The Israeli army “intensified” its offensive against Gaza, including an attack on an ambulance that left several people dead.
The war between Israel and Hamas entered its 28th day on Friday, November 3rd. A day marked by increasingly futile diplomatic efforts to reach a ceasefire and the intensification of bombings in Gaza. Here’s what you need to keep in mind.
Benjamin Netanyahu rejects a “temporary ceasefire”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejects “a temporary ceasefire” with Hamas “without the release” of the more than 240 hostages kidnapped and held in Gaza during the Hamas attack. Shortly before, during a visit to Israel, the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, claimed to have discussed with Benjamin Netanyahu the possibility of “humanitarian pauses” to protect Palestinian civilians, adding that “the only way to ensure the security of Israel “To ensure” is to do so a Palestinian state.
A humanitarian conference in Paris on November 9th
The French President announced the holding of a humanitarian conference in Paris on November 9th. “This conference will mobilize key humanitarian actors in Gaza,” explains the Foreign Ministry. “States, major donors, international organizations and NGOs operating in Gaza,” such as the ICRC, were invited, as was the Palestinian Authority, the Quai d’Orsay adds. “The fight against terrorism is not an indiscriminate attack on the civilian population,” reiterated Emmanuel Macron.
Israel “intensifies” its offensive against Gaza
The Israeli army has “intensified” its offensive on Gaza, killing 10 Hamas battalion commanders who played a key role in preparing the October 7 attack, its spokesman Daniel Hagari announced.
For its part, the Hamas government announced that an Israeli attack targeted an ambulance at the entrance to Gaza’s largest hospital, killing 13 people. Israeli authorities confirmed they had targeted the vehicle, which they said was used by “a Hamas terrorist cell.”
French institute in Gaza targeted by Israeli fire
France expressed “astonishment” and “incomprehension” at an Israeli attack on the French institute in Gaza and demanded explanations from Israel. No French agent or national was at the institute, Paris said.
“Today (Friday) we made public the fact that the French cultural institute in Gaza was hit a few days ago in a way that causes our astonishment and our incomprehension and which has led France to ask the Israeli authorities for explanations to understand how “A French cultural institute could be the target of an Israeli attack,” Catherine Colonna told French media in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.
Numerous evacuations from Gaza
According to the Egyptian Ministry of Health, “448 foreigners and dual nationals” “including 96 children” were evacuated from Gaza to Egypt on Friday. According to Paris, 34 French people and their families were able to leave the Palestinian territory. At the beginning of November, the Quai d’Orsay estimated the number of French people present in the Gaza Strip at around fifty, not counting their families.
According to Nasrallah, the possibility of “total war” is “realistic.”
Lebanese Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah warned that the possibility of “total war” was “realistic.” “We tell the enemy who thinks of attacking Lebanon or carrying out a preemptive operation that this would be the greatest folly of their existence,” the leader of Hezbollah, a Hamas ally, said in his first speech since October 7.
He also warned the United States, a close ally of Israel: “We are ready to face your fleet” in the Mediterranean “that you threaten us with,” he declared, believing that “whoever wants to prevent a regional war will do so must.” Quickly stop the aggression in Gaza.