🔴 Live: Blinken says no indication of ‘imminent’ Israeli attack on Rafah

Palestinians traverse along a street near damaged buildings in Khan Younis on April 7, 2024, after Israel withdrew its ground forces from the southern Gaza Strip, six months into the devastating war sparked by the October 7 attacks. © AFP

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Tuesday he doubted Israel would attack Rafah before new talks next week in Washington, which has raised concerns over an assault on the packed Gaza city. Earlier, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Israel would complete the elimination of Hamas’s brigades, including in Rafah, and that nothing will prevent this. Follow our live blog for all the latest developments on the Israel-Hamas war. 

Summary: 

• Israel will complete the elimination of Hamas's brigades, including in the southern Gaza city of Rafah, and nothing will prevent this, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday.
• Hamas said Tuesday it was considering a new truce proposal as the latest round of negotiations in Cairo continued but said the plan did not meet any of its demands.
• Israel for the first time deployed its C-Dome ship-mounted defence system against a "suspicious" target that entered the country's airspace near the southern city of Eilat, the military said.
• Turkey announced restrictions on exports to Israel until a ceasefire in Gaza, Ankara's first significant measure against Israel after six months of war. Israel said it would respond with its own restrictions on products from Turkey.
• Netanyahu said Monday that a date has been set for an Israeli invasion of Rafah, where some 1.5 million Palestinians have taken shelter. The US has warned a ground operation in Rafah would be a mistake. 
• At least 33,360 Palestinians have been killed and 75,933 wounded since Israel began its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.

Yesterday's key developments:

• The Israeli military on said it killed a Hezbollah commander in an overnight air strike in southern Lebanon. A Lebanese security source said a "local commander" from Hezbollah's Radwan unit was killed in an Israeli strike.

• Israel on Sunday pulled its troops out of southern Gaza, including the city of Khan Younis, the military said. Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said troops were pulled out "to prepare for future missions, including ... in Rafah". 

• The leaders of France, Egypt and Jordan warned Israel on Monday against launching a threatened offensive against the southern Gaza city of Rafah, urging an "immediate" ceasefire in its war on Hamas.

• Preliminary hearings open Monday at the UN top court in a case filed by Nicaragua that seeks an end to German military and other aid to Israel, based on claims that Berlin is “facilitating” acts of genocide and breaches of international law.

(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)

About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:

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)