The city of Rafah, where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are crowded, is preparing Monday for a possible offensive by the Israeli army, after international mediators met in Cairo to negotiate a truce in the Gaza Strip .
These discussions, also aimed at leading to the release of hostages held by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, are experiencing “significant progress”, the pro-government Egyptian media Al-Qahera News reported on Monday, citing a highly placed Egyptian source.
On Sunday, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said his country’s forces are “preparing to continue their missions […] in the area of Rafah”, a town bordering Egypt at the southern tip of Gaza where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are gathered, the majority displaced.
A few hours earlier, Israeli troops had withdrawn from Khan Younes, another town in the south of the coastal territory, the epicenter of the fighting, in order to “prepare for future operations” according to the army.
Mr. Netanyahu reaffirmed his determination to eradicate Hamas “across the entire Gaza Strip, including Rafah”, a city which he presents as the last great bastion of the Islamist movement.
PHOTO MOHAMMED ABED, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A Palestinian sells vegetables among the rubble in Rafah.
The Israeli daily Haaretz for his part, argues that the withdrawal of the infantry from the south of the Gaza Strip is motivated by the fact that the army has achieved its objectives there.
Historical allies of Israel, the United States have repeatedly expressed their disapproval of a possible operation in Rafah, considered too costly in human lives.
On Sunday, dozens of Palestinian refugees in Rafah headed back to Khan Younes, immediately after the Israeli withdrawal, according to AFP images.
On foot, by car or on carts pulled by donkeys, AFP photos show lonely men and women walking in a city that has become a field of ruins.
“All the streets were bulldozed. And the smell… I saw people digging and taking out the bodies,” Maha Taher, 38, mother of four, returned to Khan Younes on Sunday.
“Significant progress”
The Israeli army’s announcements came alongside a new round of indirect negotiations in Cairo between Hamas and Israel via international mediators Egypt, the United States and Qatar.
The source cited by Al-Qahera News, a media outlet close to the Egyptian security services, reported “significant progress” in reconciling points of view on several points of dispute in the agreement under discussion.
The delegations of Qatar and Hamas left Cairo and will return there “within two days to finalize the terms of the agreement,” the media also indicates.
The American and Israeli delegations are due to leave the Egyptian capital “in the coming hours” and consultations will continue over the next 48 hours, explains the same source.
On Saturday, Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union, assured that it would not give up its demands for an agreement: “a complete ceasefire”, a withdrawal Israeli from Gaza, a return of the displaced and a “serious” agreement to exchange hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
Mr. Netanyahu retorted on Sunday that there would be no ceasefire without the release of all the hostages.
“More than catastrophic” situation
The war was launched on October 7, when Hamas commandos carried out an unprecedented attack in southern Israel, resulting in the deaths of 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to a report established by AFP based on official Israeli figures.
More than 250 people have been kidnapped and 129 remain detained in Gaza, including 34 who have died, according to Israeli officials.
On Sunday, there were thousands, massed in front of the headquarters of the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, to support the families of the captives held in Gaza. “To you, who are still there, hold on,” said Agam Goldstein, 17, a hostage released at the end of November, on stage.
In retaliation for the October 7 attack, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas and launched intense bombardments on Palestinian territory before leading a ground offensive there.
On the Palestinian side, the war has cost the lives of 33,175 people in Gaza, most of them civilians, according to Hamas.
PHOTO MOHAMMED ABED, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A Palestinian child presents a bag of frozen vegetables for sale at a market.
In addition to the human toll and destruction, the war has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the territory where 2.4 million Palestinians are threatened with famine, according to the UN. Strictly controlled by Israel, aid transported by land via Egypt arrives in trickles.
“My 8 year old son asks me for food, but I have nothing to give him […] I wish death for me and my children to be freed from this torment,” Labad, a mother of four who took refuge with relatives after the destruction of her house in Jabaliya (center), told AFP.
On Sunday, several United Nations agencies and humanitarian organizations described the situation in Gaza as “more than catastrophic”.
“Houses, schools, hospitals are in ruins. Teachers, doctors, humanitarian workers are killed. Famine is imminent,” criticized UNICEF chief Catherine Russell on X.
After the death of seven aid workers – including an Australian – from the American NGO World Central Kitchen in an Israeli strike on 1er April, Canberra on Monday tasked a former military official with working with Israel to ensure “transparency” in the investigation.
The war also has repercussions on the border between Lebanon and Israel. The Israeli army claimed on Sunday to have completed a “new phase” in its preparation for “war” on this border where deadly exchanges of fire with Hezbollah are intensifying.
In the field of justice, Germany for its part faces accusations from Nicaragua on Monday before the highest court of the UN, the Central American country accusing Berlin of facilitating “the commission of genocide” against the Palestinians by supporting Israel militarily and politically. Incriminations that Berlin rejects.