2023-12-30 17:45:09
►Gaza: according to Hamas, the number of victims of Israeli bombings stands at 21,672 dead since the start of the war on October 7.
The Palestinian Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Saturday December 30 that Israeli military operations in the Gaza Strip had left 21,672 dead since the start of the war on October 7. 165 people were killed and 250 others injured in the last 24 hours, said this source, which also reported 56,165 people injured since October 7.
Only 1% of the injured were evacuated abroad from the Rafah crossing point, the ministry stressed. Among the victims, 312 caregivers were killed and 99 caregivers were arrested during the Israeli army’s ground offensive.
►Intensification of bombardments in the south of the Gaza Strip
Khan Younes, the main town in the south of the Gaza Strip, was targeted by artillery fire during the night from Friday to Saturday, December 30, according to an AFP correspondent. Further south, in Rafah, a border town close to Egypt, many Gazans sought shelter from the incessant bombings of the Israeli army which is hunting down Hamas fighters.
The Israeli army continues its offensive despite growing international opposition, citing “fierce fighting” and airstrikes in the Gaza Strip. Of the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, 85% have had to flee their homes.
► A humanitarian situation that is deteriorating further every day
According to the UN, Palestinians in Gaza continue to face a dire humanitarian situation. The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, reiterated on Friday December 29 his call for a “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the growing threat of the spread of infectious diseases among the population in Gaza, most of whom sleep outside in the cold and lack food and clean water. Faced with the glaring inadequacy of aid, Gazans are in « grand danger »to have you the WHO. “The quantity of aid delivered, necessary and urgent, continues to be limited and encounters numerous logistical obstacles”denounced the Commissioner General of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, recalling that ” all parties “ must facilitate access for humanitarian aid.
►Discussions still ongoing for a new break in fighting
International mediators, who negotiated a week-long truce which at the end of November allowed the release of more than 100 hostages and the entry of limited aid into Gaza, are continuing their efforts to obtain a new pause in the fighting. .
According to the American media site Axios and the Israeli site Ynet, citing anonymous Israeli sources, Qatar’s mediators indicated to Israel that Hamas had “accepted in principle” to resume discussions to allow the release of more than 40 hostages held in Gaza in exchange for a ceasefire.
A Hamas delegation, which arrived in Cairo on Friday to discuss an Egyptian peace plan, was to convey “the response of the Palestinian factions” to this plan aimed ultimately at putting an end to hostilities, sources close to the Islamist movement indicated. For its part, Islamic Jihad, another armed group fighting alongside Hamas, indicated on Saturday December 30 that the Palestinian factions were ” by train “ to evaluate the Egyptian proposal. An answer will be given “in the coming days”Muhammad al-Hindi, deputy secretary general of Islamic Jihad, said in a statement.
►The United States will deliver new shells to Israel for $147.5 million
The conflict has also reignited tensions across the Middle East, particularly on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon, the almost daily scene of exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Islamist movement Hezbollah.
The United States, a close ally of Israel, announced Friday that it had approved “emergency” the sale to Israel of 155 mm shells and other materials taken from the stocks of its army, for 147.5 million dollars.
►French Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu aboard the Dixmude, a French helicopter carrier docked in Egypt to treat injured Palestinians.
French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu will be on Sunday, December 31, aboard the French helicopter carrier anchored in the Egyptian port of Al-Arich, where wounded Palestinian civilians are being treated. Most of the patients treated suffer from serious pathologies, according to the minister’s office. The ship’s hospital structure includes two operating theaters, 40 beds, more than 80 caregivers including Belgian and Danish doctors, scanners and analysis laboratories.
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