US President Joe Biden urged Israel on Thursday to take more care to protect civilians in Gaza, after the White House pushed Israel to scale down its offensive against the Palestinian militant group Hamas in the near future. The news comes after Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant told visiting White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan that it will take several months to defeat Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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Summary:
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Three Palestinians were killed in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin and its refugee camp on Thursday, raising the death toll to 11 since an ongoing Israeli raid began on Tuesday, the Palestinian health ministry said.
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White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan spoke with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Thursday about the need for Israel to shift from high-intensity military operations in Gaza to a more precise and targeted phase. Sullivan also said that governance of the West Bank and Gaza Strip needs to be connected under a "revamped and revitalized" Palestinian Authority.
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A wartime opinion poll among Palestinians published Wednesday shows a rise in support for Hamas and an overwhelming rejection of Western-backed Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas, with nearly 90 percent saying he must resign.
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Well over a million people – equivalent to almost half of Gaza’s population – are now estimated to be residing in Rafah in southern Gaza, the head of the UN relief agency for Palestinian refugees said Wednesday.
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Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking some 240 hostages, according to the Israeli government. Since then, at least 18,787 people have been killed in Israel's ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip and at least 50,897 people injured, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. At least 7,600 people are missing, according to the Hamas media office.
Key developments yesterday:
- Israeli media said at least nine soldiers were killed in an ambush in Gaza City on Wednesday.
- Israel’s army website was briefly hacked on Wednesday by a pro-Palestinian group.
- A UN study said the economic cost of the war on Arab neighbours Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan could rise to at least $10 billion this year and push more than 230,000 people into poverty.
- Diplomatic pressure is mounting on Israel to better protect civilians, with the UN General Assembly this week overwhelmingly in favour of a non-binding resolution for a humanitarian ceasefire.
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 & Reuters)
