The Israeli army launched a major operation on Monday on the largest hospital in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of civilians have taken refuge, while the mediating countries are still trying to negotiate a truce in the war between Israel and Hamas.
After weeks of unsuccessful efforts, the head of Israeli intelligence, the prime minister of Qatar and Egyptian officials are expected to meet on Monday in Doha for further discussions on a truce, a source close to the negotiations told AFP .
But on the ground, Israel is continuing its preparations for a ground operation on the overpopulated town of Rafah, the last objective of its offensive launched on October 7 against Hamas, despite international pressure.
The major humanitarian catastrophe caused by the war and the famine which is taking shape in the north of the besieged territory are causing growing concern.
The Gaza Strip has become an “open-air cemetery,” the head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, said on Monday, adding that “starvation [était] used as a weapon of war. “Israel authorizes significant humanitarian aid to Gaza, by land, air and sea,” replied Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz.
The fighting which has extended to the gates of Rafah, in the far south of the Palestinian territory, is also raging in the north, where the army launched an operation on Monday on the al-Shifa hospital complex, in Gaza City.
Fighting accompanied by bombings began shortly before dawn around and within the grounds of this hospital, which the army had stormed on November 15 before withdrawing.
Evacuation order
According to residents, “more than 45 Israeli tanks and armored personnel carriers” entered al-Rimal, the hospital area.
The army claimed to have “information indicating the use of the hospital by high-ranking terrorists” from the Palestinian Islamist movement and asked the population to “immediately” evacuate the area.
“Soldiers identified terrorists shooting at them from several hospital buildings. The soldiers returned fire and hit several of them,” the army said.
Since the start of the war, hospitals in Gaza have often been targeted by the army, which accuses Hamas of using civilians as human shields. The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Monday it was “deeply concerned” about the fighting near al-Shifa hospital.
The Rafah offensive “will take place”
In the south of the territory, the city of Rafah, which is home to nearly a million and a half Palestinians, according to the UN, trapped against the closed border with Egypt, still lives under the threat of an Israeli ground offensive.
“No international pressure will prevent us from achieving all the objectives of our war […]. We will act in Rafah, it will take a few weeks, but it will happen,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated on Sunday.
Mr. Netanyahu assured that such an operation would not be carried out “by leaving the population locked in place”.
The war was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to a count of AFP established from official Israeli sources.
According to Israel, around 250 people have been kidnapped and 130 of them are still hostages in Gaza, of whom 33 are believed to have died.
In retaliation, Israel promised to annihilate the Islamist movement, in power in Gaza since 2007, which it considers a terrorist organization, along with the United States, Canada and the European Union.
His army launched a massive air campaign, followed on October 27 by a ground offensive that allowed it to advance from the north to the south of the small coastal territory and cost the lives of 250 soldiers. Israeli military operations have so far left 31,726 dead in Gaza, mostly civilians, including 81 in 24 hours, according to the Hamas Health Ministry.
Progress towards a truce
Faced with the intransigence of both camps, the three mediating countries, the United States, Qatar and Egypt, have still not managed to impose a truce.
Hamas, which until then demanded a total ceasefire before any agreement, appeared last week to change its position by saying it was ready for a six-week truce during which 42 hostages would be released in exchange for 20 to 50 prisoners. Palestinians detained by Israel.
“We accepted that there would be a partial withdrawal from the Gaza Strip before any exchange, and after the first stage, a total withdrawal,” Hamas official Osama Hamdan said on Monday.
Mr. Netanyahu, who says he is determined to continue the offensive until Hamas is eliminated, indicated that he would not accept an agreement “that makes Israel weak and incapable of defending itself.”
Israel has imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip since the start of the war and controls the entry of humanitarian aid.
This aid arrives mainly from Egypt via Rafah, but remains very insufficient given the immense needs of the population and reaches with great difficulty to the north, where more than 300,000 people currently live according to the UN.
One in two inhabitants in the Gaza Strip, or more than 1.1 million people, are experiencing a “catastrophic” food situation, particularly in the north where famine will rage by May in the absence of measures. “urgent”, the specialized UN agencies warned on Monday.
Faced with the humanitarian emergency, several countries have organized airdrops, which have become daily, and opened a maritime corridor from Cyprus, but all emphasize that these supply routes cannot replace land routes.