Hezbollah said it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites on Thursday. A security source told Lebanon it was the largest attack waged by Hezbollah since October. The attacks were carried out in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Tuesday that killed a senior Hezbollah field commander. 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This blog is no longer being updated.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:
- Israeli tanks advanced deeper into the western area of Rafah amid one of the worst nights of bombardment from air, ground, and sea, forcing many families to flee their homes and tents under darkness, residents said on Thursday.
- Hezbollah said it had launched rockets and weaponised drones at nine Israeli military sites in a coordinated attack on Thursday, ramping up hostilities on Lebanon's southern border for the second consecutive day. The attacks were carried out in retaliation for an Israeli strike on Tuesday that killed a senior Hezbollah field commander.
- Hamas on Thursday insisted that its requested changes to a ceasefire proposal presented by the United States are “not significant”, despite the US deeming some of them as unworkable.
- At least 37,232 Palestinians have been killed and 85,037 wounded in Israel’s war in Gaza, according to the territory's Hamas-run health ministry. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people were taken hostage, with about 120 remaining in Gaza, according to Israeli tallies. Many have been declared dead by Israeli authorities.
Yesterday's key developments:
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Yemen’s Houthi rebels on Wednesday carried out a boat-borne bomb attack against a commercial ship in the Red Sea, authorities said.
- A UN investigation concluded on Wednesday that Israel has committed crimes against humanity during the war in Gaza, including that of “extermination”, and that Palestinian armed groups have also committed war crimes.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Qatar Wednesday that the war in Gaza would go on after Hamas proposed “numerous” changes to a US-backed ceasefire plan, some that he said were “workable” and some not.
- Hezbollah vowed Wednesday to intensify its attacks along the Lebanon-Israel border to avenge the killing of its most senior military commander by Israel.
- Hamas on Wednesday said its "positive" response to a US ceasefire plan for Gaza opened a "wide pathway" to reach an agreement but the outlook for a breakthrough was uncertain as neither the Palestinian group nor Israel publicly committed to a deal.
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)
