Israel's war on Gaza live: Six months of death, destruction and disease - Middle East Eye

Good evening, Middle East Eye readers.

As the time approaches 00:30 in Gaza, our live coverage of Israel's assault on the besieged enclave will shortly be closing for the evening.

As the conflict passed the six-month mark, here were the day's key developments:

The Palestinian Health Ministry announced on Sunday that Israel had killed at least 33,175 people in Gaza since the start of the war. Local health officials said the death toll included 34 recorded deaths in the last 24 hours. 

Since the start of the fighting, Israel has killed more than 14,000 children and 9,220 women. 

A Hamas delegation arrived in Cairo on Sunday to meet with Egyptian intelligence chief Abbas Kamel, a statement from Hamas said. Hamas reiterated demands the group issued in a 14 March proposal prior to a UN Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip that was passed on 25 March.

Al-Jazeera reported that Mossad head David Barnea would be involved in the Cairo negotiations.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said there would be no ceasefire in Gaza without the release of all hostages. He added that Israel was “one step” away from victory in Gaza. 

Israel said on Sunday that it had withdrawn all its troops from southern Gaza, except for one brigade. An Israeli brigade typically consists of a few thousand troops. The army did not clarify whether the withdrawal would delay a possible incursion into Rafah, where more than a million have sought refuge.

White House National Security spokesperson John Kirby said the Israeli army's troop reduction in Gaza appeared to be a "rest and refit" and not necessarily indicative of any new operations.

Over major developments on Sunday included:

• Israel said it launched air strikes on eastern Lebanon and hit Hezbollah infrastructure after the militia took down an Israeli drone. The strikes came after Hezbollah downed an Israeli-made Hermes-900 drone. 
• Defence Minister Yoav Gallant said Israel was ready to respond to any threat posed by Iran after an attack on the Iranian consulate in Damascus killed 11 people. 
• US forces destroyed a mobile surface-to-air missile system in a Houthi-controlled territory of Yemen on 6 April, the US Central Command (Centcom) said on Sunday.
• The Israeli military said on Sunday that it had completed another stage in preparing for possible war on its northern front with Lebanon and Syria.
• Long-term Palestinian prisoner Walid Daqqa has died aged 62 in Israel's Assaf Harofeh Hospital. Daqqa, who had been detained since 1986, had been diagnosed with a rare type of bone marrow cancer last year. Israeli authorities denied his early release despite his terminal diagnosis.
• British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak reiterated Britain’s support for Israel as pressure mounted on the UK to end arms sales to Israel after Israeli forces killed three British aid workers.

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2024-04-07 22:26:21Z
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