Companies that breach the new Expatriate Employment Levy policy will pay N3m for each offence.

The offences are not submitting EEL, not registering an employee, a corporate entity not renewing EEL within 30 days, and providing false information on EEL.

The Expatriate Employment Levy is a financial contribution imposed on employers who hire foreign workers.

The levy, which is mostly on the offshore earnings of expatriates working in Nigeria, aims to balance economic growth and workforce development by ensuring equitable contributions from expatriate employment.

President Bola Tinubu launched the policy on February 28, 2024.

He stated that the EEL would close the wage gaps between expatriates and the Nigerian labour force while increasing employment opportunities for qualified Nigerians in foreign companies operating in the country.

However, the handbook sighted by our correspondent on Sunday said offences such as inaccurate or incomplete information could lead to penalties.

“Failure of a corporate entity to file EEL within 30 days is liable to a fine of N3,000,000.

“Failure to register an employee within 30 days will attract a fine of N3,000,000.

“Falsification of information on EEL is liable to a fine of N3,000,000.

“Failure of a corporate entity to renew EEL within 30 days attracts N3,000,000 fine.”

Also,  according to the handbook, companies are expected to pay $15,000 for expatriates employed as directors, and $10,000 for other categories.

“Employers of expatriates covered by the EEL are required to pay $15,000 for directors and $10,000 for other categories of expatriates,” it added.

The Ministry of Interior in a notice on its website stated that the EEL card is a mandatory document like a passport.

It added that it would be required for any expatriate to leave and enter the country.

The ministry, however,  fixed April 15 for compliance with the policy.

The notice partly read, “For further details and registration of your company and expatriates working with you, kindly go through the Handbook and User Manual available on the portal.

“The last date of compliance with EEL is Monday, April 15, 2024.

“An EEL card is a mandatory document like a passport, and will be required at the time of lawful exit and entry into the country.”

 

Punch

Oil prices rose on Monday after OPEC+ members agreed to extend voluntary oil output cuts of 2.2 million barrels per day into the second quarter, largely in line with market expectations.

Brent futures was 28 cents, or 0.3% higher, at $83.83 a barrel at 0134 GMT, while the U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose 20 cents, or 0.3%, to $80.17 a barrel.

The output cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) are expected to cushion the market amid global economic concerns and rising output outside the group, with Russia's announcement surprising some analysts.

Russia will cut its oil output and exports by an additional 471,000 barrels per day (bpd) in the second quarter, in coordination with some OPEC+ participating countries, its Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Sunday.

"Signs of tightness in the physical market continue to push crude oil higher. Output cuts by the OPEC+ alliance continue to reduce supply as the market worries about the renewed tensions in the Middle East," ANZ analysts said in a note on Monday.

Rising geopolitical tensions due to the Israel-Hamas conflict and Houthi attacks on Red Sea shipping have supported oil prices in 2024, although concern about economic growth has weighed.

Yemen's Iran-backed Houthis vowed on Sunday to continue targeting British ships in the Gulf of Aden following the sinking of UK-owned vessel Rubymar.

In some of the strongest comments by a senior U.S. leader, U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday demanded Palestinian militant group Hamas agree to an immediate six-week ceasefire while forcefully urging Israel to do more to boost aid deliveries into Gaza.

Washington has insisted the ceasefire deal is close and has been pushing to put in place a truce by the start of Ramadan, a week away. A U.S. official on Saturday said Israel has agreed on a framework deal.

 

Reuters

National Emergency Management Agency

(NEMA) has declared that the warehouse looted in Abuja on Sunday did not belong to it.

Residents broke into a storage facility in the Gwagwa area of Abuja on Sunday and looted stored food items.

Residents of the area said youths broke into the warehouse located around the Tasha area of the community in the early hours of Sunday and looted bags of maize and other grains.

“This is to clarify that the looted warehouse does not belong to NEMA.

“However, the agency sympathises with owners of the looted facility,’’ NEMA’s spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel, stated on Sunday in Abuja.

“The Director-General, Mustapha Ahmed, has directed Zonal Directors and Heads of Operations, to strengthen security in and around NEMA offices and warehouses nationwide.

“The directive is to forestall any security breach at NEMA’s facilities across the country,’’ Ezekiel added.

 

NAN

VP Harris urges Hamas to agree to an immediate ceasefire, pushes Israel on aid to Gaza

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris on Sunday demanded Palestinian militant group Hamas agree to an immediate six-week ceasefire while forcefully urging Israel to do more to boost aid deliveries into Gaza, where she said innocent people were suffering a "humanitarian catastrophe."

In some of the strongest comments by a senior leader of the U.S. government to date on the issue, Harris pressed the Israeli government and outlined specific ways on how more aid can flow into the densely-populated enclave where hundreds of thousands of people are facing famine, following five months of Israel's military campaign.

"Given the immense scale of suffering in Gaza, there must be an immediate ceasefire," Harris said at an event in Selma, Alabama. "There is a deal on the table, and as we have said, Hamas needs to agree to that deal. Let's get a ceasefire."

"People in Gaza are starving. The conditions are inhumane and our common humanity compels us to act...The Israeli government must do more to significantly increase the flow of aid. No excuses," she said.

On Sunday, a Hamas delegation had arrived in Cairo for the latest round of ceasefire talks, billed by many as the final possible hurdle for a truce, but it was unclear if any progress was made. Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth's online version reported that Israel boycotted the talks after Hamas rejected its demand for a complete list naming hostages who are still alive.

Washington has insisted the ceasefire deal is close and has been pushing to put in place a truce by the start of Ramadan, a week away. A U.S. official on Saturday said Israel has agreed on a framework deal.

An agreement would bring the first extended truce of the war, which has raged for five months so far with just a week-long pause in November. Dozens of hostages held by Hamas militants would be freed in return for hundreds of Palestinian detainees.

One source briefed on the talks had said on Saturday that Israel could stay away from Cairo unless Hamas first presented its full list of hostages who are still alive. A Palestinian source told Reuters that Hamas had so far rejected that demand.

After the Hamas delegation arrived, a Palestinian official told Reuters the deal was "not yet there". There was no official comment from Israel.

In past negotiations Hamas has sought to avoid discussing the wellbeing of individual hostages until after terms for their release are set.

In other diplomatic moves, Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz will meet Harris at the White House on Monday and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Tuesday. U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein will visit Beirut on Monday to pursue efforts to de-escalate the conflict across the Lebanese-Israeli border.

"GUNFIRE AND CHAOS"

The death last week of more than 100 Palestinians approaching an aid truck in Gaza has captured the severe humanitarian crisis in the densely-populated enclave, an incident Harris recalled during her speech.

"We saw hungry, desperate people approach aid trucks simply trying to secure food their family after weeks of barely no aid reaching northern Gaza and they were met with gunfire and chaos," Harris said.

Israel said on Sunday its initial review of the incident had found that most of those killed or wounded had died in a stampede. Military spokesman Daniel Hagari said Israeli troops at the scene initially fired only warning shots, though they later shot at some "looters" who "approached our forces and posed an immediate threat".

Muatasem Salah, a member of the Emergency Committee at the Ministry of Health in Gaza, told Reuters the Israeli account was contradicted by machine gun wounds.

In her comments, Harris laid out specific ways on how the Israeli government can allow more aid into Gaza. "They must open new border crossings. They must not impose any unnecessary restrictions on the delivery of aid. They must ensure humanitarian personnel, sites and convoys are not targeted, and they must work to restore basic services and promote order in Gaza, so more food, water and fuel can reach those in need."

Under pressure at home and abroad, the Biden administration on Saturday carried out its first airdrop of aid into the coastal enclave, with a U.S. military transport plane dropping 38,000 meals along Gaza's Mediterranean coastline.

Critics of airdrops say they have only a limited impact on the suffering, and that it is nearly impossible to ensure supplies do not end up in the hands of militants.

The United States will continue these airdrops, Harris said and added that Washington was working on a new route by sea to also send aid.

The war was unleashed in October after Hamas fighters stormed through Israeli towns killing 1,200 people and capturing 253 hostages, according to Israeli tallies. Since then, Israeli forces have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health authorities.

Swathes of the Gaza Strip have been laid to waste, nearly the entire population has been made homeless, and the United Nations estimates a quarter of Gazans are on the verge of famine.

At a morgue outside a Rafah hospital on Sunday morning, women wept and wailed beside rows of bodies of the Abu Anza family, 14 of whom Gaza health authorities say were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Rafah overnight.

The youngest of the family who were killed were infant twins Wesam and Naaem, the first children of their mother after 11 years of marriage. They were born a few weeks into the Gaza war.

"My heart is gone," wailed Rania Abu Anza, who also lost her husband in the attack. "I haven't had enough time with them."

 

Reuters

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Russian soldier thanks Biden for sending Abrams tanks to Ukraine

The Russian troops have seemingly recorded a video, where one of them mockingly thanked US President Joe Biden for supplying Kiev with Abrams tanks and giving Moscow’s forces an opportunity to earn some extra money by destroying them. Footage came amid reports about several such US-made heavy armor pieces being destroyed in less than a week.

A short clip that surfaced on social media featured an apparent Russian serviceman wearing full military gear, a helmet and a mask. “We, Russian warriors express our sincere gratitude to you for the Abrams tanks that the US is supplying to Ukraine," the soldier can be heard saying on the video, addressing the American president in English.

The man then goes on to explain that Russian troops are offered bonuses for each destroyed piece of Western equipment and asks Biden “to send more” Abrams tanks, as those that did arrive in Ukraine “are very few” and the Russian forces have to spend a lot of time just hunting down for them.

The US initially announced the delivery of 31 Abrams tanks to Ukraine in January 2023, the shipment did not arrive until the autumn, and the vehicles were absent from the front line until February.

The soldier also said that there were certainly not enough American tanks in Ukraine for every Russian serviceman to get their well-deserved bonus and offered Biden a 10% commission from every payment a Russian soldier gets by destroying the US-made heavy armor. He also suggested Biden get himself a Russian ‘MIR’ debit card to make it easier for the soldiers to send him money.

The video ends with the serviceman mockingly praising Biden as “a true patriot and the best US president as well as expressing his hope for “a mutually beneficial partnership.” “Together, we will win!” he adds.

Earlier on Sunday, the Russian journalists reported that an Abrams tank and a US-made mine-clearance vehicle based on an Abrams chassis were destroyed in Donbass. Last week, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed the destruction of the first US-made heavy armor in the Ukraine conflict.

 

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Ukrainian rescuers complete search after Odesa drone attack kills 12

Rescue workers completed operations on Sunday after a drone strike on an apartment building in the southern city of Odesa, finding four more bodies and bringing the death toll to 12.

Odesa regional governor Oleh Kiper, writing on Telegram, said rescue teams working into Sunday evening had found the bodies of an eight-year-old girl, near the body of her older brother, uncovered earlier.

Rescuers earlier in the day recovered the bodies of a mother and baby.

Kiper said five of the dead in the Odesa apartment building were children, the youngest being four months old.

The drone crashed into a residential building in Odesa on Saturday. President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said casualties could have been avoided if Ukraine had not faced delays in arms deliveries.

Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko, posting on Telegram, said Russian forces had wounded 16 people in an aerial bomb attack on an apartment building in the eastern town of Kurakhove, west of the Russian-held regional centre of Donetsk.

Two of the injured were children. Dozens of apartment buildings sustained damage.

Klymenko said on Saturday an infant was found dead alongside his mother in the rubble of the Odesa building. He posted a photograph of a rescue worker next to a bloodied blanket, a baby's arm visible on one side and an adult arm extending out the other.

Sunday was declared a day of mourning in Odesa.

 

RT/Reuters

The Buhari government did great damage to Nigeria’s economy for the excessive money it created and threw carelessly into the economy. We’re facing the extremely negative impact of that excessive monetary expansion through its devastating contribution to galloping inflation and pernicious pressure on our exchange rate. Unfortunately, we can’t point to much positive that the money the Buhari government borrowed and created was spent upon.

The Tinubu government has taken the very wrong step by attempting to take out the excess liquidity by an unprecedented overreliance on monetary policies. Raising CRR from 32.5% to 45% and interest rates by 4% (to 22.75%) at once will produce a crowding out effect of chasing the productive sectors of the economy out of the loans market while the coast would be made clear for the government to keep borrowing massively through the high interest rates it has announced. This amounts to less money to the productive sectors of the economy and more money to the government which created the liquidity crisis in the first place. And government officials would still be taking the money to the FX market to buy more dollars and pile even more pressure on the exchange rate. There is absolutely no deterrent to their continuation of this destructive behavior. It’s a free for all.

The government will therefore not likely achieve the desired objective, yet would have been killing the economy by pushing it towards recession or low growth. That is what Emeka was saying, and which some of us have been saying. They’re driving up interest rates to unprecedented/crazy levels (22.75%) and crowding out the productive sectors from access to credit. Only the government will be borrowing while the productive sectors will be comatose. They desperately want to tame inflation but don’t mind pulling down the economy in the process. It’s like desperately trying to bring down a child’s fever and giving him double the adult dosage of malaria drugs. You may so bring down the fever but kill the child in the process. The interest rate hikes will kill the economy at the rate they’re going.

The fiscal/executive measures that are needed to control the excess liquidity and attendant inflation and speculative FX demand (proving deadly to the economy), Tinubu lacks the political will to tackle. We saw how single individuals (women) took huge billions in just one ministry, and the baby-cockroach concept tells me that is just a symptom to a much larger malaise. If the government probes the spending of the huge debts and money created by the last government, and probes NNPC on our massively stolen oil and Subsidy frauds, it would discover and confiscate huge sums (at least $10bn to $15bn) which will curtail the excess liquidity and bring much needed ‘revenue’ and FX to the government without doing damage to the productive sectors of the economy.

We all saw an Accountant General (Ahmed Idris) allegedly stealing N109bn, NSIPA woman (Halima Shehu) accused of stealing N44bn, Humanitarian Minister (Sadiya Umar-Farouq) N37bn, Betta Edu paid out N585m and gave N438m contract to Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, the Interior Minister, etc, etc. These are the monies we should be going after and recovering and bringing back to the treasury and spending more judiciously in fueling the economy. But does Tinubu have the political will to do the above? Why is NNPC not being probed? Why is Mele Kyari still running NNPC despite all that happened there? Only the President can answer these questions.

Sometimes, the ride to school for Ritu Narayan’s children arrived on time. Sometimes it didn’t.

Whenever her kids’ transportation plans fell through, the longtime tech product manager at companies like eBay and Oracle had to enter crisis mode and drop everything at work. She thought of her own mother, a former teacher in India who faced the same problem decades ago — and ultimately put her career aside to raise four children.

Narayan’s solution: She left her job to create Zum, an AI-backed electric school bus service that launched in 2015. It started as something of a self-funded Uber, chauffeuring kids to school with a fleet of vetted private drivers. Parents arranged rides ahead of time and tracked their child’s location through Zum’s app.

It caught on quickly with Bay Area parents. “The demand was super clear,” Narayan, 50, tells CNBC Make It.

Then, in 2019, she asked some local schools to promote Zum to parents. Instead, the schools offered to enlist Zum as a privatized school bus fleet, with electric vehicles and tracking abilities.

Narayan faced a turning point: Stick with her original vision, inspired by her mother, with its clear market and high demand? Or completely revamp Zum’s services and infrastructure, while jumping straight into competition with larger established bus companies?

The customer base would be larger — more than 25 million U.S. studentsrely on school buses. But chasing them could collapse her company.

She took the risk. Five years later, Zum is valued at $1.3 billion, and Narayan was named to the inaugural CNBC Changemakers list on Wednesday. The startup has more than $1.5 billion worth of contracts in place with over 4,000 private and public schools across California, Washington, Texas, Illinois, Tennessee and Maryland, Narayan says.

Here, Narayan discusses her thought process behind that difficult decision, why her choice paid off and her advice for anyone facing a dilemma that seems to pit emotion against logic.

CNBC Make It: Why was the decision to change Zum’s focus so difficult? How long did you deliberate?

Narayan: It took me a while — eight months, or so — because there was a personal story attached to the founding story. [My mother] faced this problem in India and I was here, sitting in the center of Silicon Valley, the center of innovation, facing the exact same problem.

I knew [Zum’s original model] was changing the lives of working parents. Working women would write to us how they went back to the job, started to advance more — because they didn’t have to run at 4 p.m. to pick up their children — and got promoted.

It was a success. So it felt like, in a way, you were letting them down by not having that service anymore. What helped me make a decision was when I could internalize this: In the end, I’m still serving children and I’m still serving parents.

Did it feel like a big risk to abandon a business model that was experiencing some success?

Yes, absolutely. We didn’t have specialization in running buses, so it meant a new set of capabilities that we would have to build. We had to reorganize the team, convince our board and investors.

We got momentum [from winning a five-year, $53 million contract with the Oakland Unified School District, which began in 2020]. There was a large customer, and their launch was a success for us. So everybody got aligned around something immediate and large to solve.

Then, the pandemic happened and all rides to school stopped for around five [or] six months. That gave us a “when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade” type of situation. Since we weren’t in day-to-day operations, and we didn’t have to really serve existing customers, we used that time to very quickly enhance our product.

What’s your best advice about recognizing windows of opportunity— and knowing when they’re worth the risk?

One of my investors calls it a crucible moment — where you could die, or you’re just surviving, or you could fly.

I have to give this analogy: A parent is always seeing, when a child is around, what could go wrong. It’s by default. [You need to be] always thinking about how the market is evolving, how the business is evolving, how the competition’s evolving, how the customers’ needs are evolving.

Many times, the needs change in the market. Many times, you land upon something unexpected, which happened in our case, which is even bigger than what you initially thought.

In those cases, [you] have to evolve, because it’s that crucible moment. If you don’t make the right decision, you wouldn’t be as successful as you could be.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

 

CNBC

Federal Government, on Friday, declared that the number of Nigerians that lack access to electricity from the national grid has increased to about 92 million.

It disclosed this at the closing ceremony of the 7th Nigeria International Energy Summit in Abuja, as operators in the power sector called for partnerships in the deployment of solar power to bridge the country’s electricity gap.

Nigeria generates and supplies between 3,000 and 4,000 megawatts of grid electricity to over 200 million citizens across the country, a development described as abysmally poor by experts and industry players.

Speaking at the summit, the Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, stated that though adequate access to energy by citizens had been a challenge globally, more than 40 per cent of people in Nigeria were currently affected.

“Access to electricity is undeniably a fundamental requirement for socio-economic development and it is a pleasure to see so many dedicated individuals and experts gathered here in this hall to discuss strategies and solutions for bridging energy access gas.

In recent years, significant progress has been made globally in improving access to electricity. However, a substantial portion of the world population still face challenges in obtaining reliable and affordable electricity.

“Here in Nigeria it is estimated that a whopping 92 million people are still suffering from energy poverty, which is over 40 per cent of our estimated population,” the minister stated.

He called for cooperation by stakeholders to tackle the challenge, as the government alone would not be able to handle the situation.

“It is our collective responsibility to address this issue, as it has far reaching implications for poverty alleviation, healthcare, education and overall improvement in the quality of lives including the reduction of youth unemployment in our society,” Adelabu stated.

The minister pointed out that electricity from the national grid may not get to every remote area, adding that such locations could be served with power from renewable energy sources.

“We believe that to reach these unserved and underserved communities, our focus must also be on renewable energy and distributed power model,” he told delegates at the summit.

He urged stakeholders to work together to bridge the energy access gap, “ensuring that electricity becomes a reality for all irrespective of our geographical location or socio-economic status.”

Adelabu, however, urged Nigerians to exercise patience with the Federal Government, stressing that “they (Nigerians) must give us time to address these issues, so that we can achieve an enduring and sustainable energy.

Proffering measures to tackle the electricity supply challenge in Nigeria, the Chief Executive Officer, JRB Solar Investment Limited, Jimoh Badamosi, told journalists in Abuja that the government should partner with operators in using solar energy to reduce the energy crisis nationwide.

He described Nigeria as home to some of the world’s best potential for clean renewable energy, which could be used to enhance productivity, create jobs and improve the quality of life for the growing population.

Badamosi explained that JRB Solar had installed huge megawatts of electricity through solar energy to power homes, rural communities and organisations in different parts of the country, as the company was working to triple the number across Africa in the coming years.

“For us in JRB Solar Investment Limited, we are interested in a partnership with the government, which would enable us generate power through solar energy systems to support the national grid. The sun shines on every roof and it is only fair and sensible to let it address our energy needs,” he stated.

He noted that the private sector was currently the driving force behind much of the renewable energy projects in Africa, adding that partnership between state-owned enterprises and private organisations would be a catalyst that would transform Nigeria’s energy sector.

Badamosi pointed out that more indigenous private renewable energy companies were springing up in Nigeria and Africa, many of which were capable of handling big projects.

He therefore called for workable partnership between state-owned enterprises and private organisations to transform the energy sector.

“I therefore urge our governments to put these companies into consideration when contracting for renewable energy projects. Having such confidence in indigenous renewable energy companies will further ensure the quicker socioeconomic transformation of the continent,” he stated.

 

Punch

The federal government says repair of damaged sections on the Long Bridge, along the Lagos-Sagamu expressway, will commence on Monday.

In a statement on Friday, Olukorede Kesha, the federal controller of works in Lagos state, said the repair work on the bridge will end on March 25.

“The Federal Ministry of Works wishes to inform the motoring public that repair works for the damaged expansion joints on the Long Bridge will commence by Monday, 4th March 2024 simultaneously on both bounds of the bridge,” the statement reads. 

“Consequently, traffic leaving and entering Lagos through the Long Bridge will be narrowed to two lanes on both sides of the bridge to enable the contractor handling the repair works to commence works on the other two lanes of the carriageways.

“Thus, all road users are advised to be patient and adhere to lane discipline on both approaches to the Long Bridge and around the narrowed sections on the bridge.”

Kesha said the earth road beside the Sagamu bound carriageway will be made motorable to serve as a complementary road.

She advised motorists to use alternative routes and cooperate with traffic management officials deployed to ensure hitch-free movements, in order to minimise discomfort during the duration of the repair works.

 

The Cable

US says Israel has agreed to the framework for a Gaza cease-fire. Hamas must now decide

Israel has essentially endorsed a framework of a proposed Gaza cease-fire and hostage release deal, and it is now up to Hamas to agree to it, a senior U.S. administration official said Saturday, a day before talks to reach an agreement were to resume in Egypt.

International mediators have been working for weeks to broker a deal to pause the fighting before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan begins around March 10. A deal would likely allow aid to reach hundreds of thousands of desperate Palestinians in northern Gaza who aid officials worry are under threat of famine.

The Israelis “have more or less accepted” the proposal, which includes the six-week cease-fire as well as the release by Hamas of hostages considered vulnerable, which includes the sick, the wounded, the elderly and women, said the official.

“Right now, the ball is in the court of Hamas and we are continuing to push this as hard as we possibly can,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity under ground rules set by the White House to brief reporters.

Officials from Israel and from Hamas did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

A senior Egyptian official said mediators Egypt and Qatar are expected to receive a response from Hamas during the Cairo talks scheduled to start Sunday. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not publicly authorized to discuss the talks.

There is increasing criticism over the hundreds of thousands struggling to survive in northern Gaza, which has borne the brunt of the conflict that began when the Hamas militant group attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and seizing around 250 hostages.

U.S. military planes began the first airdrops of thousands of meals into Gaza, and the militaries of Jordan and Egypt said they also conducted airdrops. Aid groups say airdrops should be only a last resort and instead urge the opening of other crossings into Gaza and the removal of obstacles at the few that are open.

The European Union’s diplomatic service said many of the hundreds of Palestinians killed or wounded in the chaos surrounding an aid convoy on Thursday were hit by Israeli army fire and urged an international investigation. It said responsibility for the crisis lay with “restrictions imposed by the Israeli army and obstructions by violent extremist(s) to the supply of humanitarian aid.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry raised the death toll from Thursday’s violence to 118 after two more bodies were recovered Saturday. It said the wounded remained at 760.

Israel’s chief military spokesperson, Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, said Israel organized Thursday’s convoy, “and claims that we attacked the convoy intentionally and that we harmed people intentionally are baseless.”

Residents in northern Gaza say they are searching rubble and garbage for anything to feed their children, who barely eat one meal a day. Many families have begun mixing animal and bird food with grain to bake bread.

At least 10 children have starved to death, according to hospital records in Gaza, the World Health Organization said.

Gaza’s Health Ministry said the Palestinian death toll from the war has climbed to 30,320. The ministry doesn’t differentiate between civilians and combatants in its figures, but says women and children make up around two-thirds of those killed.

In the southernmost city of Rafah, where more than half of Gaza’s people now seek refuge, an Israeli airstrike struck tents outside the Emirati hospital, killing 11 people and wounding about 50, including health workers, the Health Ministry said. Israel’s military said it was targeting Islamic Jihad militants.

Israel’s air, sea and ground offensive has reduced much of densely populated northern Gaza to rubble. The military told Palestinians to move south, but as many as 300,000 people are believed to have remained.

Roughly one in six children under 2 in the north suffer from acute malnutrition and wasting, “the worst level of child malnutrition anywhere in the world,” Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program, said this week. “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent in northern Gaza.”

People have overwhelmed trucks and grabbed what they can, Skau said, forcing the WFP to suspend deliveries to the north.

In the violence Thursday, people rushed about 30 trucks bringing a predawn delivery to the north. Palestinians said nearby Israeli troops shot into the crowds. Israel said they fired warning shots toward the crowd and insisted many of the dead were trampled. Doctors at hospitals in Gaza and a U.N. team that visited a hospital said large numbers of the wounded had been shot.

Ahmed Abdel Karim, being treated for gunshot wounds in his feet, said he had spent two days waiting for aid trucks to arrive.

“Everyone attacked and advanced on these trucks. Because of the large number, I could not get flour,” he said.

Radwan Abdel-Hai, a father of four young children, heard a rumor late Wednesday that an aid convoy was on its way. He and five others took a donkey cart and found a “sea of people” waiting.

“Tanks started firing at us,” he said. “As I ran back, I heard tank shells and gunfire. I heard people screaming. I saw people falling to the ground, some motionless.” Many were shot in the back, he said.

Soad Abu Hussein, a widow and mother of five, said more than 5,000 people — mostly women and children — living with her in a school at the Jabaliya refugee camp have not received aid for more than four weeks. A group of people went to the shore to fish, but three were killed and two were wounded by gunfire from Israeli ships, she said.

The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Mansour Hamed, a 32-year-old former aid worker living with more than 50 relatives in a Gaza City house, said some are eating tree leaves and animal food. It has become normal to find a child emerging from the rubble with a rotten piece of bread, he said.

Acknowledging the extreme need for food, U.S. President Joe Biden said the U.S. would look for other ways of delivery “including possibly a marine corridor.”

Also Saturday, Israel said three soldiers were killed and 14 injured Friday when they inadvertently triggered explosives in a booby-trapped building outside Khan Younis in southern Gaza.

 

AP