EXPLAINER
A US drone strike in Iraq killed a high-ranking Kataib Hezbollah commander as Israeli bombing of Gaza enters fifth month.
Right here’s how issues stand on Thursday, February 8, 2024:
Humanitarian disaster in Gaza
- Stories from the United Nations humanitarian company OCHA present that the Palestinian casualties in Gaza between Tuesday and Wednesday have been 123, taking the overall variety of Palestinian casualties in Gaza to 27,708 as of Wednesday.
- The Palestine Crimson Crescent Society (PRCS) reported {that a} paramedic was killed and two others have been injured after Israeli forces opened hearth instantly at them in an space between Ahli Arab Hospital and al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza Metropolis whereas on their approach to evacuate the injured, Palestinian information company Wafa reported.
- Israeli air assaults on two houses killed at the least 12 Palestinians and injured many extra within the Tal as-Sultan and Saudi neighbourhoods of Rafah in southern Gaza on Wednesday evening, reported Wafa.
- Moreover, two Palestinians have been killed and 10 have been injured in an Israeli air raid on a house in Deir el-Balah in central Gaza.
- Greater than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million inhabitants is now sheltering in Rafah, the place the unique inhabitants was 250,000, based on an announcement by UN humanitarian affairs chief Martin Griffiths on Wednesday.
- The Palestinian Digital Rights Coalition despatched letters to Meta, X, Telegram, and TikTok relating to the proliferation of hate speech, dehumanisation, and incitement to violence and genocide towards the Palestinian folks on their platforms, Wafa reported.
- The coalition stated the provisional measures ordered by the Worldwide Courtroom of Justice current a necessity to deal with the pressing want for on-line platforms to fulfil their authorized and ethical accountability in upholding human rights.
- The Israeli forces posted an excerpt from Herzi Halevi’s situational evaluation on Wednesday the place he stated bringing again Israeli captives was not potential with out exerting navy stress.
Regional tensions and diplomacy
- A US drone strike blew up a automobile within the Iraqi capital on Wednesday evening, killing a high-ranking commander of the Kataib Hezbollah, america navy stated on Wednesday, including that the group is chargeable for “instantly planning and collaborating in assaults” on American troops within the area.
- The stabbing of a 23-year-old Palestinian American, Zacharia Doar, deserves the label of a hate crime, Austin police introduced on Wednesday. Bert James Baker, 36, was arrested following the Sunday night assault.
- Police in suburban Chicago arrested 33 folks on Wednesday after they blocked streets for greater than six hours exterior an organization, which, the protesters stated, has a task within the deaths of 1000’s of civilians in Gaza.
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken warned Israel that it doesn’t have “a licence to dehumanise others”, as Washington delivered one in all its harshest critiques up to now of Israel amid its warfare on Gaza. Blinken later posted on X reiterating his assist for an unbiased Palestinian state.
- US President Joe Biden is sending senior aides to Michigan on Thursday to fulfill Arab-American and Muslim leaders. The go to comes as Biden’s dealing with of Israel’s warfare on Gaza has frustrated members of the group in a key constituency for the 2024 presidential elections.
I met with Palestinian Authority (PA) President Abbas in Ramallah at this time to reiterate U.S. assist for reforming the PA and establishing an unbiased Palestinian state. pic.twitter.com/9Gi5QMRihH
— Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) February 7, 2024
Occupied West Financial institution
- Native sources reported that armed Israeli settlers attacked Palestinian shepherds and prevented their entry to pastures south of Hebron within the occupied West Financial institution on Wednesday night, reported Wafa.
- Two Palestinian males have been killed on Wednesday evening by Israeli forces within the Nur Shams refugee camp in Tulkarem metropolis, within the northern occupied West Financial institution. Israeli forces shelled a house belonging to one of many males killed utilizing Anerga missiles, inflicting hearth on the highest flooring, as bulldozers proceeded to demolish different components of the home.
- Wafa reported {that a} Palestinian man was wounded and one other arrested throughout a large-scale incursion into the Wadi al-Fara space, south of Tubas governorate within the occupied West Financial institution on Wednesday.
- Israeli forces once more stormed Jenin on Wednesday, arresting 5 residents and damaging infrastructure.
