2023-12-21 08:11:16
► Israel orders evacuations in the Gaza Strip
Israel has ordered new evacuations in the largest city in southern Gaza, while efforts continue on Thursday to obtain a truce in the territory where the death toll has now reached 20,000 according to Hamas.
The Israeli army ordered on social media on Wednesday the“immediate evacuation” of an area “covering about 20%” from the city of Khan Younes, according to a report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha). “The extent of displacement resulting from the evacuation order is unclear”notes Ocha.
The Gaza Strip is deprived of electricity due to the total blockade exercised by Israel and many residents only have the radio and word of mouth to obtain information. According to Ocha, the area to be evacuated housed more than 111,000 inhabitants before the start of the Israeli offensive two months ago, and now has some 141,000 Palestinians taking refuge in 32 camps fleeing the fighting.
The Hamas government announced on Wednesday that Israeli military operations had left 20,000 dead in Gaza since the start of the war, including at least 8,000 children and 6,200 women.
Gaza: negotiations for a still uncertain truce
Diplomatic efforts are currently taking place on several fronts to try to achieve a new truce and deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
On the one hand, Hamas is discussing with Egypt: the leader of the Palestinian movement, Ismaïl Haniyeh, went to Cairo on Wednesday to discuss a new “temporary one-week truce in exchange for the release by Hamas of 40 Israeli prisoners, women, children and men”, explained a source close to Hamas to AFP. But these negotiations have so far produced no results, sources close to the matter told the BBC and the Wall Street Journal.
On the other hand, Israel is maintaining a dialogue with Qatar and the United States to try to reach a truce allowing the release of hostages. The positions of the two camps, however, still remain very far apart.
Hamas demands a complete cessation of fighting as a prerequisite for any negotiations on the fate of the hostages. Israel is open to the idea of a truce but rules out any ceasefire before “elimination” of Hamas, in power since 2007 in Gaza. The war “will continue until the elimination of Hamas, until victory. Those who think we are going to stop are out of touch with reality”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu repeated on Wednesday.
US President Joe Biden, whose country is Israel’s main ally, acknowledged that there was still a long way to go before reaching a possible truce.
Gaza: the UN denounces the “sadism” of Israeli forces against the health system
United Nations services continue to warn of the deep humanitarian crisis shaking Gaza. Half of the population there suffers from extreme or severe hunger, and 90% are regularly deprived of food for an entire day, according to Ocha. The war has caused immense destruction in this territory, most hospitals are out of service and 1.9 million people, or 85% of the population, according to the UN, have fled their homes.
“The assault by the Israeli occupying forces against the health system in Gaza is taking the most sadistic forms”said on X Francesca Albanese, the United Nations rapporteur on the human rights situation in the occupied Palestinian territories. “Hospitals and medical staff are sacred”she added, denouncing a “senseless war against the people of Gaza”.
On site, Israeli strikes continue, to the great despair of residents. “Where are we safe?” Where should we go? »asked a Palestinian on Wednesday who fled northern Gaza for Rafah, after a strike near the school where he took refuge in this southern city. “They said it was a safe area. (…) There is no other place to go, we are trapped in a square of only 5 km on a side”complained this man, who refused to give his name.
► Tensions on the Lebanese border
Beyond the war in Gaza, the conflict continues to fuel tensions in the Middle East. On Thursday Hezbollah, Hamas’ Islamist ally in Lebanon, announced that it had fired rockets into northern Israel.
A little earlier, the Israeli army explained that it had struck a “operational command center” of Hezbollah, and shooting at fighters heading towards the border near Metula. Hezbollah confirmed the death of a fighter, killed while “on the way to Jerusalem”.
► Gaza: Blinken says he hopes for a satisfactory outcome at the Security Council
The head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken displayed cautious optimism on Wednesday about a draft resolution at the UN Security Council on the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza, also regretting the « silence » of the international community on Hamas.
“We have worked intensively on this file. I’ve been on the phone about this for two days.”declared the Secretary of State during a press conference in Washington. “I hope we can find a satisfactory solution”he added.
After multiple postponements since Monday, the UN Security Council again postponed its vote on a new resolution on Wednesday, a vote with an outcome still uncertain after complicated negotiations and in the face of a possible veto from the United States.
► Israel: fighting terrorism is not “razing everything in Gaza,” says Macron
President Emmanuel Macron warned Israel on Wednesday that fighting terrorism is not “raze everything in Gaza”reiterating his call for a truce “leading to a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons”.
“As the weeks go by, we cannot allow the idea to take hold that fighting effectively against terrorism would mean razing everything in Gaza or indiscriminately attacking civilian populations and causing civilian victims”said the Head of State on the France 5 channel.
► Amnesty calls for the release of Palestinians in Gaza held incommunicado by Israel
Israel must ” release “ all Palestinians in the Gaza Strip “arbitrarily detained” and shed light on the dead, the “mass enforced disappearances” and the “inhumane treatment” inflicted, Amnesty International said on Wednesday.
“All people arbitrarily detained must be released”estimated the regional director of the NGO, Heba Morayef, in a press release, emphasizing “the need for an independent investigation” on alleged abuses inflicted on Palestinians in Gaza.
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