At least 112 people were killed as Palestinians gathered at an aid distribution point in northern Gaza on Thursday, the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said. The Israeli military said it was looking into the incident. The news came hours after the health ministry said the death toll in Gaza had surpassed 30,000 people. Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
- At least 112 people were killed and at least 750 wounded as Palestinians gathered at an aid distribution point in northern Gaza on Thursday, the Gaza health ministry said. The Israeli military described the incident as a "tragedy" and said aid trucks "plowed into the crowds", adding that it is investigating. The Gaza health ministry said earlier that Israeli soldiers had opened fire on those gathered.
- President Joe Biden's administration is considering airdropping aid from US military planes into Gaza as land deliveries become increasingly difficult.
- Families of hostages held in Gaza and their supporters are on a march from southern Israel to Jerusalem to demand the release of their loved ones.
- Negotiators from the US, Egypt and Qatar are working on a framework truce deal that would see Hamas freeing some hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel and a halt in fighting.
- New Zealand on Thursday listed Hamas in its entirety as a terrorist entity and imposed travel bans on "extremist" Israeli settlers for committing violent attacks against Palestinians in the West Bank.
- At least 30,035 people have been killed and 70,457 wounded in Israeli strikes, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza. Around 1,140 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:
- Hamas urged Palestinians to march to Jerusalem's flashpoint Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of Ramadan in March, raising the stakes amid ongoing truce talks. US President Joe Biden said.
- Israel had agreed to halt its offensive for the Muslim holy month while Qatar's foreign ministry said on Tuesday that mediators were "hopeful, not necessarily optimistic" of having a truce this week.
- At least 576,000 people in the Gaza Strip – a quarter of the population – are one step away from famine, a senior UN aid official told the Security Council, warning that widespread famine was "almost inevitable" without action.
- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki said Wednesday he believes Hamas understands the need to form a new technocratic government in the Palestinian territories rather than a coalition including the Islamist movement.
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)
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP, Reuters)
