(Jerusalem) Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected a ceasefire in the war against Hamas, which entered its second month on Tuesday, despite repeated calls for a humanitarian truce in Gaza and a death toll of more than 10,000. dead according to the Islamist movement.
During the night, Israeli aerial bombardments against the Palestinian territory controlled by the Islamist movement Hamas continued unabated, killing more than 100 people according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Under air cover, Israeli ground troops continued to advance into the Gaza Strip after encircling Gaza City and cutting the territory in two, according to the army.
“There will be no ceasefire in Gaza without the release of our hostages,” Mr. Netanyahu said in an interview with the American channel ABC News on Monday evening, a month after hundreds of Hamas fighters carried out the deadliest attack in Israeli history on October 7.
More than 1,400 people died there according to the authorities, mainly civilians killed on the day of the attack. Hamas also took more than 240 hostages to Gaza.
“Regarding the small tactical breaks, an hour here, an hour there, we have already had them,” added Mr. Netanyahu, in reference to a White House statement referring to the “possibility of tactical breaks” to allow civilians to flee the fighting and the flow of humanitarian aid.
While Israel unilaterally withdrew its soldiers and settlers from Gaza in 2005 after 38 years of occupation, Mr. Netanyahu affirmed that his country would take “for an indefinite period, general responsibility for security” in the Palestinian territory after the war.
Because “when we do not have this responsibility, we witness the eruption of the terror of Hamas”, an organization described as “terrorist” by the United States and the European Union, added Mr. Netanyahu who swore to annihilate Hamas.
“A crisis of humanity”
The United Nations, NGOs, leaders of the Arab world, and other countries around the world are constantly calling for a ceasefire, an idea not supported by Washington which is pushing for “humanitarian pauses” and insisting on Israel’s right to defend itself.
The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, urgently called for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in the small Palestinian territory, transformed into a “cemetery for children”. “The nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis, it is a crisis of humanity,” he said.
Israeli bombings against Gaza have left 10,022 dead, mostly civilians including more than 4,000 children, according to the latest report from the Hamas Health Ministry provided on Monday.
“Thousands and thousands of civilians are killed […] Our men were killed. Our volunteers were killed,” said Palestinian Red Crescent leader Younis Al-Khatib.
Mr. Guterres also reiterated his condemnation of the “heinous terrorist acts” of Hamas on October 7 and castigated this movement which uses “civilians as human shields and continues to fire rockets towards Israel indiscriminately”.
On Sunday evening, the Israeli army announced the intensification of its bombing campaign which should last “several days”, in parallel with a ground offensive launched on October 27.
The most intense ground clashes are taking place in the north of the territory, where the city of Gaza is located, which according to Israel is home to the “center” of Hamas.
Over the past 24 hours, “troops have secured a Hamas military stronghold in the northern Gaza Strip, seizing missiles, anti-tank launchers, weapons and various intelligence equipment,” according to a military statement. In coordination with ground troops, combat planes bomb “terrorist cells”.
“Yes I’m scared”
Near the border with Gaza, young Israeli soldiers display their “pride” in serving their country, without hiding their fears.
“Yes, I’m a little afraid to go. We don’t know if we’re going to come back alive,” says a 20-year-old soldier, whose name is prohibited by military censorship from publishing. “We’ll do what we have to do, but it’s a terrible place to go.”
At least 30 Israeli soldiers, according to the army, have been killed since October 27.
Israeli bombings hit hard the approximately 2.4 million Palestinians trapped in the 362 km territory2 and deprived of water, electricity and food deliveries by the siege imposed by Israel since October 9, when Gaza had already been subject to an Israeli blockade for more than 16 years.
They also pushed 1.5 million people onto the roads, according to the UN.
“A million earthquakes”
“It was like a million earthquakes combined […]. We received no warning, nothing, and suddenly we were surprised by missiles falling on our heads, non-stop,” said Saad Abou Sariya after Israeli strikes on Rafah (south).
Mr. Guterres deplored on Monday the insufficient aid arriving through Rafah, a crossing point with Egypt. With 569 trucks since October 21, “the drip of aid is nothing compared to the ocean of needs”.
On Monday, an unknown number of wounded and dual nationals were able to cross into Egypt via Rafah, marking a resumption of evacuations.
While the international community fears an extension of the conflict, the Pentagon announced that a submarine had been deployed in the Middle East as a deterrent.
On the Israeli-Lebanese border, there are daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army on the one hand, and Hezbollah and its allies including Hamas, on the other. Hamas in Lebanon said it fired 16 rockets into northern Israel on Monday.
Violence has also increased in the West Bank, territory occupied by Israel since 1967, where more than 150 Palestinians have been killed by fire from Israeli soldiers or settlers since October 7, according to the Palestinian Authority.