A chilling observation. Life has becomeapocalyptic” in certain areas of the south of the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli offensive against Rafah in early May, the UN was alarmed on Friday May 31. “The exodus that we have been witnessing over the past twenty days from Rafah is an experience that is both impressive and horrible for a very large number of people”, lamented Matthew Hollingworth, director for the Palestinian Territories of the World Food Program (WFP). Due to a lack of fuel, WFP bakeries in the south had to close. In the center and the north, the situation has improved but remains critical according to the agency. Follow our live stream.
End of Israeli operations in Jabaliya, in the north of the enclave. An Israeli army spokesperson announced on Friday the cessation of ground operations in the Jabaliya region, located in the north of the Gaza Strip, reports the Israeli daily Haaretz. These raids made it possible to recover “seven bodies of hostages”, to destroy “10 km of tunnels” and kill “more than 100 terrorists”claims the IDF in a published message on.
Israel carries out new strikes near Rafah, the epicenter of the conflict. The Israeli army continues its strikes and ground offensive on Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, on Friday. The Nousseirat sector, in the center of the Palestinian enclave, is also targeted.
Benyamin Netanyahu gives an interview to LCI. The Israeli Prime Minister maintained on Thursday that “the number of civilian casualties relative to combatant casualties” Palestinians were “the lowest rate we have seen in an urban war.” Israel estimates that about half of those killed since the start of the Gaza war have been Hamas or Islamic Jihad militants.
Egypt and Israel pass the buck on humanitarian aid. The two countries accuse each other of being responsible for blocking transit via the Rafah border post, the only crossing point between the Palestinian territory and Egypt. The Israeli army took control of it from the Palestinian side at the beginning of May.