The essentials of the day before

  • Israel is examining Hamas' response to a proposed truce including the release of hostages held in Gaza, after the Qatari mediator reported a "positive response" from the Palestinian Islamist movement.

  • Antony Blinken began a fifth regional tour since the start of the war. After Qatar, the US Secretary of State landed in Israel and will then travel to the occupied West Bank.

  • The head of French diplomacy Stéphane Séjourné warned Beirut that Israel could trigger a war against Lebanon, which wants to avoid an escalation, according to the Lebanese Minister of Foreign Affairs.

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  • Visiting Israel, Argentine President Javier Milei declared on his arrival that he wanted to move his country's embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

  • More than half of Gaza's 2.3 million residents are now crowded into the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and surrounding areas, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

  • Raids continue in the Palestinian enclave, where the Hamas health ministry reported a total of 107 deaths in the past 24 hours. The same source announced on Tuesday a toll of 27,585 people killed and 66,978 people injured in Gaza since October 7.

Please note: the number of victims is provided by the Hamas-led Gaza Ministry of Health.

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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