2024-03-01 13:10:25
WORLD – At least 104 people died on Thursday February 29, 2024 in western Gaza, after Israeli fire targeted Palestinians rushing towards humanitarian aid trucks. The day before, bombings had targeted the north of the Palestinian enclave, while fighting still raged in the town of Khan Younes. The other town in the south of the Palestinian enclave, Rafah, overpopulated with refugees, is still the subject of air raids. The UN has affirmed that the vast majority of the population of Gaza is now threatened with famine, shortly before the announcement of the death of two children “from dehydration and malnutrition”. The international community is increasing its calls for a ceasefire, as negotiations on a truce agreement continue. Qatar says it “hopes” to achieve this before Ramadan while US President Joe Biden has ruled out any cessation of hostilities by the start of next week.
On Thursday, Palestinians rushing to humanitarian aid trucks came under Israeli fire on al-Rashid Street in the Rimal neighborhood, located about three kilometers from central Gaza. The Hamas Ministry of Health, which revised upwards an initial death toll of 50, then announced 104 deaths and 760 injured. The Israeli army confirmed to AFP shootings on the crowd, citing soldiers feeling “threatened” during this distribution. The Israeli army, however, minimized its responsibility in this very heavy toll, caused according to it by “crowds” and “promiscuity”.
“Life is leaving Gaza at a terrifying speed ”
Hamas calls it a “massacre”. The news obviously caused a reaction quickly. Martin Griffiths, UN humanitarian chief, expressed outrage: “Life is leaving Gaza at a terrifying speed… I am outraged by reports that [une] Hundreds of people were killed and injured during a humanitarian aid transfer operation in western Gaza today. Algeria requested an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council, which met on Thursday evening.
The day before, Israeli nighttime strikes left 79 dead. The bombings particularly targeted localities in the north of the Palestinian enclave as well as the two southern cities, Khan Younes, where most of the fighting has been concentrated for weeks, and Rafah, threatened by a land operation from Tel Aviv which causes serious concern. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights affirmed that such an operation, desired by Benjamin Netanyahu, “would contravene” the decision of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
The humanitarian situation has reached an unprecedented level of deterioration and “generalized famine” threatens 2.2 million people according to the UN. At least 576,000, or a quarter of the population, are directly exposed to famine. The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs has also reported that two children died of “dehydration and malnutrition” at al-Chifa hospital, located in Gaza City. The milestone of 30,000 deaths (two-thirds of them women and children) has been exceeded, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health. The IDF, for its part, deplores 582 soldiers dead since October 7, including 242 since the outbreak of ground fighting in Gaza.
Hamas studies truce plan
The dramatic humanitarian situation and calls from the international community for a ceasefire are not being heard in Tel Aviv. Netanyahu does not hide his intention to lead his country “to total victory”. This would involve, among other things, the release of the hostages and, above all, the elimination of senior Hamas officials. One of them, Yahya Sinwar, is said to be Washington Postin one of the tunnels of Khan Younès, his hometown.
American President Joe Biden, who at one time expressed his hope for a ceasefire in Gaza by Monday, is no longer counting on it. Qatar, one of the mediators with Washington and Cairo, says it “hopes” to achieve a truce between Israel and Hamas before Ramadan.
Hamas is currently studying a proposed truce discussed last week in Paris, including a 40-day pause in military operations in Gaza and an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Israeli hostages. There is also talk of a gradual return of displaced people and refugees and the delivery of hundreds of trucks of humanitarian aid.
Hamas has called on Palestinians to take part in a mass march to Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque at the start of Ramadan. If the movement rejects Benjamin Netanyahu’s post-war plan, proposing the management of security by Tel Aviv for the entire Palestinian territories, it “understands” the need to establish a “technocratic government” in the occupied West Bank as in Gaza, according to Riyad al-Maliki, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs. “The time has not come to have a government of which Hamas is a part because then it would be boycotted”he added.
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