The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its 44th day on Sunday, was sparked by the Palestinian Islamist movement’s bloody Oct. 7 attack on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip, where it seized power in 2007.
• Also read: Israel-Hamas War: Towards the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for a ceasefire?
• Also read: WHO calls for evacuation of Al-Chifa hospital in Gaza, which has become a “death zone”.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas and relentlessly shell the besieged area, home to 2.4 million Palestinians. The Israeli army launched a ground operation in the Gaza Strip on October 27.
Here are the latest developments:
- The 31 premature babies still in al-Chifa hospital, the largest in Gaza, after Saturday’s evacuation, have been removed from the facility, Mohammed Zaqout, director general of the city’s hospitals, told AFP on Sunday. Gaza Strip.
- The World Health Organization (WHO) said it conducted a mission to the Israeli army-occupied Al-Chifa Hospital on Saturday and was working on an evacuation plan for those remaining in the facility, what the WHO describes as a “death zone.”
- According to the facility’s director and an AFP journalist at the scene, hundreds of people have already evacuated Al-Chifa, where sick people, doctors and displaced people were located, on Saturday after receiving orders from the Israeli army. The army says it was “responding to a request” from the hospital director.
- Three Israeli soldiers were killed in the Gaza Strip, bringing the number of soldiers killed since the Israeli offensive began to 62, the army announced on Sunday.
- Reaching an agreement to release hostages kidnapped by Hamas during its Oct. 7 attack now rests on “minor” practical issues, Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani said on Sunday, without giving a timetable.
- The White House said Saturday it would “continue to work hard” to reach an agreement between Israel and Hamas on the release of hostages and a pause in fighting.
- At least two Palestinians were killed by the Israeli army in nighttime raids on at least five towns and refugee camps in the occupied West Bank on Sunday, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.
- According to the latest Hamas government report, 12,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli bombings in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war, including more than 5,000 children and 3,300 women.
- According to Israeli authorities, the Hamas attack on October 7 claimed 1,200 lives, mostly civilians.
- The Israeli military estimates that around 240 people were taken hostage.