2024-02-02 12:09:09
MONDE – Fighting still continues in Khan Younes. The UN spoke on Thursday February 1, 2024 of “intense bombings” carried out by the Israeli army, the main city in the south of the Gaza Strip. Information confirmed by witnesses, who located these strikes near the Nasser hospital. Hamas reported 119 deaths during the night from Wednesday to Thursday, bringing the total toll to 27,019 deaths and 66,140 injured since the start of the conflict on October 7. Tel Aviv is intensifying its operations at a time when Hamas leader Ismaël Haniyeh was expected in Egypt to discuss a truce proposal, formulated last weekend in Paris between American, Egyptian, Israeli and Qatari leaders. Twelve countries have suspended their funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (URNWA), which raises the risk of a cessation of its activities “by the end of February”.
In the north and center of the Palestinian enclave, the IDF army announced Thursday the elimination of “dozens” of Hamas members. Its troops are mainly continuing their operations in the South, in Khan Younes, which they consider to be a stronghold of the local leaders of the Palestinian movement. The Israeli army claims to have “surrounded” this locality, the epicenter of fierce fighting for several weeks.
119 dead in one night
The United Nations has denounced “intense bombings” in Khan Younes, where the humanitarian situation, like elsewhere in Gaza, is very critical. It counts 184,000 displaced Palestinians registered to request humanitarian aid. According to witnesses, these air raids targeted areas near the Nasser hospital. The toll from last night, communicated by Hamas, is very high, with 119 dead in the Palestinian enclave.
Its local Ministry of Health reported a new count of 27,019 people killed, mostly women, children and adolescents, and 66,139 injured. “At the moment, what is happening is a massacre,” testifies Léo Cans, head of mission for Médecins sans frontières (MSF) in the Palestinian territories. “It is not possible that today, in a war where people are not allowed to go out, where people are under siege, where they have nowhere to go, we agree to kill 150 women and children per day (…). So, the first demand is an immediate and total ceasefire,” he added.
The other UN agency, the WHO, is sounding the alarm. The population in Gaza is “starving” and “being pushed to the brink,” according to one of its officials. The United Nations Office for Humanitarian Coordination describes an “apocalypse”.
Half of all buildings in the Palestinian territory, which is “uninhabitable”, are damaged, continues the UN. Its conference on trade and development (UNCTAD) estimates its reconstruction at tens of billions of dollars. Added to this are shortages of food and medicine, particularly in hospitals in the enclave.
The same day on Thursday, violent clashes broke out in Toubas, in the occupied West Bank. At the Jenin hospital, Israelis, disguised as Palestinians, managed to enter and kill three men.
200 to 300 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 35 to 40 hostages still held in Gaza
Calls for a ceasefire are becoming less and less insistent, as American, Qatari and Egyptian leaders continue their negotiations with senior officials in Tel Aviv. These resulted, last weekend, in a proposal formulated in Paris. The political leader of Hamas, Ismaël Haniyeh, based in Qatar, was expected in Cairo on Thursday to examine a proposal consisting of three phases. The first six-week truce should allow the release of 200 to 300 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 35 to 40 hostages still held in Gaza.
Hamas demands a total ceasefire, its condition for any agreement. The Israeli government and its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, who rejects any cessation of fighting and any recognition of the Palestinian state, are talking about a pause, but not the end of operations in Gaza. The head of American diplomacy, Antony Blinken, is once again expected, “in the coming days” in the Middle East, to support this initiative. His country(ies) of destination have not been revealed.
These discussions come at a time when the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, risks ceasing its activities. This week, twelve countries among its largest donors suspended their funding. Tel Aviv accuses the agency of employing several people involved in the October 7 attacks.
UNRWA is “totally infiltrated” by Hamas, Netanyahu declared. “We need other UN agencies and other humanitarian organizations,” he said.
Accusations taken seriously by the head of the institution, Philippe Lazzarini, who declared that any employee involved in acts of terrorism should answer, including through legal proceedings.
He nevertheless stressed that UNRWA risked going out of business “by the end of February”. “If funding remains suspended, we will most likely have to cease our operations by the end of February, not only in Gaza, but also in the entire region”, that is to say in the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. The UN specifies for its part that “the withdrawal of funds from UNRWA is perilous and would lead to the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, which would have considerable consequences.”
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