The essential
A series of Israeli airstrikes were heard overnight from Sunday to Monday in Rafah, a town in the Gaza Strip on the border with Egypt, journalists from Agence France-Presse and witnesses noted.
The raids left at least 50 people dead, according to the Hamas health ministry. They hit six houses and two mosques, according to an initial report from Palestinian security sources and witnesses.
The essentials of the day before
In an interview with an American channel to be broadcast on Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says the Israeli army will provide "safe passage" before the planned assault on the town of Rafah, in the south of the Strip. Gaza. “We will take the last terrorist battalions of Hamas and Rafah, which is the last bastion,” he assured.
Hamas has warned that an Israeli offensive against Rafah, the city where hundreds of thousands of Palestinian civilians are sheltering, would dash hopes of the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip.
Two Israeli hostages were killed and eight others seriously injured in Israeli strikes in Gaza over the past four days, Hamas reported on Sunday.
Two stabbing attacks took place on Sunday evening in Jerusalem and the West Bank against Israeli soldiers. The two attackers were killed without causing any casualties among the police, the police and the army announced.
The Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Sunday a new death toll of at least 28,176 people in the Gaza Strip.
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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