Israel bombed the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, on Saturday, a day after the top UN court ordered it to halt military operations in the southern city as efforts get underway in Paris to seek a ceasefire in the war sparked by Hamas's October 7 attack. Read our blog to see how all the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, click here.
Summary:
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An Israeli official told AFP Saturday that the government had an "intention" to renew "this week" talks aimed at reaching a hostage release deal in Gaza, after a meeting in Paris between US and Israeli officials.
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Israel bombed the Gaza Strip, including Rafah, on Saturday, despite an order from the UN's top court for it to "immediately halt" its military offensive in the southern city.
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At least 35,903 Palestinians have been killed and 80,420 wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
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France's president, Qatar's prime minister and the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan held talks Friday on the Gaza war and ways to set up a Palestinian state alongside Israel, the French presidency said.
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The International Court of Justice (ICC) on Friday ordered Israel to end its military offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and to open the nearby border crossing for crucial humanitarian aid. The top United Nations court also said Israel must give war crimes investigators access to Gaza.
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The Israeli military said Friday its forces had retrieved the bodies of three hostages in an overnight operation in the northern Gaza Strip's Jabalia.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent. For more on the health ministry’s casualty figures, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
