Israel He stated that the troops withdrew from Khan Yunis this Sunday, in the south of the Gaza Strip to “prepare” for a military operation in Rafah, six months into a devastating war against the Palestinian Hamas movement.
After the army announced its withdrawal from Khan Yunis after saying it dismantled Hamas’s operational capacity, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant indicated that troops are preparing for their “next missions,” including Rafah.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reaffirmed his determination to eliminate Hamas from “the entire Gaza Strip, including Rafah.” The international community has expressed concern about the Israeli invasion of Rafah, a town in southern Gaza where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians survive in overcrowded conditions, many of them displaced by the fighting.
The United States, which is Israel’s main ally, warned that it disapproves of a possible offensive in this town due to the risk to civilians.
Netanyahu insisted that there will be no ceasefire until Hamas releases all the hostages, when negotiations must resume in Cairo towards a truce.
”Israel is ready for a deal, Israel is not ready to surrender,” he told his cabinet during a speech to mark six months of a war that left the Gaza Strip in ruins and has most of its 2.4 million people of inhabitants on the verge of famine, according to the UN.
Following the announcement that the Israeli army “concluded its mission in Khan Younis,” US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told ABC that more than a movement for a new operation, the Israeli decision probably seeks to its troops can “rest and recondition themselves.” On the other hand, the Israeli army stated this Sunday that it completed a “new phase” of preparation in case there is a “war” on the border with Lebanon, where clashes with Hezbollah are intensifying.
– “There are children dying of hunger” –
The war began on October 7, when Hamas swept into southern Israel and killed 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Palestinian fighters also captured 250 people, of whom 129 remain held in Gaza, including 34 believed to have died, according to Israeli authorities.
The air and ground offensive launched by Israel in response left 33,175 dead in Gaza, according to the Ministry of Health of the territory, governed by Hamas since 2007. After the Israeli army announced its withdrawal from Khan Yunis, dozens of Palestinian refugees in Rafah undertook the way back on foot, by car or in carts, according to AFP images.
After beginning its offensive in Gaza, Israel imposed a “complete” siege on the territory, preventing the entry of water, food, fuel and supplies.
A first truce at the end of November allowed aid to enter Gaza and the exchange of a hundred hostages for Palestinian prisoners held in Israel. But the aid, which enters in dribs and drabs and requires Israel’s approval, is not enough.
”The whole world has to be ashamed. There are children who are dying of hunger,” lamented Labad, a mother of four children who lost her home in Jabaliya. “My eight-year-old son asks me for food, but I don’t have anything,” she told AFP.
This Sunday, several UN agencies and humanitarian organizations described the situation in Gaza as “more than catastrophic” and the director of Unicef, Catherine Russel, warned that “famine is imminent.”
– New round of negotiations –
The Israeli army’s announcement came before the start of talks scheduled this Sunday in Cairo for a truce. The director of the US CIA, Bill Burns, and the Qatari prime minister, Mohamed bin Abdulrahman bin Al Thani, will meet with Egyptian mediators for indirect talks between the delegations of Israel and Hamas, according to the Egyptian media Al Qahera News.
The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas recalled that its demands include a complete ceasefire in Gaza, the withdrawal of Israeli forces and the return of displaced people.
US President Joe Biden on Thursday demanded an agreement from Netanyahu for a ceasefire and also suggested for the first time conditioning US aid on a reduction in civilian deaths and more influx of humanitarian aid.
The talks between the two took place after seven workers, mostly foreigners, died in an Israeli bombing against a convoy of the NGO World Central Kitchen in Gaza.
Its founder, Spanish chef José Andrés, called for an independent investigation into the attack and warned that the conflict had become a “war against humanity itself.” Netanyahu, for his part, faces growing internal pressure to free the hostages. Thousands of Israelis protested on Sunday in Jerusalem for the return of the kidnapped people.
Source: Gestion
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