2023-12-07 22:26:00
Fighting raged again on Thursday in and around the largest cities in the Gaza Strip, two months after the start of the war between Israel and the terrorist organization Hamas, triggered on October 7 by the bloody attack by the Palestinian group on Israeli soil. After a first phase, in the north of the Palestinian territory, of its ground offensive against Hamas terrorist fighters, the army extended its operations to the south, where hundreds of thousands of civilians are now trapped, cornered. in an increasingly cramped territory.Khan Younes, the epicenter of the fighting
In the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers, supported by airstrikes, confronted Hamas fighters on Thursday in Khan Younes, the largest city in the south which has become the epicenter of the war, as well as in the north, in Gaza- town and the neighboring area of Jabalia. In the south, hundreds of thousands of civilians have massed since the start of the war near the closed border with Egypt, fleeing the fighting in the north, in a disastrous humanitarian situation.
Since the resumption of fighting on December 1 after a seven-day truce, some of them have been forced by the Israeli army to move again, fleeing a few kilometers further towards the border town of Rafah, as the fighting spread. In response to the October 7 attack, Israel promised to annihilate the Hamas terrorist group, in power in Gaza since 2007, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel, and launched on the territory an intense campaign of air strikes coupled since October 27 with a ground offensive. A total of 89 Israeli soldiers have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to the army.
In the north, dozens of Israeli tanks and armored vehicles entered Gaza’s Old City. In Khan Younes, the army announced that it had “killed Hamas terrorists and struck dozens of terrorist targets”.
Hamas leader’s house in Gaza surrounded
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Wednesday that Israeli forces were “surrounding the house” in Khan Yunis of Yahya Sinouar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, considered the architect of the October 7 attack. Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said Yahya Sinouar was hiding in Hamas tunnels.
At Al-Aqsa hospital in Gaza City, 115 bodies arrived in 24 hours, according to Médecins Sans Frontières. In Rafah, in the morgue of al-Najjar hospital, around twenty corpses wrapped in white plastic, including those of many children, were lying on the ground, surrounded by their loved ones who were praying and crying. In this city, thousands of displaced people have set up makeshift camps where they try to survive in extreme destitution.
Abdullah Abou Daqqa, from Khan Younès, and now in Rafah, is at the end of his rope: “For two months, we have been moving from one place to another, it was the hardest two months. We lost a lot (…), money, children and we lost ourselves. We are very tired, we sleep in the street.” Also arriving in Rafah, Ahmad Hajjaj, from the Chati camp in the north, describes a situation which continues to worsen: “We have no basic necessities, the situation is getting worse day by day, and there is no political solution on the horizon.”
Risk of “total collapse” in Gaza
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned Wednesday of a “total collapse of law and order soon” in Gaza, which could have “irreversible consequences for the Palestinians as a whole and for peace and security in the region,” angering Israel. The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, spoke of a health system “on its knees” in the Gaza Strip, where most hospitals in the north are no longer functioning while those in the south, overwhelmed by the influx of thousands of wounded, are on the verge of collapse.
Since October 9, Israel has imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip, which is causing serious shortages of water, food, medicine and electricity, while humanitarian aid, the entry of which is subject to fire. Israeli green, only arrives in droplets from Egypt. Fuel, necessary to operate generators in hospitals and water desalination equipment, is also lacking.
On Thursday, UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths said he saw “promising signs” of the “soon” opening of the Kerem Shalom crossing between Israel and Gaza, which, along with the Rafah border crossing, would ensure a second access to humanitarian aid.
New tensions on the Israel-Lebanon border
The war has also reignited tensions on the border between Israel and Lebanon, where there are daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas. The Israeli army and emergency services announced Thursday the death of an Israeli civilian, killed in northern Israel by an anti-tank missile attack claimed by Hezbollah. Benjamin Netanyahu issued a new warning to Hezbollah: “I suggest to our enemies to be careful, because if Hezbollah chooses to start an all-out war, it will transform Beirut and southern Lebanon, not far from here. , in Gaza and Khan Younes,” he warned.
An exhibition opened Thursday in Tel Aviv, dedicated to the memory of the 364 people killed by Hamas fighters on October 7 while participating in a music festival. Wednesday evening, relatives of victims strolled in silence in this identical reproduction of the festival site. Among them, Amit Zender, 63, wearing a T-shirt displaying the photo of his daughter Noa and the dates “2000-2023”. “I came to see what this festival where my daughter died looks like,” he confided, calling for a “permanent museum”.
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