The war between Israel and Hamas It has already caused almost 30,000 deaths in the Gaza Strip, constantly bombed by the Israeli army and threatened with famine, despite mediators’ hopes of achieving a truce soon.
This Wednesday morning, Israeli bombings again targeted Zeitun, in the north of the enclave, also the scene of street fighting, and against Khan Yunis and Rafah, in the south, according to an AFP journalist in the Strip.
The war broke out on October 7, when Hamas militants attacked southern Israel and killed about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP toll based on Israeli data.
They also kidnapped about 250 people. Of them, 130 are still held in the enclave, including 31 who are believed to be dead, according to Israeli authorities. In November, a week-long truce allowed more than 100 hostages to be exchanged for some 240 Palestinians detained in Israel.
In response, Israel launched an air and ground offensive on Gaza that has already killed 29,954 people, mainly women, adolescents and minors, according to the Ministry of Health of the territory, governed by Hamas since 2007.
According to the Gaza Ministry of Health, 76 people died in the last 24 hours.
The army, for its part, announced the death of two soldiers, bringing the number of Israeli soldiers killed to 242 since the start of the ground offensive in Gaza on October 27.
“Hope” in a truce
After almost five months of war, the United States and Qatar, mediators in the conflict along with Egypt, hope to achieve a truce before Ramadan begins, on March 10 or 11, which will allow the release of some of the 130 hostages.
According to a source close to Hamas, classified as an organization “terrorist” by the United States, Israel and the European Union, the ceasefire would last six weeks and one hostage would be exchanged every day for ten Palestinians detained by Israel. In addition, the Islamist movement wants to increase humanitarian aid to Gaza.
On Tuesday, the emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad al Thani, visiting Paris, and the French president, Emmanuel Macron, reiterated their desire to achieve “very quickly a ceasefire”.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al Maliki on Wednesday defended a government “technocratic“without the participation of Hamas to”stop this senseless war”.
“Now is not the time for a national coalition government”he said in Geneva. An executive with Hamas “(…) will be boycotted by several countries, as happened before”, insisted the minister, whose government, which governs parts of the West Bank, announced his resignation on Monday.
“My hope is that we have a ceasefire by next Monday”, declared US President Joe Biden on Monday.
“Imminent” famine
Despite multiple international warnings, the Israeli leader reiterated his determination to continue his offensive, promising to launch an operation against Rafah, a town in the south of the Strip where one and a half million Palestinians survive, many arriving from other parts of the enclave to take refuge. of the fighting, according to the UN.
According to Netanyahu, Rafah constitutes the “last bastion“Hamas and an eventual truce alone”would delay” the offensive he is determined to carry out.
A small protest was organized on Wednesday in that town, in a sign of the inhabitants’ growing desperation.
The Hamas government should “interfere” so that ordinary Palestinians have basic supplies, but “do not care”criticized Khamis Shallah, displaced from Gaza City.
The war, which transformed Gaza into a “death zone”, according to the United Nations, is by far the deadliest of the five conflicts that have pitted Israel against Hamas.
The UN estimates that 2.2 million people, that is, the vast majority of the population, are at risk of famine, especially in the north, where no convoy with humanitarian aid has arrived since January 23.
In that area, “If nothing changes, a famine is imminent“Carl Skau, deputy executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), warned before the UN Security Council.
More than a few journalists from British and American television networks have asked Israel and Egypt for “free access” for all foreign media in Gaza, where since October 7, “Foreign journalists have been denied access, except for rare visits under Israeli army escort”.
Source: Gestion
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