Israeli ground forces are operating against Hamas "in all of the Gaza Strip", a military spokesperson said on Sunday, confirming ground troops were already pushing into the south of the enclave, an area that has become increasingly crowded with displaced Palestinians. Israel carried out deadly bombardments in Gaza Sunday as international calls mounted for greater protection of civilians and the renewal of an expired ceasefire. Read our live blog to see how all the day's events unfolded. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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Summary:
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Israel forces bombed wide areas of the Gaza Strip on Sunday on the third day since a week-long truce expired in the fight between Israel and Hamas.
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Israeli military announced its forces are engaged in 'ground operations' in 'all of Gaza Strip', including the crowded south of the enclave. According to the military spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, "the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) continues to extend its ground operation against Hamas centres in all of the Gaza Strip." But Israeli authorities were still asking civilians to evacuate specifically towards the south of Gaza
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The United Nations humanitarian agency (OCHA) said that at least 160 Palestinian fatalities were reported in two incidents in northern Gaza on Saturday: the bombing of a six-storey building in the Jabalia refugee camp, and of an entire block in a Gaza City neighbourhood.
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In a new estimate, OCHA said about 1.8 million people – roughly 75 percent of Gaza's population – is internally displaced, up from an earlier figure of 1.7 million. "However, obtaining an accurate count is challenging," OCHA said in a report.
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A World Health Organization (WHO) team visiting Nasser hospital in southern Gaza found it packed with 1,000 patients, three times its capacity, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said Sunday on X, formerly Twitter. "Patients were receiving care on the floor, screaming in pain," he wrote. These conditions are "unimaginable for the provision of health care".
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More than 400,000 displaced people have sought shelter in Rafah and nearly 300,000 have taken shelter in Khan Yunis, according to OCHA. Disease is spreading through overcrowded shelters and makeshift housing in schools, the World Health Organization said Sunday.
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More than 15,523 people have been killed, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, in nearly two months of warfare that broke out after Hamas's October 7 attack on Israel.
Key developments on Saturday, December 2:
- Deputy Hamas chief Saleh Al-Arouri told the Pan-Arab TV network Al Jazeera on Saturday that there would be no more prisoner exchanges with Israel until there was a ceasefire in Gaza, adding the hostages still held by Hamas were Israeli soldiers and civilian men who had previously served in the Israeli army. He said they would not be freed unless there was a ceasefire and all Palestinian detainees were also released.
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Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Saturday that the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip would continue "until we achieve all its aims", including returning all Israeli hostages and eliminating the Palestinian militant group. His office also said that Israel was pulling its Mossad negotiators out of Qatar, which is mediating efforts to secure a renewed pause in the Israel-Hamas war, "following the impasse in the negotiations".
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Palestinian human rights groups refused to meet the International Criminal Court prosecutor Karim Khan on Saturday, accusing him of favouring Israeli accusations of rights abuses over longstanding Palestinian charges.
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Hamas attacked southern Israeli communities on October 7, killing 1,200 people and taking about 240 hostages, according to the Israeli government. Since then, more than 15,200 people, including about 6,000 children, have been killed in Israel's ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, the territory's Hamas-run health ministry said on Saturday.
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 & Reuters)
