EU leaders urge ‘immediate humanitarian pause’ in Gaza
European Union leaders called on Thursday for an "immediate" humanitarian pause in Gaza that would lead to a ceasefire. "Strong and unified statement of EU leaders on the Middle East at #EUCO tonight!" Charles Michel, the president of the council, posted on social media platform X. "The EU calls for an immediate humanitarian pause leading to a sustainable ceasefire." Read our blog to see how the day's events unfolded.
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Summary:
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is meeting foreign ministers from Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Jordan while in Cairo on Thursday as he pushes for a pause in fighting between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip. The Emirati international cooperation minister and the general secretary of the Palestinian Liberation Organisation’s (PLO) executive committee will also attend. Egyptian security sources said Arab nations will stress the urgency of developing plans for a political solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict..
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In the northern Gaza Strip, Israel's army is four days into a raid at the Al-Shifa hospital, where the military says Hamas is operating from among patients and displaced civilians.
- More than a third of the US Senate's Democrats called on President Joe Biden's administration to take "bold" action towards establishing a Palestinian state in the latest pushback against Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.
- At least 31,988 Palestinians have been killed and 74,188 wounded since Israel started its offensive on Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run enclave. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks and 250 people taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
- A Senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said in a Beirut press conference on Wednesday that Israel's response to the group's latest Gaza ceasefire proposal was negative after mediators handed it over.
- Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said on Wednesday he was still determined to carry out a Rafah ground offensive despite the misgivings expressed by US President Joe Biden.
- A preliminary investigation into UNRWA, the embattled United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, has found "critical areas" which need to be addressed, a United Nations spokesperson said Wednesday.
- Saudi Arabia announced Wednesday it will donate $40 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which has faced massive funding cuts and calls for its abolition spearheaded by Israel.
- Canada has not approved new arms exports permits to Israel since January 8 and this freeze will continue until Ottawa can ensure the weapons are used properly, Foreign Minister Melanie Joly said on Wednesday.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP and Reuters)
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