António Guterres warned on Wednesday February 7 against “incalculable regional consequences” of a possible Israeli ground assault in Rafah, where hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians are crowded into the south of the Gaza Strip, on the border with Egypt. “Such action would exponentially increase what is already a humanitarian nightmare, with incalculable regional consequences”, declared the former Prime Minister before the UN General Assembly. Follow our live stream.
Antony Blinken says he is discussing “additional steps” with Israel for aid to Gaza. “We all have an obligation to do everything possible to bring the necessary help to all those who desperately need it”he added after his meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
A “positive” response from Hamas to a truce project, says Qatar. Led by Doha and Egypt, the initiative provides for the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip in exchange for a pause in the fighting between Israel and the Palestinian movement. Hamas confirmed that it had submitted its response to the Egyptian and Qatari mediators but without specifying its content.
Fighting continues in the Gaza Strip. The bombings particularly affected the Gazan towns of Khan Younes and Rafah. More than 1.3 million displaced people are now crowded into the latter, in desperate conditions.
DIsraeli strikes in Syria kill five people. According to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, three civilians are among the victims of these bombings in the Homs region. Syrian state television broadcast footage showing rescuers searching through the rubble of what appeared to be a collapsed building, and carrying a person on a stretcher.