Attacks on medical facilities and personnel have pushed Gaza’s overstretched health system to a “point of no return”, the Red Cross said on Friday. The warning came hours after Al-Shifa, the biggest hospital in the Strip, came under bombardment, according to the World Health Organization. Footage from the besieged Palestinian enclave showed Israeli tanks around several hospitals in Gaza City. Read our blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, click here.
- WHO says 20 hospitals in Gaza are now out of action: The biggest hospital in the Gaza Strip was coming under bombardment on Friday, the World Health Organization said, adding that 20 hospitals in the Palestinian enclave were now out of action entirely.
- 'We don't seek to govern Gaza,' says Israel's Netanyahu: Israel's military is performing "exceptionally well" in its offensive against Hamas, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said late on Thursday, stressing that Israel does not plan to reoccupy Gaza.
- Biden says humanitarian pauses 'a step in the right direction': Israel has agreed to humanitarian "pauses" in its offensive on Hamas in Gaza after pressure from the US, President Joe Biden has said, welcoming "a step in the right direction".
- Gaza health officials say death toll rises to more than 11,078: Health officials in the Hamas-run enclave say more than 11,078 people, including 4,506 children, have been killed since the start of Israel's military operation. The number of wounded has rised to 27,490, according to the Gaza health ministry.
- More than 100,000 Palestinians in Gaza have fled southwards in two days, the Israeli military said Friday.
- Israel revises down October 7 Hamas attack death toll from 1, 400 to "around 1,200" people. Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Lior Haiat said it was "an updated estimate".
- French President Emmanuel Macron on Friday called on Israel to stop killing Gaza's women and babies in an interview with the BBC.
Key developments from Thursday, November 9:
Israel has agreed to daily four-hour military pauses in northern Gaza, the White House said Thursday, even as President Joe Biden said there was no chance of a full ceasefire. The report came as the Israeli military said its troops had advanced into the heart of Gaza City, Hamas's main bastion and the biggest city in the coastal enclave.
French President Emmanuel Macron opened a humanitarian aid conference for Gaza in Paris, stating that there must be a humanitarian pause in the fighting in the Gaza Strip and that countries must "work for a ceasefire" in the Israel-Hamas war.
The Israeli military said its latest hypersonic ballistic missile interceptor had destroyed a "target" headed toward Israel from the Red Sea, highlighting potential attacks from Yemen. The announcement of the landmark launch of the Arrow 3 interceptor came shortly after Yemen's Iran-backed Huthi rebels said they had fired "a barrage of ballistic missiles" at Israel.
The French foreign ministry accused Russian online networks of attempting to "exploit international crises to sow confusion" in France and in Europe by sharing photos of the Stars of David appearing around Paris, graffiti that has been widely suspected of being an anti-Semitic statement.
To read yesterday's blog, please click here.
Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest in the enclave, receives data from every hospital in the strip. Hospital administrators say they keep records of every wounded person occupying a bed and every body arriving at a morgue. The ministry collects data from other sources also, including 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.
(FRANCE24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AP, AFP and Reuters)
