The Israeli army has intensified its strikes on the Gaza Strip, one of which killed 31 Palestinians in the Nousseirat camp on Sunday, a hospital source said, at a time when an American envoy is expected in Israel to speak about the war that continues. In the eighth month of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, triggered by an unprecedented attack on October 7 on Israeli soil, fighting has resumed in Jabalia, in the north, where Hamas has regained a foothold according to the army, and continue in Rafah, in the south, according to witnesses.
Some “800,000” Palestinians were “forced to flee” Rafah according to the UN to crowd in particular in Khan Younes, further north, since the Israeli evacuation order on May 6, a day before the entry of the tanks Israelis in the east of this overpopulated city where the international community fears for the civilian population. Before dawn, an Israeli airstrike hit the Hassan family home in the central Nusseirat refugee camp, al-Aqsa hospital and witnesses said. “We received twenty dead and several injured,” the hospital said. Injured people, including children, were pulled out from the rubble of the house, the Palestinian Wafa agency reported.
In the north of the besieged and devastated Palestinian territory, Al-Ahli Arab hospital reported three deaths in an Israeli raid on a school housing displaced people in eastern Gaza City. Witnesses reported explosions and continued fighting throughout the night in Jabalia, after the army ordered the evacuation of neighborhoods where rockets were fired at Israel.
The Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Sunday a new death toll of 35,456 in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war. In 24 hours, at least 70 additional deaths were recorded, according to a press release which reported 79,476 injured in more than seven months of war.
Information to remember:
- The Israeli army has intensified its strikes on the Gaza Strip
- 31 people died in the Nousseirat camp, bombed by the Israeli army
- “800,000” Palestinians have been “forced to flee” Rafah to crowd in Khan Younes since May 6, according to the UN
- A new report from Hamas shows 35,456 dead in the Gaza Strip since October 7
“Against a superpower?!”
At the beginning of January, Israel announced that it had neutralized Hamas in the north of the Palestinian territory, but according to the army, the movement has regained a foothold in Jabalia leading to a new ground operation by its soldiers. “I appeal to everyone who has an ounce of humanity. Massacres are taking place here. Children are being torn to pieces. What is the fault of these children and women? I don’t understand, you think you are fighting against a superpower? I swear it’s the civilians who are dying,” Abou Nabil, a resident of Jabalia, told AFP.
In the south of the Gaza Strip, the army announced that it was intensifying its operations in Rafah with the stated objective of annihilating the last Hamas battalions there. The fighting mainly takes place in the eastern sector. Israel’s primary supporter, the United States, which also opposes a major offensive in Rafah, announced the visit to Israel on Sunday of the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.
On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from the neighboring Gaza Strip in southern Israel, carried out an attack which killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report based on data Israeli officials. Of the 252 people taken as hostages during the attack, 125 are still detained in Gaza, including 37 dead according to the army. Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007 and which it considers terrorist, along with the United States and the European Union.
Its army launched intense bombardments on the small, overpopulated territory, subject before the siege to an Israeli blockade for more than 15 years, then a ground offensive. Toll: at least 35,386 deaths, most of them civilians, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government, colossal destruction and a humanitarian catastrophe with some 2.4 million residents threatened with famine. after the UN.
Dissensions
Jake Sullivan’s visit coincides with deep divisions at the top of the Israeli state. Benny Gantz, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s war cabinet, has threatened to resign if a strategic “action plan”, particularly for the post-war in Gaza, is not adopted within three weeks. Before him, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant called on the Prime Minister to “immediately prepare” a “governmental alternative to Hamas” in Gaza.
Benjamin Netanyahu, who has so far refused “any discussion” on the future before Hamas is wiped out, accused Benny Gantz of wanting to “overthrow the government”. On Saturday evening, many Israelis demonstrated again in Tel Aviv against Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding the return of the hostages. “Bring them home” could be read on signs.
Rare humanitarian aid
Negotiations on a truce associated with a release of hostages and an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, under the aegis of international mediators, are at an impasse. The delivery of humanitarian aid has virtually come to a standstill since the Israeli army seized and closed the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border on May 7, a crucial entry point for this aid, including essential fuel for hospitals and the humanitarian logistics. Deliveries are also largely hampered at the Israeli-side crossings of Kerem Shalom and Erez.
Despite the establishment of a temporary jetty by the Americans near the Gaza beach for the arrival of aid, the UN and humanitarian organizations repeat that only the opening of road crossings can guarantee the necessary large-scale deliveries. . On Saturday, Palestinians rushed near Nousseirat onto trucks carrying aid transported from the American pier.