Palestinians search for survivors after an Israeli airstrike on a residential building in Rafah, Gaza Strip, February 10, 2024. HATEM ALI / AP
Find here our situation update published yesterday
New Israeli strikes targeted Rafah on Saturday February 10, where more than 1.3 million Palestinians now live, according to the United Nations (UN), the vast majority of them civilians having fled the war.
The latter are now massed, in desperate humanitarian conditions, in this city transformed into a gigantic encampment. After the city of Gaza then that of Khan Younes, Israel is now considering a ground operation in this city backed by the closed border with Egypt.
An offensive on Rafah would cause “tens of thousands” of victims, according to Hamas
Hamas said on Saturday that an Israeli offensive on Rafah could “tens of thousands of dead and injured” in this town in southern Gaza, the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians whom the Israeli Prime Minister announced he wanted to evacuate.
The Palestinian Islamist movement added that it held itself responsible for possible repercussions “the American administration, the international community and the Israeli occupation”.
Many voices are being raised to ask Israel not to launch an offensive in Rafah. On Saturday, Germany sounded the alarm by speaking of a “humanitarian catastrophe announced”. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also warned about X against a possible offensive by the Israeli army in Rafah, which would be similar to “an indescribable humanitarian catastrophe”. “Resuming negotiations to release the hostages and suspend hostilities is the only way to avoid a massacre”, he added. “ Such an operation now without planning and thought in an area housing a million people would be a disaster”the US State Department also declared this week.
The Hamas health ministry announced on Saturday a toll of 28,064 people killed, including 117 who died in the last twenty-four hours, and 67,611 people injured since the start of the war. This assessment could not be independently verified.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Gaza-Israel: Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a truce and maintains a tough position
Add to your selections
Hamas official escapes Israeli raid in Lebanon that leaves three dead
A Hamas official escaped an Israeli raid targeting him in Lebanon on Saturday, two Lebanese and Palestinian security sources told Agence France-Presse (AFP). The strike, which left two dead including a member of Hezbollah, occurred in the village of Jadra, south of Beirut, some 40 kilometers from the Israeli-Lebanese border.
The World Application
The Morning of the World
Every morning, find our selection of 20 articles not to be missed
Download the app
A Lebanese security source specified that the targeted official is named Bassel Saleh, and that he is “responsible for recruitment in the West Bank” ouch you Hamas. “He escaped the assassination attempt but suffered burns to his back and was hospitalized”, she added. The Palestinian security source reported a “failed attempt to assassinate a senior official” of Hamas, at war against Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Local rescuers told AFP that the raid, which targeted a car, had cost the lives of two civilians. The pro-Iranian Hezbollah announced that one of its members, living in the locality, was among those killed.
A man was also killed and nine other people were injured on Saturday in an Israeli drone strike near a mosque in the village of Houla, near the Israeli border, the National News Agency reported ( ANI, Lebanese official). The village mayor Shakib Koteish told AFP that the victim was a civilian targeted in his house located opposite the mosque.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Paris and Washington outline the contours of a diplomatic solution between Israel and Lebanon
Add to your selections
Stéphane Séjourné says he understands “the real trauma” of Israelis but considers the situation in Gaza “unjustifiable”
The head of French diplomacy, Stéphane Séjourné, who visited the Middle East a week ago, gave daily maintenance West Francein which he believes that ” his duty “ is to understand that “Israeli trauma is real”. “And it also means that the situation in Gaza is unjustifiable”he said elsewhere. “The humanitarian situation in Gaza today is catastrophic, and unacceptable in reality”develops the Minister of Foreign Affairs.
France has been urging a lasting ceasefire for weeks. Like his predecessor Catherine Colonna, Stéphane Séjourné spoke of settler violence in the West Bank during his trip, “which has nothing to do with the situation in Gaza” and which must stop. Paris is currently preparing sanctions against these extremist settlers.
West France also questioned Stéphane Séjourné on the possibility of recognizing the Palestinian state, which could constitute a lever in the discussion of the two-state solution. “There are no taboos on this point”did he declare. “What matters is that this state comes into being and therefore that the conditions are met for it, including the security conditions for Israel”he nevertheless clarified.
Israel claims to have found Hamas tunnel under UNRWA HQ
The Israeli army and internal security agency said on Saturday they had discovered a “tunnel entrance” of the Islamist movement Hamas under the headquarters of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza City. UNRWA, which Israel accuses of being “totally infiltrated by Hamas”replied that he had not occupied his HQ since October 12.
“The entrance led to an underground terrorist tunnel that was an important Hamas military intelligence asset and passed under the building that serves as UNRWA’s main headquarters in the Gaza Strip”specify the Israeli army and Shin Beth in a press release. “Electrical infrastructure” of the tunnel – 700 meters long and located 18 meters underground – “was connected” at the agency’s headquarters, “indicating that UNRWA facilities supplied the tunnel with electricity”, according to them. Documents and a stockpile of weapons in the UN compound “confirmed that the offices had also been used by Hamas terrorists”they add.
“We have not used this building since we left it and we are not aware of any activity that may have taken place there”, replied UNRWA. The building was last inspected in September 2023, she said in a statement. Israel’s accusations “deserve an independent investigation, which is currently not possible given that Gaza is in an active war zone”noted the UN agency.
6-year-old girl who disappeared amid Gaza fighting found dead
Hind Rajab, a 6-year-old Palestinian girl, was found dead Saturday morning in Gaza City. Her disappearance almost two weeks ago, and her poignant calls recorded by emergency services during the hours she survived in a car, in the middle of an Israeli operation in Gaza City, had been widely relayed on social networks.
The remains of Hind and several members of his family were found in the car near a gas station in the Tal Al-Hawa neighborhood, after Israeli tanks left the area at dawn, AFP was told. his family, who accused the Israelis of killing them.
The bodies of the two Palestinian Red Crescent rescuers, who had been sent to rescue her, were also found on Saturday morning, in their ambulance, a few meters away, the relief company said in a statement. communiqué.
“Hind Rajab was killed by the occupying forces [israéliennes] with everyone who was with her in a car”confirmed the Hamas health ministry in a statement.
2024-02-11 02:15:00
#IsraelHamas #war #Israeli #strikes #Rafah #Israeli #raid #Lebanon #Update #Saturday #February