JERUSALEM, Oct  24, 2023 (BSS/AFP) - Fighting has entered its 18th day in
the Gaza Strip after Hamas gunmen stormed into Israel on October 7, killing at
least 1,400 people and taking over 200 hostages, according to Israeli officials.
       The Hamas-run health ministry says 5,791 Palestinians have been killed
across Gaza in Israel's relentless retaliatory bombardments since then.
       Diplomatic pressure on Israel to limit civilian casualties is growing,
although Western governments remain steadfast in their support for the country.
       Here are four key developments from the past 24 hours:
       
       - Two more hostages released -
    
       An 85-year-old Israeli woman freed by Hamas said on Tuesday she "went
through hell" during her abduction but had been well treated while held captive
in Gaza.
       The gunmen "beat me on the way, they didn't break my ribs but hurt me very
much", said Yocheved Lifshitz, who was released overnight along with Nurit
Cooper, 79.
       Lifshitz shook the hand of one of her captors when she was released, and
later explained the gesture by saying: "They treated us gently, and provided
all our needs."
       Hamas still holds the elderly husbands of Lifshitz and Cooper, among more
than 200 other hostages.
       The release of the two Israelis comes three days after that of an American
woman and her teenage daughter.
       
       - Macron in Israel and West Bank -
      
       French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday met Israeli Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu and became the first Western leader to visit Palestinian
president Mahmud Abbas in the occupied West Bank since the conflict erupted on
October 7.
       In a meeting with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Macron said the release
of all hostages held by Hamas was the "first objective" of the military
campaign.
       At a news conference with Netanyahu, Macron called for a "decisive
relaunch" of the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians.
       Macron later met Abbas in Ramallah, saying "nothing can justify" the
suffering of Gaza civilians.
       
       - Gaza bombardment -
       Hamas said overnight bombing by Israel killed 140 people in Gaza.
       The Hamas-run health ministry said they are among 5,791 people killed since
the war started, 2,360 of them children.
       The United Nations said six employees of its agency for Palestinian
refugees had been killed in the past 24 hours, bringing the total number of
UNRWA staff killed in the war to 35.
       
       - UN to halt work -
       The UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned it would be forced to stop
working in Gaza unless fuel deliveries were made to the territory by Wednesday.
       "Time is running out. We urgently need fuel," said UNRWA communications
director Juliette Touma.
       Six Gaza hospitals have already had to shut down due to a lack of fuel, the
World Health Organization said.
       A small number of aid trucks have entered Gaza since the weekend, but they
are only a fraction of the usual flow across the border.
       The warning came as UN chief Antonio Guterres called at the Security
Council for an immediate ceasefire and alleged international law was being
breached in Gaza.
       Guterres sparked fury from the Israeli delegation when he said the Hamas
attacks "did not happen in a vacuum" and criticised Israel's "suffocating"
occupation.
       Eli Cohen, Israel's foreign minister, asked Guterres "what world do you
live in?"
       
       - 'Serious' economic consequences -
    
       The World Bank warned the war could deliver a "serious" blow to global
economic development.
       "I think we're at a very dangerous junction," its president, Ajay Banga,
told an investor conference in Saudi Arabia.