Ramadan began Monday in the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip, with no truce in sight in the war between Israel and Hamas, while the famine-stricken population desperately waits for aid. UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for “silencing the guns” in Gaza and releasing the hostages held there since the start of the war on October 7, “to honor the spirit of Ramadan”.
Information to remember:
- Israeli strikes hit Gaza City in the north, Khan Younes and Rafah in the south
- The population of Gaza is hit by a famine and awaits humanitarian aid
- The mediating countries failed to reach a truce agreement
- UN Secretary General António Guterres calls for “silencing the guns” in Gaza and releasing the hostages “to honor the spirit of Ramadan”
- Israel demands Hamas provide precise list of hostages still alive
As the Muslim world enters the holy month of fasting, many residents of the Palestinian territory were awakened by Israeli strikes which notably targeted the cities of Gaza in the north, Khan Younes and Rafah in the south.
“The start of Ramadan is covered in darkness, with the taste of blood and the stench everywhere,” Awni al-Kayyal, a 50-year-old displaced man in Rafah, told AFP. “I woke up in my tent and I started crying about our fate. Suddenly I heard explosions and bombings,” he said. “The (Israeli) occupation does not want us to have moments of joy for Ramadan. We do not have food on the dinner table” for breaking the fast Monday evening, he added.
A ship loaded with 200 tonnes of food ready to leave Cyprus
Meanwhile, a ship from the Spanish NGO Open Arms loaded with 200 tonnes of food is set to leave Cyprus, the closest EU country to Gaza, for the Palestinian territory, as part of a maritime corridor that the European Union wants to put in place. The ship is awaiting the green light from the Cypriot authorities to set sail from the port of Larnaca, on the Mediterranean, approximately 370 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, residents flocked to the beach in southern Gaza City hoping to see him arrive. “They said that a boat loaded with aid would arrive and that people would be able to eat,” one of them, Mohammed Abou Baïd, told AFP. “God only knows. We won’t believe it until we see it,” he added. A US military ship also left the United States with equipment needed to build a jetty to unload aid shipments, which could take up to 60 days.
But the UN, which fears widespread famine in the territory of 2.4 million inhabitants, besieged by Israel since October 9, affirms that the sending of aid by sea and the airdrops organized daily by several countries cannot replace the land route. International aid, controlled by Israel, is only trickling into the Gaza Strip where the needs are immense. This aid arrives mainly from Egypt via Rafah, a town close to the Egyptian border, where, according to the UN, nearly a million and a half people are gathered.
Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his desire to carry out a ground operation
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed on Sunday, in response to American criticism, his intention to lead a ground offensive on this city, in order to definitively defeat Hamas and free the hostages. “We will go there. We will not abandon them. You know, I have a red line (…) That October 7 does not happen again. Never again,” he said in an interview with Politico newspaper, claiming to have the support of an “overwhelming majority of Israelis” in its war against Hamas.
The war was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel, which left at least 1,160 dead, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally. from official Israeli sources. In retaliation, Israel promised to annihilate Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, which it considers a terrorist organization, as did the United States and the European Union.
Its army launched an offensive which has so far left 31,112 dead in the Gaza Strip, mostly civilians, according to Hamas, which on Monday counted 67 dead in 24 hours. Among them were four members of the same family killed by a strike on their house during dawn prayers in Rafah, according to the ministry.
“Don’t look for us. We are ready, don’t make a mistake”
Despite new discussions in early March in Cairo, the United States, Qatar and Egypt, the three mediator countries, did not manage to reach an agreement on a truce. Hamas is demanding in particular a definitive ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops before any agreement on the release of the hostages. Israel is demanding that Hamas provide a precise list of hostages still alive, but the Palestinian movement said it did not know who was “alive or dead” among them. According to Israel, 130 hostages are still in Gaza, 31 of whom are believed to have died, out of around 250 people kidnapped on October 7.
The extremely tense climate generated by the war in Gaza has led to fears of violence, particularly in East Jerusalem, where the Esplanade des Mosques is located, the third holiest site in Islam where tens of thousands of Muslim faithful gather every evening during the Ramadan.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant assured Monday that Israel would respect freedom of worship in the al-Aqsa mosque and other holy sites, but also warned that the country was “ready” to respond to any excess. “We say to everyone: don’t look for us. We are ready, don’t make a mistake,” he said.
US President Joe Biden sent a message of solidarity for Ramadan, during which “the suffering of the Palestinian people will be at the forefront for many. It is for me,” he said. As custodian of two of Islam’s holiest sites, Saudi Arabia’s King Salman urged the international community to ensure “safe humanitarian and aid corridors are in place.”