Israeli aerial bombardments claimed dozens more victims on Saturday in the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health, as a first ship loaded with aid is ready to embark from Cyprus for the famine-stricken Palestinian territory .
After a little more than five months of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement, the disastrous humanitarian situation in the territory led several Arab and Western countries, notably the United States and France, to carry out new airdrops of food on Friday. and medical aid.
But the fall of packages dropped by planes on Gaza City killed five people on Friday and injured ten, according to a hospital source.
The Jordanian and American armies affirmed that none of their aircraft was at the origin of the tragedy. Belgium, Egypt, France and the Netherlands are also making aid drops to territory under Israeli siege.
Faced with the insufficiency of land aid, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday in Cyprus that she hoped for the opening on Sunday of a maritime corridor allowing the delivery of humanitarian assistance from the Mediterranean island , located some 370 kilometers from Gaza.
This announcement followed that of US President Joe Biden on Thursday on a major humanitarian operation by sea involving the construction of a “temporary pier” in Gaza to allow the arrival of “massive aid”.
Aid ship ready for Cyprus
The Pentagon said construction of the structure would take up to 60 days and likely involve more than 1,000 troops. The temporary port “could provide more than two million meals per day to the citizens of Gaza,” detailed its spokesperson, Pat Ryder.
Mr. Biden said Friday that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu must allow more humanitarian aid to flow into Gaza, as the United States puts increasing pressure on Israel, its ally, which besieges the Palestinian territory since October 9 and only lets in aid trucks from Egypt.
According to the UN, 2.2 of the 2.4 million inhabitants of this cramped territory hit by significant water and food shortages are threatened with famine, and 1.7 million have been displaced by fighting and violence. Israeli strikes which caused colossal destruction.
For the UN, which warns of an “almost inevitable widespread famine” in Gaza, airdrops, as well as sending aid by sea, cannot replace the land route.
An American humanitarian association, World Central Kitchen, indicated on Friday that it was loading aid to Larnaca on the ship Open Arms, of the Spanish humanitarian organization of the same name.
“Our ship is preparing to sail […] loaded with tons of food, water and vital supplies for Palestinian civilians,” Open Arms said on X.
Children who died of malnutrition
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, at least 23 civilians have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, after the deaths of three more children.
After five months of a devastating war triggered on October 7 by a bloody attack by Hamas against Israel, Israeli strikes on Gaza have seen no respite: the bodies of 70 people killed in raids carried out at night across the Gaza Strip , were taken to hospitals, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.
The Hamas government’s media office reported more than 30 strikes overnight, including one against a residential building in the town of Rafah, where some 200 people had taken refuge.
Israeli operations in the Gaza Strip have left at least 30,960 dead in Gaza since the start of the war on October 7, according to authorities of the Islamist movement.
The Gaza Strip, already subject to an Israeli blockade since Hamas took power in 2007, is bordered by Israel, Egypt which keeps its border closed and the Mediterranean Sea.
The war was sparked on October 7 by an unprecedented Hamas attack that resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel, according to a tally by the AFP established from official sources.
Around 250 people were also kidnapped and taken to Gaza that day, and 130 hostages are still being held there, 31 of whom Israel says are dead.
In response, Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization along with the United States and the European Union.
“No compromise”
To achieve “total victory”, Israel says it is preparing a ground offensive on Rafah, on the Egyptian border, where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are massed according to the UN.
The Israeli army said on Saturday that it had carried out targeted raids on Friday across the Gaza Strip, and killed more than 20 fighters in the Khan Younes sector (south), where Israeli operations have been concentrated in recent weeks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday it was up to Hamas to agree to a truce with Israel, but the group’s military wing said it would make “no compromise” on its demands for peace. a definitive ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip in exchange for any agreement on the release of the hostages.
Later in the day, President Biden said it would be “difficult” to achieve a ceasefire before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan (Monday or Tuesday), a goal that had been attempted ‘reach this week in Cairo the mediator countries (Egypt, Qatar and the United States) and Hamas.