2023-12-02 21:42:00
Photo: AFP.
Israel continued this Saturday with its bombings against the Gaza Strip within the framework of the war with the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, on the second day of attacks after the end of a week of truce, and withdrew from the negotiations taking place in Qatar for a new ceasefire on the grounds that they were “blocked”.
The Ministry of Health of the Gaza Strip, controlled by Hamas, stated that 240 people have died and 650 have been injured since hostilities restarted this Friday, with their epicenter in the north of the enclave, although this Saturday several bombings were also reported in the South.
“We are now attacking military targets throughout the Gaza Strip”said Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), stating that the army has attacked more than 400 “terrorist targets” in the Palestinian territory since the end of the agreement.
According to Hamas, Israeli forces “targeted especially Khan Yunis,” in the south of the territory, “where dozens of houses were destroyed with their inhabitants inside.”
Israeli forces confirmed that their fighter jets hit “more than 50 targets in a broad strike in the Khan Yunis area.”
Artillery fire and aerial bombardment were also carried out against the “northern Gaza Strip”, according to an official statement cited by the AFP news agency.
Photo: AFP.
In the morning, the Israeli army sent SMS to residents of several areas of the Strip, warning them of the launch of “a crushing military attack (…) with a view to eliminating the terrorist organization Hamas” and the He urged them to leave “immediately.”
Israeli defense systems in turn reported more than 40 rocket alerts in the center and south of the country, with no casualties reported.
Israel announced this Saturday the withdrawal of its team of negotiators in discussions on reactivating the truce, considering that they are currently experiencing a “stalemate” over the circumstances of new exchanges between hostages and prisoners.
“Due to the blockage in the talks and on instructions from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mossad head David Barnea has ordered his Doha team to return to Israel,” the premier’s office announced. Israeli in a statement cited by the Europa Press news agency.
“The terrorist organization Hamas did not fulfill its part of the agreement, which included the release of all children and women, based on a list delivered to Hamas and approved” by that group, the statement added.
Israel and Hamas had resumed fighting this Friday after the expiration of the one-week truce, mediated by Qatar, Egypt and the United States, with accusations crossed between the parties for the resumption of hostilities and requests from the international community for a new cessation. humanitarian.
The conflict
This escalation of hostilities began on October 7, when Hamas militiamen burst into Israel, in a surprise attack that left 1,200 dead, mostly civilians, and 240 kidnapped, including twenty Argentines.
In response, Israel vowed to eliminate Hamas and unleashed a campaign of air and ground attacks on Gaza that the enclave’s government said left more than 15,000 people dead, most of them civilians.
Release and exchange of hostages
The week-long temporary cessation of hostilities allowed Israeli hostages to be exchanged for Palestinian prisoners: 110 kidnapped They were released since the beginning of the conflict105 of them during the trucemostly Israeli women and minors, and a dozens of them Argentineand change Israel released 240 people.
However, the Israeli army stated this Saturday that five of the people taken by Hamas were killed and that the group still holds “136 hostages, including 17 women and children.”
Israel and Hamas accused each other of being responsible for the end of the truce.
Israel and Hamas accused each other of being responsible for the end of the truce
“Hamas violated the operational pause,” the Israeli army said in a statement on Friday, after the IDF intercepted a rocket launched from Gaza.
In that same sense, Netanyahu affirmed that the Palestinian group “violated” the agreement by “firing rockets” towards Israel.
“The Israeli government is determined to achieve the goals of the war: to free the hostages, eliminate Hamas and ensure that Gaza never again poses a threat to the people of Israel,” his office said in a statement.
For its part, Hamas blamed Israel for the end of the truce, stating that its authorities rejected “all offers” to continue the process of releasing those kidnapped during the attacks carried out on October 7 in exchange for Palestinian prisoners.
With the resumption of fighting, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, an entry point for humanitarian aid, was closed this Friday.
With the resumption of fighting, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and the Gaza Strip, an entry point for humanitarian aid, was closed this Friday.
The Palestinian Red Crescent reported this Saturday that it received 50 trucks of aid in Gaza through that crossingwhich marks a restart of assistance, although at a level prior to the truce, which also served to bring in hundreds of vehicles per day.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that more than 5,300 Palestinian minors have died in the Gaza Strip since October 7 and called for a “longer ceasefire” and urged “all parties” to guarantee that “children be protected.”
“Before the (humanitarian) pause, more than 5,300 Palestinian children were reported dead in 48 days of incessant shelling, a figure that does not include many children who are still missing and presumed buried under the rubble,” said the director of Unicef, Catherine Russell, in a statement released in recent hours on the organization’s website.
In this context, he warned that if the conflict “returns to its previous scale and intensity, it can be assumed that hundreds more children will be killed and injured every day.”
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that more than 5,300 Palestinian minors have died in the Gaza Strip since October 7
“For seven days, there was a ray of hope for children in the midst of this horrible nightmare. More than 30 children held hostage in Gaza were freed, safe and reunited with their families,” added Russell, regarding the pause humanitarian
Meanwhile, fears of a larger regional conflict grew after the Syrian Defense Ministry reported Israeli shelling near the capital Damascus.
He Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (OSDH)an NGO with a large network of sources in Syria, He stated that two fighters affiliated with the Lebanese Shiite movement Hezbollah were killed in these attacks. The Israeli military had no comment.
Previously, that group, an ally of Hamas, reported the death of two of its members in Israeli bombings in southern Lebanon, where a civilian was also killed.
#Israel #Hamas #continue #day #fighting #truce