2023-12-13 21:27:09
Israel declared Wednesday that its war in Gaza against Hamas will continue “with or without international support,” despite growing pressure from its allies, including the United States, and calls for a ceasefire.
Israel bombs the Gaza Strip in response to the attack launched by Hamas on its territory on October 7, which left 1,200 dead, according to Israeli authorities.
On October 27, its troops also began a ground operation to fulfill the objective of “annihilating” the Islamist movement, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
The Hamas Health Ministry claims that 18,608 people have been killed since the start of the Israeli offensive, mostly women and children under 18 years of age.
On Tuesday, the UN General Assembly approved a non-binding text calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza, but which avoided condemning the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas for its attack.
However, shelling and armed clashes continued mainly in Gaza City, Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, AFP journalists indicated.
The Ministry reported that about 50 people died.
Hamas fighters continued to fire rockets, mostly intercepted, toward Sderot and other communities in southern Israel.
The Israeli army indicated that sirens sounded in the city of Ashdod and the Lakhish area. Images spread on social networks showed that a large fragment of an intercepted rocket hit a supermarket.
The same source claimed that it hit a militant cell in Gaza City “that was ready to launch rockets towards Israel.”
According to the military, 115 of its soldiers have died in the war, ten of them on Tuesday.
US reviews
After the United States vetoed a Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip on Friday, the General Assembly approved similar text on Tuesday.
Of the 193 member countries of the UN, 153 voted in favor, 23 abstained and ten voted against, including Israel and the United States.
In an unusual joint statement, the prime ministers of Australia, Canada and New Zealand said Wednesday that they are “alarmed by the reduction in security space for civilians in Gaza.”
US President Joe Biden stated on Tuesday that Israel is beginning to lose international support “due to the indiscriminate bombing” in Gaza.
He later softened his words, reiterating his support for Israel and stating that “the safety of innocent Palestinians remains a major concern.”
Despite criticism from its main ally, Israel promised to continue the offensive. “Israel will continue the war against Hamas, with or without international support,” the head of Israeli diplomacy, Eli Cohen, declared in a statement.
“A ceasefire at this time would be a gift to the terrorist organization Hamas and would allow it to once again threaten the people of Israel,” he added.
US National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan will travel to Israel on Thursday to meet with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“Incomparable” losses
According to the United Nations, 1.9 million of its 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced by the conflict.
In Deir al Balah, heavy rains flooded a refugee camp. “The water seeped into our tents. We couldn’t sleep. (…) We used stones and sand” to block the water, Amine Edwan told AFP.
Humanitarian organizations warn that, soon, the besieged territory will be overwhelmed by disease and famine.
The health system is collapsed and in ruins, and the Hamas government said Wednesday that its supplies of childhood vaccines were depleted, warning of “catastrophic consequences.”
The people of Gaza “are running out of time and options,” said Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
The World Bank warned that “the loss of life, the speed and extent of the damage (…) are incomparable.”
Hamas claimed Wednesday that Israeli troops “reinforced the siege of the Kamal Adwan hospital, firing into patient rooms.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) had previously indicated that around 3,000 people were trapped inside.
AFP was unable to verify the Islamist movement’s claim and the Israeli army did not react, but Israel often accuses the Islamist group of using tunnels under hospitals, schools and mosques for military purposes. Hamas rejects these accusations.
Fears of a regional conflagration continue to grow due to frequent skirmishes on the border between Israel and Lebanon, where the Hezbollah movement is based, and attacks by other Iranian-backed groups against US and allied forces in Iraq and Syria.
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