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EXPLANER
Hospitals in Khan Younis remain under siege as tensions rise in the Red Sea.
Here’s how things are going on Thursday, February 1, 2024:
Latest news on human impact and fighting:
- The Israeli army stormed the courtyard of the al-Amal hospital affiliated with the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) in the town of Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday after 10 days seat.
- The Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis also remains under siege due to a fuel shortage.
- Shelling in Gaza continues, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Tareq Abu Azzoum reported that several Palestinians were killed after Israel bombed a civilian car on the main road from Khan Younis to Rafah.
- On Thursday, US Central Command (CENTCOM) issued a statement saying US forces carried out strikes against Houthi unmanned aerial vehicles and the group’s ground control post in “self-defense”.
- On Wednesday evening, CENTCOM announced that the USS Carney had shot down an anti-ship ballistic missile fired by the Houthis in the Gulf of Aden. No damage or injuries were reported.
- The European Union plans to launch a naval mission in the Red Sea within three weeks to help defend cargo ships against Houthi attacks, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Wednesday.
- Around 184,000 people have registered for humanitarian aid in the western suburbs of Khan Younis in recent days, the UN humanitarian agency OCHA said in its daily update.
Diplomacy
- A civil case accusing US President Joe Biden and other top officials of being complicit in Israel’s “genocide” in Gaza has been dismissed by a US federal court judge on jurisdictional grounds.
- On Wednesday, the Chicago City Council passed a resolution calling for a ceasefire. Some 70 US cities have passed resolutions on Israel’s war on Gaza, most calling for a ceasefire.
- South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said on Wednesday that Israel had ignored the International Court of Justice’s (ICJ) interim ruling last week by killing hundreds more civilians in a matter of days in Gaza.
- State Department spokesman Matthew Miller told reporters Wednesday that the U.S. response to the Jordan Tower 22 attack, which killed three U.S. troops, “will not be an escalation.” He added that the United States does not believe it is in the interest of any country in the region, including Iran, to see the conflict escalate.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken met with UN humanitarian coordinator Sigrid Kaag on Wednesday. Blinken said the U.S. government is “working closely” with Kaag to “maximize aid coming into Gaza.”
- Tel Aviv Tribune’s Hamdah Salhut reported, citing Israeli media, that Mossad intelligence chief David Bernea briefed Israel’s war cabinet on the plan to release the captives. The current plan suggests a 35-day pause in fighting and the release of 35 captives. The number of Palestinian prisoners released was not discussed.
- Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh is expected in Cairo on Thursday amid discussions over a proposed truce.
Settler attacks in the West Bank
- The Palestinian Wafa news agency reported that armed Israeli settlers injured two Palestinian children on Wednesday evening near the village of Susya, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, according to local sources.
- Wafa also reported that armed Israeli settlers attacked an elderly man on Wednesday in the Masafer Yatta area, located south of the West Bank city of Hebron, according to local sources.
- On Wednesday, an Israeli settler crushed a flock of sheep in the al-Ma’rajat area, west of Jericho, Wafa reported.
