The UN Secretary-General on Sunday called on Israel to “remove the last obstacles” to the entry of aid into the besieged Gaza Strip and for a ceasefire to end the “nightmare” experienced by the population after five and a half months of war.
Israeli bombings and fighting between Israel and Hamas rage in the Palestinian territory, on the brink of famine, while negotiations on a truce show no signs of progress despite increased pressure from the United States.
The bombings left 84 dead in 24 hours, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, notably in Gaza City, in the north, and those of Khan Younes and Rafah, in the south.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported on Sunday two new hospitals under siege in the Gaza Strip by the Israeli army, which has been carrying out a similar operation for about a week in the main hospital center in the north of the Palestinian territory.
Since the start of the war against Hamas launched in October, Israeli forces have carried out several operations in and around hospitals, where they say they are looking for Palestinian fighters.
According to the Red Crescent, military vehicles arrived on Sunday morning near the Nasser and al-Amal hospitals, in the town of Khan Younes, in the south of the territory, against a backdrop of “intense” shooting and bombardment.
The relief organization added in a statement that one of its volunteers was killed at dawn by Israeli fire while he was in al-Amal. AFP contacted the army on this specific case, without obtaining an immediate response.
According to the Red Crescent, calls were made by drones asking all occupants of al-Amal hospital to leave undressed, while the army blocked the doors of the establishment with earthen dikes.
“All our teams are in extreme danger and cannot move,” adds the rescue company.
“The houses collapsed above our heads,” Rafah resident Hassan Zanoun told AFP on Sunday, who was searching the shattered ruins of his neighborhood with other survivors.
“My children and I slept here. I was surprised, we hadn’t heard the sound of a rocket and suddenly everything broke loose above our heads. Strikes, screams,” he confided.
“War, famine”
PHOTO MARK GARTEN, UNITED NATIONS, PROVIDED BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Antonio Guterres meets Palestinian children evacuated from the Gaza Strip at al-Arish General Hospital, Egypt.
Visiting Egypt, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres urged Israel to “remove the last obstacles” to the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza.
Mr. Guterres visited the Egyptian side of the Rafah border post on Saturday, where he called for an end to the “nightmare” experienced by the population and demanded “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire” as well as the release of “all hostages” held in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7.
“When you look at Gaza, it almost looks like the four horsemen of the Apocalypse are galloping above, spreading war, famine, conquest and death,” Mr. Guterres said on Sunday.
“On one side of the border, we see humanitarian trucks as far as the eye can see, on the other a humanitarian catastrophe which is getting worse every day,” he added.
Israel, which has imposed a complete siege on Gaza since the start of the war, strictly controls the aid arriving mainly via Rafah, in very insufficient quantity given the immense needs of the 2.4 million inhabitants.
After new talks in Qatar on a truce, the heads of the CIA, Bill Burns, and Mossad, David Barnea, left Doha on Saturday, according to a source close to the discussions.
These negotiations “focused on details and a ratio for the exchange of hostages and prisoners,” this source added.
“Deep differences”
Hamas said it was ready in mid-March for a six-week truce, with the release of hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
But on Saturday, an official of the Islamist movement reported “deep differences”. Israel “refuses to accept a complete ceasefire, it refuses a complete withdrawal of its forces from Gaza” and wants to keep the management of relief and humanitarian aid “under its control”, told AFP this manager.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant is also expected in Washington on Sunday, at a time when the United States is increasing pressure on Israel to achieve a ceasefire accompanied by the release of hostages as well as the entry of increased humanitarian aid into Gaza.
PHOTO FATIMA SHBAIR, ASSOCIATED PRESS
A building collapsed in Rafah after being targeted by an Israeli strike.
The United States is calling on its ally to abandon a ground offensive on Rafah, where according to the UN there are nearly a million and a half Palestinians, most of them displaced.
Furthermore, relatives of hostages gathered again on Saturday in front of the Ministry of Defense in Tel Aviv to demand increased efforts to free them. Scuffles broke out between demonstrators and police.
The war broke out on October 7 when Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip carried out an unprecedented attack in southern Israel which left at least 1,160 dead, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count. based on official Israeli data.
According to Israel, around 250 people have been kidnapped and 130 of them are still hostages in Gaza, of whom 33 are believed to have died.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007 and which it considers a terrorist organization along with the United States and the European Union. Its army launched an offensive that has so far left 32,226 people dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, according to Hamas’ health ministry.
“He lost his life for nothing”
On Sunday, the Israeli army announced that it would continue its ground and air operations in Khan Younes.
Witnesses told AFP that dozens of armored vehicles and tanks carried out an incursion around 2 a.m., accompanied by airstrikes, into the center of the city and around the two major hospitals, Nasser and al- Amal.
According to the Hamas health ministry, “dozens” of people were killed or injured.
In the north, where the humanitarian situation is particularly catastrophic, the ministry said that 21 Palestinians who were waiting for an aid convoy near Gaza City were killed on Saturday “by Israeli fire”. The army denied this.
Belal Hzilah said his nephew was among the dead. “He wanted to take flour and food. He has a two-month-old son and eleven people depend on him. They have nothing to eat […] He lost his life for nothing,” he told AFP.
In Gaza City, the army is continuing its operation launched on March 18 against the al-Chifa hospital, where more than 170 Palestinian fighters have already been killed and 480 others arrested, according to it.
According to Hamas authorities, 190 people have been killed since the start of the operation and more than 30 buildings destroyed.