozens of rockets” had been fired from Lebanon.
2:42 p.m
Death of an American soldier who attempted to self-immolate in front of the Israeli embassy
An American soldier was seriously injured when he attempted to set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington this Sunday to protest the war in Gaza. The US military confirmed his death on Monday.
14:26
The fate of a Sinai activist on the Gaza border worries 18 NGOs
Eighteen NGOs and a UN rapporteur expressed concern over the fate of a human rights activist who was the victim of a “smear campaign and threats” after spreading information about Egypt's Sinai bordering the Gaza Strip.
“The Egyptian authorities and their cronies have launched a campaign of slander and threats against the Sinai Foundation for Human Rights (SFHR) and its director Ahmed Salem in retaliation for their recent reports,” these NGOs, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, allege (HRW) and the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), Egypt's leading human rights NGO.
Ahmed Salem.
According to these NGOs, since mid-February, “government and government-affiliated figures” have been leading this campaign “in the media and on social networks,” accusing Ahmed Salem of having “links to terrorist groups and the Mossad,” according to Israeli intelligence.
They add that Ahmed Salem, who lives in the UK with his wife and children, “has received warnings from pro-authority intermediaries who have threatened to 'take him back to Egypt'.”
On February 14, the SFHR confirmed that Egypt was establishing “a closed, highly secure and isolated zone” for Palestinian refugees “in the event of a mass exodus” from Gaza, which has been bombed by Israel since the Hamas attack on October 7.
Cairo officially denies this, but the Egyptian NGO points out that two local developers told it they had received contracts to build an enclosed area “surrounded by seven-meter-high walls.”
12:49
The Israeli army confirms attacks in eastern Lebanon
“Israeli Army warplanes have just attacked Hezbollah air defense sites in the Bekaa Valley in Lebanon. These attacks were carried out in retaliation for a surface-to-air missile attack on a Hermes 450 drone that was damaged earlier in the day,” the Israeli army confirmed in a press release.
11:05
Israel carries out attacks in eastern Lebanon for the first time
At least two Israeli strikes on Monday targeted the Baalbeck region of eastern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold, for the first time since the start of the Gaza war, a security source told AFP. One of the attacks targeted a building at a pro-Iran Hezbollah civilian facility on the outskirts of the town of Baalbeck, known for its Roman temple, this source said.
10:06
Palestinians need “new political measures” because of the Gaza war.
Due to the “new reality” brought about by the war in Gaza, Palestinians need “new policies” and unified leadership, said Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh on Monday, whose government has postponed its decision.
“The next step requires new governmental and political measures that take into account the new reality in Gaza (…) and the urgent need for an inter-Palestinian consensus,” he said.
10:03
Volker Türk denounces attempts to “undermine the legitimacy and work” of the UN
In his speech to the Human Rights Council in Geneva, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk strongly condemned attempts to “undermine the legitimacy and work” of the United Nations.
This includes disinformation directed against UN humanitarian organizations, UN peacekeepers and my services. The UN has become a lightning rod for manipulative propaganda and a scapegoat for political failures. This situation is deeply destructive to the common good and cruelly betrays the many people whose lives depend on it.
He refers in particular, without naming them, to UNWRA (the agency responsible for dealing with Palestinian refugees), which is the main aid donor to Gaza, but against which there are very serious allegations of “collusion” with the Islamist movement Hamas are collected by the Israeli authorities. Volker Türk himself is currently unwelcome in Israel, and the authorities denounce what they perceive as the bias of his services in favor of the Palestinians.
09:54
Antonio Guterres: A general offensive against Rafah would “spell the death knell for humanitarian aid programs”
The large-scale offensive announced by Israeli authorities against the southern Gaza city “would not only be frightening for the more than one million Palestinian civilians seeking refuge there; it would also mean the end of our aid programs,” warned UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres at the opening of the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.
He stressed that “nothing can justify Hamas's deliberate killing, wounding, torture and kidnapping of civilians, its use of sexual violence or its indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israel.” “And nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” he added he added.
Antonio Guterres, like humanitarian representatives, stressed that “humanitarian aid is still completely inadequate.” “I reiterate my call for a humanitarian ceasefire and the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages,” he stressed.
09:44
The Palestinian government resigns
The Palestinian Authority government, based in the occupied West Bank, submitted its resignation to President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said.
“I submitted the government's resignation to Mr. President on February 20 and I am handing it in writing today,” he said in Ramallah, specifying that this decision was taken in particular “against the background of developments related to the aggression against Gaza.”
05:37
The Human Rights Council meets in Geneva
The Human Rights Council meets this Monday in Geneva for six weeks. More than a hundred heads of state and government or ministers are expected by Wednesday. The conflict in the Middle East is likely to be the focus of discussions in the coming weeks.
On Monday, a pro-Israel NGO is organizing a summit on the sidelines of the council to consider what this region would look like without the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA). On Thursday, two former Hamas hostages will travel to a meeting parallel to the meeting. On the same day, the UN panel will consider a report by High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk on the Middle East.
05:17
An American soldier tries to set himself on fire in front of the Israeli embassy in Washington
A U.S. soldier was seriously injured Sunday when he tried to set himself on fire outside the Israeli embassy in Washington, officials said. Local media reported that he was protesting against the war in Gaza. The emergency services rushed to the scene of the accident shortly before 1 p.m. (7 p.m. in Switzerland), the capital's fire department announced on X. When they arrived, they found that the Secret Service, the protection service for high-ranking American officials, had already put out the fire.
Images apparently broadcast live on the streaming platform Twitch show him in military uniform, declaring that he “will not take part in genocide” and dousing himself with liquid, American media reported. He then tries to set himself on fire while shouting “Liberate Palestine!” (Liberate Palestine!) until he fell to the ground. AFP could not immediately verify the footage as The New York Times reported that it was removed from Twitch.
04:04
Israel threatens to withdraw from Eurovision 2024
Controversy is growing over the song that will represent Israel in Malmö next May. It would be reminiscent of the attacks of October 7, 2023, the European Broadcasting Union analyzes it: Is it too political?
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01:49
Ceasefire in Gaza: negotiators found “common ground” in Paris
Negotiators from key countries in the deal to reach a ceasefire in Gaza in return for the release of hostages found “common ground” in their recent talks in Paris, Jake Sullivan, adviser to US President Joe Biden, said on Sunday.
True, the representatives of Israel, the United States, Egypt and Qatar met in Paris and reached an agreement between them on the contours of a “possible agreement on the release of the hostages and a temporary ceasefire.”
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan on CNN.
01:10
Israel presents plan to “evacuate” civilians
The Israeli army has presented a plan to “evacuate” civilians from “combat zones” in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli prime minister's office said on Monday. This announcement comes ahead of an expected Israeli offensive in Rafah.