The Israeli government on Monday ruled out any ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, where aid is insufficient to respond to “unprecedented humanitarian needs” according to the UN, on the 24th day of the war triggered by the bloody attack of Hamas against Israel.
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Since Friday evening, Israeli ground operations and strikes have intensified, with the aim of “annihilating” Hamas and “bringing the hostages home” – 239 people held since October 7 in the Palestinian territory.
One of them, a soldier, Ori Megidish, was released by the Israeli army during a ground operation, the army announced Monday, specifying that she was doing well and had been reunited with her family.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the international community to demand the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages. “Calls for a ceasefire are calls to surrender to Hamas. This will not happen,” he insisted.
Washington, Israel’s ally, also estimated on Monday that a ceasefire was not “the right answer for the moment”, while being in favor of “humanitarian pauses”, according to John Kirby, door -spokesperson of the National Security Council.
Heavy toll
The war has left thousands dead, mostly civilians, and is putting a severe strain on the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, who have been subjected since October 9 to a “complete siege” depriving it of water. food and electricity.
Hamas says more than 8,300 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli bombings since October 7.
In Israel, according to the authorities, more than 1,400 people, mainly civilians, were killed on the day of the attack.
In total, 117 aid trucks have arrived in Gaza since October 21, according to the UN, when 100 per day were needed.
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.
The White House considers it possible to be able to bring in “100 trucks per day” “in the coming days,” according to Mr. Kirby.
The aid entering Gaza “is nothing” given the “unprecedented humanitarian needs,” the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) lamented on Monday.
Philippe Lazzarini called on members of the Security Council for help and demanded an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire”.
In the Gaza Strip, subject to an Israeli blockade since Hamas came to power in 2007, UNRWA warned on Sunday of a collapse of “public order” after the looting of food aid centers.
Concern also concerns the situation in hospitals where, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent, the bombings are endangering patients and the thousands of civilians who have taken refuge there.
Israel accuses Hamas of using hospitals to hide weapons or fighters, which Hamas 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.
“These are thousands of civilian deaths, hundreds of caregivers who have nothing to do with terrorists who are dying,” according to Jean-François Corty, the vice-president of the NGO.
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,” he added.
The conflict continues
On October 7, in the middle of Shabbat, the weekly Jewish rest, hundreds of Hamas men infiltrated from Gaza onto Israeli soil, where they carried out the deadliest attack since the creation of Israel in 1948, kidnapping more than 230 people, a profound trauma for Israeli society.
Hamas released a video on Monday of three women presented as hostages, where one of them calls on Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude a prisoner exchange with the Islamist movement for their release. Mr. Netanyahu denounced “cruel psychological propaganda”.
Only four women have been released by Hamas to date.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, however, confirmed on Monday the death of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli woman who was recognized after her kidnapping in videos showing a half-naked, unconscious woman face down in the back of a pickup.
“His skull was found”, his executioners “cut off his head”, according to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
For the first time since the start of the war, Israeli tanks were seen on the edge of Gaza City, according to witnesses.
According to these sources, Israeli tanks and aircraft bombed a north-south road axis before withdrawing.
The military wing of Hamas claimed to have responded by firing shells in the direction of “two armored vehicles”.
In 24 hours, the Israeli army claims to have struck “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 claims to have killed “dozens of terrorists”.
Hamas reported on Monday “intense fighting” in the north of the territory, without giving an assessment.
The conflict has also exacerbated tensions in the occupied West Bank. On Monday, five Palestinians were killed in an army raid, according to the local health ministry.
According to him, nearly 120 Palestinians have been killed since October 7 in the West Bank by fire from Israeli soldiers and settlers.
While the international community fears a regional conflagration, tensions remain very high on the Israeli-Lebanese border between the Israeli army and armed groups, notably Hezbollah.
The latter announced Monday the death of one of its fighters, bringing to 47 the total of its members killed since October 7.
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.”
Also on Monday, the Israeli army announced that it had struck several targets in Syria in response to rocket fire.
Iran, for its part, justified recent attacks against bases of American forces in Syria, but also in Iraq, by citing the help provided by Washington to Israel in the war.