Summary of what happened so far…
– Israel carries out 250 attacks in 24 hours. The Israel Defense Forces have made public that they have carried out around 250 airstrikes in Gaza in the last 24 hours, in what they said were attacks against Hamas tunnels, rocket launchers and other infrastructure.
– Death count in the Strip. The Gaza Health Ministry has published a 212-page document with names and identification numbers of 7,028 Palestinians who, according to the Hamas authorities who control Gaza, have been killed by Israeli bombings since October 7. Among the dead are 2,913 children murdered in less than three weeks.
– Joe Biden has questioned the reliability of reports on the number of deaths in the Gaza Strip. The president of the United States has declared that the Ministry of Health, which is the body that offers this report, is in the hands of Hamas. However, the US State Department has indirectly relied on these figures by citing UN statistics drawn from Palestinian data. The Council on American-Islamic Relations has asked the White House for an apology from the president for his “shocking and dehumanizing” statements.
– Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch: “The Health Ministry data is reliable.” Shakir has declared to Guardian that he sees no evidence that the figures are being manipulated. “We have been monitoring human rights abuses in the Gaza Strip for three decades, including several rounds of hostilities. In general, we have found the data coming from the Ministry of Health to be reliable,” he said.
– Humanitarian aid arrives in dribs and drabs. This Thursday, 12 trucks with humanitarian aid, although without fuel, entered Gaza from Egypt, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. In total, 72 trucks with food, water and medical supplies have arrived in the enclave since the start of the conflict. Before the war, 100 came in a day.
– The leaders of the European Union met at the European Council summit in Brussels and reached an agreement on the Middle East. The Twenty-Seven have called this Thursday for a “humanitarian pause” and the establishment of corridors for aid to reach the Gaza Strip, under siege by Israel in response to the Hamas attacks on October 7. After more than six hours of semantic debate, the heads of state and government of the member states have delved into their common position so that Palestinian civilians can receive “urgent” help.
– Hostages in the Gaza Strip. The confirmed number of people held hostage in the Gaza Strip since October 7 by Hamas has increased by two, to 224, according to the Israeli military. So far only four hostages have been released.
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