The essentials of the day before

  • Israeli and Hamas officials on Monday tempered hopes for an upcoming truce and a release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, after new indirect negotiations in Cairo which, according to them, did not make it possible to overcome the blockages.

  • Israel has set a date for an invasion of Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, announced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. According to the UN, nearly a million and a half people are gathered there.

  • Returning to Khan Younes the day after the withdrawal of the Israeli army, thousands of residents discovered the apocalyptic landscape left by months of fierce fighting in this town in the south of the Gaza Strip.

  • Germany faces charges from Nicaragua at the International Court of Justice on Monday, with the Central American country accusing Berlin of facilitating the "commission of genocide" against the Palestinians by supporting Israel militarily and politically. Incriminations that Berlin rejects.

  • The Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Monday a new toll of 33,207 people killed in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement on 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 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

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