The essentials of the day before

  • The leaders of the 27 EU states, meeting at a summit in Brussels, called on Thursday for an "immediate humanitarian pause" in Gaza, and urged Israel not to launch a ground operation in Rafah in a joint declaration.

  • The United States has for the first time presented to the UN a draft resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire linked to the release of hostages" in the Gaza Strip.

  • On his sixth tour of the Middle East since the start of the war, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met in Cairo with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi to discuss ways to achieve a ceasefire, before a meeting with the heads of diplomacy of five Arab countries – Egypt, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Jordan and the United Arab Emirates.

  • Antony Blinken said a major military operation by Israel in Rafah would be "useless."

  • Fighting is still raging in the north of the Gaza Strip, particularly around al-Chifa hospital where more than 140 Palestinian fighters have been killed, according to the Israeli army.

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

The France 24 summary of the week

invites you to look back at the news that marked the week

I subscribe

Take international news everywhere with you! Download the France 24 application