EXPLANER
Biden signed order to sanction West Bank settlers, Israeli siege of Gaza hospital continues.
Here’s how things are going on Friday, February 2, 2024:
Latest news on human impact and fighting
- The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that the Israeli siege of al-Amal hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza, has continued for 11 days.
- The PRCS also said that Israeli forces stormed al-Amal Hospital for the third time on Thursday.
- Gaza Health Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra issued a statement on Thursday warning that more than 30,000 displaced people in schools near Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis had no food or water , nor formula milk.
- Israel announced Thursday that it had succeeded in fighting in the southern Gaza town of Khan Younis, where Israel launched a major ground attack last week, meaning its forces could advance towards Rafah on the Gaza’s southern border. enclave.
- More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have taken refuge in Rafah, mainly from cold and hunger in makeshift tents and public buildings.
Diplomacy
- US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant about moving to “low-intensity operations in Gaza”, support for a diplomatic solution along the border Israeli-Lebanese and stability in the occupied West Bank.
- British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said Thursday that his country could officially recognize a Palestinian state after a ceasefire in Gaza, without waiting for the outcome of negotiations on a two-state solution.
- U.S. President Joe Biden will join grieving families at Dover Air Force Base on Friday to honor three U.S. service members killed in a drone attack at a U.S. facility at Tower 22 in Jordan.
- Biden on Thursday signed an executive order aimed at punishing settlers who attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank as violence has increased since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza.
Attacks in the West Bank
- Israeli forces shot and injured a Palestinian in the city of Hebron, according to local sources, the Palestinian Wafa news agency reported.
- Israeli settlers attempted to set fire to a car on the outskirts of the Palestinian town of as-Sawiya, south of Nablus, Wafa reported.
- Israeli forces carried out raids in the cities of Jenin, Nablus and Hebron on Thursday evening, Wafa reported.
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