International pressure has intensified for a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas including a new release of hostages.
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Soon a break in the fighting? International pressure intensified on Tuesday February 13 to a truce agreement between Israel and Hamas including a new release of hostages, after the Israeli announcement of an upcoming offensive on Rafah, the last refuge for more than a million Palestinians in the south of the Gaza Strip. Egypt, traditional mediator between Israel and the Palestinians, hosted the American and Israeli intelligence directors as well as the Qatari Prime Minister on Tuesday for discussions on a truce. Here’s what to remember from the day.
UN fears ‘massacre’ in Rafah
Israeli military operations in Rafah “could lead to a massacre in Gaza”, alerted the head of UN humanitarian affairs, Martin Griffiths, calling on Israel not to “continue to ignore” calls from the international community. “More than half of Gaza’s population is crowded into Rafah, facing death: they have little to eat, virtually no access to medical care, nowhere to sleep, no place of safety,” he commented in a press release, describing a “assault unparalleled in intensity, brutality and scale”.
French sanctions against Israeli settlers
France “adopts sanctions against extremist Israeli settlers who are guilty of violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank”, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release on Tuesday February 13. In detail, “28 individuals are targeted by an administrative ban from French territory.” The Quai d’Orsay also specifies that France “is also in favor of the adoption of sanctions at the European level against these violent settlers”.
Two Al Jazeera journalists seriously injured
Two Al Jazeera journalists were seriously injured Tuesday by an Israeli strike in the south of the Gaza Strip, the Qatari channel announced. According to Al Jazeera, correspondent Ismaïl Abou Omar and his cameraman were injured by a strike in the Rafah sector, at the southern tip of the territory. Questioned by AFP, the Israeli army did not immediately comment.