Israeli strikes have killed at least 71 people in southern and central Gaza during roughly the past 24 hours, the territory’s health officials said Thursday. At least 23 people were killed in Israeli strikes and their bodied taken to a hospital in central Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry said late Thursday. These casualties raise the approximate death toll to 71 from Israeli bombing during the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry says the number could still rise. The bodies were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, the ministry said.
Quick Read
- Israeli strikes have resulted in at least 71 deaths in southern and central Gaza within roughly the past 24 hours, as reported by health officials in the territory.
- Tensions have escalated in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where three gunmen attacked near a checkpoint, resulting in one Israeli death and at least five injuries. Two attackers were killed, and a third was later detained.
- European diplomats are increasingly advocating for a ceasefire, given the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza.
- Israel’s Defense Minister Yoav Gallant mentioned that Israel is set to enhance the authority of its hostage negotiators, amidst ongoing international efforts for a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.
- Approximately 80% of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been displaced, with around 1.5 million people seeking refuge in Rafah, near the Egyptian border.
- The death toll in Gaza, as estimated by the territory’s Health Ministry, has surpassed 29,000.
- The conflict initiated when Hamas-led militants launched an attack into southern Israel on October 7, leading to the death of around 1,200 people and the capture of approximately 250 hostages. It’s believed that about a quarter of the 130 remaining captives have died. Israel’s response has led to extensive destruction throughout the Palestinian territory.
The Associated Press has the story:
Israeli strikes killed over 70 in southern and central Gaza in 24 hours
Israeli strikes have killed at least 71 people in southern and central Gaza during roughly the past 24 hours, the territory’s health officials said Thursday.
And tensions are rising in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where three gunmen opened fire Thursday morning on a road near a checkpoint, killing one Israeli and wounding at least five, police said. Two of the attackers were killed. A third was found later and detained.
European diplomats are stepping up calls for a cease-fire, as alarm grows over the worsening humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip.
In a small sign of progress amid ongoing international efforts to broker a cease-fire agreement between Israel and Hamas, Yoav Gallant, Israel’s defense minister, said Thursday that Israel “will expand the authority” of its hostage negotiators. But the prospect of an Israeli offensive into southernmost Gaza city of Rafah still
Israel’s war in Gaza has driven some 80% of the territory’s 2.3 million people from their homes. Most heeded Israeli orders to flee south and around 1.5 million are packed into Rafah near the border with Egypt.
Gaza’s Health Ministry estimates more than 29,000 Palestinians have been killed.
The war began when Hamas-led militants stormed into southern Israel on Oct. 7, killing some 1,200 people and taking around 250 hostage. About a fourth of some 130 captives still being held are believed to be dead. Israel has laid waste to much of the Palestinian territory in response.
HEAD OF MEDICAL CHARITY SAYS ISRAEL IS ‘BLATANTLY’ DISREGARDING CIVILIAN LIVES IN GAZA
UNITED NATIONS — The head of the aid organization Doctors Without Borders is accusing Israeli forces of “blatantly” disregarding civilian lives and collectively punishing Palestinians for Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks — and accused the United States of blocking the U.N. Security Council from demanding an immediate cease-fire.
Christopher Lockyear, secretary general of the aid group also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, told a Security Council meeting Thursday that for 138 days the organization has seen the humanitarian crisis escalate and “the systematic obliteration of a health system we have supported for decades.”
MSF has also watched patients and colleagues killed and injured, including just two days ago when a building in the city of Khan Younis was struck by an Israeli tank shell and intense gunfire, he said. He said the Israelis had been told the building housed MSF staff and their families. The attack ignited a fire, killing two people and severely burned six others, five of them women and children.
“This situation is the culmination of a war Israel is waging on the entire population of the Gaza Strip — a war of collective punishment, a war without rules, a war at all costs,” Lockyear said.
He called the humanitarian response in Gaza “a convenient illusion” perpetuating the narrative that the war is being waged in line with international laws. Those laws, which he called a basis for providing humanitarian aid, “are now eroded to the point of becoming meaningless.”
He pointed to patients with catastrophic injuries unable to get treatment, surgeons running out of gauze to stop patients’ bleeding, not enough medication, and women giving birth in plastic tents and public buildings.
“Medical teams have added a new acronym to their vocabulary: WCNSF — wounded child, no surviving family,” he said.
Lockyear called it appalling that the U.S. has vetoed three Security Council resolutions demanding a cease-fire, and he strongly criticized its proposed new resolution calling for a temporary ceasefire when “practicable.” The people of Gaza need a ceasefire now, and “anything short of this is gross negligence,” he said.
INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF UNRWA WILL FOCUS ON WHETHER U.N. AID AGENCY DID ENOUGH TO STAY NEUTRAL
UNITED NATIONS — The head of an independent review of the embattled U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees says its focus will be on whether it is operating with the required neutrality of all United Nations organizations.
Former French foreign minister Catherine Colonna told reporters after meeting U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres Thursday that his message to her when he asked her to undertake “this very sensitive and hopefully useful mission” was to find ways and means to see if UNRWA “does everything it can to ensure neutrality.”
Guterres announced on Feb. 5 that Colonna would lead the review which will be conducted by three independent research organizations —- the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Sweden, the Chr. Michelsen Institute in Norway, and the Danish Institute for Human Rights.
UNRWA’s Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini requested an independent review of the agency following Israeli allegations that 12 of its 13,000 Gaza staff participated in Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel, which led to the current war. More than 16 countries suspended aid to UNRWA because of the allegations.
Colonna said the review team started work on Feb. 13 and sent letters to Israeli and Palestinian officials several days ago requesting meetings, which she called “absolutely necessary.” She said she also plans to meet as many countries as possible, especially donor nations, including some foreign ministers attending Friday’s U.N. commemoration of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Colonna said the independent review group will specifically clarify the mechanisms and structures in place in UNRWA to ensure neutrality, and how they are being implemented in practice.
An interim report to the secretary-general is expected in late March and a final report, which will be made public, in late April, which will include recommendations.
Colonna said the review group will not be cooperating with a separate investigation of the Israeli allegations against UNRWA staff ordered by Guterres which the U.N.’s internal watchdog, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, is conducting.
ISRAELI STRIKES KILL AT LEAST 23 PEOPLE IN CENTRAL GAZA, HEALTH MINISTRY SAYS
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip — At least 23 people were killed in Israeli strikes and their bodied taken to a hospital in central Gaza, the territory’s Health Ministry said late Thursday.
These casualties raise the approximate death toll to 71 from Israeli bombing during the past 24 hours. The Health Ministry says the number could still rise. The bodies were taken to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, the ministry said.
Earlier strikes had killed at least 48 people in southern and central Gaza overnight, half of them women and children, the ministry said.
Currently:
— Suspected Houthi rebel missile sets cargo ship ablaze. Israel intercepts separate attack near Eilat
— British couple waits for the return of a relative held by Hamas
— Iran accuses Israel of a sabotage attack after explosions strike a natural gas pipeline
— United Airlines says it will restart flights to Israel in March
— Why isn’t desperately needed aid reaching Palestinians in Gaza?
— Find more of AP’s coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
