In Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, the bombings notably destroyed the al-Faruq mosque, of which only the minaret now remains standing in the middle of the ruins, noted an AFP journalist.
:quality(50)/2023/07/06/64a68815cd1a7_placeholder-36b69ec8.png)
Published
Reading time: 4 min
:quality(50)/2024/02/22/000-34jv83u-65d7cc7393e99638661600.jpg)
Faced with a human toll that continues to rise, discussions involving international mediators (Qatar, United States, Egypt) with a view to a truce associated with a new release of hostages are continuing. After a visit to Cairo, US President Joe Biden’s adviser for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, held discussions on Thursday in Israel with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in particular. Here is what to remember from this day:
An American envoy traveling to Israel
Talks about a truce in the Gaza Strip and on the release of hostages held since October 7 by Hamas were at an impasse. To try to get out of this, American President Joe Biden’s Middle East advisor, Brett McGurk, visited Israel on Thursday. For now, discussions “are going well”, assured a White House spokesperson, John Kirby, from Washington. The latter specified that the emissary had gone to Cairo (Egypt) on Wednesday and was to meet, during this day in the Hebrew state, the government as well as families of American hostages.
The talks focus on “an extended break in order to free all the hostages” and with the aim of “bring in more humanitarian aid” in the Gaza Strip, recalled John Kirby.
MSF criticizes the American veto at the UN Council
The secretary general of Doctors Without Borders attacked the United States during a meeting of the UN Council. After Washington vetoed for the third time a resolution allowing the Council to demand a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, Christopher Lockyear said:dismayed”, during a speech on Thursday February 22. The day before, the NGO announced that an Israeli strike against one of its residences, in the south of the Gaza Strip, caused the death of two relatives of one of its employees.
Violence in the occupied West Bank
Three Palestinians opened fire with automatic weapons in the afternoon on vehicles in a traffic jam near the Jewish settlement of Maale Adoumim in the occupied West Bank, killing one person and wounding eight others. Since the start of the war in Gaza, the West Bank has been the scene of attacks perpetrated by Palestinians against Israelis, and almost daily raids by the Israeli army, often deadly. Hamas, in power in the Gaza Strip, applauded the attack, calling it “natural response to the massacres and crimes of the occupation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank.”
Later in the day, “a bombing of a car in the Jenin camp left one dead and four injured, one seriously”according to the Palestinian Authority Ministry of Health. The car was hit on a street in the Palestinian refugee camp, which over the years has become an urban area. Several major Israeli media reported an Israeli aerial bombardment, which was not immediately confirmed by the Israeli army.
UNRWA has reached a breaking point”
“It is with deep regret that I must inform you today that the Agency has reached a breaking point,” wrote the head of UNRWA in a letter to the president of the UN General Assembly. In the text published on X, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Frenchman Philippe Lazzarini quotes “Israel’s repeated calls for its dismantling and freezing of donor funding in the face of unprecedented humanitarian needs in Gaza.”
Twelve members of the UN agency are accused by Israel of being involved in the October 7 attack carried out by the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, which resulted in the deaths of 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to a count of the AFP. An internal investigation has been launched, while Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has entrusted an independent panel chaired by former French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna with a mission to assess UNRWA and its “neutrality”.
But even if “Until now, no evidence has been shared by Israel with UNRWA”16 countries have suspended their funding, for a total of $450 million, said Philippe Lazzarini, warning that the agency’s operations across the region “will be seriously compromised from March”.
Strikes on Rafah and Khan Younes
New airstrikes launched on Rafah during the night from Wednesday to Thursday left 97 dead, according to Hamas. LThe bombings notably destroyed the al-Faruq mosque, of which only the minaret now remains standing in the middle of the ruins, noted an AFP journalist. It is in this overcrowded town, located in the south of the Gaza Strip, that the Israeli army is preparing a ground offensive. Before dawn, the Israeli air force carried out around ten strikes in this city, according to an AFP journalist. Bombings also targeted Khan Younès, a few kilometers further north.