by Nidal al-Mughrabi
CAIRO/GAZA (Reuters) – Dozens of Palestinians were killed or injured on Saturday by Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, despite a new call from the United States to curb the military campaign and focus on the Hamas leaders.
In Khan Younis in the south, Palestinian health authorities said Nasser Hospital received 20 Palestinians killed in overnight airstrikes, as well as dozens of wounded, including women and children.
They also said Israeli strikes on the northern city of Gaza hit the YMCA headquarters, which houses hundreds of displaced people, and reported several deaths and injuries.
According to the official WAFA news agency, at least three dozen people were killed in strikes on three houses in the Jabalia refugee camp, which health officials were unable to confirm.
Gaza’s health ministry said Israel’s ground offensive and targeting of medical facilities had made it difficult to collect information on casualties in the northern Gaza Strip.
Rescuers believe victims are still buried under rubble in some areas.
Gazans also reported heavy fighting and shelling overnight in Sheijaia, Sheikh Radwan, Zeitoun, Tuffah and Beit Hanoun in the north, as well as central, eastern and northern Khan Younis. .
“The Gaza Strip turned into a ball of fire overnight, we could hear explosions and gunshots coming from all directions,” Ahmed, 45, an electrician and father of six, told Reuters , taking refuge in a shelter.
President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, Jake Sullivan, visiting Israel on Thursday and Friday, delivered the message that Israel must scale back its military campaign and shift to more targeted operations against Hamas leaders, officials said. American officials.
“EVERY DAY, THE SITUATION WORSENS”
During the visit, Israeli officials publicly stressed that they would continue the war until Hamas was eradicated. Washington appeared to acknowledge its disagreement, with Jake Sullivan saying the timetable was the subject of “intensive discussions” between the allies.
An Israeli military official said that the three hostages killed by mistake in Gaza by Israeli forces were brandishing a white flag, according to the first elements of the investigation.
The incident occurred in an intense fighting zone where Hamas militants operate in civilian clothing and use deception tactics, the official said, but the hostages came under fire contrary to Israel’s rules of engagement .
Israel, which announced that it had found the bodies of three other hostages killed by Hamas, believes that around twenty of the 130 people still detained in Gaza are dead.
The Israeli military said Saturday it bombed a building in Jabalia from the air after its forces came under fire and Hamas militants were seen on the roof.
She also said she killed militants holed up in two schools in Gaza City and raided apartments in Khan Younis where weapons were located, discovering what she described as underground infrastructure used by Hamas militants. .
“Every day the situation is getting worse. Food is decreasing, water is deteriorating, but death, fear and destruction are increasing,” said Samira, 40, a mother of four, displaced in Rafah, near the border. with Egypt.
“I can no longer take care of my children. They are terrified and so am I. Every night we think it might be our last night. The bombings don’t stop,” she said to Reuters by telephone.
Amid intense fighting in the Gaza Strip and warnings of a humanitarian catastrophe, the United States said Israel risks losing international support by carrying out “indiscriminate” airstrikes.
INTENSIFICATION OF FIGHTING
During the surprise cross-border attack on October 7, Hamas militants killed 1,200 people and took 240 hostages. The Israeli counterattack has left nearly 19,000 dead, according to Gaza health authorities, and thousands more are feared buried under the rubble.
Fighting has intensified over the past two weeks, after the end of a week-long truce which allowed the release of dozens of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Israeli and Qatari officials were to meet in Norway on Saturday to try to restart negotiations on the release of hostages in Gaza in exchange for a cease-fire and the release of Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In a sign of the conflict’s wider ramifications, Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis said they attacked the Israeli Red Sea resort of Eilat with a swarm of drones, one of several incidents reported in the region on Saturday.
Most of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes over the past two months, often repeatedly.
After the departure of Jake Sullivan, Israel declared that it would allow – for the first time since the start of the war – the delivery of aid through the Kerem Shalom crossing point, the main access route to Gaza, by authorizing the entry of 200 trucks per day.
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said it had hosted 1.4 million people in its overcrowded facilities.
About 1,000 refugees have been injured in these shelters since October 7 and at least 288 have been killed, along with 135 UNRWA staff, the agency said.
(Reporting Nidal al-Mughrabi in Cairo, Shani and Fadi Shana in Gaza, Henriette Chacar, Ari Rabinovitch and Frank Jack Daniel in Jerusalem, Andrea Shalal, Jeff Mason and Eric Beech in Washington; written by Michael Perry, Kevin Liffey and Giles Elgood, French version Benjamin Mallet)
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