On Saturday, IDF commanders said that at one point three days ago, they deliberately allowed Hamas fighters to join an evacuation of al-Rantisi hospital to reduce the risk of civilian casualties.
“We opened the corridor and let the Hamas terrorists leave with the civilians because we didn’t want to risk the civilians in that whole situation,” said an IDF spokesman. “It worked for them, we’ll get to them later.”
Meanwhile, Israel’s Foreign Ministry revised the death toll from last month’s Hamas attacks from 1,400 to around 1,200, according to the Times of Israel.
The reasons for the revised figures were not specified, but appear to be related to reassessments of burned corpses initially identified as those of Israeli civilians.
The IDF also said that four soldiers had been wounded during missile attacks on Israel’s northern border launched by Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
In a speech on Saturday, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah said that global demonstrations against Israel’s incursion into Gaza were putting pressure on its Western allies.
“We see thousands of people in Washington, New York, London and Paris protesting against Israel,” he said, noting growing international calls for a ceasefire. “The only voice that stands out is the US and its ‘follower’ the UK.”
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.
