(Rafah) The Israeli army is increasing airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, where it has already taken control of the strategic crossing with Egypt, host country of “last chance” talks for a truce agreement associated with the release of hostages.
What there is to know
- Israel says it has taken control of the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing with Egypt;
- The UN was denied access by Israel to the Rafah crossing point in the Gaza Strip;
- Israel says it sent a delegation to Cairo to negotiate a truce plan;
- The Hamas Ministry of Health announced a new death toll of 34,789 on Tuesday;
- More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 128 remain captive in Gaza, including 35 dead, according to the Israeli army;
- In a telephone interview, the President of the United States, Joe Biden, reiterated his “clear position” to Benjamin Netanyahu against any offensive in Rafah.
Early Wednesday, witnesses reported strikes in different areas of the Palestinian territory, notably in the city of Gaza (north) where the al-Ahli hospital announced the death of seven members of the same family, the al-Louh , in an aerial bombardment.
The Israeli army deployed tanks on Tuesday in Rafah (south), took control of the border crossing with Egypt and closed the two main access points for humanitarian aid (Rafah and Kerem Shalom), a measure considered ” unacceptable” by the United States.
Washington also “suspended the delivery of a shipment” of bombs last week after the lack of response from Israel to its “concerns” regarding an announced offensive on Rafah, a senior official from the administration of US President Joe Biden.
The cargo consisted of “1,800 2,000-pound (907 kg) bombs and 1,700 500-pound (226 kg) bombs,” the official said, adding that Washington believed these heaviest bombs could “be used in Rafah.” and in “dense urban environments”.
This decision is made public at a time when the Biden administration is confronted in the United States with a movement of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on campuses for its military support for Israel.
And while the Egyptian, Qatari and American mediators are holding discussions in Cairo with a view to a ceasefire after seven months of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
“All parties agree to return to the negotiating table” for a truce between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Egyptian media Al-Qahera News, close to the intelligence services, said on Tuesday.
Israel and Hamas “should be able to fill the gaps that remain” to conclude a ceasefire agreement currently under discussion, declared a White House spokesperson, John Kirby, saying he hoped for a agreement “very soon”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he had instructed the Israeli delegation in Cairo to “continue to be firm on the conditions necessary for the release” of the hostages and “essential” to Israel’s security.
“This could be the last chance [pour Israël] to recover the captives […] alive,” a senior Hamas official told AFP, requesting anonymity.
“Military pressure”
According to the number two of the political branch of Hamas in Gaza, Khalil al-Hayya, the proposal accepted by his movement includes three phases, each lasting 42 days, and includes an Israeli withdrawal from the territory, the return of the displaced and an exchange of hostages held in Gaza and Palestinian prisoners, with the aim of a “permanent ceasefire”.
Israel has so far opposed a permanent ceasefire until Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, has been “defeated”.
And its army is carrying out a “counterterrorism” operation in “specific areas” of eastern Rafah, after a call to evacuate tens of thousands of families from this same sector of the city which is home to 1.4 million Palestinians, according to the UN.
PHOTO PLANET LABS PBC, PROVIDED BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
View of a gathering of Israeli military vehicles in southern Israel, near the Kerem Shalom border crossing with the Gaza Strip.
This evacuation was announced in anticipation of a ground offensive promised by Benjamin Netanyahu to eliminate the last battalions of Hamas, but also to “exert military pressure” on the Islamist movement in order to obtain a possible agreement that meets “Israeli demands” .
His Defense Minister Yoav Gallant also warned on Tuesday that the army was ready to “intensify” its operations “across the entire Strip” of Gaza if there was no progress on the release of the hostages.
“Stop the escalation”
But the United States, the UN and the European Union have called on Israel not to carry out its threat, fearing bloodshed and a worsening humanitarian crisis.
“The conflict in Gaza is at a critical juncture. The decisions that are taken today and their consequences in terms of human suffering will remain etched in the memory of the next generation,” wrote the head of UN humanitarian operations, Martin Griffiths, on X.
The UN announced on Tuesday that access from Egypt to the Rafah crossing point, the main entry point for humanitarian aid, vital for the population of Gaza, was prohibited by the army.
In Egypt, “hundreds of trucks loaded with fuel and humanitarian aid are blocked”, according to Egyptian sources, after the closure of the Rafah crossing and that of Kerem Shalom, between Israel and Gaza, targeted by fire.
The UN also said it only had one day of fuel reserves left for humanitarian operations in Gaza, with Secretary-General António Guterres urging Israel to “immediately” reopen the two crossing points. [Rafah et Kerem Shalom] and to “stop the escalation”.
The Israeli army reported 18 rocket attacks on Tuesday from Rafah towards southern Israel, including some towards the Kerem Shalom crossing, which it said “prevented” the entry of humanitarian aid into the territory.
According to Washington, Kerem Shalom must reopen on Wednesday and the construction of the artificial port off the coast of the Gaza Strip is now complete, which should facilitate the delivery, by sea, of humanitarian aid, a key issue since the start of the war.
“Terrified”
The war broke out on October 7 when Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip launched an attack in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to a death toll from AFP established from official Israeli data.
PHOTO AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Ordered to evacuate by the Israeli army, thousands of desperate men, women and children, many already displaced by the war, had hastily packed some belongings, without really knowing where to go.
More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 128 remain captive in Gaza, 36 of whom are considered dead, according to the army.
In retaliation, Israel launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip that has so far left 34,789 people dead, mostly civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.
Ordered to evacuate Rafah by the Israeli army, thousands of men, women and children, many already displaced by the war, hastily packed a few belongings, without really knowing where to go. “We are terrified. We are going to go to the west of Rafah, but we don’t know exactly where,” said Hanah Saleh, 40 years old.