Tags : Israel, Hamas, Palestine, Gaza Strip,
Israel continued its airstrikes on the besieged Gaza Strip on Sunday, exacerbating the dire humanitarian situation for Palestinians after nearly three months of war against Hamas. The end of this year has been bleak for both parties.
At least 48 Palestinians were killed in overnight strikes in Gaza City, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry in the Palestinian territory. Eighteen bodies have been recovered so far.
Another strike on the Al-Aqsa University campus in Gaza resulted in at least 20 deaths, as reported by the same source.
« After the explosion, we arrived at the scene and saw martyrs everywhere (…), children are still missing, » testified Mohamed Btihan, a Gaza resident.
The Israeli military, on its part, stated that it had killed over a dozen enemy fighters in multiple ground clashes, airstrikes, and tank shelling. They claimed to have located Hamas tunnels and explosives in a kindergarten.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that the war triggered by unprecedented attacks by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on Israeli soil on October 7 would continue for « many months. »
« Difficult Situation »
« We hoped that the year 2024 would come under better auspices, and we could celebrate the New Year at home with family. But the situation is difficult, » lamented Mahmoud Abou Shahma, 33, in a displaced persons camp in Rafah, southern Gaza.
« We hope for the end of the war and the ability to return home to live peacefully, » added this man originally from Khan Younes, the main city in southern Gaza and the new epicenter of clashes between the Israeli army and Hamas.
In Israel, New Year celebrations are expected to be more subdued than usual in Tel Aviv, the party capital, where bars will be open all night, but the atmosphere will be different, with tens of thousands of young people mobilized on the front.
The Hamas attack on October 7 has resulted in approximately 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data. In response, Israel vowed to « destroy » the Islamist movement in power in Gaza and relentlessly bombs the small territory where 129 people out of about 250 taken hostage on October 7 are still held by Hamas and its local allies.
According to a new toll announced Sunday by the Hamas Health Ministry, 21,822 people, mostly women, teenagers, and children, have been killed in Gaza since the start of the war, with 56,451 injured.
In recent weeks, the Israeli army has deployed in the northern Gaza Strip, then towards Khan Younes (south), and recently in the central camps of this territory, where 1.9 million inhabitants (85% of the population) have had to flee their homes due to the fighting.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned of the increasing threat of the spread of infectious diseases, and the UN has expressed fears of famine.
« Bring Them Back! »
Netanyahu reaffirmed on Sunday that Israel would continue its war, « whose justice and morality are unparalleled, » responding to accusations of « acts of genocide » brought by South Africa before the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Relatives of hostages held in Gaza maintain pressure on the Israeli government. More than a thousand people demonstrated on Saturday night in Tel Aviv in support of the hostages and their families, chanting « bring them home! »
International mediators, led by Qatar and Egypt, had managed to negotiate a one-week ceasefire in late November, leading to the release of over 100 hostages and limited aid entering Gaza. They are currently continuing their efforts for a new pause in the fighting.
A Hamas delegation, classified as a terrorist organization by the EU, the United States, and Israel, among others, arrived in Cairo on Friday to convey « the response of Palestinian factions » to an Egyptian plan for the release of hostages and a pause in the clashes.
Tensions in the Red Sea
This response will be given « in the coming days, » said Muhammad al-Hindi, deputy secretary-general of the Islamic Jihad, an armed group fighting alongside Hamas.
When asked on Saturday night, Benjamin Netanyahu remained vague about behind-the-scenes negotiations but assured that the war would continue « for several more months. »
The war in Gaza has heightened tensions on the border between Lebanon and Israel, an almost daily theater since October 7 of exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah, an Islamist movement close to Iran that supports Hamas.
Israel « must first end the war in Gaza » for hostilities with Lebanon to « cease, » warned Hezbollah’s deputy leader Naim Qassem on Sunday.
In the Red Sea, the US military announced on Sunday that it had sunk three boats belonging to Yemeni Houthi rebels allied with Iran, accused of attacking a container ship. Ten of them were killed in the US strike.
Since the start of the war on October 7, the Houthis have expressed support for Gaza Palestinians, threatening traffic on this strategic maritime route.
Danish shipping giant Maersk announced on Sunday the suspension of its fleet’s transit through this maritime route for 48 hours.
AFP
Source : LN24, 31/12/2023
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