LIVE UPDATES: Gaza’s Civil Defence decries airdropping of aid as Israel continues onslaught

Doha, Qatar: The last remaining office of a children’s charity in Gaza has been destroyed in an Israeli attack, said Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF).

The Municipality of Gaza has sent out an urgent appeal to international organizations for more aid ahead of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence has criticised the move by several countries to airdrop aid over people in the Gaza Strip, saying it has caused casualties instead.

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[9 pm Doha Time] As Ramadan begins tomorrow, hopes faded fast for a ceasefire in Gaza, and the continuous attacks and starvation in the Strip cast an especially dark shadow on the festivities.

[11:20am Doha Time] Gaza municipality calls on international groups to provide essential aid

The Municipality of Gaza has sent out an urgent appeal to international organisations ahead of the start of the holy Muslim month of Ramadan.

“Essential services like water, sanitation, and waste management are severely affected,” the municipality said in a post on X.

It called for international aid in supplying fuel and electricity for water wells and providing heavy machinery for infrastructure repair and waste management.

Urgent Ramadan Appeal from Gaza ????#بلدية_غزة#حرب_غزة pic.twitter.com/hwRE7U6M1H

— بلدية غزة - Municipality Of Gaza (@munigaza) March 10, 2024

[11:00am Doha Time] Gaza’s civil defence condemns aid airdrop 

A spokesman for Gaza’s Civil Defence has criticised the move by several countries to airdrop aid over people in the Gaza Strip, saying it has caused casualties instead.

“The method of using the dropping of aid via international relief planes has not limited the famine crisis suffered by our people in the Gaza Strip, but has increased the number of victims looking for a living,” the spokesperson said in a statement.

“The continuation of this method of providing relief to citizens has caused a number of victims and injuries among citizens.

“Therefore, we affirm the need to search for radical solutions to prove the futility of this method in providing relief to citizens suffering from famine in the Gaza Strip, and we stress the need to work to enter this aid through the ports of the Gaza Strip and deliver it in a safe manner to all besieged citizens to avoid further victims.”

A senior UN aid official warned that at least 576,000 people across the Gaza Strip – one-quarter of the population – faced catastrophic levels of food insecurity and one in six children under the age of two in the north were suffering from acute malnutrition.

[10:50am Doha Time] 'Land access is the most efficient way to get aid into Gaza’

Humanitarian agencies have warned the international community for months that all signs were pointing to a critical humanitarian situation in Gaza if a lasting truce did not take place, Meg Sattler, CEO of Ground Truth Solutions, says.

Sattler said there have been calls for humanitarian law to be respected in Gaza and land borders to be opened for aid access.

“None of that has happened,” she told Al Jazeera. “We did a research with people living in Gaza over two months ago that showed the population is in absolute need of water and food.

“Ninety-seven percent of people said that they were rationing food to survive, skipping meals and drinking dirty water.

“They [crossings] have been blocked by humans and need to be opened up again,” she said, adding that land access is the most efficient way to get aid into the enclave.

“People are starving to death now,” she said. “And when people reach this level of hunger, they have hours for intervention, they don’t have weeks.”

[10:10am Doha Time] Palestinians arrested in overnight Israeli raids across West Bank

At least six Palestinians, including a woman, were arrested by Israeli forces in overnight raids across the occupied West Bank.

Raids were reported in Ramallah and to its north in Birzeit. More raids took place in Nablus and the nearby villages of Beita and Salem.

Israeli forces also raided Bethlehem and the refugee camp of Dheisheh south of the city where one Palestinian was arrested.

[9:00am Doha Time] Offices of a children’s charity destroyed in Gaza

The Palestine Children’s Relief Fund (PCRF) said its last remaining office in Gaza has been destroyed in an Israeli attack.

In a post on X, the group shared pictures of a building reduced to rubble and said it was thankful that “no one was killed or severely injured during these bombings”.

The PCRF, founded in 1991 by humanitarians in the US, said it provides medical care to injured and ill children who lack access to care within the local medical system.

LAST PCRF OFFICE IN GAZA IS BOMBED TODAY…

PCRF’s last office in Gaza was destroyed by one of Israel’s air raids today. Two other offices were destroyed in previous months by Israeli air attacks as well. We are thankful that no one was killed or severely injured during these… pic.twitter.com/DoRGhGEAnK

— The PCRF (Palestine Children's Relief Fund) (@ThePCRF) March 10, 2024

[7:00am Doha Time] Five killed, several missing in attack on Deir el-Balah

Following a deadly Israeli attack on Deir el-Balah in central Gaza, Wafa news agency reported that two houses were hit on Saturday. At least five people were killed while several others are trapped beneath the rubble, it said.

[4:00am Doha Time] ‘We were all civilians’: Survivor of deadly Nuseirat bombing

An elderly man who survived an Israeli attack on a house in the Nuseirat refugee camp said all those in the building were women and children, except for him.

“To the Israelis, there is no safe zone all over the Gaza Strip. Not a single inch is safe. The Israelis are lying. We were told that from the Gaza Valley southwards is safe. We were forced to take shelter here. We are all civilians,” the man, who did not give his name, told Al Jazeera.

“All those inside the house were women and children. I was the oldest and the only male among them. I repeat, all were women and children,” he said.

Some 21 displaced Palestinians were sheltering in the building. At least 13 of them were killed.