(Jerusalem) The Israeli army is progressing “methodically” in the Gaza Strip, affirmed the Israeli Prime Minister who rules out any ceasefire in the war against Hamas, demanded by humanitarian organizations which deplore a catastrophic situation in the territory Palestinian.
“The IDF has extended its land entry into the Gaza Strip, it is doing so in measured and very powerful stages, progressing methodically,” Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday, according to whom the “third phase” of the military operation has begun.
Israeli army spokesman Jonathan Conricus confirmed Tuesday morning that “Israeli troops are in different parts of the northern Gaza Strip.”
“We brought in heavily armored vehicles, tanks, armored combat vehicles, bulldozers,” he added, adding that he understood that “the (humanitarian) situation is difficult, but it is not our responsibility. do “.
The Israeli offensive was launched in retaliation for the deadly attack on its soil by Hamas on October 7.
It is putting a very severe test on the 2.4 million inhabitants of Gaza, subjected to continuous bombings and since October 9 to a “complete siege” which deprives them of the delivery of water, food and electricity.
“The handful of convoys authorized via Rafah are nothing compared to the needs of more than 2 million people trapped in Gaza,” denounced the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) Philippe Lazzarini.
He called for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire that has become a matter of life and death for millions of people.”
This possibility is completely excluded by Mr. Netanyahu. “Calls for a ceasefire are calls to surrender to Hamas. This will not happen,” he asserted.
For Washington, its ally, a ceasefire is not “the right answer at the moment,” said John Kirby, spokesperson for the National Security Council, who instead advocates “humanitarian pauses.”
Tons of aid blocked
Tons of aid are piling up at the Rafah border crossing, separating Egypt from Gaza, awaiting inspection by Israel, according to a US official who requested anonymity.
Only 117 aid trucks have arrived since October 21 in Gaza, already subject to an Israeli blockade since 2007 and the Hamas takeover, according to the latest UN count Monday morning. The Israeli Defense Ministry body overseeing civilian activities in the Palestinian Territories, COGAT, said Tuesday that another 39 trucks arrived Monday.
Hamas says 8,306 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli bombings since October 7. “Nearly 70% of those killed are children and women. It cannot be “collateral damage”,” lamented Mr. Lazzarini.
The situation in hospitals is also worrying, as thousands of civilians have taken refuge there.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported new strikes near al-Quds hospital on Tuesday. “The building is shaking and displaced civilians and working crews are gripped by fear and panic,” he wrote on X.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals to hide weapons or fighters, which the Islamist movement denies.
In Gaza, doctors “operate on the ground” and perform cesarean sections or “amputations of children without anesthesia” due to a lack of medicine, Médecins du Monde (MDM) denounced on Monday.
Due to a lack of drinking water, “people are drinking sea water, people on my team have diarrhea, their kids will be dehydrated in a few days,” added the vice-president of the NGO. , Jean-François Corty.
A hostage freed
In Israel, according to the authorities, more than 1,400 people, mainly civilians, were killed on the day of the Hamas attack on October 7, in the middle of Shabbat. Hundreds of Hamas men infiltrated Israeli soil from Gaza to carry out the deadliest attack since the creation of Israel in 1948, a profound trauma for Israeli society. They also kidnapped hundreds of people, 238 of whom are still in their hands, according to Mr. Conricus on Tuesday.
One of them, a soldier, Ori Megidish, was released during a ground operation, the Israeli army announced Monday, specifying that she was doing well and had been reunited with her family. Four women were released last week by Hamas.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry confirmed Monday the death of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli woman who had been kidnapped. “His skull was found”, his executioners “cut off his head”, said Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
“We want the international community to put pressure on Hamas to release all the hostages,” said Adva Adar, a Franco-Israeli whose grandmother was kidnapped, upon his arrival Monday evening in Paris with a dozen families. Franco-Israeli hostages to “make themselves heard”.
On Monday, the Israeli army assured that it had struck in 24 hours “600 targets” – weapons depots, missile launches and caches – of Hamas, which Israel, the United States and the European Union consider to be an organization “ terrorist”. She also says she killed “dozens of terrorists”. The army also announced Tuesday morning that it had killed a suspect who had entered Israeli territory.
Israeli strikes continued overnight from Monday to Tuesday in several areas of the Gaza Strip, according to the Palestinian Wafa agency.
Strikes in Lebanon
The conflict has also exacerbated tensions in the occupied West Bank where nearly 120 Palestinians have been killed since October 7 by fire from Israeli soldiers and settlers, according to the local Health Ministry.
The Israeli army also claimed on Tuesday to have carried out airstrikes in Lebanon targeting the Shiite movement Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, while the international community fears a regional conflagration.
In an interview with AFP on Monday, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati assured that his country was doing everything possible not to be drawn into the conflict. “I fear that an escalation will encompass the entire region,” he said.
Also on Monday, the Israeli army announced that it had struck several targets in Syria in response to rocket fire.
American forces and their allies based in Iraq and Syria have for their part been the target of 23 drone or rocket attacks over the past two weeks, a senior American defense official said on Monday.
Washington accuses Tehran of being involved by proxy in these offensives which have been increasing since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.