Adil Mismah, a regional commander of Hamas’s elite Nukhba forces, was killed on Monday by an Israeli air strike on the central city of Deir al-Balah, the IDF said. His killing came as Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari said that Israel's war in Gaza will continue throughout 2024, insisting that tens of thousands of reservists would be needed for the fighting. Read our liveblog to see how all the day's developments unfolded.
Summary:
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Thousands of Israeli soldiers are being shifted out of the Gaza Strip, the military said Monday, in the first significant drawdown of troops since the war began as forces continued to bear down on the main city in the southern half of the enclave. Israel has been under pressure from its chief ally, the United States, to begin to switch to lower-intensity fighting.
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Adil Mismah, a regional commander of Hamas’s elite Nukhba forces, was killed on Monday by an Israeli air strike on the central city of Deir al-Balah, the IDF said.
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Iran deployed its Alborz warship in the Red Sea, Iranian media reported Monday. The Alborz entered the Red Sea through the strategic Bab al-Mandeb strait.
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Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir on Monday called for the return of settlers to Gaza and said Palestinians should be encouraged to leave the enclave. Ben Gvir’s comments came a day after Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich made a similar call.
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Israeli strikes killed at least 24 people in Gaza overnight from Sunday to Monday, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, with attacks reported across the length of the territory.
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Israeli officials say 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel, among them 695 Israeli civilians including 36 children. At least 21,978 people have been killed and 57,697 injured in Israel's ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
Yesterday's key developments
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US Navy helicopters sank three boats used by Houthi militants to attack a merchant vessel in the southern Red Sea, US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on Sunday. CENTCOM said helicopter fire killed the crews of the three boats; a Houthi military spokesman said 10 militants were “killed or missing” following the US strike.
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The Maersk Hangzhou container ship had reported being struck by a missile while transiting the Bab al-Mandab Strait. Maersk said the ship was undamaged and able to continue its journey but said it would suspend transit through the Red Sea strait for 48 hours.
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Al-Aqsa Hospital in central Gaza received the bodies of 35 people on Sunday, hospital officials said, as fighting raged across the Palestinian territory amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
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)
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP, Reuters)
