the Hebrew state confirms the release of two American hostages by Hamas

• The Egyptian channel AlQahera News, close to Egyptian intelligence, said Thursday evening that the Rafah crossing point between Egypt and the Gaza Strip – the only one not controlled by Israel – would open on Friday to allow the entry of humanitarian aid convoys. The director general of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, had expressed doubt, moments earlier, that the trucks could enter the enclave besieged by the Israeli army.
• In a solemn address delivered from the Oval Office, Joe Biden declared Thursday evening that he would ask the American Congress on Friday to finance ” emergency “ aid to Israel and Ukraineof the “essential partners”. The American president drew a parallel between Hamas and Russian President Vladimir Putin, who “both want to destroy a neighboring democracy”.
• The Gaza Interior Ministry said that many displaced people sheltering in the grounds of the Greek Orthodox Church of Saint Porphyry in Gaza City were killed in an Israeli raid on Thursday. Witnesses said the strike appeared to have targeted a target close to the place of worship.
• IDF has” agreement “ of the government to enter Gaza as soon as it is ready, announced Nir Barkat, Israeli Minister of the Economy, to ABC News. Although “we will do everything possible to bring back our hostages, to bring them back alive”there “first and last priority” is to destroy Hamas “even if it takes a year”.
• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traveled to the south of the Jewish state on Thursday to address the troops massed on the outskirts of the Gaza Strip. “All Israel is behind you, and we will strike heavily against our enemies in order to achieve victory”he told them, according to the Israeli press.
• American intelligence services estimate that the death toll from the explosion that occurred Tuesday evening near the Al-Alhi hospital in Gaza is “probably in the low end of a range of 100 to 300” deadannounced several press outlets on Thursday, who said they had read a declassified report on the subject.
• More than 1,400 people have been killed on Israeli territory by Hamas men since the October 7 attack, according to Israeli authorities. According to the IDF, around 1,500 Hamas fighters were killed in the counter-offensive which allowed Israel to regain control of the attacked areas. The number of hostages kidnapped and taken by Hamas to Gaza is estimated at 200 by Israel.
• On the Palestinian side, more than 4,100 people, mostly civilians, were killed in retaliatory bombings carried out by the Israeli army, and more than 13,100 others were injured.according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry.
• The number of French nationals killed in Hamas attacks against Israel has risen further: twenty-eight have diedthe French foreign ministry reported on Thursday.

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Read all our articles on the attack on Israel

Narrative. Hundreds of civilians killed in Gaza hospital, still under blockade

Editorial. Ending the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza

Narrative. Explosion at Al-Ahli hospital: wave of anger in the Arab world against Israel and its Western allies

Chronic. “The reactions recorded since the Hamas massacres as well as the major trends of this conflict allow us to sketch what the day after could be like”

Decryption. Hostages in Gaza: Israel faces heartbreaking ethical, political and military choices

Tribune. “The only two camps that exist pit those who fight for peace against the fascist propagators of hatred”

Reporting. In Israel, the difficult identification of mutilated bodies during the Hamas attack delays the mourning of families

Video investigation. What the images reveal about Hamas’s modus operandi on October 7

Decryption. In Israel, Joe Biden comes to support a feverish government of national unity

Chronic. Mahmoud Abbas in “Le Monde”, from the man in the shadows to the contested presidency of the Palestinian Authority