The city of Rafah, where more than a million Palestinians threatened by the war in Gaza have taken refuge, is the scene, on Saturday February 3, of intense Israeli strikes at a time when diplomacy is trying to impose a new truce against a backdrop of regional conflagration. LDiplomacy is trying for its part to negotiate a second truce, longer than that of a week, negotiated under the aegis of Qatar, Egypt and the United States and which at the end of November allowed the release of around a hundred Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinians imprisoned by Israel. Follow our live stream.
Powerful strikes in Rafah. Shortly after midnight, an AFP journalist heard powerful strikes in Rafah, a town bordering Egypt, at the southern tip of the Gaza Strip. The Hamas health ministry announced the deaths of at least 100 civilians in the evening and night, including 14 early Saturday in strikes on two residences in Rafah.
Where is the next truce? The leader of Hamas, Ismaïl Haniyeh, based in Qatar, is expected in Egypt to discuss a proposal drawn up during a meeting at the end of January in Paris between the head of the CIA, William Burns, and Egyptian, Israeli and Qatari officials . In recent days, Qatar has reported “firsts” signs of support for the truce from Hamas, but the Palestinian Islamist movement then claimed to have not yet made a decision on this proposal, wanting a ceasefire and not a new pause.
A new Blinken tour. The truce project must also be at the heart of a new tour of the Middle East by American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, starting on Sunday, and which will take him to Qatar, Egypt, Israel and the occupied West Bank. and in Saudi Arabia.