The essential

  • The Israeli war cabinet gave the green light on Saturday to sending a delegation to Qatar shortly to continue the discussions of recent days in Paris with a view to a new truce agreement in Gaza accompanied by the release of hostages.

  • In Tel Aviv, thousands of people gathered on Saturday evening in "Hostage Square" to ask the government to promote the release of people still captive in Gaza.

  • The Israeli Prime Minister said on Saturday that he was working on a plan "to complete the elimination of Hamas battalions in Rafah."

  • The United States and Britain carried out strikes targeting 18 Houthi targets at eight separate locations in Yemen on Saturday, in response to attacks by Iran-backed Shiite rebels on shipping in the Red Sea.

  • The Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Saturday a new toll of 29,606 people killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement.

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 Gaza Health Ministry 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

With AFP

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