The Times of Israel is liveblogging Sunday’s events as they happen.
Trump wins party vote in 3 US states, edging toward nomination
Donald Trump is inching ahead in his quest to become the Republican Party’s presidential nominee, winning internal party elections in the states of Missouri, Michigan and Idaho, US media reports.
The former president has now won every state nominating contest heading into next week’s “Super Tuesday,” when voters in 15 US states choose their preferred candidate for each party.
Trump has gained huge momentum in the race to capture the Republican nomination at the party convention in July and Tuesday is expected to all but secure the result.
He is likely to face President Joe Biden in November elections, pitting the two for the second time since 2020.
The voting Saturday in Missouri, Michigan and Idaho were hybrid internal elections with differing rules, in some cases reflecting rifts and tensions despite Trump’s formidable sway.
In Missouri, Trump swamped his main opponent, former South Carolina governor Nikki Haley, winning every county caucus in the state, The New York Times reported.
Anyone who expressed an “allegiance to the Missouri Republican Party” could vote in the county caucuses.
In Michigan, around 2,000 party activists voted in a caucus convention, and Trump won all 39 delegates up for grabs, CNN reported.
The limited vote came in the wake of chaos within the state party, including allegations of overspending and mismanagement.
Trump had grabbed 16 Michigan delegates earlier in the week in a limited primary vote.
The former president also handily won Republican caucuses in the western state of Idaho, NBC and ABC projected.
Haley has raced around the country in the run-up to Super Tuesday, trying to make an increasingly hard case against the inevitability of Trump’s nomination
Mediators expected in Cairo for Gaza truce talks as soon as Sunday, sources say
Mediators are expected to reconvene in Cairo as soon as Sunday and search for a formula acceptable to Israel and Hamas for a temporary truce in Gaza and a hostage release deal, sources with knowledge of the talks say.
Israeli and Hamas delegations were expected to arrive in Cairo today, two Egyptian security sources say, although another source briefed on the talks says Israel would not send a delegation until it got a full list of hostages who are still alive.
Hopes for the first pause in fighting since November rose last week following a previous round of talks mediated by Qatar and Egypt in Doha, and indications from US President Joe Biden that an agreement was close.
A senior US official said earlier that the framework for a six-week pause in fighting was in place, with Israel’s agreement, and now depended on Hamas agreeing to release hostages it has held in Gaza since its shock attack on southern Israel on October 7, when thousands of terrorists went on a killing rampage, slaughtering 1,200 people and taking 253 hostages.
“The path to a ceasefire right now literally at this hour is straightforward. And there’s a deal on the table. There’s a framework deal. The Israelis have more or less accepted it,” the official told reporters. “The onus right now is on Hamas.”
Biden has said he hopes a deal will be in place by the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on March 10.
UN Security Council conveys ‘deep concern’ over Gaza aid convoy debacle
The UN Security Council issues a statement calling on “all parties to refrain from depriving the civilian population in the Gaza Strip of basic services and humanitarian assistance” and to urgently increase the delivery of aid to the war-torn territory.
The members express “deep concern” over a Thursday incident in which over 100 Gazans reportedly died as crowds rushed an aid convoy in Gaza City. Israeli troops fired at several who were endangering the soldiers, according to the IDF which also said most were killed in a crowd crush or were run over by the trucks amid the chaos.
Hamas blames the IDF for at least 115 deaths in the incident and claims over 700 were injured. The military said that fewer than 10 of the casualties were a result of Israeli fire and released new details Thursday night claiming that soldiers had fired warning shots and attempted to ease the crush of people looting the convoy of aid trucks that entered northern Gaza early Thursday morning.
Israel has vowed to investigate the deadly incident, which drew renewed attention to the rapidly declining humanitarian situation in Gaza.
The Security Council members say they “take note that an Israeli investigation is underway” and “extend their sincere condolences to the families of the victims and wish a swift and complete recovery for those who have been injured.”
The statement comes less than two days after the US blocked a previous UN Security Council statement blaming Israel for the aid disaster.
The Security Council members “urge Israel to keep border crossings open for humanitarian aid to enter Gaza, to facilitate the opening of additional crossings to meet humanitarian needs at scale, and to support the rapid and safe delivery of relief items to people in all of the Gaza Strip.”
They urge for the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure and remind all parties that they “must comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law and international human rights law.”
The council members say they also have “grave concern” over the estimation…that all 2.2 million people in Gaza would face alarming levels of acute food insecurity,” and call “for parties to the conflict to allow, facilitate, and enable the immediate, rapid, safe, sustained and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale to the Palestinian civilian population throughout the Gaza Strip.”
Despite being heavy favorite, Palestinian singer loses bid to rep Iceland at Eurovision
Jerusalem-born Palestinian artist Bashar Murad loses out to singer Hera Bjork to represent Iceland at this year’s Eurovision competition, despite being the heavy favorite to advance.
Murad — who took to the stage tonight in a white jacket dotted with red, as well as an embroidered broken heart — had entered his song “Wild West” for contention, and while he made it to the top two “super-finalists,” he ultimately lost to Bjork’s “Scared of Heights.”
His song, he said, is “about longing for freedom of movement,” and includes lyrics “I’m on the road again, how did it come to this?/ Don’t know where I’m going, but I’m looking for eternal bliss,” while the music video includes heavy use of the colors of the Palestinian flag.
After his performance tonight, Murad says on air that he feels it is strange “to be here celebrating while my people are being exterminated. I hope that I can keep telling the story of Palestine and Palestinians.”
Israel’s participation, meanwhile, hangs in the balance while the Kan public broadcaster and the Eurovision organizers are locked in a standoff over the lyrics for its submission, which the EBU has reportedly disqualified for being too political.