Israel has broadly accepted a deal for a six-week Gaza ceasefire during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and it is now up to Hamas to agree to release hostages for the deal to take effect, a senior US official said on Saturday. The announcement came after the US military used three military cargo planes to airdrop more than 38,000 meals into the Gaza Strip for the first time since the Israel-Hamas war began, officials said. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. Click here for more on the Israel-Hamas war.
Summary:
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The Palestinian Authority (PA) hopes a ceasefire can be agreed in the Gaza war in time for Ramadan, its foreign minister said on Saturday, adding that the PA would be "the only legitimate authority" to run the enclave after the war. Egyptian security sources said on Saturday that Gaza truce talks were due to resume in Cairo on Sunday.
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World leaders have called for an investigation after Gaza health officials said more than a hundred people were killed on Thursday when Israeli troops opened fire as Palestinian civilians scrambled for food supplies during a chaotic melee.
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US forces struck and destroyed a Houthi surface-to-air missile in Yemen after deciding it posed an "imminent threat" to American aircraft in the region, the US Central Command in the Middle East said early on Saturday.
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At least 30,320 people have been killed and 71,533 wounded in Israeli strikes, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, since Israel's war on Gaza began on October 7. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
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French President Emmanuel Macron called for "truth, justice and respect for international law" on Friday after at least 112 Palestinians were killed and at least 750 wounded during an aid delivery on Thursday in northern Gaza, according to the Hamas-run health ministry.
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The head of a Gaza City hospital that treated some of the Palestinians wounded in the melee at the aid delivery said Friday that more than 80 percent had been struck by gunfire, suggesting there was heavy shooting by Israeli troops.
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European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was “deeply disturbed by images from Gaza” and said “every effort must be made to investigate what happened” during the deadly incident in the north of the enclave.
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US President Joe Biden said the incident would complicate delicate ceasefire negotiations in the almost five-month-old war, Spain condemned an “unacceptable” incident and Turkey accused Israel of committing "another crime against humanity”.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)
