Gaza governing body: 14,854 killed so far in Gaza Strip
The government’s media office reported on Thursday that at least 14,854 people to have been killed in Gaza since 7 October.
It said 6,150 children and 4,000 women were among the dead, while a further 36,000 people wounded.
The health ministry previously warned it could no longer give exact tolls as Israel’s ground invasion and closure of access to several areas in the Gaza Strip had prevented the recovery of bodies.
Qassam Brigades says fighters ready to confront ‘enemy’ for as long as needed
The spokesman for Hamas’s armed wing, Abu Obeida, stated the group’s fighters have destroyed 335 Israeli army vehicles since the beginning of the ground offensive in Gaza.
Another 33 vehicles were targeted and destroyed in the last 72 hours, Abu Obeida said in a pre-recorded statement. He added that group fighters have carried out “dozens of operations” targeting Israeli soldiers on foot, namely in Beit Hanoon.
During the last three days, Palestinian fighters have also conducted “specialised operations” that resulted in the death of “enemy forces”, Abu Obeida said.
He added fighters are ready to confront “the enemy” for as long as the assault on Gaza continues, and called for the escalation of confrontations with Israeli forces across the occupied West Bank and all “resistance” fronts.
Israel orders Indonesian Hospital evacuation in 4 hours: Health Ministry
Munir al-Bursh, the director-general of Gaza’s Health Ministry who is inside the Indonesian Hospital, stated the Israeli army has warned people in the facility to evacuate it in four hours.
Speaking to Al Jazeera, he said the bombing continues around the hospital in northern Gaza from all sides.
Al-Bursh noted there are 65 dead bodies inside the besieged medical facility that they cannot bury. There are about 200 patients left at the Indonesian Hospital after some 450 patients were evacuated yesterday, he continued.
Each ambulance is carrying up to seven people at a time, he added.
Gaza Health Ministry to stop coordinating with WHO over hospital evacuations
Spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra says Gaza’s Health Ministry has decided to stop coordination with the World Health Organization in evacuating wounded people and medical staff.
His comments come after the arrest of the director of al-Shifa Hospital and other doctors.
Al-Qudra added Israel and the UN bear responsibility for the arrest of medical personnel, adding that Israeli forces dealt violently with medical staff and patients.
Convoy of aid trucks lines up at Egypt-Gaza border in preparation for truce
A large convoy of aid trucks has lined up on the Egyptian side of the the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza, on standby for when a truce between Israel and Hamas begins.
The Egyptian Government press office told CNN on Thursday that it’s not yet clear what type of aid, or how much aid, will be allowed into the Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, Egyptian Government press office director Ayman Walash stated a total of 2,222 tons of medical aid had been delivered via the Rafah crossing since the war began, in addition to 6,063 tons of food, 4,625 tons of water, and 1,407 tons of other aid.
He added 378 tons of fuel had been delivered since November 21.
Hamas condemns arrest of al-Shifa Hospital director, staff
Hamas has condemned the arrest by Israeli troops of the director and medical staff of al-Shifa Hospital and has called on international organisations to work to release them immediately.
“We consider it a despicable act that only comes from an entity that lacks all sense of humanity and morals, in addition to being a crime and a flagrant violation of international conventions that guarantee no attacks against medical personnel at all times,” Hamas announced in a statement.
The director of Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City has been arrested by Israeli soldiers along with several other medical personnel.
Israel sustains bombardment of Gaza ahead of expected truce: IDF
Israel is continuing to strike targets in Gaza, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement Thursday, ahead of an anticipated truce to allow for hostages to be released and more aid to enter the enclave.
The IDF announced it is striking targets in the northwestern city of Jabalya, and that its drones and tanks had killed a number of fighters in the north of the Strip.
The IDF noted its soldiers had also located a number of tunnel shafts. It added it struck another shaft in an agricultural area in the northern city of Beit Hanoun, where its soldiers located “numerous weapons” and found a tunnel shaft inside “a civilian residence” in the area.
More than 300 Hamas targets were struck from the air over the past day, according to the IDF, including military command centers, underground tunnels, weapon storage facilities, weapon manufacturing sites, and anti-tank missile launch posts.
The toll represents a slight uptick from the 250 strikes the IDF reported on Tuesday, as Israeli maintains its bombardment of the Strip ahead of an expected truce.
Israel arrests Al-Shifa Hospital director
The director of Gaza’s largest hospital was arrested by Israeli forces, according to a spokesperson for the ministry of health.
Other doctors were also arrested alongside Al-Shifa Hospital director Mohammed Abu Salmiya, spokesperson Ashraf Al-Qidra stated Thursday.
Abu Salmiya was reportedly arrested while evacuating with a World Health Organization convoy, an ER doctor inside Al-Shifa told Al-Jazeera News, citing doctors accompanying the director.
Qatar to announce “in next few hours” when Israel-Hamas truce will begin
Qatar will announce “in the next few hours” when the truce between Israel and Hamas is set to begin, the Qatari Foreign Ministry announced Thursday morning local time.
A diplomatic source stated that the truce is likely to begin Friday, with the earliest time being midnight local time (5 p.m. ET).
Previously, the expectation had been that the first releases and the pause in fighting would take place as early as Thursday.
The talks on how to implement the hostage deal between Israel and Hamas are ongoing and progressing positively, Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesperson Majed Al Ansari said in a statement posted on X.
“The work between the two parties, and our partners in Egypt and the US, is ongoing to ensure the speedy implementation of the truce, and to provide what is necessary to ensure that both parties adhere to the agreement,” the statement added.
Fifteen Palestinians killed in Israeli raids on Khan Younis
Several areas in Khan Younis and Rafah in the south were targeted by Israeli air raids, including a building that houses a charitable group next to the Kuwaiti Hospital in Rafah
Israeli forces bombed a residential area in Khan Younis in southern Gaza, killing at least 15 Palestinians and injuring a number of others, according to several Palestinian news outlets.
The reports also added that there were many people missing under the rubble.
In Deir el-Balah and in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza, Israeli strikes hit residential buildings, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, sparking fears of multiple deaths and injuries.
Wafa also added strikes hit the Sheikh Radwan neighbourhood of Gaza City.
UN relief coordinator says situation in Gaza “the worst ever”
Martin Griffiths, the UN humanitarian and relief coordinator, has described the current destruction and death in Gaza as the worst he has ever seen in his entire career.
Speaking in an interview with CNN, Griffiths said that Gaza was a “global crisis”, and that he was terrified to see that “war has become the obsession of the day”.
“No, I don’t think I’ve seen anything like this before. It’s complete and utter carnage,” he added.
Gaza is the world’s “most dangerous place” for children: UNICEF chief
The Gaza Strip is “the most dangerous place” in the world to be a child, according to the executive director of the United Nations Children’s Fund.
“More than 5,300 Palestinian children have been reportedly killed in just 46 days … That’s over 115 a day, every day, for weeks and weeks,” UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell said in a video on Wednesday while addressing the UN Security Council.
“Based on these figures, children account for 40% of the deaths in Gaza,” she added.
“This is unprecedented. In other words, the Gaza Strip is the most dangerous place in the world to be a child,” Russell continued.
Biden speaks with Netanyahu about truce deal, captive release
President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “agreed that the work is not yet done and the president assured the prime minister that he will continue working to secure the release of all remaining hostages” in Gaza, the White House said in a readout of the talks.
“The president further emphasised the importance of maintaining calm along the Lebanese border as well as in the West Bank,” it added.
White House official says Biden administration will watch “very closely” to make sure Hamas sticks to deal
The Biden administration will watch the implementation of the agreement made between Israel and Hamas, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby stated on Wednesday.
“Nobody’s doing touchdown dances here. Now’s the time for everybody to watch very, very closely. Because this is this is going to come down now to implementation and execution,” Kirby said in a virtual briefing for the American Jewish community.
Kirby added that the administration will be watching “very closely” to make sure that Hamas holds up their end of the hostage deal.
Kirby also offered some explanation into the remaining American hostages, explaining that there are 10 unaccounted-for Americans, and they are all believed to be held captive at this time.
“We know there’s 10 unaccounted-for Americans — we don’t know that all of them are hostages but that’s the assumption that we’re making. So somewhere in that neighborhood,” he said.
Three Americans would fall into the women and children category that is part of the release deal, and the US is optimistic the three “will be in at least one of the increments.”
But he continued to express some caution: “We’ll have to watch — the truth is we won’t know for sure until we start to see people moving.”
Pressed by CNN’s Bianna Golodryga on whether there is proof all of the hostages are still alive, Kirby hedged.
“Our information is limited about all the hostages, including the remaining American hostages. So I can’t tell you definitively that we have proof of life on all of them. But I can say that we have no indication to the contrary. So we’re going to continue to work on this as hard as we can,” he added.
International community should confront Israeli human rights violations: Saudi FM tells US
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud received a phone call from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday, the Saudi state news agency reported.
The two ministers discussed against “dangerous military escalation in Gaza and its surroundings, and to adhere to any humanitarian truce and ceasefire agreement” in addition to the need to prevent a growing humanitarian crisis.
The Saudi foreign minister “stressed the Kingdom’s categorical rejection of the forced displacement of the residents of Gaza, and the importance of the international community moving seriously and effectively to confront all the ongoing violations of the Israeli occupation forces and their repeated violations of international law and international humanitarian law”, it added.
Netanyahu says hostage deal does not include “release of murderers” from Israel
The hostage deal does not include the “release of murderers”, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated Wednesday while disclosing more details from the agreement.
Most Israelis have welcomed the agreement, and Netanyahu said the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and security establishments fully support the deal with Hamas.
“They made it clear yesterday at the government meeting that the security of our forces will be maintained during the pause days,” Netanyahu added during a news conference.
But there has been concern from some that “perpetrators of fatal attacks on Israelis” could be among the list of Palestinians set to be released from Israeli jails.
The vast majority of the Palestinians listed as eligible for release are male teenagers aged 16 to 18 – children under the United Nations definition – although a handful are as young as 14. Some 33 are women.
Netanyahu credited the success of the agreement to the combination of Israel’s “non-stop massive military pressure” on Hamas and “heavy” diplomatic pressure Israel had been applying to release hostages taken by the group.
“We have conducted tough negotiation, fought to improve the agreement,” Netanyahu stated.
He added he spoke to US President Joe Biden on Wednesday and thanked him for “acting, at my request, vis-à-vis the mediators, to achieve a significant improvement in the agreement, and such an improvement was indeed achieved”.
“I believe that this combination [of diplomatic and military efforts] will allow the release of additional hostages in the next stages,” the prime minister said.
During the truce, the IDF will “prepare for the continuation” of the war against Hamas, Netanyahu continued, adding, “The war continues, and will continue until we reach all of our goals.”
Return of hostages is a “complicated process yet to be finalized”: Israeli military spokesperson
Coordinating the return of hostages from Gaza is not an easy task, Israel’s military spokesperson said at a briefing Wednesday evening.
“This is a complicated process, which is yet to be finalized, and could take time and last over a few stages,” Israel Defense Forces spokesperson Daniel Hagari stated.
In the early hours of Wednesday morning, Israel’s cabinet approved a deal for the release of hostages seized by Hamas in exchange for a four-day pause in fighting in Gaza, which is slated to begin Thursday morning. Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails will also be released as part of the deal.
Hagari said Israel’s military is cooperating with all the relevant bodies to administer “an orderly process” to receive hostages from Hamas.
The coming days will be “filled with moment of relief and moments of pain,” he added, warning that they could also include “attempts to carry out psychological terror, aimed against us by the terror organizations.”
He also stated that the chief of the general staff of the IDF, Herzi Halevi, has approved “the war’s plans and stages for the future, and particularly the readiness for the next few days.”
Hagari stressed that “a long fight is ahead” for the Israeli military.
Over 280 injured patients have been evacuated to Egypt since October 7
A total of 284 injured patients have been evacuated into Egypt since Israel launched attacks on Gaza following the October 7 Hamas attack, according to Egyptian government press office director Ayman Walash.
He said a total of 2,222 tons of medical aid had been delivered via the Rafah crossing, in addition to 6,063 tons of food, 4,625 tons of water, and 1,407 tons of other aid. Also, 378 tons of fuel had been delivered since November 21, he said.
The number of foreign nationals and dual nationals who have crossed the border through the Rafah crossing has reached 7,730, he said. This is in addition to 1,102 Egyptians.
UN chief says Israel-Hamas truce is “an important step in right direction”
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated the UN will “mobilize all its capabilities” to support the implementation of the Israel-Hamas truce.
“I welcome the agreement reached by Israel & Hamas. It‘s an important step in the right direction, but much more needs to be done. The UN will mobilize all its capacities to support the implementation & maximize positive impact on the humanitarian situation in Gaza,” Guterres said in a statement.
The UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland also welcomed news of the four-day pause.
“This pause must be used to its fullest extent to facilitate the release of hostages and alleviate the dire needs of Palestinians in Gaza,” he said.
He also called for a continuous stream of humanitarian aid and thanked Egypt, Qatar and the US for their efforts in facilitating the agreement.
“All parties must live up to their responsibilities to uphold this important agreement. This is an important step, but more must be done and I will continue all efforts to bring the suffering to an end,” he added.
The Gaza healthcare infrastructure has been attacked for at least 178 times since October 7, 22 medical workers were killed, and 48 were injured, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported.
“Since the start of the war, the World Health Organization (WHO) has documented 178 health attacks in Gaza Strip that resulted in 22 fatalities and 48 injuries among health care workers on duty,” the report says.
According to OCHA, 22 hospitals in the northern part of the Gaza Strip are currently not operational, with two more partially operational. In the southern part, 7 hospitals out of 11 are operational.
