“Trucks from Egypt carrying humanitarian aid, including food, water, shelter, medicine and medical equipment donated by the international community, are already arriving at the crossing point,” it said. army in a press release. At the same time, Qatar, like the United States previously, called on the international community to prevent a “genocide” in Rafah.
The main information to remember:
- The Israeli army announces the reopening of the Kerem Shalom crossing point to “enter humanitarian aid” into the Gaza Strip
- At the same time, it is increasing airstrikes in different sectors of the Palestinian territory, notably in the city of Gaza (north) where the al-Ahli hospital
- Washington “suspended the delivery of a shipment” of bombs last week after Israel’s lack of response to its “concerns” about an announced offensive on Rafah
- “All parties agree to return to the negotiating table” for a truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas
Israel claims to have killed head of Hamas naval forces
The Israeli army said on Wednesday that it had killed a senior member of the Hamas naval forces responsible, it said, for several attacks against Israeli territory. Mohammed Ahmed Ali, commander of the Hamas naval unit in Gaza City, was killed in an airstrike on Wednesday, the army said in a statement.
The Palestinian Islamist group did not immediately comment on this announcement. According to sources within Hamas, he belongs to its armed wing, the Ezzedine Al-Qassam Brigades.
The Israeli army presents it in its press release as “responsible for attacks on Israeli territory and against the ground troops of the Israeli army operating in the Gaza Strip”, including in the center of the small Palestinian territory last week .
Only three days of fuel left for hospitals in southern Gaza
Hospitals in the south of the Gaza Strip have only three days of fuel left, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) warned on Wednesday on the social network only three days of fuel left, which means they could soon stop working,” writes Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
One of the three hospitals in Rafah, Al-Najjar, is no longer functioning due to the ongoing hostilities in its vicinity and the military operation in Rafah.
The closure of the border crossing continues to prevent the UN from bringing fuel. Without fuel all humanitarian…
— Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus (@DrTedros) May 8, 2024
The fuel is primarily used to power the generators that provide hospitals with the electricity they need to operate. “One of the three hospitals in Rafah, Al-Najjar, is no longer functioning due to the ongoing fighting in its surroundings and the military operation in Rafah,” Dr. Tedros further underlined.
“The closure of the border post continues to prevent the UN from bringing in fuel. Without fuel, all humanitarian operations will stop,” he warns, adding that “border closures also hamper the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza.
Intense strikes on Gaza
The Israeli army deployed tanks on Tuesday in Rafah (south), took control of the border crossing with Egypt and closed the two main access points for humanitarian aid (Rafah and Kerem Shalom), a measure considered ” unacceptable” by the United States. Washington also “suspended the delivery of a shipment” of bombs last week after Israel’s lack of response to its “concerns” regarding an announced offensive on Rafah, a senior official said overnight. the administration of US President Joe Biden.
The cargo consisted of “1,800 2,000-pound (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (226 kg) bombs,” the official said, adding that Washington believed these heaviest bombs could “be used in Rafah.” and in “dense urban environments”. This decision is made public at a time when the Biden administration is confronted in the United States with a movement of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campuses for its military support for Israel.
“Last chance” talks
And while the Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators are holding discussions in Cairo with a view to a ceasefire after seven months of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. “All parties agree to return to the negotiating table” for a truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Egyptian media Al-Qahera News, close to the intelligence services, said on Tuesday.
Israel and Hamas “should be able to fill the gaps that remain” to conclude a ceasefire agreement currently under discussion, declared a White House spokesperson, John Kirby, saying he hoped for an agreement “very soon”. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the Israeli delegation in Cairo to “continue to be firm on the conditions necessary for the release” of the hostages and “essential” to Israel’s security. “This could be the last chance (for Israel) to recover the captives (…) alive,” a senior Hamas official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
“Military pressure”
According to the number two of the political branch of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, the proposal accepted by his movement includes three phases, each lasting 42 days, and includes an Israeli withdrawal from the territory, the return of the displaced and an exchange of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners, with the aim of a “permanent ceasefire”. Israel has so far opposed a permanent ceasefire until Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, has been “defeated”.
And its army is carrying out a “counterterrorism” operation in “specific areas” of eastern Rafah, after a call to evacuate tens of thousands of families from this same sector of the city which is home to 1.4 million Palestinians, according to the UN. This evacuation was announced in anticipation of a ground offensive promised by Benjamin Netanyahu to eliminate the last battalions of Hamas, but also “to exert military pressure” on the Islamist movement in order to obtain a possible agreement which meets “Israeli demands”. His Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned Tuesday that the army was ready to “intensify” its operations “across the entire Strip” of Gaza if there was no progress on the release of the hostages.
“Stop the escalation”
But the United States, the UN and the European Union have called on Israel not to carry out its threat, fearing bloodshed and a worsening humanitarian crisis. “The conflict in Gaza is at a critical moment. The decisions that are taken today and their consequences in terms of human suffering will remain engraved in the memory of the next generation,” wrote on UN, Martin Griffiths.
The UN announced on Tuesday that access from Egypt to the Rafah crossing point, the main entry point for humanitarian aid, vital for the population of Gaza, was prohibited by the army. In Egypt, “hundreds of trucks loaded with fuel and humanitarian aid are blocked”, according to Egyptian sources, after the closure of the Rafah crossing and that of Kerem Shalom, between Israel and Gaza, targeted by fire.
“We are terrified”
The UN also claimed that it only had one day of fuel reserves left for humanitarian operations in Gaza, with Secretary General Antonio Guterres urging Israel to “immediately” reopen the two crossing points (Rafah and Kerem Shalom) and to “stop the escalation”. The Israeli army reported 18 rocket attacks on Tuesday from Rafah towards southern Israel, including some towards the Kerem Shalom crossing, which it said “prevented” the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory.
According to Washington, Kerem Shalom must reopen on Wednesday and the construction of the artificial port off the coast of the Gaza Strip is now complete, which should facilitate the delivery, by sea, of humanitarian aid, a key issue since the start of the war.
Ordered to evacuate Rafah by the Israeli army, thousands of men, women and children, many already displaced by the war, hastily packed a few belongings, without really knowing where to go. “We are terrified. We are going to head west from Rafah, but we don’t know exactly where,” Hanah Saleh, 40, told AFP.