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🔴 Live: Israel launches heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza
Israel launched heavy strikes across central and southern Gaza overnight and into Wednesday after broadening its offensive against Hamas. Meanwhile, an Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank left six people dead early Wednesday, according to the Palestinian ministry of health. Follow our live blog for all the latest developments. All times are Paris time (GMT+1).
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Summary:
- The military’s announcement of the new battle zone threatens further destruction in a war that Israel says will last for “many months” as it vows to crush the ruling Hamas militant group after its Oct. 7 attack.
- An Israeli operation in a Palestinian refugee camp in the north of the occupied West Bank left six people dead and several others wounded early Wednesday, according to the Palestinian ministry of health.
- Israeli forces have been engaged in heavy urban fighting in northern Gaza and the southern city of Khan Younis, driving Palestinians into ever-smaller areas in search of refuge.
- At least 21,110 people have been killed and 55,243 injured in Israel’s ensuing assault on the Gaza Strip, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Israeli officials say 1,139 were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks in southern Israel, among them 695 Israeli civilians including 36 children.
Key developments from Tuesday:
- The United Nations said Tuesday it was “gravely concerned” by Israel’s continued bombardment of the central Gaza Strip and urged Israeli forces to take all available measures to protect civilians.
- Internet and telephone services were cut again across the war-torn Gaza Strip on Tuesday, the Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel said.
- Sigrid Kaag, the Netherlands’ former deputy prime minister and a Mideast expert, was appointed the UN coordinator for humanitarian aid to war-torn Gaza, the United Nations chief announced Tuesday.
- The announcement by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres follows the Security Council’s adoption of a resolution on Friday requesting him to expeditiously appoint a senior humanitarian and reconstruction coordinator for Gaza, where more than 2 million civilians are in desperate need of food, water and medicine.
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, Reuters)
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- Gaza Strip
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