Live blog update| Israel-Palestine war
This is an entry from: Israel-Palestine live: US vice president calls for ‘immediate’ six-week ceasefire

Late night update

2 March 2024 23:29 GMT

Hello MEE readers, 

Ceasefire talks are expected to reconvene in Cairo as soon as Sunday, as pressure mounts for a pause in fighting by Ramadan.

Israeli and Hamas delegations are expected to arrive in Cairo on Sunday, according to two Egyptian security sources, though another source briefed on the talks said Israel would not send a delegation until it got a full list of Israeli captives who are still alive.

Meanwhile, the US dropped 66 aid packages containing 38,000 meals into the Gaza Strip on Saturday, with US President Joe Biden saying the shipment was "not nearly enough". 

"Together with Jordan, the United States airdropped the first package of aid into Gaza today,” Biden said in a post to X social media site. 

"The amount of aid flowing to Gaza is not nearly enough and we will continue to pull out every stop we can to get more aid in," he continued. 

US Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Israel war cabinet minister Benny Gantz in the US on Monday, according to a White House official.

A senior figure close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told Haaretz newspaper that the leader did not sanction Gantz's visit. 

"The prime minister made it clear to Gantz last night that he does not approve of his trip to Washington. Any official trip abroad by a minister that is not private but rather in an official capacity requires approval from the prime minister," the senior figure was quoted as saying. 

A statement from Gantz confirmed that he would meet with Harris, as well as with US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan and Republican and Democratic members of US Congress.

"Minister Gantz personally updated the prime minister on his own initiative on Friday of his intention to travel, in order to coordinate the messages to be transmitted in the meetings," the statement said.

Other Saturday updates include: 

  • Israeli forces fatally shot a 13-year-old Palestinian next to the Jalazone refugee camp north of Ramallah. Emergency medics attempted to resuscitate the child, identified as Mohammad Khaled Zaid. He was then transported to Ramallah public hospital in critical condition, where he succumbed to his wounds, PRCS said. 

  • Israeli forces have unleashed "a wave of intensive air and ground attacks in the Deir el-Balah and Khan Younis area", according to Israel's Channel 12 news.

  • For the second time in the past 72 hours, Israeli forces shot at Palestinians waiting for aid in Gaza City's Nabulsi roundabout, Palestine's Wafa news agency reported. The shooting reportedly killed one Palestinian and injured 26 others.