The Israeli army continued its bombings in the Gaza Strip on Wednesday while the head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, reaffirmed his country’s support for the creation of a Palestinian state, during his meeting with the head of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, in the West Bank occupied by Israel.
The Israeli army reported operations in the sectors of Maghazi (center) and Khan Younes (south), with “more than 150 targets hit”, and 15 tunnels discovered. According to an AFP journalist, Khan Younes and Rafah (south) suffered intense bombings.
Early in the evening, the Palestinian Red Crescent announced the death of six people, including four of its rescuers in a strike on an ambulance in the center of the Gaza Strip, which it attributed to the Israeli army.
During his meeting with Mahmoud Abbas, Blinken reaffirmed that his country supports “tangible steps” towards the creation of a Palestinian state, a long-term goal to which the far-right Israeli government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is committed. opposite.
He then said the Palestinian leader was “committed” to reform of the Palestinian Authority sitting in the occupied West Bank. “He is very ready to move forward,” Mr. Blinken said in response to a question.
In 2007, the Palestinian Authority lost control of the Gaza Strip to Hamas and only exercised its limited power in the West Bank.
After his meeting with Mr. Blinken, Mr. Abbas traveled to Jordan where he discussed “pressure for an immediate ceasefire” in Gaza during talks with Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in the Red Sea port city of Aqaba.
The war was triggered by an unprecedented attack on October 7 by Hamas on Israeli soil which left around 1,140 dead, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on the Israeli toll.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to “annihilate” the Palestinian Islamist movement in power in Gaza and classified as a terrorist group by Israel, the United States and the European Union. Its military operations in the Gaza Strip have left at least 23,357 dead, the majority of them women, adolescents and children, the Hamas Health Ministry said on Wednesday.
Avoiding a regional spillover of the conflict
Despite numerous diplomatic efforts, nothing seems to be able to end the war between Israel and Hamas, which has entered its fourth month.
The American Secretary of State began a tour of the Middle East last week aimed in particular at trying to avoid a spillover of the conflict in the region, where Hamas has several allies, with armed groups supported by Iran in Lebanon. , in Syria, Iraq and Yemen.
British and American forces shot down 18 drones and three missiles fired by the Houthis in the Red Sea on Tuesday evening, according to the US military. This attack was claimed by Yemeni rebels.
Mr. Blinken on Wednesday accused Iran of “supporting” and “encouraging” the attacks in the Red Sea as did British Defense Minister Grant Shapps. The latter warned the Yemeni rebels – who say they are acting in solidarity with the Palestinians in Gaza – that their attacks must stop. “Enough is enough,” he insisted.
In this context, and before going to Cairo on Thursday, Mr. Blinken arrived Wednesday afternoon in Bahrain, a member of the coalition announced in December by Washington to defend maritime traffic in the Red Sea and in the Gulf of Aden confronted Houthi attacks.
While his country is Israel’s main ally, the head of American diplomacy also urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday to spare Palestinian civilians in the Gaza Strip, believing that they, particularly children, were paying a price “far too high”.
“Massacre”
Residents of Rafah mourned Wednesday morning in the courtyard of Al-Najjar hospital their loved ones, killed in a strike on a building.
“It’s a massacre,” says Hareb Nofal, a relative of the victims. “We are talking about around 14 families. Fourteen apartments filled with children, women and newborns. Nobody cares “.
International organizations are warning of the health disaster in Gaza, where 85% of the population has been displaced and where humanitarian aid is arriving in trickles.
Again on Wednesday, the head of the World Health Organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, denounced the humanitarian situation as “insurmountable” and argued that the distribution of aid was facing “almost insurmountable” obstacles.
The Gaza Strip needs to receive “more food, more water, more medicine”, Mr. Blinken admitted on Tuesday.
“Because of the lack of water, we only shower once a month, we suffer psychologically and diseases have spread everywhere,” Ibrahim Saadat, a Palestinian displaced by the war, told AFP.
“We lost all our dreams […], children can lose years of their lives living here. Some went to school […] “all of this was for nothing, everything is lost,” breathes Hadeel Shehata, a 23-year-old from Gaza displaced in the south of the territory.
Israel is now mainly hitting the center and south of the Gaza Strip after massively bombing the north of the territory. The Israeli government has accepted the principle of a UN “assessment mission” on the situation in northern Gaza with a view to a return of the displaced, Mr. Blinken stressed on Tuesday, without giving details.