A new stage in the war between Israel and Hamas was reached on the night of Friday to Saturday (local time) when the ground fighting in the Gaza Strip increased, depriving the population of access to internet and cellular network.
What there is to know
On Friday evening, the IDF launched an all-out attack on the Gaza Strip. Internet and cellular communications have been cut in the Palestinian enclave.
The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, but without condemning the October 7 attack by Hamas, as Canada proposed in an amendment.
A Red Cross medical team entered Gaza on Friday.
At the same time, in New York, the United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on Friday evening calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, a request rejected by Israel.
Without internet or cellular network, the Gaza Strip is now cut off from the world, an isolation denounced by several international organizations. The ground offensive by the Israeli army expanded Friday evening. Hamas reported heavy fighting in several areas of the north and center of the Palestinian enclave. The Israeli army has not confirmed that it has officially launched its ground offensive.
Friday evening, the sky above the Gaza Strip, where some 2.4 million inhabitants deprived of everything are crowded, was red and orange, ablaze with the explosions and the colors of the fires set by the strikes, according to live images from AFP.
PHOTO AFP TV
This image taken from AFP television footage shows balls of fire rising above Gaza City during an Israeli strike on October 27.
“This blackout of information risks serving as a cover for mass atrocities and contributing to impunity for human rights violations,” denounced an official from Human Rights Watch, Deborah Brown, in the evening.
On Doctors Without Borders what’World Health Organization reported having lost contact with their employees in the Gaza Strip.
“The world is losing a window on the reality of all parties involved in this conflict,” also deplored the Committee to Protect Journalists, referring to the loss of contact between reporters on the ground and their agencies.
“Ceasefire” demanded from the UN
Meanwhile, at the United Nations (UN), a delegation of 22 Arab countries represented by Jordan passed a resolution demanding an “immediate ceasefire” and “unhindered humanitarian access” to Gaza , where hundreds of thousands of civilians are trying to find shelter, while being deprived of food, medicine, water and other essential products.
PHOTO MAHMUD HAMS, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Palestinians examine the rubble of a building following an Israeli bombardment in Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip on October 27.
The resolution was adopted by 120 votes, 14 against and 45 abstentions. Canada abstained.
” Shame on you ! », Launched the Israeli ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, describing this resolution as “infamy”.
“It is a dark day for the UN and for humanity,” he added, promising that Israel would continue to use “all means” at its disposal to “rid the world of the evil that represents Hamas.”
Just before, Canada’s ambassador to the UN, Bob Rae, presented a resolution aimed at condemning the Hamas attack of October 7. “Only two weeks ago, Hamas terrorists killed 1,400 Israelis, which is not even mentioned by my friend from Jordan,” he told the nominator.
Recognizing the suffering of the Palestinians – who have counted more than 7,300 dead in Gaza – and considering “that it is urgent that our organization deals with this humanitarian situation”, the diplomat added that “Canada cannot support the text as currently propose “.
The Canadian amendment received 88 votes in favor, 55 votes against and 23 abstentions. Failing to obtain two thirds of the votes, it was therefore rejected. Israel, the United States, France and the United Kingdom voted with Canada, while China and Russia rejected it.
The Red Cross in Gaza
For the first time since the start of the war, a Red Cross medical team, made up of surgeons and six trucks of essential aid, entered the Gaza Strip on Friday.
The International Committee of the Red Cross welcomed this “small dose of relief” which will “alleviate the extreme pressure exerted on doctors and nurses in Gaza”.
The Israeli army claimed that Hamas was using Gazan hospitals as “command centers and hideouts”. An allegation rejected by Hamas.
While the arrival of a medical team in Gaza has been welcomed, it remains a drop in an ocean of needs, observers say.
“We report the passage of 15 to 20 trucks per day while between 100 and 150 are needed continuously,” recalls François Audet, director general of the Canadian Observatory on Humanitarian Crises and Action, an organization associated with the School of Management Sciences of the University of Quebec in Montreal.
Reached in Paris, where he is participating in a Red Cross conference, Mr. Audet added that the lack of gasoline was also glaring. “Normally, the [Plan alimentaire mondial] supports 26 bakeries in southern Gaza. Currently, only three have any fuel left. Within 24 hours, bread production risks stopping completely. »
PHOTO HATEM ALI, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Women prepare bread near a UN school in Rafah.
However, an article from New York Times reported Friday, citing officials from Arab and Western countries who requested anonymity, that Hamas had accumulated large supplies of gasoline, food and medicine in the tunnels under Gaza. These provisions are intended to hold out against the Israeli army for weeks, even months. Meanwhile, the Gazan population lacks everything.
Risks of conflagration in the region
Nearly 29,000 people have been displaced in Lebanon since the start of violence on the border with Israel, according to new figures published Friday by a specialized United Nations agency.
The United States Embassy in Beirut also urged its nationals on Friday to “leave the country now, as long as commercial flights are maintained, due to the unpredictable security situation.”
U.S. strikes in Syria on Thursday hit munitions linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, the White House said Friday, according to The world. This operation would have a “significant” impact on the attack capabilities of groups close to Tehran in the region.
Has the ground offensive started?
Does the attack launched by Israel on Friday evening constitute the major ground offensive promised by the government of Benjamin Netanyahu since the start of the conflict? That remains to be seen.
Like other analysts, Rex Brynen, professor in the political science department at McGill University and specialist in the Middle East, believes that dissensions within the coalition government are delaying its launch.
“We support a large-scale operation, but beyond that, we do not agree on what that means, how it will be done, how it will be carried out,” he said in an interview with The Press before the attacks began on Friday evening.
On the other hand, Mr. Brynen believes that the delay is favorable to the Israeli army on a military level. “The more we delay, the more time it gives to prepare and gather intelligence on Hamas targets,” he believes. Conversely, on a political level, this puts pressure on the Israeli government with the addition of calls for a ceasefire.
With CNN, the Washington Post, The Times of IsraelUN Web TV, Agence France-Presse, New York Times And The world