Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed Tuesday that his army would enter the town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip whether or not a truce is reached, shortly before the head of the Gaza Strip arrives in Israel. American diplomacy. Mr. Netanyahu issued this warning despite the disapproval of many capitals, starting with Washington, and humanitarian organizations who fear massive civilian losses in the event of an offensive on this city which has become a refuge for a million and a half Palestinians.
Antony Blinken, after Saudi Arabia and Jordan, is expected in Israel this evening, during his seventh mission to the Middle East to try to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas, at war since October 7 in the Palestinian territory. The mediating countries are meanwhile awaiting a response from the Islamist movement to a proposed 40-day truce, associated with a release of hostages held in Gaza since the start of the war in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. The American Secretary of State said on Monday that he “hoped” for a favorable response from Hamas to a proposal that he described as “extraordinarily generous on the part of Israel.”
But in parallel with these hopes of a truce, Israel maintains its plan for a land offensive on the town of Rafah, bordering Egypt, where, according to Israel, Hamas has grouped four battalions. “The idea that we are going to stop the war before we have achieved all our objectives is out of the question. We are going to enter Rafah and eliminate the Hamas battalions there, with or without (a truce) agreement, in order to obtain a total victory,” Mr. Netanyahu told relatives of hostages in Jerusalem on Tuesday. Benjamin Netanyahu says an offensive on Rafah is necessary to defeat the Islamist movement, in power in Gaza since 2007, and free the hostages.
“As quickly as possible”
After a meeting Monday in Cairo with representatives of Egypt and Qatar, two of the mediating countries with the United States, a Hamas delegation returned to Doha to study the new truce proposal and is expected to give its response. as quickly as possible,” a source close to the movement told AFP. According to the al-Qahera News site, close to Egyptian intelligence, the Hamas delegation must return to Cairo “with a written response.” Israel will wait until “Wednesday evening” for a response from Hamas before deciding whether or not it will send a delegation to Cairo, an official said Tuesday.
This proposal follows months of blockage in indirect negotiations aimed at ending the war, after a one-week truce at the end of November, which allowed the release of 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis and binationals exchanged for 240 Palestinians. held by Israel. On Tuesday, airstrikes targeted Rafah as well as the neighboring town of Khan Younes and the city of Gaza, in the north of the territory, according to an AFP correspondent. According to the Hamas Health Ministry, at least 47 people were killed in 24 hours across the Gaza Strip.
“We will rebuild”
In Nousseirat, a Palestinian camp in the center of the territory that is regularly bombed, residents cleared mountains of rubble on Tuesday, with or almost their bare hands, according to images shot by AFP. “We will rebuild, we will rebuild everything with the help of young people and children. Look at them, it is difficult to break the will of such a generation. Of course, they will rebuild,” promised a survivor, Bilal Shalabi. The war broke out on October 7 when Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza carried out an unprecedented attack in southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report established from official Israeli data.
More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain captive in Gaza, 34 of whom have died according to Israeli officials. In retaliation, Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, along with the United States and the European Union. Its army launched an offensive which has so far left 34,535 dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, devastated the small territory and caused a massive population displacement.
Hamas is particularly demanding a permanent ceasefire before any agreement on the release of the hostages, which Israel has always refused. The demands of the Islamist movement also concern “an (Israeli) withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, the return of the displaced, a clear timetable for the start of reconstruction and an exchange agreement which removes all injustice towards Palestinian detainees, men and women,” one of the negotiators, Zaher Jabareen, told AFP on Monday.
“A lasting truce”
In Jordan, Antony Blinken was to discuss ways to increase humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel and threatened with famine. After enduring the cold of winter, displaced families in Rafah are now suffering rising heat, without running water, and threatened by the spread of diseases. “We ask the whole world to call for a lasting truce, that is enough,” said a Palestinian, Abou Taha, who was watching over relatives killed at al-Najjar hospital in Rafah.
International aid, strictly controlled by the Israeli authorities, arrives in trickles mainly from Egypt via Rafah, but remains very insufficient given the immense needs of the 2.4 million Gazans. The United States is putting pressure on Israel to facilitate the entry of aid by road and has also begun to build a floating port facing the Gaza coast, intended to accommodate cargo arriving by boat.
Blinken calls on Hamas to accept truce proposal “without further delay”
The American Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on Tuesday called on Hamas to accept “without further delay” the proposed truce with Israel associated with the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip, which the Palestinian movement claims to be studying. “No more delays, no more excuses. The time to act is now,” Blinken told reporters in Jordan shortly before leaving for Israel as part of his seventh regional tour since the start of the war almost seven months ago.
UN chief calls for ‘independent’ probe into Gaza mass graves
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said he was “deeply concerned” by the discovery of mass graves in the Gaza Strip’s two main hospitals and called for an independent investigation. “It is imperative that independent international investigators… are allowed immediate access to the sites to determine the exact circumstances in which the Palestinians lost their lives and were buried,” he said.