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ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
🔴Live: Hamas says two Israeli hostages killed by air strikes in Gaza
Israeli air strikes over the past four days in Gaza have killed two hostages and seriously injured eight others, the armed wing of Hamas announced Sunday on its Telegram channel. The news came as Binyamin Netanyahu said that the Israeli military will provide “safe passage for the civilian population” ahead of an expected assault on the overcrowded southern Gaza city of Rafah. Read our live blog for all the latest developments on the Israel-Hamas war.
Issued on: 11/02/2024 – 08:45
Modified: 11/02/2024 – 19:53
2 min
Men walk along a street ravaged by Israeli bombing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 9, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
Men walk along a street ravaged by Israeli bombing in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on February 9, 2024, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas. © Mohammed Abed, AFP
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FRANCE 24
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Summary:
US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in a phone call on Sunday that Israel should not proceed with a ground operation in Rafah without a “credible and executable” plan for “ensuring the safety” of the more than 1 million people sheltering there, the White House said.
In an interview that aired Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated his intention to extend Israel’s military operation against Hamas into Rafah, but promised “safe passage” to civilians displaced there – without giving any details.
Israeli strikes on the Gaza strip over the past 96 hours have killed two Israeli hostages and seriously injured eight others, Hamas’ armed-wing Al Qassam Brigades said on Sunday over the group’s Telegram channel.
The Israeli military says it has discovered tunnels underneath the main headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City, alleging that Hamas militants used the space as an electrical supply room.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency had no knowledge of the facility’s underground, but the findings merit an “independent inquiry”, which the agency is unable to perform due to the ongoing war.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 28,176 people have been killed and 67,784 wounded in Israeli strikes on the enclave since October 7, the vast majority women and children. Israeli officials say about 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel. Militant fighters took some 250 hostages during the attack and 132 are still in Gaza, according to Israeli figures.
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Israeli troops near West Bank’s Bethlehem killed man who tried to stab a soldier, says army
In the West Bank, troops near Bethlehem shot and killed a man who tried to stab a soldier, the army said.
“The soldiers responded with live fire … No IDF (army) injuries were reported,” a statement read.
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18 minutes ago
Israeli police say officers in east Jerusalem shot dead knife-wielding man
Israeli police on Sunday said officers had shot dead a knife-wielding suspect in Jerusalem’s Old City, while the military said troops had killed an attacker in the occupied West Bank.
A police spokesman said officers stopped a man for questioning in the Muslim quarter of annexed east Jerusalem’s Old City, which houses some of the holiest sites in Christianity, Islam and Judaism.
As the man approached the force, he tried to stab the officers with a knife, the spokesman said in a statement. “The officers reacted quickly and neutralised” the man with gunfire, he added.
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3 hours ago
Gaza hospitals have received dead bodies of 112 people over past 24 hours, says health ministry
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Sunday that the bodies of 112 people killed across the Palestinian territory had been brought to hospitals in the past 24 hours, as well as 173 wounded people.
The fatalities brought the death toll in Gaza to at least 28,176 since the start of the war, and the toll of injured people to 67,784 . The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and fighters but says most of those who have been killed were women and children.
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3 hours ago
Biden tells Netanyahu that Israel should not conduct Rafah military operation without ‘credible and executable’ plan
US President Joe Biden told Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during a phone call on Sunday that Israel should not proceed with a military operation in the southern Gaza city of Rafah without a “credible and executable” plan to ensure the safety of the roughly 1 million people sheltering there, the White House said.
The call also focused on ongoing efforts to secure the release of hostages taken during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on Israel, the White House said.
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4 hours ago
Egypt warns of ‘dire consequences’ of potential Israeli assault on Rafah, calls for ‘uniting’ of efforts to prevent it
Egypt warned on Sunday of “dire consequences” of a potential Israeli military assault on the southern Gaza city of Rafah near its border.
“Egypt called for the necessity of uniting all international and regional efforts to prevent the targeting of the Palestinian city of Rafah,” its foreign ministry added in a statement.
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4 hours ago
Jordan’s king took part in air drop of humanitarian aid to Gaza, says state-owned broadcaster
Jordan’s King Abdullah II participated in an air drop of humanitarian aid to Gaza, state-owned Al Mamlaka broadcaster said on Sunday.
A video showed the monarch in military gear on board a military plane in the latest missions by the Jordanian air force to drop urgent medical supplies to field hospitals it runs in the war-torn Palestinian territory.
It did not give a date when the airdrop took place.
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5 hours ago
Netanyahu says those opposed to Rafah ground operation support leaving Hamas in place
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who appeared in interviews on multiple US television news programmes that aired Sunday, said that anyone who opposes an Israeli ground assault on Rafah – which he said would take place – is saying that Israel should lose its war against Hamas and leave the militant group in place in Gaza. FRANCE 24 senior journalist Catherine Norris Trent reports from Jerusalem.
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5 hours ago
Palestinian Authority leader Abbas in Qatar for talks on reaching Gaza ceasefire
Palestinian Authority president Mahmoud Abbas arrived in Doha on Sunday for talks on securing a ceasefire in Gaza with the Qatari emir, whose country has been at the heart of mediation efforts and hosts political leaders of militant group Hamas.
Palestinian news agency WAFA said Abbas would meet emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani on Monday, but did not say if he would also meet leaders of Hamas, which has long been at odds with Abbas and his West Bank-based Fatah group.
The Palestinian ambassador to Qatar, Munir Ghannam, told Voice of Palestine Radio on Sunday that Abbas and the emir would discuss efforts to secure a ceasefire with Israel and ways to increase aid for Gaza’s 2.3 million people.
“Qatar plays an important role in the international efforts and mediation to reach a ceasefire. Therefore, coordination with Qatar, also with Egypt, is of special importance, to bring an end to this aggression against our people,” Ghannam said.
Qatar hosts the head of Hamas, Ismail Haniyeh, as well as another senior leader in the group, Khaled Meshaal, who handles diaspora affairs in the Hamas political office.
Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007 from Ramallah-based Abbas after a brief civil war with security forces that were loyal to the Palestinian Authority president.
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5 hours ago
German FM Baerbock says she will discuss ‘pause in fighting’ during Israel visit next week
Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock will travel to Israel in the middle of next week, a foreign ministry spokesperson said on Sunday, a trip in which she said she plans to urge for a pause in fighting as Israel prepares to advance on Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has said his government is preparing an evacuation plan for the more than 1 million Palestinians penned into Rafah, on the southern border with Egypt. Many have already been displaced at least once and have nowhere left to flee in the crowded enclave.
“The distress in Rafah is already beyond belief. 1.3 million people are seeking protection from the fighting in the most limited of space. An offensive by the Israeli army on Rafah would be a humanitarian catastrophe,” Baerbock wrote in a post on X on Saturday.
“Israel must defend itself against Hamas terror but at the same time alleviate the suffering of civilians as much as possible. That is why another pause in fighting is needed – also in order for hostages to finally be released. I will discuss ways towards that in Israel again next week,” she added in a second post.
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5 hours ago
Biden to speak with Netanyahu today, say White House officials
US President Joe Biden will speak with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Sunday, two White House officials said, in what will be the two leaders’ first conversation since Biden said Israel’s military response to the Hamas-led October 7 attacks has been “over the top”.
Biden, who is spending the weekend at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, was slated to speak with Netanyahu on Sunday morning, one of the officials said.
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6 hours ago
Netanyahu says ‘enough’ hostages still alive in Gaza to justify Israeli military effort
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in an interview aired on Sunday that “enough” of the 132 remaining Israeli hostages held in Gaza are alive to justify Israel’s ongoing war in the region.
Asked how many of the hostages are still alive, Netanyahu said “enough to warrant the kind of efforts that we’re doing”.
“We’re going to try to do our best to get all those who are alive back and, frankly, also the bodies of the dead,” he said in the interview with ABC’s “This Week” programme.
Netanyahu also said that one Palestinian civilian has been killed for every Hamas fighter killed in Gaza during the war. The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory says that at least 28,064 people have been killed thus far.
The ministry says around 70 percent of those killed are women or children. The World Health Organization has described the Palestinian health ministry system for reporting casualties as “very good” and UN agencies regularly cite its death toll figures.
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6 hours ago
Thousands in Rabat call for Morocco to sever ties with Israel over Gaza war
Thousands of Moroccans on Sunday again took to the streets of their capital to call for an end to their country’s ties with Israel, which they denounced for a “massacre” in Gaza.
In late 2020, Morocco established diplomatic ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords, which included similar moves by the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Since the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza began on October 7, several large-scale demonstrations in the North African kingdom have called for the abrogation of the normalisation deal.
“Normalisation is treason” and “Stop the massacre” read banners protesters carried in front of Morocco’s parliament in the centre of Rabat. AFP journalists estimated more than 10,000 people joined the rally, some of them carrying an immense Palestinian flag.
“We see 24 hours a day bombardments, children killed, nearly 30,000 dead and nothing stops it,” said Abdelhakim Ziani, 25, a medical student who joined the rally and wants an end to ties between Morocco and Israel.
Morocco has officially denounced what it said was “flagrant violations of the provisions of international law” by Israel in its war against Hamas, but has not given any indication that normalisation with Israel would be undone.
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7 hours ago
Downgrade of Israel’s credit rating is a ‘political manifesto’, says finance minister
Israel’s finance minister on Sunday slammed the decision by financial ratings agency Moody’s to downgrade Israel’s credit rating, saying the announcement is a “political manifesto” that “did not include serious economic claims”.
Moody’s dropped the rating on Israel’s debt on Friday, warning that the ongoing war in Gaza and a possible war in the north with Hezbollah could adversely affect Israel’s economy.
It is the first time Moody’s has lowered Israel’s credit rating, which is used by investors to measure the riskiness of investing in a global entity or government. Moody’s downgraded Israel from A1 to A2 and said the outlook for the country’s economy was “negative”. The A2 rating nonetheless continues to carry relatively low risk, according to Moody’s.
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich angrily dismissed the decision. The announcement “reflects a lack of confidence in Israel’s security and national strength, and also a lack of confidence in the righteousness of Israel’s path against its enemies”, he said in a statement from his office.
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7 hours ago
Palestinians in Rafah ‘do not know where’ they will go if Israel sends in troops
More than a million Palestinians are crowded into the city of Rafah on Gaza’s border with Egypt. Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, in an interview to be aired Sunday, suggested civilians there could flee north in the event of an Israeli ground invasion, saying there are “plenty of areas” in the Palestinian territory that have been cleared by the army.
But Israel’s offensive against Hamas has caused widespread destruction elsewhere in the enclave, particularly in the north, and heavy fighting is still taking place in central Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis. The situation has left people in Rafah uncertain where they would go if Israel sends in troops – while deadly air strikes continue to hit the city.
FRANCE 24’s Charlotte Hughes and Carys Garland bring us this report.
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8 hours ago
Egypt threatening to suspend Camp David Accords if Israel sends troops into Rafah
Egypt is threatening to suspend its peace treaty with Israel if Israeli troops are sent into the overcrowded Gaza border city of Rafah, and says fighting there could force the closure of the territory’s main aid supply route, two Egyptian officials and a Western diplomat said Sunday.
The threat to suspend the Camp David Accords, a cornerstone of regional stability for nearly a half-century, came after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said sending troops into Rafah was necessary to win the war against the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
All three officials confirmed Egypt’s threats, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to brief reporters on the sensitive negotiations. Qatar, Saudi Arabia and other countries have also warned of severe repercussions if Israel goes into Rafah.
Over half of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million have fled to Rafah to escape fighting in other areas, and are packed into sprawling tent camps and UN-run shelters near the border. Egypt fears a mass influx of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees who may never be allowed to return.
The standoff between Israel and Egypt, two close US allies, comes as aid groups warn that an offensive in Rafah would worsen the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, where around 80 percent of residents have fled their homes and where the UN says a quarter of the population faces starvation.
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8 hours ago
US says it struck anti-ship cruise missiles, unmanned vessels north of Yemen’s Hodeidah
The US military said Sunday it had struck more devices and missiles in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea.
The strikes occurred on Saturday between 4-5pm (1300-1400 GMT) north of the city of Hodeida, the US Central Command (CENTCOM) said on social media.
US “forces successfully conducted self-defense strikes against two unmanned surface vessels (USV) and three mobile anti-ship cruise missiles (ASCM)… that were prepared to launch against ships in the Red Sea”, the statement said.
Houthi-run Al-Masirah television on Saturday night reported three strikes on the Salif port area, while an AFP correspondent in the area heard loud blasts.
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9 hours ago
Israeli strikes on Gaza over past 96 hours killed two Israeli hostages, injured 8 others, says Hamas armed wing
Israeli strikes on the Gaza Strip during the past 96 hours have killed two Israeli hostages and seriously injured eight others, Hamas’s armed-wing Al Qassam Brigades announced on Sunday over the group’s Telegram channel.
“Their conditions are becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with appropriate treatment.(Israel) bears full responsibility for the lives of those injured in light of their continued bombing,” the statement said.
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11 hours ago
Ground assault in Rafah will ‘blow up’ hostage exchange talks, says Hamas
Any Israeli ground offensive in Rafah on the Gaza border will “blow up” the hostage exchange negotiations, Hamas-run Aqsa Television channel quoted a senior Hamas leader as saying on Sunday.
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14 hours ago
UNRWA chief denies any knowledge of Hamas tunnels
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency had no knowledge of the facility’s underground, but the findings merit an “independent inquiry”, which the agency is unable to perform due to the ongoing war.
Lazzarini said the agency was unaware what lay beneath it, saying he had visited the facility multiple times and did not recognise the electrical room. In a statement, Lazzarini wrote that UNRWA had conducted a regular quarterly inspection of the facility in September.
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14 hours ago
Israel unveils tunnels underneath Gaza headquarters of UNRWA
The Israeli military says it has discovered tunnels underneath the main headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees in Gaza City, alleging that Hamas militants used the space as an electrical supply room.
The army invited journalists to view the tunnel on Thursday.
It did not prove definitively that Hamas militants operated in the tunnels underneath the UNRWA facility, but it did show that at least a portion of the tunnel ran underneath the facility’s courtyard
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Yesterday’s key developments:
Witnesses reported new Israeli air strikes on Rafah early Saturday, after the Israeli military intensified air raids, with fears rising among Palestinians of a coming ground invasion. Fourty-four, including ten children, were killed in overnight Israeli strikes.
Iran’s top diplomat warned on Saturday that a full-blown attack on Lebanon would “spell the end” of Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu during a Beirut trip, as cross-border tensions surge over the Gaza war.
Israeli air strikes hit several sites on the outskirts of Syria’s capital, Damascus, the Syrian military said Saturday. The strikes came from the direction of the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights, Syrian state news agency SANA reported, citing an unnamed military official. Three people were killed in the strikes, according to a war monitor.
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
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)
