One hundred people, suspected of “terrorist activities” by Israel, were arrested in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes, in the Gaza Strip, announced Saturday February 17 the Israeli army which stormed this establishment, where fears intensify for the dozens of trapped patients and employees. The army also claims to have discovered mortar shells, grenades and other weapons belonging to Hamas. According to the World Health Organization, the hospital is now “barely functional”. The Hamas Health Ministry says six patients died due to power outages that caused oxygen distribution to stop. Follow our live stream.
Joe Biden calls for “a temporary ceasefire”. For the American president, who spoke on Friday, this solution would make it possible to “bring out the hostages” held by Hamas. Until then, Joe Biden had argued rather for “truce” or a “break” in the fights. A semantic debate that matters for the United States.
Fear of an attack on Rafah remains. LThe international community is also increasing its calls to dissuade Israel from launching an offensive in the overpopulated city of Rafah, where there are 1.4 million civilians, near the closed border with Egypt. The European Union declared itself again on Friday “very concerned” from this perspective, and urged Israel to “not to undertake military action in Rafah which would aggravate an already catastrophic humanitarian situation”.
New human toll in Gaza. The Israeli offensive in Gaza has left 28,858 dead, the vast majority of them civilians, the Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Saturday in a new report. According to Israel, 130 hostages are still held in Gaza, 30 of whom are believed to have died, out of around 250 people kidnapped. On October 7, Hamas members infiltrated from Gaza killed more than 1,160 people in Israel, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.