French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Israel on Tuesday October 24. “The first objective is the release of the hostages”he declared during his meeting with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog, in Jerusalem. “We must organize targeted operations against terrorists.” He is also due to meet several officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The French president will plead for a “humanitarian truce” in order to provide aid to the inhabitants of Gaza and “facilitate the release of hostages”according to its services.
Upon his arrival, the president had previously met around thirty French people, in the lounges of Ben-Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, with 18 families of victims represented. Relatives of Mia Shem, this Franco-Israeli woman held hostage and presented in a video broadcast on October 16 by Hamas, were notably present. Follow our live stream.
A meeting with Mahmoud Abbas also planned. Emmanuel Macron will meet President Mahmoud Abbas today in Ramallah, in the West Bank, the Palestinian Authority said. This trip was not immediately confirmed by the Elysée.
Two hostages released by Hamas. These two women, of Israeli nationality, are from Kibbutz Nir Oz, according to the Israeli Prime Minister’s office which gave their identities: Yocheved Lifschitz, 85 years old, and Nourit Kuper, 79 years old. Their husbands are still detained. Around 220 Israeli, foreign or binational hostages were identified by Israel, taken by men of the Palestinian Islamist movement in the Gaza Strip.
Humanitarian aid in dribs and drabs. International aid has started arriving since Saturday via Egypt. On Monday, a third convoy crossed the border at Rafah, the only crossing point into Gaza not under Israeli control. In total, around fifty trucks were able to enter in three days, while according to the UN at least 100 are needed per day.
Strikes still in progress. Since October 15, the Israeli army has called on civilians in the north of the Gaza Strip, where the bombardments are most intense, to flee to the South. However, the strikes also continue to affect the South, close to the Egyptian border, where the displaced are massed by the hundreds of thousands. The humanitarian situation is “catastrophic”the UN warned, with at least 1.4 million Palestinians fleeing their homes.
Six more UN employees killed in strikes. Six employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) were killed in Gaza in the space of 24 hours, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) announced on Monday evening. This brings to 35 the number of UNRWA personnel who have died since the start of the war.