what to remember from Friday May 17

The bodies of three Israelis were recovered by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip. A first load of humanitarian aid has started to be unloaded by sea.

His name had gone around the world. The bodies of three Israelis killed during the October 7 attacks and taken to the Gaza Strip, including Shani Louk, have been recovered by the Israeli army, the army announced in a statement. At the same time, fighting continues in the Gaza Strip, particularly in Jabalia and around Rafah, where Israel still intends to carry out a major offensive. Here is what to remember from Friday May 17.

The Israeli army continues its offensive

The Israeli navy carried out firing on the coast of Rafah, where thousands of displaced people continue to flee after nighttime strikes, according to the city’s Kuwaiti hospital. The army also announced to AFP that it had carried out fighting in Jabalia, in the north of the Gaza Strip. “perhaps the most fierce” since the start of his offensive.

The Israeli army also claimed to have completed its operation in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City (north), after a week of “precise raids”killing “more than 90 terrorists”. More than 35,300 Palestinians, mostly civilians, have been killed since the start of the war sparked by the Hamas attack, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government.

Israel repatriates bodies of three Hamas hostages from Gaza

“Itzhak Gelerenter, Amit Buskila and Shani Louk were found this evening during a special operation carried out by the IDF and the Shin Bet”, declared Friday, May 17, IDF spokesperson Daniel Hagari. The families of the victims were notified during the day, the Israeli army said in a press release.

According to the statement, the three victims were killed during the attack carried out by Hamas on October 7, and “Their bodies were taken to the Gaza Strip by Hamas terrorists”. Shani Louk appeared unconscious in a video, lying in the back of a pick-up, in the hands of Hamas. The image went around the world after the October 7 attack in Israel.

First arrival of humanitarian aid by sea

After days of blocking the arrival of humanitarian aid in the Palestinian territory threatened by famine, the American army announced that a first load had begun to be unloaded by the temporary American jetty moored on the coast of the Gaza Strip. She also announced the arrival “around 500 tonnes [d’aide] in the coming days”.

London announced for its part that a shipment of British aid had been “successfully delivered to the Gaza coast (….) along with aid from the United States and the United Arab Emirates” via the Cypriot maritime corridor. France, for its part, declared that a Navy vessel from Cyprus, with 60 tons of aid on board, was being unloaded onto the American pontoon. The land route nevertheless remains “the most viable and effective”reaffirmed the UN humanitarian agency.

Israel denounces accusations of “genocide” “disconnected” from reality

South Africa is asking the ICJ to order Israel to stop its incursion into Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, essential according to Israel to eliminate militants of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas. The case is a “caricature” of the United Nations Convention on Genocide that Israel is accused of having violated, castigated an Israeli representative before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which sits in The Hague (Netherlands).

“South Africa presents to the court for the fourth time a picture completely disconnected from the facts and circumstances”said Gilad Noam, deputy attorney general for international affairs for Israel. “A tragic war is underway but there is no genocide”considers the representative of Israel, who reiterated the commitment “unshakeable” of the country towards international law.