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EXPLANER
A US drone strike in Iraq has killed a senior Kataib Hezbollah commander as Israeli bombing of Gaza enters its fifth month.
Here’s how things are going on Thursday, February 8, 2024:
Humanitarian crisis in Gaza
- Reports from the UN humanitarian agency OCHA show that Palestinian casualties in Gaza between Tuesday and Wednesday were 123, bringing the total number of Palestinian casualties in Gaza to 27,708 as of Wednesday.
- The Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCS) reported that a paramedic was killed and two others injured after Israeli forces opened fire directly on them in an area between the Arab Ahli Hospital and the Al Hospital. -Shifa in Gaza City, while they were on their way to evacuate the wounded. , reported the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
- Israeli air attacks on two houses killed at least 12 Palestinians and injured many others in the Tal as-Sultan and Saudi neighborhoods of Rafah in southern Gaza on Wednesday evening, Wafa reported.
- Additionally, two Palestinians were killed and ten others injured in an Israeli air raid on a house in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza.
- More than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have now taken refuge in Rafah, where the original population was 250,000, according to a statement released Wednesday by UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths.
- The Palestinian Coalition for Digital Rights sent letters to Meta, X, Telegram and TikTok regarding the proliferation of hate speech, dehumanization and incitement to violence and genocide against the Palestinian people on their platforms, Wafa reported .
- The coalition said the interim measures ordered by the International Court of Justice are a necessity to address the urgent need for online platforms to fulfill their legal and moral responsibility to respect human rights.
- Israeli forces released an excerpt of Herzi Halevi’s assessment of the situation on Wednesday, in which he said bringing back Israeli captives was not possible without exerting military pressure.
Regional tensions and diplomacy
- A US drone strike blew up a car in the Iraqi capital on Wednesday evening, killing a high-ranking Kataib Hezbollah commander, the US military said on Wednesday, adding that the group was responsible for “directly planning and participating in attacks. on American troops in the region.
- The stabbing attack on a 23-year-old Palestinian-American, Zacharia Doar, deserves to be labeled a hate crime, Austin police announced Wednesday. Bert James Baker, 36, was arrested following the attack on Sunday evening.
- Police in suburban Chicago arrested 33 people Wednesday after blocking streets for more than six hours outside a business that protesters say plays a role in the deaths of thousands of civilians in Gaza.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel that it does not have “the right to dehumanize others”, as Washington delivered one of its harshest criticisms yet of Israel in its war against Gaza. Blinken later posted on X, reiterating his support for an independent Palestinian state.
- US President Joe Biden will send top aides to Michigan on Thursday to meet with Arab-American and Muslim leaders. The visit comes as Biden’s handling of Israel’s war on Gaza has frustrated community members in a key constituency for the 2024 presidential elections.
I met today with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Abbas in Ramallah to reiterate U.S. support for reform of the PA and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state . pic.twitter.com/9Gi5QMRihH
– Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 7, 2024
Occupied West Bank
- Local sources reported that armed Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian shepherds on Wednesday evening and prevented their access to pastures south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Wafa reported.
- Two Palestinians were killed Wednesday evening by Israeli forces in the Nur Shams refugee camp in the town of Tulkarem in the northern occupied West Bank. Israeli forces bombed a house belonging to one of the slain men using Anerga missiles, causing a fire on the top floor, while bulldozers demolished other parts of the house.
- Wafa reported that one Palestinian was injured and another arrested Wednesday during a large-scale incursion in the Wadi al-Fara area, south of Tubas governorate, in the occupied West Bank.
- Israeli forces stormed Jenin again on Wednesday, arresting five citizens and damaging infrastructure.
