Israel launched new strikes on Gaza on Sunday as Israeli leaders face growing pressure to negotiate and secure the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas.
What there is to know
- The three Israeli hostages killed by mistake by the Israeli army had appeared in an area where troops are subjected to numerous ambushes; the three hostages waved a makeshift white flag and spoke in Hebrew.
- After more than two months of war and a total siege imposed by Israel since October 9, living conditions in the Gaza Strip are described as nightmarish by the UN.
- Some 1.9 million residents of the Gaza Strip, or 85% of the population, have been displaced.
- According to a latest report from the Hamas Ministry of Health, 18,800 people, 70% of them women, children and adolescents, were killed by Israeli bombings.
- More than 60 journalists and media workers have died since the start of the war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ).
Relatives of the hostages have increased calls on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to push him to reach an agreement on the release of the captives while the army admitted to having killed three of them “by mistake” in the Palestinian territory.
The three hostages killed were among some 250 people captured during the unprecedented attack launched on October 7 by Hamas on Israeli soil which left 1,140 dead, according to the latest data provided by Israeli authorities.
PHOTOS PROVIDED BY FAMILIES VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
From left to right: Alon Lulu Shamriz, Samer al-Talalqa and Yotam Haïm
At least 12 people were killed in Israeli strikes on the town of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza on Sunday, the Hamas health ministry said. Witnesses also reported Israeli bombardment on the southern town of Bani Suheila.
In total, 18,800 people, 70% of them women, children and adolescents, according to the Islamist group, have been killed since the start of the offensive that Israel launched in retaliation on Gaza.
Relatives of the hostages gathered at a demonstration in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
PHOTO ALBERTO PIZZOLI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Relatives of hostages held in Gaza demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday.
“Our demand is not a struggle [contre le gouvernement]. It’s a call anyone would make if it were their father. Take us into consideration and make a plan now [de négociation] said Noam Perry, daughter of hostage Haim Perry, at the gathering.
More than 100 Israelis and foreigners captured by Hamas were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners during a week-long truce last month brokered by Qatar.
The Israeli prime minister said Saturday that “military pressure is necessary both for the return of the hostages and to ensure victory over our enemies.”
But Benjamin Netanyahu also seemed to confirm ongoing diplomatic efforts by Qatar to obtain the release of new hostages. “We have serious criticism of Qatar, which I suspect you will hear about in due course, but for now we are trying to complete the recovery of our hostages,” he said.
Qatar confirmed on Saturday its “ongoing diplomatic efforts to renew the humanitarian pause”.
Hamas, however, declared itself “against any negotiations on the exchange of prisoners until the aggression against our people ceases completely”, in a message on Telegram.
American Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced Saturday evening his trip to Israel, Bahrain and Qatar to underline “Washington’s commitment to strengthening regional security and stability.”
PHOTO ALBERTO PIZZOLI, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Demonstration demanding the release of hostages kidnapped by Hamas on December 16 in Tel Aviv
In recent days, the US administration has pushed Israeli authorities to move to a less intensive phase of their operation in Gaza in order to better protect civilians.
Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea met Friday with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, who helped broker the previous truce, according to the Axios news site.
The head of French diplomacy Catherine Colonna is also expected in Israel and the West Bank on Sunday, then in Lebanon on Monday.
His ministry condemned on Saturday an Israeli bombardment in the Gaza Strip which caused the death of one of its agents and demanded that “all the light be shed”.
In addition to official talks, the minister should meet families of French hostages and call for “a new immediate and lasting humanitarian truce”, which should lead to a lasting ceasefire, in order to obtain the release of all the hostages, and to be able to provide humanitarian aid to the population of Gaza, according to a press release from the Quai d’Orsay.
The head of British diplomacy David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock called for “a lasting ceasefire”, as quickly as possible, in a joint article published in the Sunday Times.
But they are opposed to a “general and immediate ceasefire” believing that Hamas “must lay down its arms”.
“Hunger, illness and low immunity”
Israeli bombings have left much of the territory in ruins and the UN estimates that 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced by the war.
This week, the United Nations warned that hunger and desperation pushing people to seek humanitarian aid risked leading to a “collapse of civil order.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised if people started dying of starvation, or a combination of hunger, disease and low immunity,” said Philippe Lazzarini, director of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees ( OCHA).
The agency reported a “prolonged communications outage” in Gaza since Thursday evening and which continued over the past 48 hours.
PHOTO SAID KHATIB, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Smoke rises into the sky over Khan Yunis after an Israeli bombardment on December 16.
Faced with growing international pressure, Israel announced the “temporary” opening of a new entry point for humanitarian aid via the Kerem Shalom crossing, but did not specify when.
Fighting continued on Saturday, with the Israeli army saying it attacked two schools it said were Hamas hideouts in northern Gaza City.
A mother and her daughter were killed Saturday by an Israeli soldier, and seven people were injured, in the complex housing the only Catholic church in Gaza City, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem was outraged.
Dozens of journalists participated in Khan Younes on Saturday at the funeral of Samer Abou Daqa, cameraman for the Qatari channel Al Jazeera, killed by an Israeli strike
Traffic disrupted in the Red Sea
And the war continues to increase tensions across the region.
Israel regularly exchanges fire across its northern border with Lebanon, mainly with Iran-backed Hezbollah. On Saturday, the Israeli army said one soldier was killed and two others injured on the Lebanese border.
Maritime traffic in the Red Sea has also suffered the impact of the conflict. After attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, presented as responses to the war between Israel and Hamas, several global shipping giants successively announced that they would interrupt the passage of their ships through this key commercial passage.
An American destroyer shot down 14 drones launched from “areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis” in this region on Saturday, according to the American Military Command in the Middle East (Centcom).