Civilians are paying a heavy price in constantly bombarded Gaza. The fighting spared no area of the enclave, entire neighborhoods were devastated and 1.7 million Palestinians out of the 2.4 million inhabitants had to flee their homes. This Thursday, February 29, the Hamas Ministry of Health announced more than 30,000 deaths since the start of the conflict. And while the vast majority of the population of Gaza is threatened with famine, the ministry also announced Wednesday evening the death of two children due to malnutrition.
Information to remember
⇒ 30,000 people have died in Gaza since the start of the conflict, according to Hamas
⇒ New Zealand designates entire Hamas terrorist entity
⇒ Israeli strikes in southern Lebanon leave two dead
Gaza: hospital reports 50 dead after Israeli fire
A hospital in the Gaza Strip reported at least 50 dead on Thursday after Israeli fire aimed at Palestinians rushing towards humanitarian aid trucks in the north of the territory threatened by famine.
“There are at least 50 martyrs and more than 120 injured, including women and children, following shooting by the occupying forces towards thousands of citizens” rushing towards “aid trucks in Gaza City” , said the emergency director of al-Chifa hospital, Amjad Aliwa. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army did not immediately comment on this information.
War leaves more than 30,000 dead in Gaza
The Hamas Health Ministry announced Thursday that the death toll in the Gaza Strip was “more than 30,000” since the conflict with Israel began on October 7. This assessment comes as the main mediators in the war, the United States and Qatar, say they hope to obtain a truce allowing the release of hostages held in Gaza before the start of Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting which begins around from March 11.
The war, which transformed the Palestinian territory into a “death zone” according to the UN, is already, by far, the deadliest of the five conflicts that have pitted Israel against Hamas since the latter took power in Gaza in 2007.
New Zealand designates entire Hamas terrorist entity
New Zealand designated the entirety of Hamas a “terrorist entity” on Thursday, saying the entire Islamist movement, including its political wing, bore “responsibility” for the October 7 attacks. “The organization as a whole bears responsibility for these terrible terrorist attacks,” the New Zealand government said.
New Zealand was one of the few Western countries that had not taken this step. It thus follows Australia, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and the European Union, which had already designated the armed but also political wing of Hamas as “terrorist”. Under New Zealand law, this designation freezes all assets of a terrorist entity in the Pacific country and renders any transactions with it.
Macron ready to work with Saudi Arabia
“France is ready to work alongside the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (..) to stem the spread of the conflict in the region and work on the conditions of lasting peace in the Middle East,” underlined the French presidency, while Emmanuel Macron spoke on Wednesday by telephone with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia Mohammed bin Salman.
The two leaders reiterated “the urgency of concluding an agreement on a ceasefire in Gaza, indicated the French presidency. Emmanuel Macron also recalled “France’s firm opposition to an Israeli offensive in Rafah, which could only lead to a humanitarian disaster of a new magnitude.”
Israeli strikes on southern Lebanon leave two dead
Israeli strikes killed two people in southern Lebanon on Wednesday evening, according to Lebanese state media, while Hamas fired rockets into northern Israel from Lebanon, amid escalating cross-border clashes . “Enemy planes attacked the towns of Siddiqin and Kafra, killing two residents of the town of Kafra and injuring 14 others,” the Lebanese News Agency (NNA) said.
Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, has exchanged near-daily fire with the Israeli army since war broke out between Israel and the Gaza-based Palestinian Islamist movement in October, with Palestinian groups in Lebanon also claiming several attacks. On Wednesday morning, Hamas’ armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, claimed in a statement to have launched two volleys of Grad rockets at two military sites in northern Israel.
Israeli strikes near Damascus, says Syrian ministry
Israel carried out strikes on targets near Damascus on Wednesday, the Syrian Defense Ministry said, the latest attack on the Syrian capital attributed to the Israeli army. “The Israeli enemy launched airstrikes from the occupied Syrian Golan, targeting sites in the Damascus area,” the ministry said in a statement.
“Our air defenses responded and shot down most of the missiles fired,” he added without providing further details. An AFP correspondent in Damascus heard loud explosions followed by ambulance sirens. These strikes take place against a backdrop of growing regional tensions since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023.
Two children died of malnutrition in a hospital in Gaza
Two children died of malnutrition in a hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, threatened by famine after nearly five months of war between Hamas and Israel, the Palestinian Islamist movement’s Ministry of Health announced Wednesday evening. “Two children died at the Al-Chifa medical complex as a result of dehydration and malnutrition,” ministry spokesperson Ashraf al-Qudra said in a brief statement, adding that a total of six children had died. in recent days from the same causes. The UN humanitarian aid coordination office (Ocha) reported on Wednesday that two children died of thirst and malnutrition at Kamal Adwan hospital (north).