Israel and Hamas at war, day 63 | US blocks call for humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza

The United States on Friday vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in the Gaza Strip, besieged and devastated by the war that has raged for two months between the Israeli army and Hamas.

Fierce fighting continued during this time from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, notably in Khan Younes, the main southern city, where the Israeli army announced that it had taken up positions in the center and was advancing “from house to house », tracking fighters of the Islamist movement.

After a first phase of its ground offensive in the north of the territory, in parallel with its campaign of massive air strikes launched on October 7, the army this week extended its ground operations to the south, where hundreds took refuge. thousands of civilians now trapped.

The population, faced with a disastrous humanitarian situation, is forced to move within an increasingly cramped area to Rafah, along the closed border with Egypt, where thousands of people try to shelter in makeshift camps.

“Those who survived the bombings are now at imminent risk of dying from hunger and disease,” Save the Children and other international NGOs warned of an “apocalyptic” situation.

“Methodical” progress

The war was triggered by the attack of unprecedented violence, carried out on October 7 on Israeli soil by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza, during which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed according to Israeli authorities, and around 240 others taken hostage.

In response to the attack, Israel promised to destroy Hamas, in power since 2007 in the Gaza Strip, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel.

According to the Israeli government, 138 hostages are still being held in Gaza, after the release at the end of November as part of a seven-day truce of 105 people kidnapped, including 80 in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

A total of 93 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to the army.

In the Gaza Strip, Israeli bombings left 17,487 dead, more than two-thirds of them women and those under 18, according to a new report published Friday by the Hamas Ministry of Health.

On Friday, according to the army, fighting raged particularly in the Khan Younes sector, “an important stronghold of the Hamas terrorist organization”.

“We took up position in the center of the city. We work methodically, with precision, we move from tunnel to tunnel, from house to house, and we strike terrorists as precisely as possible,” said General Dan Goldfus, commander of the 98^e division, in a video message broadcast by the army.

Soldiers discovered a weapons depot in a school, a Hamas command post in a mosque, where “terrorists” were killed, as well as weapons “at the homes of important Hamas cadres,” according to the army.

The Israeli army, on the other hand, recognized on Friday the failure of an operation aimed at freeing hostages in the Gaza Strip, in which two soldiers were injured. A hostage died during this operation, according to Hamas.

“Catastrophic situation”

Faced with a “catastrophic situation”, the United Nations Security Council was called upon to decide on a resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.

The United States, Israel’s main ally and opposed to any ceasefire, which they believe would benefit Hamas, vetoed this resolution which also received 13 votes in favor and one abstention, that of the United Kingdom. United. The resolution prepared by the United Arab Emirates was supported by almost 100 countries.

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres told the Security Council that “the violence perpetrated by Hamas cannot in any way justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”

Antonio Guterres had for the first time on Wednesday invoked Article 99 of the United Nations Charter to provoke this extraordinary meeting of the Council on an issue which “could endanger the maintenance of international peace and security”.

The director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, also called on Friday for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” and to put an end to “the slaughter of Palestinian lives” .

Since the start of the war, the Security Council managed to pass a resolution that called for “humanitarian pauses and corridors” in Gaza, but not a “ceasefire.”

Hamas also called on the United Nations Security Council to end the “brutal war” in Gaza.

The Security Council’s inaction makes it “complicit in the massacre” in the Gaza Strip, Doctors Without Borders said on Friday.

According to the UN, more than half of the homes have been destroyed or damaged by the war in the territory, where 1.9 million people, or 85% of the population, have fled their homes.

The injured continue to flow into hospitals, including many children.

“We were in an area considered safe. […] After the strike, we suddenly heard screams,” said Mohammed Jaarar, a resident of Khan Younes.

The armed wing of Hamas, for its part, claimed responsibility for new rocket attacks towards Israel, which were mainly intercepted.

Since October 9, Israel has imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip, which is causing serious shortages of water, food, medicine and electricity, while humanitarian aid, the entry of which is subject to fire Israeli green, only arrives in trickles from Egypt.

Fuel, necessary to operate generators in hospitals and water desalination equipment, is also lacking.

French President Emmanuel Macron insisted on Friday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the opening of a second crossing point at Kerem Shalom, between Israel and the Gaza Strip, in order to deliver the aid which Palestinian civilians have “urgently needed”.

The United States, despite its strong support for Israel, is increasingly concerned about heavy Palestinian civilian casualties.

“It remains imperative that Israel make the protection of civilians a priority,” declared US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, referring to a “gap” between declared intention and “results”.

Comments supported by President Joe Biden in a telephone interview with Benjamin Netanyahu, according to the White House.

The war has also reignited tensions in the occupied West Bank, where six Palestinians were killed on Friday by Israeli forces, according to the Palestinian Authority, as well as on the border between Israel and Lebanon, where exchanges of fire are daily between the Israeli army and Lebanese Hezbollah, ally of Hamas.