He Israeli army intensified its bombing in the Gaza Strip this Sunday after more than seven months of war against Hamas that centered on a visit by the advisor of American national security to Jerusalem.
The United States insistently demands a post-war plan from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahuwhich promised to annihilate the Islamist movement after the October 7 attack in the south of its territory.
In the ground, The war devastates the Palestinian enclave. Heavy fighting took place in Jabaliya in the north. Also in the south, hostilities continued in Rafah, where Israeli troops entered on May 7 with the intention of carrying out a major offensive.
Some “800,000” Palestinians “were forced to flee” from Rafah, according to the UN, towards Khan Yunis, further north, since Israel ordered the evacuation of the population in the east of the city on May 6.
The international community fears for the civilian population in Rafah, where it is estimated that before the operation 1.4 of Gaza’s 2.4 million inhabitants were overcrowded.
In the Nuseirat refugee camp, in the center of the Strip, a bombing hit the home of a family at dawn.
“We recovered 31 bodies and 20 wounded among the rubble,” spokesman for the Gaza civil defense agency, Mahmud Bassal, told reporters.
In the north, the Al Ahli Arab hospital reported three deaths in an Israeli bombing of a school where displaced people were taking refuge.
– “Two State Solution” –
In early January, Israel announced that it had neutralized Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip, but according to the army, the Islamist movement regained ground in Jabaliya, giving rise to a new Israeli ground operation.
“The children are being torn apart. What is the fault of these children and women?” Abu Nabil, a resident of Jabaliya, told AFP.
On the other side of the Strip, the Israeli army announced an intensification of its operations in Rafah, mainly in the eastern sector, to eliminate the last battalions of the Islamist movement.
Hamas reported “fierce fighting” with shell fire and anti-tank missiles.
American adviser Jake Sullivan, whose country opposes a major offensive in Rafah, met in Jerusalem on Sunday with his counterpart, Tzachi Hanegbi, and Netanyahu.
In their meeting, Sullivan called for a “political strategy” for the future of the Palestinian enclave and reiterated to the prime minister Washington’s position on Rafah, the US government said.
Washington advocates a postwar plan for Gaza that involves the Palestinians and has the support of regional powers.
US President Joe Biden on Sunday called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and said he supported a peace deal for the entire region with “a two-state solution, as the only solution.”
The war between Israel and Hamas broke out on October 7 when Islamist commandos carried out an attack in southern Israel, killing more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
More than 250 people were captured and 125 remain hostage in Gaza, of whom 37 are believed to have died, according to the army.
So far 35,456 Palestinians, mainly civilians, have died in the retaliatory offensive launched by Israel, according to data from the Ministry of Health in Gaza, a territory governed by Hamas since 2007 and whose population is threatened with famine according to the UN.
– “What is left to destroy?” –
“There is no security, no food, no water. They have bombed us continuously for months, day and night, we are terrified (…) What is left to destroy?” declared Rinad Judeh, a resident of Rafah.
In addition to the hostilities, Palestinian civilians are facing food shortages due to Israel’s siege of the Gaza Strip.
The entry of humanitarian aid has been practically blocked since the Israeli army closed the Rafah border crossing with Egypt on May 7, a crucial step for this aid.
Blocking aid could have “apocalyptic” consequences, UN Humanitarian Chief Martin Griffiths has warned.
An aid convoy was attacked again on Sunday by Israeli activists, but Israeli peacekeepers escorting it said they were allowed to continue without suffering too much damage.
The continuation of the conflict, of which there is no end in sight, is also deepening internal political divisions in Israel.
Minister Benny Gantz, a member of Israel’s war cabinet, said he will resign unless Netanyahu approves a post-war plan for Gaza within three weeks.
Before him, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant urged Netanyahu to “immediately prepare” a “governmental alternative to Hamas” in Gaza.
The Israeli prime minister, who has so far refused to discuss the future of Gaza before Hamas is destroyed, accused Gantz of wanting to “overthrow the government.”
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