Israel and Hamas at war, day 68 | Israeli raids on Gaza, an American envoy expected in Jerusalem

Determined to carry out its war against Hamas “to the end”, Israel increases air raids in the Gaza Strip on Thursday (local time) despite signs of impatience from its American ally who is sending its security adviser to Jerusalem national.

Early Thursday, the Hamas administration’s health ministry announced the deaths of a total of 19 other Palestinians in Israeli strikes in Gaza City (north), Nuseirat (center) and Rafah (south) after a day of raids aerial attacks and intense street fighting.

An Israeli raid left two people dead and others injured in Jenin, a stronghold of armed factions in the occupied West Bank, the Palestinian Authority Health Ministry said.

The Israeli army announced the death of ten of its soldiers on Tuesday in the Chajaya sector (north), its heaviest death toll in a single day since the start of its ground offensive in Gaza which cost the lives of 115 of its soldiers. members.

“Any arrangement in Gaza or regarding the Palestinian cause without Hamas or the resistance movements is an illusion,” Ismaïl Haniyeh, head of Hamas, based in Qatar, declared in a televised speech, saying he was ready for discussions on “a political path that will ensure the right of the Palestinians to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Conversely, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to continue the fight against Hamas. “Nothing will stop us. We will go to the end, until victory,” he declared, referring to “the great suffering” caused by military losses as well as the “pressure” for a ceasefire.

Israel promised to destroy Hamas after an unprecedented attack carried out on October 7 by commandos of the Islamist movement infiltrated from Gaza into southern Israel, which left around 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, according to the authorities. Some 240 people were also kidnapped and taken to Gaza by Hamas and other allied groups.

After more than two months of war, some 18,600 people have been killed in the Gaza Strip, mainly women and minors, according to the Hamas health ministry.

Reduce keystrokes?

Without calling into question its support for the Israeli operation, the United States is beginning to become exasperated by the death toll in the Gaza Strip, with President Joe Biden referring to “indiscriminate bombings” and a possible “erosion” of Western support. to Israel.

“We want an end to this conflict […] but we also do not think that it would be relevant to stop the operation now […] because terrorist attacks against Israel would continue which, in the long term, is not in the security interests of anyone in the region,” declared Matthew Miller, the spokesperson for American diplomacy.

Without stopping the strikes in Gaza, Israel must find a way to reduce the intensity of the strikes, suggested Jack Sullivan, White House security adviser expected Thursday and Friday in Jerusalem for talks with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

“It just means we have to move towards a different phase than the type of high intensity that we have today,” he said this week at a forum organized by the Wall Street Journal.

” The discussions [à Jérusalem, NDLR] are extremely serious,” said John Kirby, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, adding that Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will soon visit Israel as part of a regional tour.

“Act” for the hostages

At the end of November, a seven-day truce allowed the release of 105 hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, while 135 others, according to the army, remain held in Gaza.

The families of captives live in the anguish of knowing if their loved ones are still alive, and continue their efforts at all costs to try to obtain their release.

Families of hostages demanded “explanations” from Prime Minister Netanyahu overnight after press reports suggested that the government had rejected a proposal by the head of Mossad to go to Qatar, the emirate which led the mediation for the truce, to discuss a second phase of hostage release.

Relatives of American hostages met Joe Biden for the first time at the White House on Wednesday, while the families of captives set up camp in front of Parliament to demand their release with signs: “time is running out, we must act “.

“Darkest Chapter”

In the Gaza Strip, subject to an Israeli blockade for 16 years and a total siege since October 9, living conditions are worsening for the civilian population.

About 85% of the territory’s 2.4 million residents have been displaced, many multiple times since the start of the Israeli offensive, and entire neighborhoods destroyed by Israeli bombing.

“Faced with bombings, deprivation and disease, in an increasingly cramped space, [les Palestiniens] are facing the darkest chapter in their history since 1948,” insisted the head of UNRWA, Philippe Lazzarini, in reference to the creation of the State of Israel and the exodus of the Palestinians.

In the very south of the Gaza Strip, the town of Rafah has become a gigantic makeshift camp with fragile, hastily erected shelters, many of which have been swept away by the rain trucks that have fallen in recent days. “Where should we go?” », asks Bilal al-Qassas, 41, from Khan Younes.

He has been sleeping outside for five days and his tent is completely flooded. He seems to be sinking into despair. “Now we just want to die. We don’t want food or water. »

Money does little to help the most fortunate when everything is lacking. Mohammed al-Mahdun managed to find winter clothes, for three times the normal price, but describes a “journey of indescribable suffering and humiliation”.