To better understand the latest events in the conflict between the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and Israel, 20 minutes takes stock every evening. Between the strong declarations, the diplomatic advances or the dramatic results of the fighting, here are the main points of the day.
News of the day
France demanded explanations from Israel on Friday after a strike that hit the French Institute in Gaza, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. “We asked them to communicate to us without delay by the appropriate means the tangible elements which motivated this decision,” indicates the Quai d’Orsay, specifying that no French agent or national was within the Institute. “We made public today (Friday) the fact that the French Cultural Institute in Gaza had been hit a few days ago in a way that arouses our astonishment, our incomprehension and which led France to ask for explanations. to the Israeli authorities, to understand how a French cultural institute could be the target of an Israeli strike,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs on Friday in Nigeria, Catherine Colonna.
The number of the day
34. This is the number of French nationals who were able to be evacuated from the Gaza Strip this Friday. The Quai d’Orsay announced it early in the evening. “Today, we were able to have 34 French people with their families who were able to pass,” said the Minister of Foreign Affairs. “If I count the French, our agents from the Cultural Institute and their families, that represents around 170 people. Only part was able to pass. »
Sentence of the day
The possibility that this front will experience further escalation or all-out war (…) is realistic, and can happen”
He speaks very little and his words were expected. The leader of pro-Iranian Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, estimated Friday that the war between Israel and Hamas could turn into a regional conflict if it did not stop, placing full responsibility for the situation on the United States. He also affirmed that his movement “did not fear the fleet” dispatched by the United States to the Mediterranean, and that he was ready to “face it”. “You Americans know very well that if a war were to occur in the region, neither your fleet nor air combat will be of any use to you,” he warned. “Your interests, your soldiers and your fleet will be the victims and the biggest losers.” Washington responded by warning Hezbollah that it should not “seek to profit” from the war between Israel and Hamas.
Today’s trend
Humanitarian truces? American Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday that he had discussed the implementation of these “humanitarian pauses” with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu… who nevertheless rejected him. “Regarding humanitarian pauses, we consider that this is a means of facilitating the delivery of aid, of ensuring […] that it reaches the people who need it,” declared the head of American diplomacy. “We consider that it is also a way to create a better environment for the release of the hostages,” he added. But a few minutes later, Benjamin Netanyahu ruled out this possibility, refusing “a temporary truce without the release of the hostages” kidnapped on October 7 in Israel by Hamas.