The war between Israel and Hamas, which entered its 85th day on Sunday, was triggered by a bloody and unprecedented attack perpetrated by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil from the Gaza Strip on October 7.
Some 1,140 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the attack, according to an AFP count based on the latest Israeli figures, and some 250 were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. Of these hostages, 129 are still in Gaza, according to the army.
After the attack on October 7, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas, pounding the Palestinian territory, laying siege to it and conducting a ground operation there since October 27.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reported on Sunday that 21,672 people had been killed since the start of the Israeli bombardment, the vast majority of them civilians.
Here are the latest developments:
Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again declared that the conflict in Gaza would last for several months on Saturday. “Our policy is clear: we will continue to fight until we have achieved all our war aims,” he told a press conference.
During his speech, Mr Netanyahu attacked Iran and its ally Hezbollah in particular, while tensions continue to escalate on the border with Lebanon. “If Hezbollah extends the fighting, it will absorb strikes that it has never imagined. The same goes for Iran,” he said. Before adding that he was ready to “do everything to prevent Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons.”
Ministers Benny Gantz and Yoav Gallant, whom Mr Netanyahu had invited to attend the conference with him, declined.
Demonstrations in Israel
Thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening, calling for Mr Netanyahu to be ousted. At the same time, another was held in Caesarea, near the Prime Minister’s private residence, with similar demands.
Strikes in Syria
Nineteen fighters affiliated with Iran were killed on Saturday and around twenty injured in “probably Israeli” air strikes against sites in eastern Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.
The Observatory also announced in the afternoon that warehouses and headquarters of Iranian militias in the Aleppo airport area had been targeted by strikes from the sea, killing several people. He added that most of those killed were members of Hezbollah.
In the evening, the SOHR announced that two American bases in the Deir ez-Zor region had been the target of attacks by pro-Iranian groups.
Read more
Operations in Gaza
While the north of the Gaza Strip was largely destroyed during the first weeks of the war, the Israeli army published images on Saturday of Hamas tunnels it had discovered, which it said were equipped with electricity, ventilation and sewage systems, as well as rest and prayer rooms.
In a statement, it claimed to have blown up this underground network on Friday, with aerial images showing the impressive blast.
Famine and disease threaten the enclave
Throughout the Gaza Strip, 85% of the 2.4 million inhabitants have had to flee their homes since October 7, according to the UN, and are facing a disastrous humanitarian situation.
In a press release, the territory’s Ministry of Health “warned of the risk of famine among the more than 1.9 million displaced persons, who lack water, food, medicines and basic infrastructure”.
A few dozen lorries of aid enter the territory under complete siege by Israel every day via the Rafah border crossing with Egypt, a figure that is clearly insufficient.
Read more
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
