The international community, led by the United States, redoubled its calls on Friday to dissuade Israel from launching a large-scale offensive in Rafah, where nearly a million and a half Palestinians are trapped on the border with Egypt.
After four months of war between Israel and Hamas, the violence is concentrated in the south of the besieged and devastated Gaza Strip, between the town of Khan Younes, where the Israeli army announced Thursday that it was carrying out a “targeted operation” in the the Nasser hospital which houses thousands of displaced people, and that of Rafah.
US President Joe Biden reiterated to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, during a telephone call, his opposition to a military operation in Rafah “without a credible and feasible plan ensuring the safety of civilians in Rafah”, according to the White House .
Mr. Netanyahu announced a “powerful action” against Rafah to deal the final blow to Hamas, in power in Gaza, but assured that his army would previously allow civilians “to leave the combat zones”, without explaining to which destination.
PHOTO MOHAMMED ABED, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Palestinians queue to collect water at a refugee camp in Rafah.
Around 1.4 million people, many of them displaced several times, are crowded into Rafah, which has been transformed into a gigantic encampment. “More than half of the Gazan population is crowded into less than 20% of the Gaza Strip,” summarizes the UN.
Rafah is also the main entry point for humanitarian aid from Egypt, controlled by Israel and insufficient to meet the needs of a population threatened by famine and epidemics.
“Work tirelessly for the hostages”
PHOTO PETE MAROVICH, NEW YORK TIMES ARCHIVES
US President Joe Biden
During this conversation, Joe Biden also “reaffirmed his commitment to working tirelessly to ensure the release of all hostages as soon as possible.”
According to Israel, 130 hostages are still held in Gaza, 30 of whom are believed to have died, out of around 250 people kidnapped on its territory on October 7. A week-long truce in November allowed the release of 105 hostages and 240 Palestinians held by Israel.
Negotiations for a truce including further releases of Hamas hostages and Palestinians held by Israel continue in Cairo until Friday, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.
The Israeli army explained its operation in the Nasser hospital in Khan Younes with “credible information” according to which Hamas had held hostages there “and that there might be bodies of hostages” on site. .
After his conversation with Joe Biden, Benjamin Netanyahu rejected Thursday evening any international recognition of a Palestinian state outside the framework of a resumption of Israeli-Palestinian peace negotiations, in reaction to a plan mentioned by the American daily Washington Post.
“Such recognition, following the massacre of October 7, would offer a huge reward for unprecedented terrorism and would prevent any future peace agreement,” said the Israeli Prime Minister on his X account, ex-Twitter.
Agreement hoped for before Ramadan
The newspaper reports that the Biden administration and several Arab countries allied with the United States are working on a comprehensive plan intended to establish a lasting Israeli-Palestinian peace after the end of the war between Israel and Hamas.
This plan would provide for a ceasefire “with an expected duration of at least six weeks”, the release of Israeli hostages, as well as a timetable for the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state, a prospect rejected by the Netanyahu government.
THE Washington Post cites American and Arab officials who hope for an agreement before March 10, the start date of Ramadan. This plan could be the subject of discussions at the Munich Security Conference, which opens Friday, according to its promoters.
For his part, during a telephone interview with Mr. Netanyahu on Thursday, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that achieving a humanitarian truce was an “immediate priority.”
The war was triggered by the attack carried out on October 7 by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of more than 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to a count by the AFP produced from official Israeli data.
Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas, which it considers a “terrorist” organization along with the United States and the European Union, in retaliation. The Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has left 28,663 dead in Gaza, the vast majority of them civilians, according to the latest report Thursday from the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Among the victims are many journalists. Of the 99 journalists and media employees killed around the world in 2023, 72 died “in Israeli attacks on Gaza,” underlines the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) in its annual report published Thursday.