What happened in the last few hours?
These are the top news stories about Israel's military offensive in Gaza and the escalation in the Middle East this Wednesday, February 7, at 9:00 p.m.:
Netanyahu rejects proposal for a 135-day ceasefire in Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected the compensation demanded by Hamas for the handover of the 136 hostages remaining in Gaza: 135 days of ceasefire, release of up to 1,500 Palestinian prisoners, withdrawal of Israeli troops from the entire Gaza Strip, the arrival of further humanitarian aid, the beginning of the reconstruction of the territory and the indirect negotiation of the final end of the war. “Capitulating to Hamas’s delusional demands would only lead to another massacre. “There is no solution other than total victory,” he said in a press conference.
Hamas ceasefire proposal. The Palestinian militia had presented a ceasefire plan divided into three phases of 45 days each.
Blinken meets Netanyahu in the final phase of his Middle East trip. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is in the final phase of his tour of the Middle East, the fifth since the start of the war in Gaza. The two had “a long and detailed meeting in private,” Netanyahu’s office said. Blinken had planned a press conference for late afternoon.
Israeli troops kill three Palestinians in the West Bank. Israel Defense Forces soldiers have killed three Palestinians in the West Bank during a raid on the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem in the northeast of the occupied West Bank. According to the Palestinian Ministry of Health, at least one 39-year-old man and another 36-year-old man were shot dead by troops. The Israeli army has claimed to have killed three “terrorists”.
The number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of the war is 27,708. According to the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza since the start of the war is 27,708, plus 67,147 wounded. In the last 24 hours, 123 Palestinians were killed and 169 injured by Israeli attacks, the ministry added.
The Israeli army finds another tunnel in Gaza where Hamas hostages were allegedly held. The Israeli army recently discovered a tunnel more than a kilometer long in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, where Israeli hostages were allegedly being held by Hamas. “It was used to hide high-ranking members of the terrorist organization Hamas and hold hostages,” a military spokesman said.
Guterres is “particularly alarmed” by reports that Israel intends to attack Rafah. UN Secretary-General António Guterres said he was “particularly concerned” by reports that the Israeli army was now planning to focus on Rafah. “An action of this kind would exponentially worsen what is already a humanitarian nightmare with unforeseeable regional consequences,” Guterres told the UN General Assembly.