Israel continues this Sunday bombing the Gaza Stripdespite increasing pressure for the Israeli government to negotiate the release of the hostages kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is under increasing pressure, especially since it emerged on Friday that soldiers killed three hostages. “by mistake” after mistaking them for Palestinian fighters.
The three hostages were part of the nearly 250 people captured in the unprecedented attack by Hamas on October 7 on Israeli soil, in which 1,140 people died, according to the latest figures from the authorities. Some 129 people remain captive in the Gaza Strip.
Israel promised “annihilate” to Hamas and bombs without ceasing the Palestinian territory, where some 18,800 people have died, of which 70% are women and minors, according to the Ministry of Health of the enclave, governed by Hamas since 2007.
“Too many civilians die,” said the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, on a trip to Israel, from where she urged “a new immediate and lasting humanitarian truce.”
His Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, reiterated the position of his government, for whom a ceasefire is “a gift for Hamas.”
“Bloodbath”
In the north of the Strip, thick smoke could be seen on Sunday after the Israeli bombings.
The Hamas Health Ministry reported 24 dead in the Jabaliya refugee camp, many of whom are still “under the rubble.”
Other bombings killed at least 12 people in the city of Deir al Balah, in the center of the enclave. Witnesses also reported airstrikes in the southern city of Bani Suheila, and AFPTV reported heavy fighting in Gaza City.
The emergency department at Al Shifa hospital in northern Gaza has become “a bloodbath” with hundreds of patients inside and new wounded arriving “each minute”stated the World Health Organization (WHO).
Israeli attacks have devastated much of the territory and the UN estimates that 1.9 million Gazans have been forced to leave their homes.
At the end of the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis lamented the death on Saturday of two women in a Catholic parish in Gaza and affirmed that in this territory there are “defenseless civilians” who are targets of shooting and bombing.
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“Bring the hostages alive”
In Israelpressure is increasing to release the hostages still held captive in the Palestinian territory.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday. Then they camped in front of the headquarters of the Ministry of Defense to demand the return of their relatives.
“The Israeli government must (…) put on the table its best proposal to bring the hostages alive. Alive”, insisted Ruby Chen, Itay Chen’s father.
More than 100 captured Israelis and foreigners were freed in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners during a week-long truce in November sponsored by Qatar.
But according to Netanyahu it is necessary “maintain military pressure” to bring the hostages and put an end to Hamas.
Qatar confirmed on Saturday that it was carrying out “diplomatic efforts to restore a humanitarian pause.”
According to the Axios news website, the head of the Israeli intelligence services, David Barnea, met on Friday with the Qatari Prime Minister, Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al Thani, who participated in the previous truce negotiations.
Hamas rejects “any negotiation” Yeah “the aggression against our people does not completely cease”as reported on Telegram.
Fear of tensions in the region
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will also be in Israel, Bahrain and Qatar this week to reiterate “Washington’s commitment to strengthening regional security and stability.”
The United States, Israel’s greatest ally, has in recent days urged a phase of “lower intensity” in the Israeli operation, to protect civilians.
The head of British diplomacy, David Cameron, and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, also called for a “durable ceasefire”, in a text published in the Sunday Times.
Outside Gaza, the Palestinian Authority on Sunday mourned the deaths of five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has spiked since the outbreak of the conflict.
The war also raises fears of increased tensions in the region, especially in Lebanon, where the pro-Iran Hezbollah movement, an ally of Hamas, is located.
In the north of Israel, on the border with LebanonThere are daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.
The head of French diplomacy asked on Sunday for a “de-escalation” of violence on that border. “If there is a spiral, a conflagration, I believe that no one will benefit, and I also say this for Israel,” Colonna said.
And in the Red Sea, a strategic trade route through which 20,000 ships circulate each year, several large global shipping companies suspended the passage of their ships due to attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, close to Iran, presented as a response. to the war between Israel and Hamas.
Source: Gestion
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