The Times of Israel is liveblogging Wednesday’s events as they happen.
IDF soldier killed, 3 others seriously wounded during fighting in Gaza
The IDF announces the death of a soldier killed during fighting in the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, bringing the toll of slain troops in the ground offensive against Hamas to 237.
He is named as Staff Sgt. Avraham Wovagen, 21, of the Nahal Brigade’s 932nd Battalion, from Netanya.
Wovagen was killed during clashes with Hamas operatives.
Separately, as a result of an anti-tank missile, a soldier of the 932nd Battalion and a reservist of the 636th Combat Intelligence Collection Unit were seriously wounded in northern Gaza.
In southern Gaza, a soldier of the Givati Brigade was seriously wounded as a result of an explosive device.
Presidents of Colombia, Bolivia back Brazil’s Lula after Holocaust comparison
After comparing Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza to Hitler’s treatment of Jews, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva receives backing from his counterparts in Colombia and Bolivia, two fellow South American countries to have criticized the Jewish state.
“In Gaza there is a genocide and thousands of children, women and elderly civilians are cowardly murdered. Lula has only spoken the truth and truth must be defended or barbarism will annihilate us,” Colombia’s Gustavo Petro says on X.
Bolivia’s Luis Arce, on the same forum, expresses solidarity with Lula who he says was merely “telling the truth about the genocide that is committed against the brave Palestinian people.”
He adds: “History will not forgive those who are indifferent to this barbarity.”
The United States has said it disagreed with Lula’s comments. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is to meet Lula on Wednesday while in Brazil for the G20.
US military blames Houthis for attacking bulk carrier bound for Yemen’s Aden
CAIRO — Yemen’s Houthis on February 19 fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged, US-owned bulk carrier bound for Yemen’s port of Aden, the US Central Command says.
One of the missiles detonated near the ship, which is linked to humanitarian aid, causing minor damage, CENTCOM says in a statement.
Houthis Target Ship Linked to Humanitarian Aid
On February 19, between 12:30 p.m. and 1:50 p.m. (Sanaa time), Iranian-backed Houthi terrorists fired two anti-ship ballistic missiles at M/V Sea Champion, a Greek-flagged, U.S.-owned bulk carrier bound for the port of Aden in… pic.twitter.com/uOH8FFwo9j
— U.S. Central Command (@CENTCOM) February 21, 2024
China’s UN envoy lashes out at US for vetoing Gaza ceasefire resolution
China has expressed its “strong disappointment” over the United States blocking a draft United Nations Security Council resolution on the Israel-Hamas war calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, Xinhua reports on Wednesday, citing China’s permanent representative to the United Nations Zhang Jun.
“China expresses its strong disappointment at and dissatisfaction with the US veto,” Xinhua reports Zhang Jun as saying.
“The US veto sends a wrong message, pushing the situation in Gaza into a more dangerous one,” Zhang says, adding that objection to a ceasefire in Gaza is “nothing different from giving the green light to the continued slaughter.”
Brazil’s FM accuses Israel Katz of ‘lying’ as diplomatic spat over Holocaust comparison escaltes
RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil’s foreign minister accuses his Israeli counterpart of “lying” as a diplomatic spat escalates over President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva’s comparison of Israel’s military campaign against Hamas in Gaza to the Holocaust.
Mauro Vieira, whose country is hosting a G20 foreign ministers meeting this week, says statements by Israel Katz are “unacceptable in their nature and lying in their content” as well as “outrageous.”
Israel has reacted furiously after Lula said the conflict in the Gaza Strip “isn’t a war, it’s a genocide,” and compared it to “when Hitler decided to kill the Jews.”
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Lula had “crossed a red line,” and Katz declared the Brazilian leader “persona non grata in the state of Israel so long as he doesn’t retract his remarks and apologize.”
Katz summoned Brazil’s ambassador Frederico Meyer for a meeting Monday at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial center in Jerusalem.
In a tit-for-tat move, the Brazilian foreign ministry then summoned the Israeli ambassador to Brazil, Daniel Zonshinem, and recalled Meyer from Tel Aviv for consultations.
On Tuesday, Katz took to X to describe Lula’s comparison as “delusional.”