The essential

  • The Gaza Strip was the scene of air raids and fierce clashes on Thursday between the Israeli army and Palestinian Hamas fighters. A senior local official reports fighting near Gaza City (north) and Khan Younes (south).

  • The US military said it shot down four drones launched by Yemen's Houthi rebels on Wednesday that were targeting a US warship in the Red Sea.

The essentials of the day before

  • The south of the Gaza Strip was the scene of intense Israeli bombardments overnight from Tuesday to Wednesday despite international pressure for an "immediate ceasefire".

  • Lebanese Hezbollah announced that it had launched a salvo of rockets on northern Israel in retaliation for a nighttime bombing, blamed on the Jewish state, which killed seven “rescuers” in a border village.

  • The Hamas Health Ministry announced a new toll of 32,490 people killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7.

Please note: the number of victims is provided by the Gaza Ministry of Health run by Hamas

The ministry collects information provided by hospitals in the enclave and by the Palestinian Red Crescent.

The Health Ministry in Gaza does not indicate how the Palestinians were killed, whether by Israeli airstrikes and/or barrages or failed Palestinian rocket attacks. It describes all victims as victims of "Israeli aggression" and also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.

During the four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, United Nations agencies regularly cited Health Ministry figures in their reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Palestinian Red Crescent also use these figures.

In the aftermath of previous episodes of war, the United Nations Humanitarian Office published casualty figures based on its own research into medical records. The UN figures largely agree with those of the Gaza Ministry of Health, with a few differences.

To learn more about the reports from the Gaza Ministry of Health, click here or here.

France 24 with AP

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