The US veto rejected the proposal for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza at the United Nations Security Council. In fact, the US vote against was enough to block a draft resolution – which saw 13 votes in favor and the United Kingdom abstention – deemed too “unbalanced” to receive the American approval. Thus the truce that the UN deems necessary will not pass, given that the situation in the Strip is close to the “point of no return”, with “civil order collapsing”. Humanitarian aid, in the bottleneck of the Rafah crossing, is struggling to reach the Palestinian enclave.
While the battle rages on the ground, the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, have released a video showing the body of an Israeli soldier who died, according to the Palestinian militiamen, following a failed blitz to free him attempted by the Israeli forces. The film, which lasts just under two minutes, shows in the first part the kidnapped soldier speaking in the room, unharmed: “My name is Saar Baruch, I’m 24 years old and I’m from Kibbutz Beeri. I’ve been a hostage in Gaza since 7 October. I want to go back at home,” he says. Then the images continue with what Hamas says are the consequences of the attempted raid: pools of blood on the floor and on the steps of some stairs, together with bullet casings and the disorder and destruction resulting from the firefight. The images end unequivocally with the corpse of the Israeli soldier. Military spokesman Daniel Hagari, admitting that the operation ended without the release of any hostages, limited himself to saying that “numerous terrorists were killed” and two soldiers were not seriously injured, without obviously confirming the version of the militiamen on the killed soldier. “Hamas is trying to resort to the weapon of psychological terrorism. We must refrain from spreading unfounded rumours”, he urged.
At the UN, however, rejecting the draft resolution for an immediate ceasefire, the American ambassador to the UN Robert Wood explained that the US veto came due to the lack of condemnation of Hamas and the explicit reference to the law in the text to the defense of Israel.
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health (which does not distinguish between civilian and militia victims), the deaths in the Strip have reached 17,487. But Israel denounced that the Islamic faction “is solely responsible” for what is happening, reiterating that only “the elimination of Hamas” can lead to peace.
In the diplomatic pressure for a solution to the conflict, French President Emmanuel Macron heard Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressing to him “the need to protect the civilians of Gaza” and underlining “the importance of reaching a lasting ceasefire”. But another of the issues that seem to prevent a turning point is the future of the enclave once the war is over. Ramallah Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh evoked, during talks with the USA, the political control of the Palestinian National Authority over the Strip which may not exclude, albeit in a subordinate form, Hamas.
On the field, the army (93 soldiers killed since the start of the ground operation) is continuing to press throughout the Strip. “I see signs – said Defense Minister Yoav Gallant – that Hamas is starting to give in”. In Khan Yunis, the faction’s stronghold in the south, the 7th Brigade “began operations to break the enemy lines, targeting dozens of Hamas positions and observation posts”. Even in Jabalya, in the north, the battle continues. As well as in Shuyaia, in the center, where in the city area – according to the military spokesperson – a tunnel entrance was found in a classroom of the local school.
To know more
– Blockhouse West Bank: Among armed settlers fighting another war
#War #Middle #East #vetoes #ceasefire #Gaza #Strip #collapsing #Soldier #killed #Hamas #video