US House of Representatives approves new military aid for Israel
The US House of Representatives on Saturday passed a bill that would provide billions of dollars in new military aid to Israel, which continues to prosecute its war against Hamas despite growing international concern for civilians in Gaza. The news came after Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Palestinians to 'act with unity' amid the Gaza war, following hours-long talks with Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Istanbul, his office said. Read our blog to see how the day's events in the Middle East unfolded.
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This blog is no longer being updated. For more of our coverage of the Israel-Hamas war, click here.
Summary:
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The US House of Representatives on Saturday passed a bill that would provide billions of dollars in new military aid to Israel.
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Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh held talks in Istanbul on Saturday amid Israel's ongoing war in Gaza and as tensions in the Middle East soar.
- One member of Iraq’s pro-Iranian Popular Mobilisation Forces was killed in an explosion at its command post on the Calso military base 50 kilometres south of Baghdad, a military statement said on Saturday.
- Iran’s foreign minister has dismissed as inconsequential the reported Israeli retaliation near the central city of Isfahan for an unprecedented Iranian strike on Israel last weekend, and said Tehran would not respond unless Iranian “interests” were targeted.
- At least 34,012 Palestinians have been killed and an estimated 76,833 have been injured in Israel’s military offensive in Gaza, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory. Some 1,170 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks that sparked the war and 250 people were taken hostage, according to Israeli figures, with 132 still missing.
Yesterday's key developments:
- US media quoted unnamed officials as saying Israel had carried out retaliatory strikes on Iran. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken declined to comment on reports that Israel had informed Washington of a planned drone attack.
- French President Emmanuel Macron told Lebanese Premier Najib Mikati that France would do "everything in its power" to stop violence spiralling between Lebanon and Israel, his office said.
- Palestinian officials said Israeli troops killed a teenager and an adult in the occupied West Bank, while the Israeli army said it killed a "number of terrorists" in a raid.
Gaza’s health ministry collects data from the enclave’s hospitals and the Palestinian Red Crescent.
The health ministry does not report how Palestinians were killed, whether from Israeli airstrikes and artillery barrages or errant Palestinian rocket fire. It describes all casualties as victims of “Israeli aggression”.
The ministry also does not distinguish between civilians and combatants.
Throughout four wars and numerous skirmishes between Israel and Hamas, UN agencies have cited the Hamas-run health ministry’s death tolls in regular reports. The International Committee of the Red Cross and Palestinian Red Crescent also use the numbers.
In the aftermath of war, the UN humanitarian office has published final death tolls based on its own research into medical records. The UN's counts have largely been consistent with the Gaza health ministry’s, with small discrepancies.
For more on the Gaza health ministry’s tolls, click here.
(FRANCE 24 with AP)
(FRANCE 24 with AFP, AP & Reuters)
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