The death toll in the besieged Gaza Strip neared 30,000 on Wednesday, according to figures from the Hamas-run health ministry, as mediators worked to secure a truce that would allow more aid into the enclave. The World Food Program warned a day earlier that famine is "imminent" in northern Gaza. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
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Aid convoys carrying food reached northern Gaza this week, Israeli officials said, the first major delivery in a month.
- Hamas urged Palestinians to march to Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of Ramadan in March, raising the stakes amid ongoing truce talks. US President Joe Biden said Israel had agreed to halt its offensive for the Muslim holy month while Qatar's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that mediators were "hopeful, not necessarily optimistic" of having a truce this week.
- At least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip – a quarter of the population – are one step away from famine, a senior UN aid official told the Security Council, warning that widespread famine was "almost inevitable" without action.
- At least 29,954 people have been killed and 70,325 wounded in Israeli strikes, according to the Hamas-run health ministry. 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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Israel and Hamas on Tuesday played down chances of an imminent breakthrough in talks for a cease-fire in Gaza, after US President Joe Biden said Israel has agreed to pause its offensive during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan if a deal is reached to release some hostages.
- The emir of Qatar spoke Tuesday of “a race against time” to secure hostage releases as part of the diplomatic push for a ceasefire. Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani was speaking on a state visit to France at a dinner in his honour with French President Emmanuel Macron.
- Egypt warned on Tuesday that Israel's planned ground invasion of Rafah in southern Gaza would have "catastrophic repercussions" for peace in the Middle East.
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)
