Capitals (Union, Agencies)
Yesterday, the ongoing Israeli war on the Gaza Strip entered its ninth month, coinciding with the Israeli army expanding its incursion into the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, by advancing west to the seashore, thus taking control of the Philadelphia axis separating the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Israeli tanks continued their advance in the western part of the city of Rafah, south of the Gaza Strip, and penetrated into the Saudi neighborhood and the areas of Al-Barakasat, Al-Mawasi and Al-Sultan, amid heavy shelling towards the tents of the displaced, which led to the death and injury of dozens of them.
Eyewitnesses reported that Israeli military vehicles are currently stationed on Al-Rashid Street on the seashore, far west of the city of Rafah, and are roaming in the “Swedish Village” area, and that Israeli snipers are atop high-rise buildings and shooting at anyone who moves in the area.
According to witnesses, the Israeli army bombed a number of homes in the Al-Ezbah area, west of Al-Suwaydiyah, killing and wounding a number of Palestinians.
Witnesses indicated that Israeli tanks continued their artillery shelling of areas west of Rafah from the northern sides of their concentration points.
The Israeli tanks’ control of the Philadelphia axis comes days after the Israeli army announced, on May 29, operational control “by fire” of the border strip between the Gaza Strip and Egypt.
Politically, the administration of President Joe Biden has escalated its efforts to pressure the Palestinian factions to push them to accept the Israeli ceasefire proposal, according to American media reports, while Qatar denied receiving any response from the factions to the proposal.
The Qatari Foreign Ministry spokesman, Majid Al-Ansari, said in a statement that “no response from the factions to the latest ceasefire proposal has been received by the mediators yet,” and that the factions reported that they were still studying the proposal.
Al-Ansari pointed out that Doha’s joint mediation efforts with Egypt and the United States are continuing, calling for not paying attention to “inaccurate media reports, and to rely on reliable official sources in light of the sensitivity of the current negotiation situation.”
In turn, Russia and China raised concerns about a US draft resolution supporting a proposal by President Joe Biden for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Diplomats said that Algeria, the only Arab country member of the Council, also indicated its unwillingness to support the text, as Biden announced a three-stage ceasefire plan a week ago at an Israeli initiative, but the decision requires the approval of at least 9 votes and the permanent members of the Council do not use the right. The veto, and those countries are the United States, France, Britain, China and Russia.
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken is scheduled to visit Israel next week, for the eighth time since the outbreak of war on the Gaza Strip on October 7th.
Israeli media said that Blinken’s visit comes at a time when Washington and Tel Aviv are waiting for the factions’ response to the American proposal.
The Israeli war on Gaza left about 120,000 Palestinians dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and nearly 10,000 missing amid massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of dozens of people.
#war #entering #ninth #month.. #Israeli #army #expanding #incursion #Rafah