Israel-Hamas war live: Netanyahu says he is not seeking to ‘govern Gaza’; UN urges coordination on pauses in fighting
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said of his government: “we don’t seek to conquer Gaza, we don’t seek to occupy Gaza, and we don’t seek to govern Gaza”. But he said “a credible force” would be needed to end Hamas rule of the territory. “What we have to see is Gaza demilitarised, deradicalised and rebuilt,” he told Fox News in the US. “We have to destroy Hamas, not only for our sake, but for the sake of everyone.” His comment come days after he suggested Israel would keep control over Gaza indefinitely after its war against Hamas ends, saying his country will take “overall security responsibility” for the territory.
Gaza officials said Israel launched air strikes on or near at least three hospitals on Friday, further stressing the Palestinian territory’s precarious health system as it struggles to cope with thousands of people wounded or displaced in Israel’s war against Hamas militants.
At least 10,812 Palestinians, including 4,412 children, have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza since 7 October, the health ministry in Gaza has said in its latest update. The death toll from the Hamas attacks on Israel is 1,400 and 240 hostages remain in Gaza.
18 Palestinians have been killed and at least 20 others injured by the Israel Defence Forces during a raid on Thursday on Jenin city and its refugee camp in the occupied West Bank. According to Palestinian health ministry figures, at least 178 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank since the 7 October attack on Israel.
The Palestine Red Crescent Society (PRCS) said one of their paramedics was shot in the back and wounded by Israeli forces targeting an ambulance during the raid in Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank on Thursday.
Officials and diplomats are negotiating a days-long ceasefire in Gaza in exchange for the release of hostages, including children, women, elderly and sick people, the Guardian understands. The discussions include the possibility of a one- to three-day ceasefire, although nothing has been agreed, sources with knowledge of the negotiations have said.
The White House announced that Israel would begin to implement four-hour “humanitarian pauses” in parts of northern Gaza to allow people to leave. The US national security spokesperson, John Kirby, described it as “a significant first step”. The US state department later said on Thursday that there will be two humanitarian corridors for civilians to leave hostile areas of northern Gaza.
The Israeli military has said it has not agreed to a ceasefire but that it will continue to allow “tactical, local pauses” to let in humanitarian aid into Gaza. A senior Israeli official told the Times of Israel the new four-hour pauses will take place in a different northern Gaza neighbourhood each day, with residents notified three hours ahead of time. There were no immediate reports of a lull in fighting raging among the ruined buildings in the north of the Gaza Strip on Thursday. Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said it was undertaking “localised and pinpoint measures” for civilians to leave but “these things do not detract from the war fighting”.
Any plans for short-term pauses in the fighting in Gaza must be carried out in coordination with the UN and following agreement by all sides to be “truly effective”, a UN spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric has said.
Thousands of Palestinians continued to flee south from northern Gaza. Israel said it had allowed movement along the Salah al-Din road – the main highway that runs along the Gaza Strip – for the fifth consecutive day. Images of the mass exodus showed many people evacuating on foot with their belongings tied to their backs, with some pushing wheelchairs and prams.
Yemen’s Houthi forces have said they launched “a barrage of ballistic missiles” targeting “various sensitive targets” in southern Israel. A Houthi military spokesperson said some of those missiles were heading for the Red Sea city of Eilat. Israel’s military said a drone hit a building in the southern Israeli city, and that no physical injuries were reported.
The Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopened on Thursday for limited evacuations. Nearly 700 foreign passport holders and dependents were reportedly able to leave Gaza through the crossing on Thursday as well as 12 medical evacuees and 10 companions, after the crossing was suspended for a day.