Khan Younes remains the scene of fierce fighting on Friday which has already pushed thousands of people to flee while all eyes are on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague which could order Israel to curb its offensive in Gaza without being able to do so. to force it. The international community has expressed in recent hours its concerns for the civilian population in the south of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Khan Younes where tank fire targeted a shelter of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees ( Unrwa) left 13 dead.
Information to remember:
- Khan Younes is still the target of Israeli bombings
- The International Court of Justice must announce this Friday whether it will order Israel to curb its offensive on Gaza
- Hamas announces new death toll of 26,083 in the Gaza Strip
After the United States, France “condemned” these deadly shots, calling on Israel, without directly accusing it of this strike, to “comply with international law”. And Berlin declared itself “extremely concerned” by the “desperate situation” of civilians in Khan Younes. “We tried to get out, but when I looked outside, I saw the tanks firing. How could we get out?” Ahmad Katra, a prisoner, told AFP on his hospital bed. Palestinian injured during this incident. “They didn’t give us a chance to leave the place. They said it was a safe place, but in the end they beat us in a UN facility,” he added .
According to an AFP journalist, the bombings were incessant on Thursday on Khan Younes, where the local leadership of Hamas is hiding according to the Israeli army which also accuses the Islamist movement of carrying out attacks near local hospitals. Early Friday, the Hamas Health Ministry reported 120 deaths across the Palestinian territory during the evening and night, and intense fighting near the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes.
“Human tide”
In recent days, thousands of people have fled Khan Younes to try to find refuge in Rafah, a city bordering Egypt where the majority of the 1.7 million Palestinians displaced by the war are already concentrated. “A human tide is forced to flee Khan Younès to find itself at the border with Egypt,” lamented the commissioner general of Unrwa, Philippe Lazzarini during the night, referring to “an endless search for security” for the population. of Gaza since the war.
The army claims to have “surrounded” Khan Younes, the hometown of Yahya Sinouar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, considered to be the architect of the bloody attack carried out on October 7 by the Islamist movement against Israel. This attack led to the death of more than 1,140 people in Israel, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures. Some 250 people were kidnapped in the attack and taken to Gaza, around 100 of whom were released in late November during a truce in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
In response, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, and launched a vast military operation which left 25,900 people dead, the vast majority of them women, children and adolescents, according to the Ministry of Defense. the Health of the Islamist movement.
Constrain without force?
Faced with this heavy toll and the daily destruction, South Africa urgently seized the International Court of Justice (ICJ) last month, arguing that Israel was violating the United Nations Convention on Genocide, signed in 1948 at the aftermath of the Shoah. However, without judging on the merits, the highest court of the UN must render its decision on Friday afternoon on urgent measures to protect the Palestinians in Gaza. But if its orders are legally binding, the Court has no way of enforcing them…
Hamas pledged Thursday to respect a ceasefire if it was demanded by this court in The Hague, but on condition that Israel also complies with it. The Israeli government criticizes this legal procedure, but engages in discussions for a truce agreement in Gaza which would include, among other things, the release of hostages there and Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
CIA, Mossad and Qatar
The head of the CIA will travel to Europe to meet his Israeli and Egyptian counterparts and the Qatari Prime Minister in the hope of negotiating a truce and the release of hostages still being held by Hamas, the Washington Post and the Daily reported Thursday. Axios news site.
William Burns is scheduled to meet with Mossad chiefs David Barnea, Egyptian intelligence chiefs Abbas Kamel, and Qatar Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane Al-Thani in the coming days, according to these media, which did not disclose the location for the meeting. encounter.
Statements by Benjamin Netanyahu, who deemed Qatar’s role as mediator “problematic”, accusing it in particular of financing Hamas, risk “hindering and undermining the mediation process”, denounced the emirate. Questioned in this regard in Washington, State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel did not comment on Mr. Netanyahu’s remarks but described Qatar as an “irreplaceable” partner.