The Israeli army again dropped bombs on Gaza on Sunday March 10, killing dozens on the eve of Ramadan and in the midst of international mobilization to send humanitarian aid to the besieged civilian population threatened with famine.
According to Hamas authorities, at least 85 Palestinians have died in the last twenty-four hours in more than sixty nighttime strikes which also hit homes in central and southern Gaza, especially in Khan Younes. At least thirteen people died when shells fell on displaced people’s tents in the Al-Mawasi region, between Khan Younes and Rafah, said the health ministry of the Gaza Strip, administered by Hamas.
The Israeli army, whose soldiers operate in large areas of Palestinian territory, reported around thirty Palestinian fighters killed in the last twenty-four hours in central Gaza and Khan Younes.
Before Ramadan, the holy Muslim month of fasting which begins Monday or Tuesday, there is no indication to hope for a truce agreement in this conflict which, according to the Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip, has left 31,045 dead, mostly civilians, in the major military offensive led by Israel in retaliation for an unprecedented bloody attack by the Islamist movement on October 7.
In addition to the heavy human toll and colossal destruction, the war has caused a humanitarian disaster in this cramped Palestinian territory where, according to the UN, 2.2 of the 2.4 million inhabitants are threatened with famine and 1.7 million have been moved.
Departure of a boat hoped for Sunday
According to the Gaza Strip’s health ministry, twenty-five people, most of them children, died of malnutrition and dehydration. “I feed my daughter water, water, just so she doesn’t die. I do not have a choice “says a mother in Gaza City, holding her crying baby in her arms.
Israel has besieged the Gaza Strip since October 9 and only lets in land aid from Egypt, which keeps its border closed.
Occupied by the Israeli army from 1967 to 2005, the Gaza Strip, already subject to an Israeli blockade since 2007, is bordered by Israel, Egypt and the Mediterranean Sea. In recent days, several Western and Arab countries have dropped packages of food and medical equipment on Gaza. On Friday, the European Union and the United States announced that they were preparing a maritime humanitarian corridor from Cyprus, located some 370 kilometers from Gaza.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, hoped that a first boat, loaded by two NGOs with 200 tonnes of food, could leave on Sunday. The spokesperson for the Spanish NGO Open Arms, a partner in this project of the American NGO World Central Kitchen, clarified on Saturday that the Israeli authorities had inspected the cargo. World Central Kitchen “already has people in Gaza” And “builds a pier” to be able to unload the cargo, according to her.
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It remains to be seen how this aid can be transported through this territory which is daily bombarded by Israel and prey to fighting.
Warning of “almost inevitable widespread famine”
A US army logistics support ship also left the United States with on board the equipment necessary for the construction of a temporary pier in Gaza, announced by President Joe Biden, to unload the aid. Its construction could take up to sixty days, according to the Pentagon.
However, the UN, which warns against “widespread famine almost inevitable” in Gaza, affirms that airdrops and sending aid by sea cannot replace the land route. This aid passes through Rafah, a town located on the Egyptian border. There, according to the UN, are gathered there nearly 1.5 million people, the vast majority displaced, who queue daily at food and water distribution points. And who fear an announced Israeli ground offensive.
On Saturday, Joe Biden again criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is determined to continue the war to end Hamas and enter Rafah. “He is doing more harm than good to Israel. He has the right to defend Israel, the right to continue attacking Hamas. But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the lost innocent lives”said Mr. Biden.
Benjamin Netanyahu is also criticized in his country, where part of public opinion wants a truce agreement which would allow the release of the hostages, while Israel and Hamas accuse each other of hindering such an agreement. On Saturday evening, thousands of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv to demand the departure of its government, with the crowd chanting “Elections!” NOW ! », “Shame on the government”.