The Gaza war marks 100 days without Israel having finished off Hamas or freeing the hostages

The winter rains falling on the Middle East this Sunday have equally wet the camps of hundreds of thousands of displaced people in the south of Gaza and tens of thousands of protesters in Tel Aviv who were demanding the release of more than a hundred hostages held captive in the Strip from October 7. With nearly 24,000 Palestinians dead and 7,000 missing, the war has reached 100 days without the Government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu having achieved its objectives of rescuing the kidnapped and eradicating the Hamas militia, which it still fights in the center and the south of the coastal enclave. Two societies now survive, disrupted by post-traumatic stress, in the midst of a conflict whose end is not in sight. The entire Gazan population, crowded, according to the UN, in a devastated territory alien to the human condition. And at least a third of Israelis, according to a study that also confirms support for the continuity of hostilities within the Jewish State.

It is already the bloodiest war since the birth of the State of Israel in 1948. It has also caused the largest exodus of civilians since the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) of that same year. And the one that has caused the highest number of Israeli fatalities (1,200) in a single day. “The war can last many more months,” Netanyahu, who has linked his political future to the race, announced this Sunday when presenting the extraordinary Defense budget at the weekly Cabinet meeting.

Gaza's 2.3 million residents are at risk of severe food insecurity, the report continued. UN World Food Programme, and half a million more of them are already on the brink of a “catastrophic” famine, while the drop in telephone and internet communications makes it impossible to know their status. Israel does not allow foreign press into the Strip, as it did in the 2014 conflict.

The routine of war has continued almost without interruption for 100 days. Tanks and fighter planes opened fire this Sunday against units of the Ezedín al Qasam brigades, the armed wing of Hamas in Khan Yunis (southern of the Strip) and Al Bureiy and Al Maghazi (center), where intense clashes took place. The Gaza Health Ministry counted another 125 Palestinian deaths. Most of the hospitals in the enclave are out of service.

Israel's military declared last week that it had entered a new phase of the war with fewer massive attacks and more operations against specific targets. Netanyahu again ruled out a ceasefire on Saturday night until he had crushed the Hamas forces.

“War is itself a crime against humanity,” Pope Francis cried from the Vatican in a call to “pray for those who suffer cruelty, especially in Palestine and Israel.” The Commissioner General of the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini also condemned the prolongation of the fight. “Such large-scale death, destruction, displacement, hunger and pain of the last 100 days stains our human condition,” he said in a statement.

70% of Gaza's homes have been totally or partially damaged and nine out of ten inhabitants have had to flee their homes. “Many will carry scars for life, both physical and psychological,” warned the UNRWA official. “An entire generation of children is traumatized and will take years to heal,” he lamented. “In Gaza, international humanitarian law is regularly violated,” he questioned, “while a humanitarian ceasefire for the safe delivery of food, medicine and water is not permitted.”

Dozens of makeshift camps and shelters at UNRWA facilities and schools in Gaza have been flooded due to heavy rains. “Many displaced people no longer have anywhere to shelter,” say those responsible for the UN agency. “The arrival of winter is making life even more unbearable, especially for those who live outdoors.”

“We have already been at war for 100 days,” admitted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, “but we are not going to stop until we achieve victory.” “No one is going to win,” said Rebecca Brindza, spokesperson for the families of those kidnapped in Gaza, quoted by Reuters. Of the 240 captured on October 7 by Hamas, 136 remain in Gaza, although around twenty of them may have already died. This Sunday, on the first working day of the week in Israel, more than 150 companies supported a 100-minute partial strike to remember the hostages.

From Saturday night to Sunday, tens of thousands of protesters have gathered in front of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art to demand the release of the kidnapped people. Israel has just rejected a proposal from Qatar to rescue all the hostages in exchange for allowing the departure of Hamas leaders in Gaza, including the political chief, Yahya Sinwar, and the military chief, Mohamed Deif, as well as the withdrawal of all its forces from the Palestinian Strip.

Some politicians addressed messages to attendees. Like the abbess of the city of Haifa (north), Labor member Einat Kalisch-Rotem, who has a relative among the kidnapped, and called for new leaders to direct the negotiations to free the hostages with “prudence and sensibility.” Israeli actress Gal Gadot also sent a video recording to the captives' relatives. “We have to do everything possible to bring them back home, there is no other option,” she said emotionally.

Deadly attack on the northern front

Military spokesmen reported that at least four Palestinian militiamen allied with Hezbollah were shot dead on Saturday night when they tried to infiltrate northern Israel along the Lebanese border, in the disputed Shaba Farms area. Five soldiers were injured in the clash. An attack with an anti-tank missile claimed the lives of a 76-year-old woman and her 40-year-old son this Sunday, also in the eastern area of ​​the Lebanese border. In the Red Sea, meanwhile, Yemen's Houthi rebels, backed by Iran, maintain their deployment to attack merchant ships passing through this strategic sea route towards Israel. Despite US-led retaliatory bombing, the escalation towards potential conflict threatens to destabilize the Middle East.

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