Israeli forces struck Gaza and battled Hamas militants on Friday as truce efforts failed to make progress and tensions rose on Israel's northern border with Lebanon. Fears of a broader Middle East conflict have surged again, with Lebanon-based Hezbollah fighters launching waves of rockets, missiles and drones against Israeli military targets. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated.
Summary:
- At least one civilian died and several others were injured in an Israeli air strike near the city of Tyr in southern Lebanon, the national Ani news agency reported Friday. Tensions are flaring by the Israel-Lebanese border after the Iran-backed militant group Hezbollah vowed to avenge the death of a senior commander.
- Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant ruled out joining an initiative promoted by French President Emmanuel Macron in which France, the United States and Israel would form a contact group to work on defusing tensions on Israel's border with Lebanon, accusing France on Friday of adopting "hostile policies against Israel".
- A civilian marine was injured after Houthi rebels attacked a commercial vessel with anti-cruise missiles on Thursday.
- US President Joe Biden on Thursday called Hamas "the biggest hang-up so far" to a deal on a Gaza truce and hostage release.
- At least 37,266 Palestinians have been killed and 85,102 wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
Yesterday's key developments:
- Israeli tanks advanced deeper into the western area of Rafah amid one of the worst nights of bombardment from air, ground, and sea, forcing many families to flee their homes and tents under darkness, residents said on Thursday.
- Hezbollah said it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack on Thursday, ramping up hostilities on Lebanon's southern border for the second consecutive day. The attacks were carried out in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Tuesday that killed a senior Hezbollah field commander.
- Hamas on Thursday insisted that its requested changes to a ceasefire proposal presented by the United States are “not significant”, despite the US deeming some of them as unworkable.
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)
