The Israeli army subjected the Gaza Strip to new deadly bombardments on Thursday, at a time when fears of a spread of this war in Lebanon have increased with threats from Israel to bring its northern neighbor back to ” stone Age “.
On October 7, the Israeli army launched a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to an unprecedented bloody attack carried out the same day by the Islamist movement Hamas in southern Israel from neighboring Palestinian territory.
In the aftermath of this attack, pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon opened a front with Israel in support of Hamas, and since then exchanges of fire in the border areas have been almost daily.
On Israel’s southern front, in the Gaza Strip, civil defense reported at least five deaths in Gaza City (north) where intense artillery bombardments and Israeli helicopter fire targeted the Choujaiya district.
Violent clashes have been taking place between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers in the neighborhood, from where “tens of thousands of civilians” have fled, according to the Civil Defense, after the army asked residents to evacuate the area. “There are wounded and martyrs in the street,” a witness said.
In Rafah, several buildings were destroyed by Israeli forces according to witnesses. And further north, in Khan Younes, Israeli planes targeted a school where, according to the army, “terrorists” were located.
On Israel’s northern front, in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army has intensified its aerial and artillery bombardments against around ten localities, according to Lebanese media. Hezbollah claimed six attacks against Israeli military positions on the border.
“Apocalyptic”
“Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict enormous damage on Lebanon if a war is launched,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday after a visit to Washington.
“We have the capacity to return Lebanon to the Stone Age, but we do not want to do it […] We do not want a war,” he added, specifying that his government was “preparing for any scenario”.
On Tuesday, receiving Mr. Gallant, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned that a war between Israel and Hezbollah could become a “regional war”.
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths called such a scenario “potentially apocalyptic”.
France said it was “extremely concerned” and called for “the greatest restraint”.
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the “intense” phase of the fighting was coming to an end in Gaza and affirmed that afterward, Israel could “redeploy certain forces towards the north”, to the Lebanese border, “for defensive”.
Following Canada’s lead, Germany has called on its nationals to leave Lebanon.
Nasrallah speaks Thursday
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to speak again on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. GMT.
In his previous speech on June 19, he warned that “no place” in Israel would be spared by his movement, the day after Israel announced that “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon” had been “validated.”
On October 7, an attack by Hamas commandos infiltrated in southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count established using official Israeli data.
Of 251 people kidnapped during the attack, 116 are still held hostage in Gaza, of whom 42 are dead, according to the army.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007 and considered terrorist by the United States and the European Union.
Its army has launched a major offensive against Gaza that has so far killed 37,765 people, mostly civilians, including at least 47 in the past 24 hours, according to data from the health ministry of the Hamas-run local government.
“Worms in wounds”
The war in Gaza has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the small territory of 2.4 million inhabitants, besieged by Israel since October 9 and threatened with famine according to the UN.
Water, in the middle of summer, and food are lacking.
And in the few hospitals still standing in Gaza, many patients who survived Israeli raids must be abandoned or die of infections due to the lack of simple gloves, masks or soap, said American caregivers returning from the Palestinian territory.
One of them, Monica Johnston, recounts with a broken voice that it was necessary to stop treating a little boy’s burns in favor of patients with a better chance of survival.
“Two days later, he started to have worms in his wounds.” The child was buried, his body completely infested.