🔴Live: Abbas accepts resignation of Palestinian government in West Bank

This handout picture provided by the Palestinian Authority's Press Office (PPO) shows Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh (L) presenting the resignation of his government to President Mahmud Abbas, in Ramallah on February 26, 2024. © Thaer Ghanem/ HO/ PPO, AFP

The Palestinian Authority's prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday announced the resignation of his government, which rules part of the occupied West Bank, citing the "new reality" that has emerged as a result of the Israel-Hamas war. Israel's military presented a plan for evacuating areas of the Gaza Strip as Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said a ground invasion into Rafah was necessary for "total victory". Read our liveblog for all the latest updates on the Israel-Hamas war. 

Summary:

• UN chief Antonio Guterres on Monday warned that a full-scale Israeli military operation in Rafah would put "the final nail in the coffin" for aid programmes in Gaza, where humanitarian assistance remains "completely insufficient".
• The Palestinian Authority's prime minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Monday announced the resignation of his government, which rules part of the occupied West Bank, citing the need for change in light of the Israel-Hamas war. 
• Lebanon's Iran-backed Hezbollah movement said it fired a volley of Katyusha rockets at an Israeli military base on Monday in retaliation for deadly Israeli strikes on Lebanon's east.
• Israel's military proposed a plan Monday for "evacuating" civilians from the Gaza Strip after Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said a ground invasion of the Palestinian territory's southern city Rafah was necessary for "total victory". 
• A senior official from Egypt, which along with Qatar is a mediator between Israel and Hamas, said a new draft ceasefire deal currently being negotiated includes the release of up to 40 women and older hostages in return for up to 300 Palestinian prisoners, mostly women, minors and older people.
• At least 29,782 people have been killed and 70,043 wounded in Israeli strikes in Gaza, two thirds of which are children and women, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said on Saturday. Around 1,140 people were killed in the Hamas-led October 7 attacks, according to Israeli officials. Around 250 people were taken hostage during the attack and 132 are still in Gaza, according to Israeli figures.

Yesterday's key developments:

• Israeli troops and Palestinian gunmen clashed throughout the Gaza Strip over the weekend, as mediators picked up the pace of talks on a possible ceasefire to free hostages held by Hamas.

• Defence minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday said there would be no letup in Israeli action against Lebanon’s Hezbollah movement, even if a ceasefire and hostage deal is secured in Gaza.
• Egyptian, Qatari and US experts on Sunday met in Doha for talks also attended by Israeli and Hamas representatives, state-linked Egyptian media reported, in the latest effort to secure a truce before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
• Famine in the Gaza Strip can be averted if vital aid is allowed into the besieged territory, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Sunday, more than four months into the Israel-Hamas war.
• Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned on Sunday of a wider regional war if Israel presses on with its military campaign in the Gaza Strip during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan in March.

About casualty figures from Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry:

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)