The Israeli government announced Friday that it would allow the entry of two fuel tankers into the Gaza Strip daily, responding to a request from Washington.
What there is to know
• Israel will authorize the passage of two fuel tankers per day to the Gaza Strip.
• The Jewish state says it will no longer put limits on requests for humanitarian aid.
• Hamas estimates that 24 people died at al-Chifa hospital due to the lack of electricity.
• Cyprus announces an upcoming agreement on the opening of a humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip.
Later the same day, a Hebrew government spokesperson indicated that Israel would no longer place limits on requests for humanitarian aid made by the UN, echoing growing international pressure.
“Every list we receive from the UN will be delivered,” said Colonel Erad Goren. We will examine it and [tout] will enter the Gaza Strip, it is therefore up to the UN to provide us with these lists. And if 400 trucks are needed, tomorrow there will be 400. We are not limiting this question. There are no limits. »
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PHOTO MARWAN SALEH, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Palestinians search through rubble at the site of an Israeli strike on the Nuseirat refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.
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PHOTO LEO CORREA, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seen from southern Israel, a flare pierces a cloud of smoke above Gaza City.
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PHOTO OHAD ZWIGENBERG, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Relatives of an IDF soldier whose remains were reportedly found near al-Chifa hospital gather for his funeral in Modi’in, Israel.
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PHOTO AMIR COHEN, REUTERS
An Israeli soldier stands on a tank parked near the border with the Gaza Strip.
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On Friday morning, UN humanitarian organizations announced that they had once again suspended their deliveries of food and basic necessities inside the Palestinian territory. For what ? Because the trucks authorized to travel between Egypt and the Gaza Strip through the Rafah entry point no longer had fuel to operate.
“Trucks loaded with humanitarian aid arriving at the Rafah entry point cannot cross into the Gaza Strip and move freely there. They transfer their loads, once inspected to be sure that no weapons are being passed, to other trucks authorized to enter this territory. These are the last trucks that have no fuel,” summarizes François Audet, director general of the Canadian Observatory on Humanitarian Crises and Action, an organization associated with the School of Management Sciences at the University of Quebec to Montreal.
“If Israel indeed allowed the delivery of gasoline in limited quantities, it is good news nonetheless. We must hope for the arrival of food and drinking water. This gasoline supply must also be able to power the generators of clinics, health centers and means of communication. »
During the night from Friday to Saturday, a first delivery of fuel arrived in the Gaza Strip after the green light from Tel Aviv in order to restart the electricity generators of hospitals and telecommunications networks in the besieged territory.
Not enough
For Brigitte Vaugrante, general director of Oxfam-Québec, Israel’s decision to authorize the passage of two tanker trucks remains a drop in the ocean of needs.
“These are small-scale negotiations when the needs are immense,” she said. We cannot manage the situation in Gaza where there are more and more real and proven risks to the population every minute with the lack of water, electricity, medicine, etc. »
When we authorize an aid or fuel truck here and there, that is absolutely not the way to protect the population.
Brigitte Vaugrante, general director of Oxfam-Québec
According to Mme Vaugrante, around 1.6 million residents of the Gaza Strip are threatened by the lack of fuel, food and basic necessities.
24 dead at al-Chifa hospital
For its part, the Islamist group Hamas, which manages the Gaza Strip and is responsible for the October 7 attacks in which 1,200 Israelis were killed, declared that 24 patients at al-Chifa hospital died due to the lack of electricity.
PHOTO ALEXANDER ERMOCHENKO, REUTERS
An Israeli armored vehicle moves on the outskirts of Gaza.
Since the middle of the week, Israeli soldiers have been searching every corner of this vast hospital complex in the center of Gaza in search of caches and tunnels under Hamas control.
Hamas now estimates that 12,000 Palestinians have died since Israel’s response began, a figure that is impossible to independently verify.
During the day, seven Palestinians were reportedly killed by IDF soldiers in the West Bank, five in Jenin and two in Hebron.
During the night from Friday to Saturday, a strike against three buildings in Khan Younes left 26 people dead and 23 seriously injured, according to the director of the Nasser hospital in this town in the center of the Gaza Strip.
A corridor from Cyprus?
Furthermore, Cyprus and Israel are on the verge of concluding an agreement to open a humanitarian aid corridor between the Mediterranean island and the Gaza Strip, announced Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides.
PHOTO IBRAHEEM ABU MUSTAFA, REUTERS
Palestinians gather in front of a bakery in Khan Yunis hoping to buy bread.
Under the plan, the aid would be collected, inspected and stored on the island, then sent to the Gaza Strip aboard ships monitored daily by a joint committee including Israel. The convoy would be accompanied by warships to a designated point on the coast of the Gaza Strip and then to a safe, neutral zone.
Canadians waiting
No movement was also recorded among Canadians waiting to leave the Gaza Strip on Friday. As of early Thursday, the General Authority for Crossings and Borders in the Gaza Strip had not yet updated its daily list of foreign passport holders approved and allowed to leave the Gaza Strip to enter Egypt.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Palestinians and dual nationals are gathered on the Egyptian side of the border with the Gaza Strip.
The Canadian government announced that as of Wednesday afternoon, it was in contact with 386 people still present in the besieged territory. So far, 367 Canadians, permanent residents and their relatives have been able to escape through the Rafah border crossing.
Five states turn to the ICC
Five states (South Africa, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Comoros and Djibouti) having signed the treaty creating the International Criminal Court (ICC) have asked this body to investigate what is happening in Palestine, announced Commissioner Karim Khan. “By receiving the referral, my Office confirms that it is currently investigating the situation,” he said.
The ICC is responsible for investigating the worst atrocities committed around the world. However, its investigators have not entered the Gaza Strip to date nor Israel, which is not a signatory to the treaty.
White House blames Elon Musk
In Washington, the White House reacted strongly to comments made on Wednesday by billionaire Elon Musk on the X network, which he owns. The billionaire responded to a post claiming that Jewish people encouraged “hatred against white people,” writing: “You told the exact truth. »
“It is unacceptable to repeat the hideous lie behind the deadliest act of anti-Semitism in American history, let alone a month after the deadliest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” replied Andrew Bates , White House spokesperson, Friday morning.
With Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, Reuters, The world and The Canadian Press