what to remember from Sunday February 4

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Sunday that the Jewish state’s army had destroyed “17 of the 24 battalions” of Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli army continued its strikes on the Gaza Strip on Sunday February 4, almost four months after the start of its operations in the Palestinian enclave, in retaliation for the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7. On Sunday, the IDF again bombed Khan Younes in the south of the territory, where, according to Israel, leaders of the Islamist movement in power in Gaza are hiding.

According to an AFP journalist, airstrikes also targeted Rafah, a few kilometers to the south. This city now has more than 1.3 million displaced people having fled fighting and bombings, according to the UN.

In 24 hours, at least 127 people were killed across the Gaza Strip, says the Hamas health ministry. The Israeli army also announced the death of a soldier on Sunday, bringing the toll of Israeli military losses in Gaza to 225 people.

According to Israel, “17 of 24 battalions” of Hamas were destroyed

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Sunday that the Jewish state’s army had destroyed “17 of 24 battalions” Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “Most of those remaining are in the southern Gaza Strip and Rafah, and we will take care of them”added the head of the Israeli government. “The pressure on Hamas is working (…) They are in a difficult situation and we are hitting them hard”, affirmed for his part the Israeli Minister of Defense, Yoav Gallant. A few days earlier, the latter had declared that the city of Rafah would be the IDF’s next military objective in the Palestinian enclave.

IDF claims to have invested a key Hamas compound

On Sunday, the Israeli army assured that it had invested in Gaza a complex used by Hamas to prepare for the October 7 attacks in Israel, which more than 1,160 dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures. “The ‘Al-Qadsia’ complex served as a training center for Hamas to train terrorists”the army said in a statement, describing in particular models of kibbutz entrances, military bases and Israeli armored vehicles.

The soldiers also entered the office of Mohammed Sinouar, one of the commanders of the al-Qassam brigades, of the armed wing of Hamas. He is the brother of Yahya Sinouar, leader of Hamas in Gaza and considered the mastermind of the October 7 attacks.

A new diplomatic tour for Antony Blinken

On the diplomatic front, negotiations are continuing to reach a second truce, longer than the one week at the end of November. It allowed the release of around a hundred hostages held in Gaza, in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

American Secretary of State Antony Blinken, whose country is the main supporter of Israel, is due to leave Washington on Sunday for the Middle East to support these negotiations. The head of American diplomacy must visit Qatar, Egypt, Israel, the occupied West Bank and Saudi Arabia.

Stéphane Séjourné traveling to Cairo

The new head of French diplomacy, Stéphane Séjourné, is also on a regional tour regarding the same negotiations. The Minister of Foreign Affairs met on Sunday in Cairo (Egypt) with Egyptian President Abel Fattah al-Sissi and his counterpart Sameh Shoukry.

France works “in favor of a ceasefire but we must also prepare for the return of the Palestinian Authority to Gaza with renewed governance”, he declared on the sidelines of a meeting with Sameh Shoukry. Paris “denied” also everything “forced displacement” of the Gazan population blocked in Rafah towards Egypt, underlined Stéphane Séjourné.

Houthis promise to respond to strikes from Washington and London

On Sunday, Houthi rebels vowed to retaliate for US-British strikes on areas under their control in Yemen. LThe air forces of the United States and the United Kingdom aimed SATURDAY “36 Houthi targets in 13 locations in Yemen. These strikes are being carried out in response to attacks by these Iran-backed insurgents on merchant ships in the Red Sea. MDespite the intensification of American operations, the Houthis continued their attacks in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, saying they were targeting ships linked to Israel “in solidarity” with the Palestinians in Gaza.