Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday he had approved the military's plan for an operation in Rafah, where most of war-battered Gaza's population has sought refuge. His statement came after Israel rejected Hamas's latest proposals for a six-week truce and a hostage deal as "unrealistic". Follow our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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Summary:
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's office said on Friday he had approved the military's plan for an operation in Rafah, where most of war-battered Gaza's population has sought refuge. Rafah is the last major population centre yet to be subjected to a ground assault.
- Israel rejected Hamas's latest proposals for a hostage deal as "unrealistic" on Friday but said a delegation would leave for Qatar to discuss Israel’s position on a potential agreement. The deal had proposed the release of Israeli women, children, elderly, and ill hostages in exchange for between 700 and 1000 Palestinian prisoners.
- The Spanish aid vessel Open Arms reached Gaza’s coast on Friday. The ship is carrying 200 tonnes of desperately awaited food for the tens of thousands of Palestinians who have been displaced by fighting across the Strip.
- The Israeli army on Friday refuted Hamas's claims that its soldiers had shot into a crowd of Gazans waiting for aid, killing at least 20 of them, saying instead that the deadly shots had been fired by “armed Palestinians”.
- Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas appointed his longtime economic adviser to be the next prime minister in the face of US pressure to reform the Palestinian Authority as part of Washington's postwar vision for Gaza.
- At least 31,490 Palestinians have been killed and 73,439 wounded since Israel started its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
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The US has circulated the final draft of a UN Security Council resolution that would support international efforts to bring “an immediate and sustained ceasefire” in the Israel-Hamas war.
- The Spanish aid vessel Open Arms, towing about 200 tonnes of food, was nearing Israel's coast on Thursday after departing Cyprus on Tuesday, the Marinetraffic website showed.
- Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said a second, bigger vessel was being readied for the maritime aid corridor which will be complemented by a temporary pier to be built off Gaza by US troops.
- The leader of Yemen’s Houthis, Abdul Malik al-Houthi, said the group’s operations targeting vessels will escalate to prevent Israel-linked ships from passing through the Indian Ocean towards the Cape of Good Hope.
- The United States sanctioned three Israeli settlers and two farming outposts, accusing them of undermining stability in the West Bank.
- The White House called for a swift investigation into an Israeli airstrike on a UN food distribution facility in Gaza.
- US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Israel must make "significant course corrections" to achieve lasting peace with the Palestinians.He called on Israel to hold new elections in the most strident criticism yet by a senior American official of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's handling of the war in Gaza.
- The European Union’s top humanitarian aid official said Israel hadn't provided evidence to back its accusations against staff from the UN Palestinian refugee agency (UNRWA), which should continue playing a “critical” role in Gaza.
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 AFP, AP and Reuters)
