Israel is also expanding its military operations to the south of Gaza while in the evening the first 17 thousand liters of diesel entered the Strip after weeks of pressure from the international community, led by the United States, for fuel supplies to the collapsing enclave. The operation conducted «on land, in the sky and from the sea» will continue wherever the militiamen are located and «since Hamas is also located in the south of the Strip, it will extend there. This will happen in the time, place and conditions that we consider most favorable. But it will happen,” warned Israeli military spokesman Daniel Hagari. A new phase supported by the leaflets launched by the army to urge the population of some villages in the southern part of the Palestinian enclave to move elsewhere.
Gaza, tunnels and weapons under Al Shifa hospital: the images released by Israel
On the night between Thursday and Friday, an Israeli raid on Khan Younis, in the south, had already caused “numerous deaths”, according to what the Hamas authorities reported. While the U-turn by Benyamin Netanyahu, who authorized the entry of fuel into the Strip after having so far denied it, caused quite a bit of discontent and even open opposition among the government’s ultra-right ministers. Bezalel Smotrich, head of Finance and leader of the nationalist Religious Zionism party, spoke of a “serious mistake” and a “signal of weakness” sent to the enemy: “It will only allow Yahya Sinwar to remain in an air-conditioned bunker when instead we should continue to strike the Hamas leaders relentlessly,” he thundered. «The decision to let fuel enter Gaza – replied National Security Advisor Tzachi Hanegbi – does not damage the objectives of our operation. If epidemics break out,” he added, “the war stops and we want to continue it.”
In any case, as established by the Israeli war cabinet, every day two tankers of diesel will enter from the Rafah crossing intended for the needs of the UN, in particular for relief, to support the water network and to restore the telephone network over the entire territory. Among other things, Hamas blamed “the death of 24 people in two days at Shifa hospital” precisely on the lack of energy.
Meanwhile, the IDF is conquering more and more space within the Strip. The biggest grip is still in the north and center. Soldiers announced they had taken an Islamic Jihad stronghold, killing many militiamen. And they continue to find weapons in civilian facilities, including kindergartens and schools. All without letting go of the Shifa hospital in the center of Gaza City under which, the army announced, “another underground structure was found”.
Visiting Shifa, the commander of Israel’s southern front Yaron Finkelman said that “the presence of Hamas in all hospitals is definitive and clear” after showing the entrance to a tunnel. Furthermore, right next to the hospital, two bodies of killed hostages have already been found: today it was the turn of the soldier Nora Marciano, 19 years old, of whom the Islamic faction had circulated a video.
Hamas then made it known that the soldiers took “130 bodies” away from the Shifa and destroyed almost all the medical machinery. In Gaza, according to the local Ministry of Health, the deaths have reached more than 12,000, including 5,000 minors. “The human toll of the siege – the UN attacked – is indescribable”. «As terrible as the situation in Gaza is – warned the head of United Nations humanitarian affairs Martin Griffiths on behalf of Secretary General Guterres – it could get much worse. I seriously fear that if we do not act now, the conflict could spread further to other parts of the occupied Palestinian territories.” The battle in Gaza is in fact increasingly inflaming the West Bank, where Hamas has declared it wants to export the war while Israel continues with its blitzes. Yesterday there were five deaths in clashes with the Jewish army in Jenin and two in Hebron, and dozens of arrests were made in all the Territories.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, however, called on the Jewish state to take “urgent” measures to put an end to settler violence against Palestinians. Even on the border with Lebanon, tension remains very high, with launches by Hezbollah and Israeli response fire.
To know more
– Baby jihad, the story of the kids in the refugee camp ready to die as martyrs
– Turkish Nobel Prize winner Orhan Pamuk: “Writers should never be censored, culture opens the mind and stops war”
– “It is possible to criticize Israel”: a thousand intellectuals of Jewish origin sign an open letter
– The chain of errors of the Gaza disaster
What happened yesterday
Israel: Hezbollah positions attacked in southern Lebanon
The Israeli army said its fighter planes and helicopters attacked Hezbollah positions and targets in southern Lebanon, in response to rocket fire from Lebanese territory towards Israel in the last 24 hours. The Israeli military also said it attacked the rocket launch site used to hit their position in the Har Dov region on Friday morning. This is what he reports Haaretz.
Red Crescent: 5 dead in attack on Balata refugee camp
Five people were killed in an attack on the Balata refugee camp in the West Bank. This was reported by the Red Crescent. Two other people were injured, the Red Crescent states. According to the camp administration, the airstrike hit a building that housed the headquarters of Fatah, the main Palestinian organization. When asked about the incident, the Israeli army did not immediately confirm the attack.
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