Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday said an Israeli military operation into Gaza’s Rafah would hand Israel “total victory” over Hamas within the time span of just a few weeks. Earlier in the day, Rafah’s Emirates hospital said it was lacking incubators so badly that newborns now have to share incubators, even though they are designed to hold only one baby at a time. 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This blog is no longer being updated.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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Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said the military operation into Gaza’s Rafah would put Israel within weeks of “total victory” over Hamas.
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The Emirates Hospital in Rafah said the situation has become so bad that it has to place three to four newborns in each of its 20 incubators, despite the fact that they are designed for just one.
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Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned of a wider regional war if Israel presses on with its military campaign in Gaza during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan which starts on March 10 or 11.
- At least 29,692 people have been killed and 69,979 wounded in Israeli strikes in Gaza, two thirds of which are children and women, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, according to Israeli officials. Around 250 people were taken hostage during the attack and 132 are still in Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
Yesterday's key developments:
- An Israeli delegation led by spy chief David Barnea was in Paris for ceasefire talks on Saturday with the US, Qatar and Egypt.
- More than 100 people were reported killed early Saturday in overnight strikes across Gaza, the enclave's health ministry announced.
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)
