Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has agreed to send delegations to Egypt and Qatar, where negotiators have been trying to secure the release of Israeli hostages as part of a possible Gaza ceasefire deal, his office said Friday. Earlier, the Israeli military said the deputy commander of a Hezbollah military unit was killed in an air strike in south Lebanon, the latest episode of deadly cross-border violence since the Israel-Hamas war began. Read our blog to find out how the day's events unfolded.
Summary:
- Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has approved a new round of Gaza ceasefire talks to take place in Doha and Cairo, his office said Friday, days after the negotiations appeared stalled.
- The Israeli military said Friday the deputy commander of a Hezbollah military unit was killed in an air strike in south Lebanon's Bazuriyeh, the latest episode of deadly cross-border violence since the Israel-Hamas war began.
- The Syrian army says Israeli air strikes early Friday near the northern city of Aleppo have killed at least 36 Syrian soldiers, wounded several people and caused material damage.
- At least six fighters in Lebanon's Hezbollah group were also killed in the Israeli strikes, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
- At least 32,623 Palestinians have been killed and 75,092 wounded since Israel began its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 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 top United Nations court has ordered Israel to take measures including opening more land crossings to allow food, water, fuel and other supplies into Gaza to tackle crippling shortages in the war-ravaged enclave.
- Palestinian Authority prime minister Mohammad Mustafa formed a new cabinet on Thursday in which he will also serve as foreign minister, making an immediate ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza a top priority.
- France will provide over €30 million ($32.41 million) to UNRWA, the embattled United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, this year to support its operations in Gaza, the foreign ministry said.
- Israel has not received every weapon that it has sought from its US ally, in part because President Joe Biden's administration is not willing to provide at least some of them, the top US general told reporters.
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has asked Israel's top court for a new delay on compulsory military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews, an issue that has put his ruling coalition at risk.
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 and Reuters)
