Israeli army bombs Gaza, violence in West Bank

The Israeli army bombed the Gaza Strip on Sunday, notably the town of Rafah, six and a half months after the start of the war against Hamas in the Palestinian territory, causing a surge of fever across the Middle -East. Engaged in a standoff with Iran, its sworn enemy, and in full offensive against the Islamist movement, ally of Tehran, Israel received new support on Saturday from the United States, where the House of Representatives approved military aid of 13 billion dollars. For Hamas, Washington thus gave Israel the “green light” to continue “aggressing” the Palestinians.

After a week of tensions at their highest since the start of the war on October 7, Iran and Israel appeared to move away from an escalation on Saturday. But in the Gaza Strip, besieged and threatened with famine, the war rages without any sign of a truce while deadly violence shakes the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967. According to the Gaza Civil Defense, Israeli strikes on two houses of Rafah, in the south, left at least 16 dead on Sunday. Hamas counted 48 deaths in 24 hours in the territory.

“Live or die”

Rafah, a border town with Egypt where there are around a million and a half Palestinians, lives under the threat of a ground offensive that Israel has promised to launch to defeat Hamas. Like every day, survivors searched the rubble on Sunday after the panicked scenes of the night. “We were sleeping and suddenly we were awakened by the nightmare of an explosion. The ceiling fell on the children,” said a 35-year-old woman, Umm Hassan Kloub, whose house sheltered displaced families. “Every moment we live in terror. We don’t know if we are going to live or die,” she added.

On Friday, the G7 countries expressed their opposition to “a large-scale military operation in Rafah”, while denouncing the “unacceptable number of civilians” killed in Gaza. In the West Bank, two young Palestinians were killed on Sunday by Israeli soldiers, according to Hamas. The army claimed that they had tried to stab and open fire on soldiers near the village of Beit Einoun, in the south of this Palestinian territory.

On Saturday, an Israeli raid in the Nour-Shams camp, near Tulkarem, left 14 dead, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent.

A region “on fire”

Tensions sharply rose in the Middle East on April 13, when Iran carried out an unprecedented attack on Israel, its enemy since the 1979 Iranian Revolution, with hundreds of drones and missiles, most of which were intercepted. Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Sunday praised the “successes” of the armed forces, which he said illustrate the “greatness” of Iran on the international scene.

Israel had promised to retaliate while Iran said it had acted in “self-defense” after the deadly attack, attributed to Israel, which destroyed its consulate in Damascus on April 1. On Friday, an attack blamed on Israel hit central Iran, without causing any casualties or damage according to the authorities. The Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, put this operation into perspective on Saturday, which he compared to child’s play.

For Iranian political expert Hamid Gholamzadeh, this “very insignificant” incident must however be placed in the context of “the struggle for the balance of power” between Iran and Israel. “The region is on fire and all-out war can be unleashed at any time, and such actions make it more imminent,” he warned.

Israel welcomed the financial aid voted in Washington on Saturday, despite tensions with the United States arising from American concerns over the fate of civilians in Gaza. President Joe Biden called it “crucial aid.” But for Russia, this aid allocated to Israel, as to Ukraine and Taiwan, “will exacerbate global crises”.

An empty chair

The war in Gaza was triggered by an unprecedented attack launched on October 7 against Israel by Hamas commandos, which resulted in the deaths of 1,170 people, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official data. Israelis. More than 250 people were kidnapped during the attack and 129 of them are being held in Gaza, 34 of whom died according to Israeli officials.

In retaliation, Israel promised to destroy the Islamist movement, in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, 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 34,097 dead, mostly civilians, according to Hamas.

While negotiations for a truce are stalling, Israeli public opinion is forcefully demanding from its leaders an agreement that would allow the release of the hostages. Demonstrators once again demanded the resignation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday evening in Tel Aviv. “We need Bibi to go because he is a disaster for Israel, economically and above all for the security of the population,” said one of them, Benni Tirosh.

The families of the hostages called on Israelis to leave an empty chair at the ritual Seder meal Monday evening, which marks the start of the Jewish holiday of Passover, so as not to forget them. “The night of Seder is approaching, and this year, we will have to leave an empty chair,” said Ofir Angrest, whose brother Matan has been hostage since October 7.