The French president and his Egyptian counterpart expressed “their firm opposition” to an Israeli offensive in Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are crowded together, the Elysée announced in a press release on Sunday February 18. During a telephone call on Saturday, Emmanuel Macron and Abdel Fattah al-Sissi also expressed their opposition “any forced displacement of populations” towards Egypt, which “would constitute a violation of international humanitarian law”, emphasizing “the urgency of drastically increasing the entry of aid for the population of Gaza”. Follow our live stream.
Washington threatens to block a UN resolution calling for a “ceasefire”. The American ambassador to the UN, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, believes that putting this text to a vote could “to go against” ongoing diplomatic negotiations for a truce including further releases of hostages. “If we came to a vote on the current project, it would not be adopted”she warned, clearly evoking a veto.
Pessimism about the negotiations. Discussions for a truce have not “not been very promising in recent days”, recognized Saturday the Prime Minister of Qatar, whose country is mediating these talks. But “we will do our best to get closer” of agreement, added Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane al-Thani. Hamas threatened on Saturday evening to leave the negotiations if humanitarian aid was not quickly delivered to the Gaza Strip.
A new assessment communicated by Hamas in Gaza. The Hamas Health Ministry said Sunday that the Israeli offensive left 28,985 people dead, the vast majority civilians. According to Israel, 130 hostages are still held in Gaza, 30 of whom are believed to have died, out of around 250 people kidnapped.
Benjamin Netanyahu decided to enter Rafah. “Anyone who wants to stop us from carrying out an operation in Rafah is basically telling us to lose the war. I am not going to give in to that”declared Saturday the Israeli Prime Minister. The international community has expressed its fears about a ground offensive in this city where 1.4 million Palestinians are crowded.