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AS IT HAPPENED
Blinken says ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is still possible
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday said a ceasefire deal between Israel and Hamas is still possible after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu earlier rejected Hamas’s conditions as “delusional”. “While there are some clear non-starters in Hamas’s response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv hours after meeting with Netanyahu. Read our blog to see how the day’s events unfolded.
Issued on: 07/02/2024 – 05:40
Modified: 07/02/2024 – 19:00
2 min
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel, February 7, 2024.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks during a press conference in Tel Aviv, Israel on February 7, 2024. © Mark Schiefelbein, AP
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This blog is no longer being updated. For more coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, please click here.
Summary:
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday rejected Hamas’s demands in a proposed truce deal and vowed to press ahead with Israel’s military offensive in Gaza until achieving “absolute victory” in coming months.
United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres earlier said that he is “especially alarmed” by reports that the Israeli military intends to push into Rafah in the southernmost Gaza Strip, given that “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been squeezed in a desperate search for safety” there, and that “such an action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences”.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday described the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israel as the “biggest anti-Semitic massacre of our century” as he hosted a ceremony paying tribute to French victims.
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 27,708 people have been killed and 67,147 wounded in Israeli strikes on the enclave since October 7. 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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02/08/2024 3:58 AM
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16:47
‘The deal that Hamas put on the table would have preserved their position in the Gaza Strip’
“The deal that Hamas just put on the table [. . .] would have preserved their position in the Gaza Strip,” said Jordana Miller, ABC News correspondent in Jerusalem, adding that the Palestinian militant group didn’t mention relinquishing power or handing it over to another governing body. Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu earlier rejected the plan put forward by Hamas for a multi-stage truce and hostage release, calling it “delusional”.
Concerning the hostage situation, Miller said the families of the hostages “don’t necessarily agree with Netanyahu or Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, who continue to say the enormous pressure of the Israeli army operation in the Gaza Strip is the best way to bring the hostages home”.
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16:11
US says it killed pro-Iran commander in Iraq strike
An American air strike in Iraq killed a commander of a pro-Iran armed group Wednesday who was involved in attacks on Washington’s troops, the US military said.
The strike came “in response to the attacks on US service members” and killed “a Kataeb Hezbollah commander responsible for directly planning and participating in attacks on US forces in the region,” the military’s Central Command said on social media.
“There are no indications of collateral damage or civilian casualties at this time,” it added.
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15:42
Blinken says he warned Netanyahu against Israeli actions that ‘inflame tensions’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he warned Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and his government against actions and talk that raise tensions.
“In my discussion today with the prime minister and senior officials, I also raised our profound concerns about actions and rhetoric, including from government officials, that inflame tensions that undercut international support and place greater restraints on Israel’s security,” Blinken told reporters.
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15:33
UN team has begun mission to assess conditions in northern Gaza
A UN team has begun its mission to northern Gaza to assess conditions for civilians who remain there and assess what needs to be done to allow displaced Palestinians to return home, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Tel Aviv on Wednesday.
Israel agreed to the mission last month, but it had been delayed over security concerns.
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15:31
Blinken says still ‘space for agreement’ on Gaza hostages
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday he still saw space to reach an agreement to bring back hostages from Gaza after Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu dismissed Hamas’s demand for ceasefire.
“While there are some clear non-starters in Hamas’s response, we do think it creates space for agreement to be reached, and we will work at that relentlessly,” Blinken told reporters in Tel Aviv hours after meeting Netanyahu.
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15:10
Israeli forces kill three Palestinians in raid on West Bank refugee camp, officials say
Israeli forces killed three Palestinians during a raid on a refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Wednesday, officials said, as US top diplomat Antony Blinken stressed the need to de-escalate
tensions during a visit to the region.
Israel’s military said it killed a wanted suspect in an exchange of fire after encircling the house he was in. It said two more armed fighters who tried to escape the house were also killed in the operation, which lasted four hours and involved a “variety of means”. No soldiers were injured, it added.
The Palestinian Health Ministry said two men in their 30s were shot dead by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams refugee camp near the northern West Bank city of Tulkarm. It had no immediate comment on a third fatality.
Camp residents told Reuters that the two men who were shot were not inside the besieged house and that their bodies were found outside. He said Israel fired missiles at the house and bulldozed part of it before its forces withdrew.
Hours after the operation, none of the three men were claimed by any militant factions.
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15:07
Hamas official says Netanyahu’s continuation of Gaza war shows goal is ‘genocide’
A senior Lebanon-based official in Palestinian militant group Hamas said Wednesday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s continued pursuit of war in Gaza showed the goal was “genocide” against Palestinians.
Netanyahu’s “insistence on continuing the aggression totally confirms that the goal of the aggression on Gaza is genocide against the Palestinian people”, Osama Hamdan told a news conference in Beirut.
“We will exert every effort to protect our people, whether through the resistance on the ground or… political efforts to stop the aggression,” Hamdan added.
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13:40
Senior Hamas official says delegation will pursue ceasefire talks with Egypt and Qatar in Cairo
Senior Hamas official Osama Hamdan said in a press conference on Wednesday that a Hamas delegation
headed by senior Hamas official Khalil Al-Hayya will travel on Thursday to Cairo to pursue ceasefire talks with Egypt and Qatar.
The group presented its observations of the proposal to ensure a permanent and comprehensive ceasefire, the entry of aid for food supplies, and the lifting of the siege on Gaza.
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13:35
Troops ordered to ‘prepare to operate’ into Gaza’s Rafah
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday said he had ordered troops to “prepare to operate” in Rafah in southern Gaza, promising a “total victory” by Israel over Hamas in just months.
His disclosure came after a meeting with US Secretary Antony Blinken over a proposed deal by Hamas to pause fighting in the four-month-old war, which the Israeli leader called “bizarre”.
A defiant Netanyahu instead said the impact of an Israeli victory over the Palestinian militant group would be felt across the Middle East, and bring wider peace.
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13:34
Netanyahu seeks to pursue regional conflict, says senior Hamas official
Remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissing the latest offer by Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza show he intends to pursue conflict in the Middle East, senior Hamas official Sami Abu Zuhri told Reuters.
“Netanyahu’s comments are a form of political bravado, indicating his intention to pursue the conflict in the region,” Abu Zuhri said. “The movement (Hamas) is prepared to deal with all options.”
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12:45
Netanyahu rejects Hamas ceasefire demands, vows to fight until ‘absolute victory’
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu rejected Hamas demands for a ceasefire and vowed to press ahead with Israel’s military offensive in Gaza on Wednesday. He said he had ordered troops to “prepare to operate” in the southern Gaza city of Rafah and that an “absolute victory” by Israel over Hamas was just months away.
Netanyahu made the comments shortly after meeting with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who has been travelling the region in hopes of securing a ceasefire agreement.
“We are on the way to an absolute victory,” Netanyahu said in a nationally televised news conference, adding that the operation would last months, not years. “There is no other solution.”
He ruled out any arrangement that leaves Hamas in full or partial control of Gaza. He also said that Israel is the “only power” capable of guaranteeing security in the long term.
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12:21
Israeli military calls for longer army service
Israel’s military on Wednesday proposed increasing the country’s mandatory enlistment and reserve service commitments “in light of the war’s challenges”.
The army issued a statement outlining the proposed lengthening of required military service from 32 months to 36 months for men, and women serving in certain roles.
It also proposed increasing the required number of days of reserve service and extending the maximum age of soldiers and officers in the reserves.
The proposed changes require approval by parliament to go into effect.
Israel has called up at least 287,000 reservists since the outbreak of war four months ago.
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11:13
UK families ask Israel to accept hostage deal
British-based relatives of Israelis being held captive by Hamas urged Israel Wednesday to accept a hostage deal, warning that time is running out to free their loved ones.
Talks are underway in Qatar to mediate a reportedly phased agreement in which Israel would suspend military operations in return for the release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israel.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says more work is needed on the deal but has voiced hope for its success.
“I don’t think Israel has another option,” Sharone Lifschitz, whose 83-year-old father Oded Lifshitz is being held hostage, told a press conference in central London.
Lifschitz, whose elderly mother was also kidnapped before being released, added that “Israel has a duty to return its citizens,” and “has to do what it takes to get there”.
“We need that deal to happen now,” she pleaded. “If it does not come through, it will be a longer wait and many of the hostages simply cannot survive it.”
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10:37
Israeli strikes on south Lebanon kill civilian
Israeli strikes on a south Lebanon village killed one civilian and injured two others on Wednesday, Lebanon’s state media said.
After the outbreak of war between Hamas and Israel on October 7, the Lebanese-Israeli border has seen near-daily exchanges of fire between Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah.
“Two civilians were wounded and a third killed in an enemy drone strike on a house in Khiam” about six kilometres (around four miles) from the border, Lebanon’s National News Agency (NNA) reported.
An AFP photographer in the area reported a series of strikes on Khiam, with one of his pictures showing smoke billowing from four positions in the village at once.
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10:13
UN chief says world entering ‘age of chaos’ as Security Council unable to address Israel-Hamas war
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday that the world is entering “an age of chaos” with a deeply divided Security Council unable to address critical issues such as the Israel-Hamas war.
With the war in Gaza entering its fifth month on Wednesday, Guterres warned that if the Israeli armed forces press on into the southern city of Rafah, it will “exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare with untold regional consequences.”
Israeli forces, in their campaign to destroy Hamas after its unprecedented attack on October 7, have relentlessly bombed the Gaza Strip and carried out a ground invasion, displacing over a million people southward.
“It is time for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and the unconditional release of all hostages,” Guterres said during a speech to the General Assembly presenting his 2024 priorities.
In the speech, he called for changes to the Security Council and international financial system, among other reforms, touting his “Summit of the Future” in September as a critical venue to address dysfunction “deeper and more dangerous” than ever.
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09:51
New round of Gaza negotiations to start Thursday in Cairo, says Egyptian source
Egypt and Qatar are sponsoring a new round of negotiations to start Thursday in Cairo aimed at achieving “calm” in Gaza as well as a prisoner-hostage exchange, an Egyptian official said.
A Hamas source with knowledge of the matter confirmed the Palestinian group had agreed to the talks, with the goal of “a ceasefire, an end to the war and a prisoner exchange deal”.
Both sources spoke to AFP on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to the media.
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09:47
Iran’s Raisi says US presence ‘disrupts’ Middle East security
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Wednesday criticised the deployment of US troops in the Middle East, saying it “disrupts security”.
“The presence of US forces in our region has no justification,” Raisi said in a Tehran ceremony ahead of the 45th anniversary of Iran’s Islamic revolution on February 12.
Referring to both past and present deployments, he said the US presence “in Iraq, Syria, Afghanistan and the region is in no way creating security. It disrupts the security in the region”.
Raisi’s remarks to foreign diplomats came while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was on a regional tour for talks on a ceasefire deal between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
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09:35
Blinken hopes for deal to free Gaza hostages but ‘a lot of work to be done’
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday in Israel that more work was needed on a hostage deal but voiced hope for success, as he also pleaded for greater aid to war-battered Gaza.
Blinken met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a day after talks in Qatar, which mediated the reportedly phased deal in which Israel would suspend military operations in return for the release of hostages from Gaza and Palestinian prisoners from Israel.
“We’re looking at it intensely, as is, I know, the government of Israel,” Blinken said afterwards as he met Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“There’s a lot of work to be done, but we are very much focused on doing that work, and hopefully being able to resume the release of hostages that was interrupted,” he added.
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07:43
Some Hamas demands cannot be met, Israeli official tells TV station
A senior Israeli official has said some demands made by Hamas for a hostage deal cannot be met, Channel 13 TV reported on Wednesday.
The report, which did not name the official, quoted them as saying Israeli authorities would debate whether to reject Hamas’ proposal outright or ask for alternate conditions.
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06:46
Health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza updates war death toll
The health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza says at least 27,708 people have been killed and 67,147 wounded in Israeli strikes on the enclave since October 7.
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Yesterday’s key developments:
US lawmakers voted Tuesday to reject a standalone Israel aid bill denounced by critics as a “cynical” bid to thwart a cross-party border security and foreign assistance package that would include cash for war-torn Ukraine.
Israel’s chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said on Tuesday that 31 of the remaining hostages held in the Gaza Strip had been pronounced dead.
Qatar’s prime minister said on Tuesday that Hamas has delivered a “positive” response to a US-backed proposal to free hostages in return for pausing the Gaza war with Israel.
About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:
Al Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, the largest in the enclave, receives data from every hospital in the strip. Hospital administrators say they keep records of every wounded person occupying a bed and every body arriving at a morgue. The ministry also collects from other sources including 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 AP, AFP and Reuters)
