Defence Minister Yoav Gallant on Thursday outlined Israel's plans for the next stage of its war in Gaza, with a new, more targeted approach in the northern section of the enclave and continued pursuit of Hamas leaders in the south. Earlier, thousands of Hamas supporters attended the funeral of deputy commander Saleh al-Arouri, who was killed in an apparent Israeli air strike on an apartment in Beirut.
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Summary:
- Thousands of mourners gathered in Beirut Thursday for the funeral of Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, slain Tuesday by a reported Israeli drone strike.
- UN human rights chief Volker Turk said Thursday he was "very disturbed" after comments by senior Israeli officials calling for Palestinians to leave Gaza. Two far-right Israeli ministers have called for Palestinians to "emigrate" from the enclave, and for Israeli settlers to return.
- In Thursday's reported strike on Al-Mawasi to the west of Khan Younis, health ministry officials said nine children were among the 14 dead after Israeli shells landed near tents erected in the area by displaced people. In the occupied West Bank, Israeli forces searched houses in the Nour al-Shams refugee camp in Tulkarm city in a second day of raids there. Residents said troops detained at least 120 people and demolished three houses, including one belonging to a member of the Tulkarm Brigades, a militant group linked to the Palestinian faction Fatah.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken heads to the Middle East on Thursday, an official said, as fears mount that the Israel-Hamas conflict will spiral into a regional war.
- Israeli officials say 1,139 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel, among them 695 Israeli civilians including 36 children. At least 22,438 people have been killed and 57,614 injured in Israel's ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave.
Yesterday's key developments
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A local Hezbollah official and three other members of the Iran-aligned group were killed late on Wednesday in an Israeli strike on southern Lebanon, two security sources told Reuters.
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Eighteen shipping companies are re-routing their vessels around Africa to avoid the Red Sea amid an upsurge in attacks on shipping blamed by Western countries on Yemen's Houthi rebels, the UN's maritime agency said Wednesday.
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The United States on Wednesday criticised South Africa for bringing a genocide case against Israel before the UN's top court, rejecting accusations against its ally over the war 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 AP, AFP, Reuters)
