Last summons. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asked the country’s army on Friday, February 9, to set up a “evacuation plan” civilians from Rafah, the last refuge for Palestinians displaced from the war in the Gaza Strip. The leader wants to move forward and does not take into account the criticisms made by the United States and the UN, which are alarmed by the consequences “disastrous” of such an operation. “It is impossible to achieve the objective of the war without eliminating Hamas and leaving four Hamas battalions in Rafah”, declared Benjamin Netanyahu. Follow our live stream.
A hospital in Khan Younès stormed. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent, “the occupying forces [israéliennes] stormed Al-Amal hospital and started searching it. “We are having difficulty communicating with our teams inside”, indicated the NGO. Earlier this week, the Red Crescent announced that the 8,000 people who had taken refuge in Al-Amal and its nearby local headquarters had been evacuated.
Salvos of rockets launched during the night from Lebanon towards northern Israel. These strikes come shortly after an Israeli airstrike against a military leader of Lebanese Hezbollah. For its part, the United States has carried out new bombings against the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
Joe Biden considers Israel’s response “excessive”. “I think, as you know, that the response in Gaza was excessive”, declared the President of the United States, in remarks particularly critical of Israel. Washington warned of a “disaster” in Rafah and assured not to support an operation in this city in the south of the Gaza Strip, which shelters more than a million displaced people, “without serious and credible planning” regarding civilians on site.
A “new round of negotiations” has started in Cairo. An agreement at the end of November allowed a one-week pause in the fighting. In Cairo, a “new round of negotiations”sponsored by Egypt and Qatar with the participation of Hamas, began Thursday to obtain “calm in the Gaza Strip” as well as an exchange of Palestinian prisoners and hostages, according to an Egyptian official.