what to remember from Saturday February 24

The Israeli army continued to carry out bombings in the Gaza Strip, where famine threatens the population.

The Israeli army continued its offensive against Hamas on Saturday February 24 by carrying out intense bombardments in the Gaza Strip. Fears of famine in the Palestinian enclave are growing, due to the lack of vital humanitarian aid for the Palestinian population. Here’s what to remember from February 24.

UNRWA suspends aid deliveries to the North

The humanitarian situation continues to worsen in the Gaza Strip. Some 2.2 million people, out of the 2.3 million inhabitants of the besieged territory, are threatened with “mass starvation” due to lack of sufficient supplies of water and food, according to the UN. Humanitarian aid, entry through Rafah subject to Israel’s green light, is still insufficient and its delivery to the north is difficult due to destruction and fighting.

On Saturday, the United Nations Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) announced to the Guardian that it was suspending aid deliveries to the north of the enclave. “The desperate behavior of residents, hungry and exhausted, prevents the safe and regular passage of our trucks”, a manager told the British daily. Assuring you don’t want “blame” these civilians, she declared that it is not “now it is no longer possible to carry out humanitarian operations normally” in this area. The World Food Program had already announced on Tuesday February 20 that it would have to suspend its food aid deliveries to the north of the Gaza Strip, in the face of “chaos and violence” who reigns there.

The death toll is now 29,600 in Gaza

The Hamas government reported on Saturday that “more than 70 strikes in the last 24 hours” in Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis, Rafah, Jabaliya and Gaza City. Before dawn, Israeli bombardments claimed the lives of at least 103 Palestinians, the Health Ministry reported. This brings the death toll from the conflict to at least 29,606 deaths, the vast majority of them civilians.

Tel Aviv says it killed “dozens of terrorists” in Khan Younes

Military operations against Hamas are now concentrated in Khan Younes, a town in the south of the Gaza Strip now transformed into a field of ruins. The Israeli army said on Saturday that its soldiers eliminated “dozens of terrorists”seized weapons and destroyed a tunnel opening.

Demonstrators protest against the government in Israel

Rallies took place in several Israeli cities on Saturday to protest against the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu. Demonstrators notably marched through the streets of the capital Tel Aviv, as well as in front of the Prime Minister’s home in Caesarea. According to the Israeli daily Haaretzthey demand in particular that the government do everything possible to free the hundred or so hostages still held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

Peace negotiations continue in Paris

Faced with the desire of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to continue the offensive, new negotiations are being held in Paris to try to obtain a truce accompanied by the release of hostages. The head of Mossad, the Israeli secret service, David Barnea, arrived in the French capital on Friday at the head of a delegation. A Western source close to the matter told AFP that “discussions continued” Saturday, without giving details of their content.

The Israeli war cabinet was to meet on Saturday evening after the return of this delegation. “The delegation has returned from Paris, there is probably room to move towards an agreement”declared Saturday evening on the Israeli channel N12 the national security adviser to the Prime Minister, Tzachi Hanegbi.

At the end of January, David Barnea met in Paris with his American and Egyptian counterparts, as well as the Prime Minister of Qatar, the main mediators in the conflict. According to a Hamas source, the plan discussed then provided for a six-week pause in the fighting in Gaza, as well as the release of 200 to 300 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 35 to 40 hostages.