The Israeli army carried out new bombings in the Gaza Strip on Sunday, at a time when diplomatic efforts are intensifying with a view to resuming negotiations to achieve a truce in the Palestinian territory.
In Tel Aviv and central Israel, warning sirens sounded for the first time in months. The Israeli army reported eight rockets fired from Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip, where the army has been carrying out operations since May 7 to destroy the last battalions of Hamas, against which it is at war. for almost eight months.
In the process, the armed wing of the Palestinian Islamist movement confirmed having targeted Tel Aviv with a “major barrage of rockets”.
PHOTO JACK GUEZ, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A motorist took cover during rocket fire on May 26 near Herzliya.
In the Gaza Strip, airstrikes and artillery fire again targeted the north and center of the territory, as well as Rafah, despite a decision on Friday by the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ordering Israel to suspend its operations in this essential sector for the entry of humanitarian aid.
In 24 hours, at least 81 additional deaths were recorded in the Palestinian territory, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health.
The noose tightens a little more every day on Israel. A senior Israeli official announced to AFP on Sunday that a war cabinet meeting was planned for Sunday evening to discuss efforts to secure the release of hostages held in the Gaza Strip since the Gaza attack. Hamas on October 7 which started the war.
” Justice ”
The attack on Israeli soil by Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip resulted in the death of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
That day, 252 people were taken as hostages into the Palestinian territory. After a truce in November which notably allowed the release of around a hundred of them, 121 hostages are still being held in Gaza, 37 of whom have died, according to the army.
In response, the Israeli army launched an all-out offensive in the Palestinian territory, which left at least 35,984 dead, mainly civilians, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza, a movement classified as terrorist by Israel, the United States or the European Union.
PHOTO EYAD BABA, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
A Palestinian woman holds the shrouded body of a child killed in an Israeli bombing.
Furthermore, the Israeli army announced on Sunday the death of a soldier, bringing to 288 the toll of its soldiers killed since the entry of Israeli troops on October 27 into the narrow strip of besieged land.
After more than 230 days of war, international efforts continue to secure a truce between Israel and Hamas, which came to power in Gaza in 2007.
In early May, indirect talks between Israel and the Palestinian movement, through Qatar, Egypt and the United States, did not result in a truce agreement associated with the release of hostages and prisoners. Palestinians detained by Israel.
This weekend, Israeli media reported that David Barnea, the head of Mossad (Israeli intelligence services), had reached an agreement with CIA Director William Burns and Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahman Al -Thani, on a new framework for negotiations, during a meeting in Paris.
Egypt is also continuing “its efforts to reactivate negotiations”, according to Al-Qahera News, a media close to Egyptian intelligence, while Qatari officials are expected to meet a Hamas delegation in the coming days, according to the American site Axios .
For his part, American President Joe Biden affirmed that he was “engaged in emergency diplomacy” to try to secure a ceasefire and the release of the hostages.
From Tuesday, Spain, Ireland and Norway are expected to officially recognize the State of Palestine, after announcing their decision to do so last Wednesday.
“The Palestinians have the right to have a state, as the Israelis have this right,” said the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jose Manuel Albares, on Sunday in Brussels, where the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, pleaded for a “strong” Palestinian authority to achieve peace.
Israel was also put under pressure by the ICC prosecutor, Karim Khan: “No one is authorized to commit war crimes or crimes against humanity,” he insisted in an interview a few days ago. after requesting the issuance of arrest warrants for alleged crimes committed in the Gaza Strip and in Israel against Hamas and Israeli leaders, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Cruel lack”
Meanwhile, the situation remains dire in the Gaza Strip, at risk of famine.
The Rafah crossing point on the border with Egypt, which allowed the delivery of humanitarian aid, was closed after the launch of the Israeli ground operation.
PHOTO AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Humanitarian aid trucks near the Egypt-Gaza border
” We are suffering […] hunger, thirst and a cruel lack of aid,” Moaz Abou Taha told AFP from this city that some 800,000 people have fled over the past two weeks, according to the UN.
“Several hospitals in Rafah have also stopped functioning, either because they are in combat zones, lack of fuel or have been targeted,” continues the 29-year-old Palestinian.
Egypt, which refuses to reopen the Rafah crossing as long as Israeli troops control the Palestinian side, announced on Sunday that aid trucks from Egyptian territory began entering the Gaza Strip through the crossing point of Kerem Shalom, according to Al-Qahera News.
According to this media, a total of “200 trucks” headed towards Kerem Shalom, without specifying how many vehicles had passed checks.
In this context, King Abdullah II of Jordan called on Sunday to “double” humanitarian aid and to deliver it “without objection or delay”.