Israel and Hamas at war, day 16 | Calls for the release of hostages before the ground offensive

Israeli troops and Hamas fighters clashed in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, one of the first episodes of its kind since the start of the conflict, while the ground offensive announced by Israel for several days is slow to materialize. Calls are increasing to first demand the release of hostages held in the enclave where humanitarian aid has been delivered for the second day in a row.

Hamas claimed its fighters destroyed two bulldozers and an Israeli army tank in an ambush in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip, forcing Israeli troops to retreat without their vehicles, according to what CNN reported.

The Israeli military confirmed that its forces were operating inside Gaza during the incident, and that one of its tanks returned fire aimed at it.

At 16^e day of hostilities since the Hamas attack, the north of the Gaza Strip has once again come under uninterrupted fire from the Israeli army, with the head of a Gazan hospital describing the last 24 hours as “bloody”.

Concerned for the fate of their children, Palestinian parents are now writing their names on their legs in case they fall victim to one of these strikes, noted a CNN correspondent on the ground.

The deadliest raids took place in Deir al-Balah, where 80 people, including women and children, died and several buildings were destroyed, according to the Hamas health ministry.

“We were sleeping at home, we were woken up when the windows exploded and bricks fell. We escaped miraculously,” a survivor, Oum Ahmad, testified in Rafah to Agence France-Presse.

Release of hostages demanded

Alongside these strikes, an Israeli soldier was killed and three others were injured when their tank was the target of an anti-tank missile fired by Hamas, the Israeli army said on Sunday.

The troops were taking part in an operation in Kibbutz Kissufim, east of the Gaza Strip, aimed at preparing for the ground offensive by the Israeli army on the enclave which, more than two weeks after the start of the conflict, has still not materialized.

The United States is reportedly pressuring the Jewish state to delay the invasion in hopes of allowing the release of more Hamas hostages and the arrival of other humanitarian aid in the enclave.

Two days after the release of two American hostages, voices were raised to ensure that the hostages were first evacuated, an increasingly hot issue for the Jewish state.

Especially given the declarations of a spokesperson for the armed wing of Hamas according to which the group had also offered to release two Israeli citizens “for humanitarian reasons, without expecting anything in return”, but that “Israel refused” . Allegations denied by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Currently, 212 people, including several foreign nationals, are detained in Gaza by Hamas, according to an Israeli army spokesperson.

Faced with the threat of a bloody ground offensive for both sides, families of these detainees met on Sunday with Israeli President Isaac Herzog for nearly two hours at his residence in Jerusalem. In front, a crowd began singing death songs.

“Don’t forget us,” one woman shouted in front of a sea of ​​Israeli flags and signs reading “Bring them home,” the daily reported The Guardian.

More humanitarian aid

No less than 500 to 600 American citizens would also be stranded in the Gaza Strip, revealed Secretary of State Antony Blinken, accusing Hamas of being behind this operation. ” Once again, [le Hamas] demonstrates its total lack of consideration for all citizens stuck in Gaza,” he said on CBS.

Meanwhile, a convoy of 14 trucks filled with food for civilians entered the Gaza Strip on Sunday, a second in two days and not the last, according to American and Israeli leaders.

“Another glimmer of hope for the millions [de personnes] in dire need of humanitarian aid. But they need more, much more,” said the United Nations coordinator for humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, in a statement published on the social network X.

Both US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “affirmed” that humanitarian aid would continue to flow into the Gaza Strip, according to a report of a call between the two statesmen published by the White House on Sunday.

While reiterating his support for Israel and “its right to defend itself against terrorism”, the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau, also “called for respect for international humanitarian law, including in matters of protection of civilians”, during a call with President Joe Biden and several other Western leaders.

But Israel will not provide humanitarian aid to Gaza and will ensure that no unsupervised deliveries are delivered to its citizens, Tel Aviv has warned, according to Israeli media reports. Haaretz.

Macron visiting

On the diplomatic level, it will be the turn of his French counterpart, Emmanuel Macron, to go to Israel, Benyamin Netanyahu’s office announced on Sunday.

On other fronts, Israeli planes struck two airports in Syria and a mosque in the West Bank believed to be used by Hamas militants and their allies. The IDF also continued its now daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah on its border with Lebanon, raising fears of a widening of the conflict.

Canada, for its part, said it would soon end evacuation flights from Israel, citing falling demand and the growing supply of commercial options.

With Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, CNN, The GuardianNBC, Haaretz, The Globe and Mail