Dozens of deadly Israeli strikes hit the besieged Gaza Strip threatened by famine on Sunday at a time when a new round of negotiations for a truce between Israel and Hamas is due to begin.
At least 75 people were killed overnight from Saturday to Sunday in these raids, according to the Ministry of Health of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas in power in Gaza since 2007.
Despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire, fighting has not stopped in the small Palestinian territory, almost six months after the start of the war, sparked by an unprecedented attack of Hamas on Israel on October 7.
In addition to the human toll and destruction, the war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe throughout the Gaza Strip where the majority of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced and are now threatened with famine according to the UN, which has been deploring for weeks of aid that is largely insufficient to meet the needs of the population.
On Saturday, a flotilla left Cyprus towards Gaza to transport 400 tonnes of humanitarian aid thanks to the opening of a maritime corridor opened in mid-March between Cyprus and Gaza.
A sign of a desperate situation, a food distribution in Gaza City (north) where aid is arriving with great difficulty, caused chaos during which five Palestinians were killed by gunfire and a stampede, according to a member of the Crescent Palestinian red.
The Israeli army told AFP that it had no information about this incident.
Several aid distributions in this city have turned into tragedy since February with more than a hundred deaths in total. At the start of the week, 18 Palestinians died, including twelve drowned at sea, while trying to recover food parachuted by Arab and Western planes.
On Thursday, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the highest judicial body of the UN, ordered Israel to provide “urgent humanitarian aid” to Gaza, in the face of “an emerging famine”.
“Away from indifference”
The war was sparked on October 7 when Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza carried out an attack in southern Israel that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally. established from official Israeli data. In retaliation, Israel has sworn to destroy Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization like the United States and the European Union, and has been carrying out a ground offensive since October 27, in addition to air raids, which have cost life for more than 32,700 Palestinians.
Faced with international pressure – including that of its American ally – as well as that of the hostage families, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Friday that he had “approved a next round of negotiations, in the coming days, in Doha and Cairo (…) to go forward”.
According to a pro-government Egyptian newspaper close to the security services, these negotiations are due to resume on Sunday.
On Saturday, thousands of people gathered in Tel Aviv to demand the release of the hostages. Another mass gathering is planned for next week.
“The time has come to come out and fight against indifference and for life. I ask you now to take to the streets with us and make a united and clear voice heard: Bring them home now!”, launched Saturday Shira Elbag, whose 19-year-old daughter, Liri, was kidnapped during of the attack of October 7.
In recent months, several negotiation sessions have taken place via international mediators – Egypt, Qatar, United States, but without result, the two parties accusing each other of blockage.
Fights around hospitals
Since the start of the war, only one week-long truce has been established at the end of November. It allowed the release of around a hundred hostages kidnapped during the October 7 attack in exchange for Palestinian prisoners incarcerated by Israel.
In the meantime, fighting continues in the territory and particularly around hospitals, most of which are out of service. The Israeli army accuses Hamas fighters of hiding there.
She announced on Saturday that she had killed several fighters, including a leader of the Palestinian movement, in her “operation” in the al-Chifa hospital complex in Gaza City, the largest in the territory.
According to Hamas, 107 patients are still “retained” in al-Chifa where the army is located for the 14th consecutive day. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 100 patients and 50 health workers are still in the complex.
Still according to Hamas, Israeli troops are also present in the Nasser hospital complex, in the south of the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian Red Crescent reports that operations are also underway at al Amal hospital, also in the south.
According to the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza, this establishment is “the only one available for critical cases”, but is currently facing a blood shortage.