The war in Gaza between Israel and Hamas shows no signs of abating this Monday at the beginning of Ramadan, the holy month of Muslims, in full international mobilization to send humanitarian aid to a population on the brink of famine.
Israel bombed several points in the Palestinian territory again, according to the authorities of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamasparticularly Gaza City in the north, Khan Younis and Rafah in the south.
“The beginning of Ramadan is covered in darkness, with the taste of blood and stench everywhere,” Awni al Kayyal, a 50-year-old displaced person in Rafah, told AFP.
The beginning of Ramadan is covered in darkness, with the taste of blood and stench everywhere.
“I woke up in my tent and cried for our luck. Suddenly, I heard explosions and bombings. I saw ambulances taking away the dead and wounded,” he said, adding that his family “will have no food on the table” after the breaking the fast on Monday night.
Ship with 200 tons of food
To try to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, A first ship chartered by the Spanish NGO Open Arms and loaded with 200 tons of food, is ready to set sail from Cyprus to Gaza, within the framework of a maritime corridor announced by the European Union.
Some residents flocked to a beach south of Gaza City on Sunday hoping to see the ship arrive. “They said a boat would arrive loaded with aid and that people could eat,” one of them, Mohamed Abu Baid, told AFP. “Only God knows. We won't believe it until we see it,” he added.
But the UN, which fears widespread famine in the Palestinian territory, subjected by Israel to a total siege since October 9, affirms that sending aid by sea and air cannot replace aid by land.
International aid, controlled by Israel, only reaches Gaza in dribs and drabs while the needs are immenseespecially in the north of the territory, which is very difficult to access.
The war broke out on October 7, with the unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos on Israeli soil, in which some 1,160 people were killed, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on Israeli data.
In addition, some 250 people were kidnapped and 130 remain captive in Gaza, of whom 31 have died, according to Israeli authorities.
In response, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas and launched a military campaign against the Palestinian enclave.
The conflict has so far left 31,112 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
The bombings left 67 dead in the last 24 hours, the ministry announced on Monday, including Four people from the same family who died in an attack on their home during morning prayers in Rafah.
The military announced that 15 Islamist fighters were killed Sunday in operations in central Gaza. The “targeted raids” also targeted houses used for “terrorist activities” in the Hamad neighborhood of Khan Yunis.
'Immense pain'
Despite a new round of discussions in Egypt in early March, the United States, Qatar and Egypt — the three mediating countries — failed to agree on a truce.
A source close to the negotiations told AFP on Sunday that there will be an “acceleration of diplomatic efforts in the next ten days.”
Hamas demands a definitive ceasefire and the withdrawal of Israeli troops before any agreement on the release of hostages held in Gaza.
As Muslims gather around the world in the coming days and weeks to break their fast, many will be keenly aware of the suffering of the Palestinian people.
Israel demands that the Islamist movement provide a list of the hostages who are still alive, but Hamas stated that it does not know who among them is “dead or alive.”
In Washington, President Joe Biden, who raised his tone in recent days with Israel, said that Ramadan “comes at a time of immense pain”.
“When Muslims gather around the world in the coming days and weeks to break their fast, many will be very aware of the suffering of the Palestinian people. I am, too,” he said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his “solidarity and support for all those suffering from the horrors in Gaza.” “In these difficult times, the spirit of Ramadan is a beacon of hope, a reminder of our shared humanity,” he wrote on the social network X.
AFP
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