The beginning of Ramadan in the middle of war in the Gaza Strip worries the international community, in the midst of stalled talks to achieve a ceasefire, and with fear that the holy month for Muslims could lead to violent episodes.
The first day of Ramadan took place without serious incidents this Monday in Jerusalem where up to 35,000 people came to the Esplanade of the Mosques to pray, despite the fact that on Sunday afternoon the Israeli police prevented the entry of some groups of young people. Muslims in what is considered the third sacred place of Islam.
It is precisely these restrictions that worry the Palestinian authorities, aware that in previous years the police have attacked Muslims who come to pray there.
“We strongly condemn the restrictions imposed on Palestinians during the holy month of Ramadan regarding entry to the Al-Aqs Mosque,” said this Monday the spokesman for the presidency of the Palestinian Authority, Nabil Abu Rudeineh.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu guaranteed free access to the Al Aqsa mosque for worshipers last week despite the insistence of some of the most radical sectors of his government not to allow it.
Waiting to resume negotiations
The war cabinet, headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, met on Sunday night and agreed, according to leaks to the Hebrew media, to wait for both Egypt and Qatar to pressure Hamas to accept its latest proposal: a six-week halt. the fire and the liberation of the hostages, prioritizing women, children and the sick.
The leader of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniye, said this Sunday that the militia remains open to continuing negotiating an agreement to exchange hostages in exchange for a ceasefire with Israel, although it has rejected the return of the kidnapped people without a guarantee that Israel will not continue its offensive on the Gaza Strip.
A Ramadan in Gaza under bombs
The beginning of Ramadan in Gaza, however, has been experienced with sadness in another day of Israeli attacks and shortages of food and medicine. On Monday, the death toll from malnutrition rose to 27 after the death of two babies was confirmed at the Kamal Adwan hospital in Beit Lahia, in the north of the Palestinian enclave, where humanitarian needs are most pressing.
The situation in the south of the enclave, where millions of people are overcrowded, also continues to worsen: “The food and medical aid that comes in covers only the 3% of our needs” Marwan Al-Hams, director of the Abu Yousef Al-Najjar Hospital in Rafah, said this Monday.
The Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas, raised the total death toll this Monday to 31,112, 72% of them children and women, since the start of the Israeli offensive on October 7.
In addition, there are another 72,760 people injured and an estimated 8,000 bodies remain under the rubble.
For its part, the Israeli Army reported this Monday that it is trying to verify the death of Marwan Issa, “number two” of the al Qasam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, and “Number Three” of the group inside the enclave, in an Israeli attack in the center of the Gaza Strip early Sunday morning.
In the Hamas hierarchy inside the Strip, Marwan Issa is the “number 3”, since the leader is Yahya Sinwar, head of the Islamist group in the enclave, combining the political and military branches; followed by Mohamed Deif, commander in chief of the al Qasam Brigades.
Israel considers these, with Sinwar at the head, the masterminds of the Hamas attacks on October 7 on Israeli soil, which left more than 1,200 dead and 253 hostages, and which triggered the current war.
Netanyahu insists on “total victory”
“We are on the way to total victory. On the way to this victory, we already eliminated Hamas number four. Three, two and one are on the way. “They are all dead men, we will get to them all,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said this Monday, given the rumors of Issa’s death.
The prime minister again insisted on the “total victory” as the objective of the war in Gaza, which, as it has said on numerous occasions, includes a ground offensive in Rafah, the southern end of the border enclave with Egypt, where there are 1.4 million displaced people and Israel claims that four Hamas battalions remain.
Regarding the announced operation in Rafah, US President Joe Biden remains firm in his position and reaffirmed this Sunday that “Getting to Rafah is a red line.”
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Source: Gestion
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