Gaza health officials said the total number of Palestinian deaths since the beginning of the war had risen to more than 29,500 people, in addition to nearly 70,000 wounded. The death toll is approaching 1.3 percent of Gaza's population of 2.3 million.
Netanyahu's vision for Gaza
Netanyahu's plan, although lacking in details, represents the first time he has presented an official post-war vision. It reaffirms that Israel is determined to crush Hamas, the armed group that invaded the Gaza Strip in 2007.
A boy stands on top of a destroyed building while others inspect the damage to their homes following Israeli air strikes on Rafah. credit: GT
Opinion polls indicate that the majority of Palestinians do not support Hamas, but the group has deep roots in Palestinian society. Critics, including some in Israel, say the goal of eliminating Hamas is unattainable.
Netanyahu's plan calls for giving the Israeli army freedom to operate throughout the demilitarized Gaza Strip after the war to thwart any security threat. It says Israel will create a buffer zone inside Gaza, which is likely to raise objections from the United States.
The plan also envisions Gaza being governed by local officials who it says “will not be linked to, nor receive money from, countries or entities that support terrorism.”
It is not clear whether any Palestinians would agree to such roles as subcontractors. Over the past decades, Israel has repeatedly tried and failed to establish carefully selected local Palestinian governing councils.
The Palestinian Authority, which runs enclaves in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, denounced Netanyahu's plan as “colonial and racist,” saying it would amount to an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza. Israel withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005, but retained control of access to the Strip.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said he had not seen the details of the plan. But he said any plan must be consistent with the basic principles the United States has set for Gaza's future, “including that it cannot be a platform for terrorism, there should be no Israeli reoccupation of Gaza, and there should be no change in the size of the territory.” Gaza”. reduced.”
download
The Biden administration wants to see a reformed Palestinian Authority governing both Gaza and the West Bank as a step toward establishing a Palestinian state. It sought to reduce Netanyahu's resistance by raising the possibility of normalizing relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, which demands a Palestinian state as a precondition.
The war continues
American, Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian officials are expected to meet in Paris this weekend to discuss ceasefire efforts. A senior Egyptian official said that Egypt and Qatar will come to terms with an understanding reached with Hamas leaders that calls for a six-week ceasefire and the release of elderly and sick hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners in Israel. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to inform the press. During the ceasefire, the details will be worked out at another stage.
Hamas demanded a complete halt to the Israeli attack and the withdrawal of its forces from Gaza in exchange for the release of all its remaining hostages, as well as the release of Palestinians detained by Israel, including senior activists. Netanyahu rejected these demands.
Israel declared war on Hamas on October 7, after the militants stormed southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and taking about 250 hostage. More than 100 hostages were released in a week-long ceasefire in late November.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, which is run by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), said on Friday that 29,514 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli attack since the beginning of the war, and nearly 70,000 have been wounded. The ministry said that two-thirds of the dead were women and children, without distinguishing between civilians and fighters in its statistics.
Israel says it killed at least 10,000 Hamas fighters, without providing evidence of its count. It holds Hamas responsible for civilian casualties because the group operates and fights from within civilian areas.
The Israeli attack has caused enormous suffering in Gaza. About 80 percent of the population has been displaced, infectious diseases are rampant, and hundreds of thousands of people face hunger.
In the West Bank, two Palestinians killed in an Israeli drone strike on their car in the Jenin refugee camp were buried on Friday. The two bodies were wrapped in the flags of the Islamic Jihad movement and carried on stretchers during the funeral procession.
Israel says one of the dead had previously participated in shooting attacks on Israeli settlements and army positions, and was about to carry out another attack when he was killed in a drone airstrike late Thursday.
AP
Get a direct note from our foreigners Reporters About what's making headlines around the world. Subscribe to the weekly What in the World newsletter here.
