The death toll in the Gaza Strip has surpassed 32,000, as announced by the Hamas-run health ministry in the Palestinian enclave on Friday, while Israel presses forward with plans to advance on the southern Gaza city of Rafah despite pushback from the U.S.
At least 32,070 Palestinians have been killed and 74,298 have been injured in the battered enclave since October 7, 2023, the ministry said.
A Palestinian militant opened fire Friday morning on an Israeli vehicle in the West Bank, sparking an hours-long gunfight that ended with the Palestinian being killed by an Israeli helicopter strike and at least seven Israelis were injured, according to military and medical sources.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his eighth visit to Israel since the outbreak of the Palestine-Israel conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by the country’s government press office as stating that he met with Blinken and “told him that I greatly appreciate the fact that for more than five months we have been standing together in the war against Hamas.”
He added that Israel recognizes the need to evacuate the civilian population from the combat zones and is “working to this end,” according to the statement, but emphasized that there is “no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the remnant of the battalions there.”
Thousands of displaced Palestinians have been forced into Rafah, a city on the region’s southern border with Egypt, following months of Israeli attacks on the north and south of Gaza. Blinken has pleaded with Netanyahu not to invade the city without a plan in place to protect civilians.
Netanyahu stressed that Israel will press forward with the siege regardless of the American position. “I told him that I hope we would do this with U.S. support but if necessary — we will do it alone,” the prime minister said.
On Friday, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Israeli finance ministry announced on the same day that Israel has confiscated eight square kilometers of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank for the establishment of hundreds of settlement units as well as industrial and commercial facilities.
A Palestinian militant opened fire Friday morning on an Israeli vehicle in the West Bank, sparking an hours-long gunfight that ended with the Palestinian being killed by an Israeli helicopter strike and at least seven Israelis were injured, according to military and medical sources.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made his eighth visit to Israel since the outbreak of the Palestine-Israel conflict.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quoted by the country’s government press office as stating that he met with Blinken and “told him that I greatly appreciate the fact that for more than five months we have been standing together in the war against Hamas.”
He added that Israel recognizes the need to evacuate the civilian population from the combat zones and is “working to this end,” according to the statement, but emphasized that there is “no way to defeat Hamas without entering Rafah and eliminating the remnant of the battalions there.”
Thousands of displaced Palestinians have been forced into Rafah, a city on the region’s southern border with Egypt, following months of Israeli attacks on the north and south of Gaza. Blinken has pleaded with Netanyahu not to invade the city without a plan in place to protect civilians.
Netanyahu stressed that Israel will press forward with the siege regardless of the American position. “I told him that I hope we would do this with U.S. support but if necessary — we will do it alone,” the prime minister said.
On Friday, the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation reported that the Israeli finance ministry announced on the same day that Israel has confiscated eight square kilometers of Palestinian land in the occupied West Bank for the establishment of hundreds of settlement units as well as industrial and commercial facilities.
Source: Reuters
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