Here’s how things stand on Monday, February 5, 2024:
Humanitarian crisis in Gaza
- At least 234 Palestinians have been killed and 343 injured in Gaza between February 2 and 4, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA reported.
- Additionally, Israeli forces are carrying out “significant destruction” of residential blocks across Gaza, particularly in the city of Khan Younis, OCHA reported.
- The spokesperson for Israel’s housing and construction industry has said that in weeks to come, they are hoping to bring 65,000 foreign workers from Uzbekistan, Sri Lanka and India, reported Al Jazeera’s Hamdah Salhut from occupied East Jerusalem.
- Israel’s air strikes in Gaza continue, with a recent target being Deir el-Balah, where thousands of internally displaced Palestinians are sheltering and which was largely designated as safe in the initial weeks of the war, said Al Jazeera’s Hani Mahmoud reporting from Rafah in southern Gaza.
Regional tensions and diplomacy
- The US Central Command (CENTCOM) hit a Houthi antiship missile that was “prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea” early on Sunday.
- Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has criticised US President Joe Biden and said that having Donald Trump in power would allow more freedom to fight Hamas.
- The US Senate unveiled a bipartisan deal on Sunday that plans to provide $14.1bn in military aid to Israel.
- Israel’s military on Saturday issued its most detailed warning yet to Hezbollah in neighbouring Lebanon that it would be “ready to attack immediately” if provoked.
- Jake Sullivan, Biden’s national security adviser, warned Iran and the armed groups it backs on Sunday that the United States will conduct more attacks if its forces in the Middle East continue to be targeted.
Attacks in the occupied West Bank
- Israeli forces stormed al-Ein camp, west of the city of Nablus on Monday, amid heavy gunfire, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
- Wafa also reported that Israeli forces carried out a large-scale military incursion on Sunday night into the village of Ramin, east of Tulkarem, the northern occupied West Bank, said local sources.
- Also on Sunday night, Israeli settlers gathered at the entrance of the town of Turmus Ayya, north of Ramallah, and set rubber tyres on fire, reported security sources, said Wafa.
