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[Live] Gaza: powerful strikes in Rafah, tense regional climate
The city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians threatened by the war in Gaza have taken refuge, is the scene of intense Israeli strikes on Saturday February 3 at a time when diplomacy is trying to impose a new truce against the backdrop of regional conflagration.
Palestinians queue for a free food distribution in Khan Younes, in the Gaza Strip, Friday, February 2, 2024. © Hatem Ali / AP
By: Internet Editorial
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What you must remember
■
The United States has carried out
more than a hundred strikes in Iraq and Syria
that have targeted the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and pro-Iranian groups. 85 sites including command and intelligence centers, as well as drone and missile storage infrastructure belonging to militias and Iranian forces.
■
More than a million displaced Palestinians fear another Israeli military attack
after Israel's defense minister vowed to attack Rafah, an area once described as a "safe zone."
■
Unicef estimated Friday that 17,000 children in Gaza
were unaccompanied or had been separated from their families during the conflict.
■ The leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, is expected in Egypt
to discuss a formulated truce initiative
. A proposed humanitarian pause and an exchange of Palestinian hostages and prisoners would be considered.
Hamas gave a “
first positive confirmation
”
, a solution “
approved
” also by
Israel
, said
a Qatari mediator
. However,
a source close to Hamas denied this
, adding that Qatar's statement was “
hasty and false
”.
■ According to the latest report from the Hamas Ministry of Health, Friday February 2,
27,131
people
have been killed in Gaza
since the start of the war on October 7. The majority of the dead are women, adolescents and children.
There
are
66,287
injured.
In a new report from February 1, AFP counted
1,163 people injured on the Israeli side during the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023
.
Times are given in universal time (Paris-1),
4:54 a.m.: [Testimonies] In Gaza, the humanitarian situation is disastrous
Hamas, Israel, diplomatic efforts intensify with a view to a ceasefire. The two parties in conflict do not speak directly to each other. Negotiations are carried out via foreign mediators, notably Egypt and Qatar. In the meantime, on the ground, Israel continues its deadly raids in the Gaza Strip, where the humanitarian situation is disastrous.
“
There are some who say there is going to be a truce or a ceasefire. But we don't know. We are waiting for negotiations.
» Like everyone in the Gaza Strip, Asma clings to this hope: soon, perhaps, an end to the fighting. But in the meantime, nothing on the ground indicates the imminent end of the war, regrets the young woman. “
For almost a week, there have been no Israeli soldiers in Gaza City. And all of a sudden, three or four days later, they came back. Nobody knows what's really going on. There are a lot of attacks and bombings
,” she explained to our correspondent in Jerusalem,
Sami Boukhelifa
.
The Gaza Strip, almost completely razed. Nearly 1.5 million displaced people are crowded into the south of the Rafah enclave in extreme conditions. Little water, little food. A population that spends the winter outside. “
The conditions are very difficult with the rain and the cold. People are in the streets, in tents... It's a disaster. I really don’t have the words anymore…
” she continues.
The population is destitute and almost entirely dependent on the little humanitarian aid that enters the enclave. “
Rafah is a factory of despair, and we fear what happens next
,” regrets a UN official.
►
Find
our live from Friday February 2 here
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