what to remember from Monday, December 4

The Israeli army is tightening its grip on the south of the Gaza Strip, where dozens of tanks have entered as part of its offensive against Palestinian Hamas.

The war has lasted for fifty-nine days. The Israeli army tightened its grip on the south of the Gaza Strip, where dozens of tanks entered on Monday December 4 as part of its offensive against Palestinian Hamas, making the situation even more perilous for a population caught in the bombing trap. Engaged since October 27 in a ground campaign in the north of the besieged Palestinian territory, the Israeli army has expanded its ground operations to the entire Gaza Strip. Here’s what to remember from this day.

Israeli army intensifies offensive in southern Gaza

Dozens of Israeli tanks entered the south of the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people had sought refuge in recent weeks after fleeing the fighting and bombings that devastated the north of the territory, witnesses said. The Israeli army said it was taking action “with force” Monday, December 4, around the town of Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, subject to intense bombardments. The south of the Salah ad-Din road axis, the main highway of the enclave, “constitutes a battlefield and it is extremely dangerous to approach it”explained the IDF.

Telecommunications interrupted in Gaza

The Palestinian telecommunications company, Paltel, announced Monday evening that “all telecommunications services in the Gaza Strip” were at a standstill, due to “a cut of the main fiber networks on the Israeli side”. Telecommunications have already been cut twice in the Gaza Strip, the first time on October 27 when the Israeli army launched its ground operations in the north of the Palestinian territory. The second, on November 16, due to lack of fuel to power the company’s generators.

Five Palestinians killed in West Bank

Two Palestinians were killed in an Israeli raid in Qalqiliya, in the north of this Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, a third in Qalandiya, and two others near Hebron, in the south, according to the Palestinian Authority. Since October 7, more than 250 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank, according to the same source. Meanwhile, Hamas’ health ministry said 15,899 people, 70% of them women and children and adolescents, have been killed since Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip began on October 7. In Israel, the attack carried out by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, according to the authorities.

US asks Israel to let more fuel into Gaza

The United States called on its Israeli ally to let more fuel enter the Gaza Strip after the end of the truce on Friday between Israel and the Palestinian movement Hamas. “We had very frank conversations with them about the need to see fuel coming in and we saw fuel coming in on Friday,” he said. US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller told the press. “We have made it clear that we want to see (fuel delivery levels) go back up, not just to the fuel levels entered during the pause, but even higher.”he added.

Israelis and Palestinians accuse each other of “genocide” at the UN

Israeli and Palestinian representatives exchanged mutual accusations of “genocide”on the eve of the 75th anniversary of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. “The attacks [commises par] Hamas on October 7 were motivated by genocidal ideology”, declared Yeela Cytrin, legal advisor to the Israeli mission in Geneva, before diplomats gathered at the European headquarters of the UN. Palestinian representative Dima Asfour estimated that “human-made disaster” resulting from the massive bombings and the ground offensive of the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip constituted “a textbook case of genocide”.

WHO challenges Israeli army order to empty medical aid warehouse in southern Gaza

The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) on Monday contested an order from the Israeli army to empty a medical aid warehouse in the south of the Gaza Strip within 24 hours. “We call on Israel to withdraw this order and take all possible measures to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals and humanitarian facilities”explained Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, on the social network X.