what to remember from Wednesday January 17

Military actions, diplomatic efforts, humanitarian aid… Every evening, franceinfo summarizes the highlights of the conflict in the Middle East.

The Israeli army intensified its deadly strikes against the south of the Gaza Strip on Wednesday January 17, in the fourth month of its war against Hamas. On a humanitarian level, a step was taken with the delivery to Gaza of medicine intended for Israeli hostages, in exchange for aid to the besieged Palestinian population. Here’s what to remember from the day.

Medicines delivered for hostages and civilians in Gaza

Medicines intended for hostages kidnapped in Israel on October 7 during the Palestinian Hamas attack were sent to Gaza on Wednesday, the Qatari mediator said. The day before, he had announced an agreement between Israel and Hamas on the entry of medicine for the hostages, in exchange for aid for civilians in Gaza. The Palestinian group then said it refused Israel’s inspection of the convoy before its entry into Gaza, but Israeli authorities rejected such a possibility.

At least a third of the hostages suffer from chronic illnesses and require treatment, according to the collective of hostage families “Bring them home now”. Some 250 people were taken hostage and taken to Gaza during the attack, around 100 of whom were released during a truce at the end of November. According to Israel, 132 remain detained, of whom 27 are believed to have died. On the Israeli side, the attack on October 7 left 1,140 dead, mostly civilians, killed that day, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

“Intense” and deadly bombings in Khan Younes

Witnesses reported bombings near the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes, where, according to Israel, leaders of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas are hiding. Evoking “the most difficult and intense night” of Israeli bombings in Khan Younes since the start of the war, the Palestinian group announced the death of at least 81 Palestinians in various locations in the Gaza Strip, including this city, where the fighting is concentrated. “There is no safe place in Gaza”a resident of Rafah lamented to AFP, after fleeing the north of the enclave. “Everything is targeted.”

According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, 24,448 people, the vast majority women, children and adolescents, were killed in Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territory, where the UN cited a “risk of starvation” and D’“deadly epidemics”. According to the Israeli army, 193 soldiers have been killed in Gaza since the start of its ground offensive on October 27. There has been an almost total internet and telephone outage for six days in Gaza.

New victims in the occupied West Bank

In the West Bank, Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, ten Palestinians were killed in drone strikes by the Israeli army and in fighting in the regions of Nablus and Tulkarem, according to Palestinian sources. The Jewish state army, which has intensified its operations in the West Bank since October 7, presented one of the killed fighters as the leader of a “terrorist cell” Who “was planning an imminent large-scale attack”.

Israel does not rule out war with Lebanon

The war between Israel and Hamas still raises fears of a conflagration in the region. With daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Lebanese Hezbollah, Israeli Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi has warned that the likelihood of war “in the coming months” on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon was today “much higher”. For the head of the UN, Antonio Guterres, a “total confrontation” between Lebanon and Israel would be a “complete disaster”.

New ship hit off Yemen

Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed Wednesday evening that they had “fired missiles against the American ship Genco Picardy” off the coast of the city of Aden. Earlier, the British Maritime Safety Agency reported a ship hit by a drone in the Gulf of Aden, specifying that the crew and the ship were safe. It is a bulk carrier flying the flag of the Marshall Islands, according to the British maritime risk company Ambrey. THE Genco Picardy sails under the flag of this Oceanian state, according to the Vessel Finder website.

This attack came hours after the United States reclassified the Houthis as an entity “terrorist”. Washington had removed this group from its list of“terrorist organizations” in February 2021. The United States and the United Kingdom have carried out a series of strikes in recent days against the positions of the Houthis, who responded by targeting American ships, now considered to be “legitimate targets”.