Israel and Hamas at war, day 233 | Palestinians accuse Israel of ‘massacre’ in Rafah

(Rafah) The Palestinian presidency and Hamas accused Israel of committing a “massacre” by targeting a center for displaced people near Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, with the Israeli army saying it had struck a compound in which “major terrorists” operated.

“This atrocious massacre perpetrated by the Israeli occupying forces is a defiance of all international resolutions,” the Palestinian presidency wrote in a statement, accusing Israel of having “deliberately targeted” the Barkasat displaced persons camp, managed by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) northwest of Rafah.

According to the Hamas authorities, in power in the Gaza Strip, at least 35 people were killed and dozens of others injured in this bombing.

“In light of the horrific Zionist massacre committed this evening by the criminal occupying army against the tents of the displaced, we call on the masses of our people in the West Bank, in Jerusalem, in the occupied territories and abroad to stand up and march in anger,” the Islamist movement wrote in a statement.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said its ambulances transported “a large number” of people killed or injured in the attack.

“Important terrorists”

The Israeli army claimed for its part that one of its planes had “struck a Hamas compound in Rafah in which important terrorists were operating”, including two leaders of the movement in the West Bank, Yacine Rabia and Khaled Nagar.

“The strike was carried out against legitimate targets under international law, through the use of precise munitions and on the basis of precise intelligence indicating the use of the area by Hamas,” she said in a statement.

She further indicated “that she is aware of information according to which several civilians in the area have been injured”.

Since May 7, the Israeli army has stepped up operations to destroy the last Hamas battalions in Rafah. Fighting continued over the weekend, despite a decision on Friday by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to suspend its operations in this sector, which is essential for the entry of humanitarian aid.

Strikes in other areas of Rafah were also reported late Sunday. The Kuwaiti Hospital said it had received the bodies of three people, including that of a pregnant woman.

In Tel Aviv and central Israel, warning sirens sounded on Sunday afternoon for the first time in months. The Israeli army reported eight rockets fired from Rafah, and said it had bombed the city in response.

According to a senior Israeli official, a meeting of the Israeli war cabinet was held overnight from Sunday to Monday to discuss efforts to obtain the release of hostages held in Gaza since the Hamas attack on the 7th. October which started the war.

“Atrocities”

The attack on Israeli soil by Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip resulted in the death of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.

That day, 252 people were taken as hostages into the Palestinian territory. After a truce in November which notably allowed the release of around a hundred of them, 121 hostages are still being held in Gaza, 37 of whom have died, according to the army.

In response, the Israeli army launched an all-out offensive in the Palestinian territory, which left at least 35,984 dead, mainly civilians, according to the Health Ministry of Hamas, a movement classified as terrorist by Israel, the United States or the European Union.

Furthermore, the Israeli army announced on Sunday the death of two soldiers, bringing to 289 the toll of its soldiers killed since the entry of Israeli troops on October 27 into the narrow strip of besieged land.

At the end of the day, thousands of Israelis participated in the funeral of a hostage, Chanan Yablonka, killed on October 7 and whose body was found Friday in Gaza. “We have to bring everyone home,” said his sister Avivit Yablonka, before the funeral began.

After more than 230 days of war, international efforts continue to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas, which came to power in Gaza in 2007.

Shortly before a war cabinet meeting Sunday evening in Tel Aviv, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the leader of Hamas in the Palestinian territory, Yahya Sinouar, of “continuing to demand an end to the war, the withdrawal of Israeli Defense Forces from the Gaza Strip and leave Hamas intact, so that it can carry out the atrocities of October 7 again and again,” his office said in a statement, adding that the prime minister “opposed it firmly.”

Meeting Monday in Brussels

This weekend, Israeli media reported that David Barnea, the head of Mossad (Israeli intelligence services), had reached an agreement with CIA Director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al -Thani, on a new framework for negotiations, during a meeting in Paris.

On Tuesday, Spain, Ireland and Norway will officially recognize the State of Palestine. In this context, European Union foreign ministers will meet on Monday in Brussels with their counterparts from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan, as well as with Secretary general of the Arab League.

” Hunger and thirst ”

Meanwhile, the situation remains dire in the Gaza Strip.

The Rafah crossing point on the border with Egypt, which allowed the delivery of humanitarian aid, was closed after the launch of the Israeli ground operation.

” We are suffering […] hunger, thirst and a cruel lack of help,” Moaz Abou Taha, a 29-year-old Palestinian, told AFP from this city that some 800,000 people have fled over the past two weeks. , according to the UN.

Egypt, which refuses to reopen the Rafah crossing as long as Israeli troops control the Palestinian side, announced on Sunday that aid trucks from Egyptian territory began entering the Gaza Strip through the crossing point of Kerem Shalom, according to Al-Qahera News.

According to this media, a total of “200 trucks” headed towards Kerem Shalom, without specifying how many vehicles had passed checks.