(Rafah) The Israeli army, which is preparing for a ground offensive, announced on Saturday that it was intensifying its strikes on the Gaza Strip carried out for two weeks in response to the bloody attack by Hamas, a few hours after the entry of a first humanitarian aid convoy, coming from Egypt, into the Palestinian territory.
WHAT THERE IS TO KNOW
- A first aid convoy of 20 trucks from Egypt entered Gaza on Saturday;
- The humanitarian situation in Gaza is now “catastrophic”, five UN agencies warned on Saturday;
- Israel has still not launched its attack inside the Gaza Strip despite an announcement by the authorities of an imminent offensive;
- The Jewish state is strengthening its positions on the border with Lebanon following exchanges of fire with Hezbollah and must watch its back with Syria and Yemen;
- UN boss Antonio Guterres called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” at the opening of a “Peace Summit” in Cairo;
- The war left nearly 5,800 dead on both sides, according to official reports;
- Around 210 people are believed to be detained by Hamas, “including foreigners”;
- Hamas released two hostages of American origin, a mother and her daughter, on Friday for humanitarian reasons.
The Rafah border crossing, the only exit from the Gaza Strip not to be controlled by Israel, closed, according to witnesses, after the passage of this convoy of 20 trucks, largely insufficient according to the UN for whom it At least 100 trucks per day would be needed to meet the needs of the territory’s 2.4 million inhabitants.
Israel, which has promised to “annihilate” Hamas, is meanwhile preparing for a ground offensive in Gaza against the Islamist movement. The army wants to “increase strikes” on the territory from this Saturday, said a spokesperson.
On Saturday, Israeli bombardments continued on Gaza while rocket fire from Palestinian groups continued to target Israel.
PHOTO ABED KHALED, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A Palestinian woman reacts emotionally to an Israeli bombing alongside her children.
Several army officials visited the troops, emphasizing the preparedness of the armed forces.
“We are going to enter Gaza, we are going to do it for an operational purpose, to destroy the infrastructure and the Hamas terrorists, and we are going to do it in a professional manner,” the head of state declared during a troop review. Major Herzi Halevi.
“Gaza is complex, Gaza is densely populated, the enemy is preparing a lot of things there, but we are also preparing for him,” warned the senior officer. “And we will keep in mind the photographs and images, as well as the deaths of two weeks ago.”
“Catastrophic” situation
In the Gaza Strip, where a million Palestinians according to the UN have fled bombings in the north to mass in the south, near the border with Egypt, the situation is “catastrophic”, five agencies said on Saturday United Nations.
“Time is running out before mortality rates skyrocket due to the outbreak of disease and lack of health care capacity,” these agencies warned.
“A massive delivery of aid is necessary,” launched UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres at the “Peace Summit” in Cairo, calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” to “end the nightmare” of population.
PHOTO KEROLOS SALAH, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
UN chief Antonio Guterres visited the gate of the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian side on October 20.
US President Joe Biden on Saturday urged all parties to the conflict to continue allowing humanitarian aid, “a crucial necessity”, into the Gaza Strip.
Subject to an Israeli land, air and sea blockade since Hamas took power there in 2007, the Gaza Strip, a poor and cramped territory of 362 square kilometers, has been placed under “complete siege” since October 9. by Israel, which cut off water, electricity and food supplies there.
More than 1,400 people have been killed in Israel by Hamas men since October 7, the majority of them civilians who were shot, burned alive or died of mutilation on the day of the attack carried out from the Gaza Strip, according to Israeli authorities. .
The Israeli army announced that it had found the bodies of 1,500 Hamas fighters in the localities over which it regained control after this attack, the deadliest since the creation of Israel in 1948.
In the Gaza Strip, 4,385 people, mostly civilians, were killed in incessant bombings carried out in retaliation by the Israeli army, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, also holds 210 hostages, according to the army.
On Friday, the Islamist movement released the first two hostages, an American mother and daughter, Judith and Natalie Raanan, via mediation from Qatar, where the Hamas political office is based.
PHOTO UNITED STATES EMBASSY IN JERUSALEM VIA AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Natalie Shoshana Raanan (left) and her mother Judith Tai Raanan spoke to President Joe Biden after their release on October 20.
Qatar considers possible a release “very soon” of the hostages thanks to ongoing discussions, declared the spokesperson for the Qatari Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in an interview on Saturday with the German newspaper World am Sonntag.
The UN, for its part, reiterated its call for the “immediate and unconditional release” of all those kidnapped by Hamas.
PHOTO MOHAMMED SALEM, REUTERS
Palestinians, who fled their homes amid Israeli strikes, sought shelter at a United Nations-run school in Khan Younes, southern Gaza, on October 20.
Conditional agreement
On Saturday, according to AFP journalists, a first convoy of 20 trucks from the Egyptian Red Crescent, responsible for delivering aid sent by several UN agencies, was able to enter the Gaza Strip.
Visiting Israel on Wednesday, Mr. Biden indicated that this country had given the green light for the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza, thus responding to the request of the international community. The American president also obtained the agreement of Egypt.
PHOTO MOHAMMED ABED, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Aerial view of the humanitarian aid convoy entering the Gaza Strip on October 21.
“Israel will not prevent humanitarian aid from Egypt as long as it involves food, water and medicine for the civilian population in the south of the Gaza Strip,” the Israeli office later confirmed. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Israel, however, affirmed that it would not allow the entry of basic necessities or humanitarian aid into the Gaza Strip through its territory until Hamas had freed the hostages.
“44,000 bottles of water”
The convoy that entered on Saturday, carrying water, canned goods and medical supplies, “is far below the needs of the Gaza Strip,” assured a spokesperson for the Hamas government, Salameh Maarouf, specifying that in Normally some 500 trucks passed through the Palestinian territory every day.
More than 44,000 bottles of drinking water, “just enough for 22,000 people for a day”, were sent to Gaza, the UN said.
The UN particularly insisted on the need to deliver fuel, vital for the Palestinian territory.
On Saturday, the Palestinian, Jordanian and Egyptian leaders meeting in Egypt, alongside Europeans Charles Michel and Josep Borrell, pleaded for a “ceasefire” and a “solution” to 75 years of Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“We will not leave” Palestinian lands, affirmed the president of the Palestinian Authority Mahmoud Abbas, while Cairo and Amman are up in arms against the evacuation of the inhabitants of Gaza towards the south of the territory claimed by Israel.
They see it as a first step towards “a forced displacement” towards the Egyptian Sinai which would, according to Mr. Abbas, amount to “a second Nakba (catastrophe, in Arabic)”, in reference to the 760,000 Palestinians pushed into exile after the creation of Israel in 1948.
Another source of tension, the northern region of Israel bordering Lebanon is emptying of its inhabitants, while exchanges of fire are increasing between the Israeli army and pro-Iranian Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas.
PHOTO JALAA MAREY, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Israeli soldiers stand guard near the Lebanese border in a tank.
Hezbollah announced on Saturday that four of its fighters had been killed.
In the West Bank, clashes left one person dead overnight, bringing to 84 the number of Palestinian deaths since October 7 in this Palestinian territory occupied by Israel, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.