2023-11-16 03:25:00
Getty Images According to Hamas, more than 11,500 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s attacks began.
Al Shifa is the main hospital in Gaza City. I have been there many times. It occupies a large area, so numerous people in the Strip came in search of refuge and camped in its facilities, considering it a safe area.
It has now become a symbol of the juxtaposition of war: the Israeli invasion of Gaza that has caused great loss and damage, contrasted with the urgent humanitarian crisis inside the hospital.
The Israelis are very insistent that, in addition to laying siege to the Hamas military command, they have brought in fuel and incubation equipment, as it has been said that some premature babies in the hospital had to be removed from their incubators.
However, the problem is not a lack of incubators, but a shortage of fuel.
Until Wednesday, Israel had not allowed fuel to enter the Gaza Strip, arguing that Hamas would steal it and use it.
Now the entry of about 23,000 liters of fuelbut only for refueling UN trucks.
The United Nations alleges that the supply only covers a fraction of what is needed for humanitarian operations, and the entry of fuel to run generators in hospitals and water and sanitation facilities remains prohibited.
Israel assures that Hamas has its own fuel reserves and that it should use them for the generators that supply the hospital’s electrical system.
Many threads weave around what is happening today at Al-Shifa Hospital, but that is not the whole war: the conflict will continue once this particular operation concludes.
At the same time, in recent days we have seen international positions on the Israeli offensive harden, as well as changes in the tone of speeches from the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
This is summarized in what the Secretary of State of the United States stated last weekend, Antony Blinken: “too many” Palestinian civilians have been killed.
Reuters The Al-Shifa hospital concentrates provisional refugee camps on its grounds.
Double countdown underway
The Israelis knew this change was coming because it replicates the pattern seen many times before in Israel’s military operations. They talk about a double countdown.
One is the military: how much time they need to achieve their military objectives.
The other is diplomatic: how long does Israel have legitimacy to carry out their operation before their allies say: “You have killed enough civilians, you have to stop now, please.”
Israel considers that, given the enormous number of victims in the Hamas attacks of October 7, it has more time than usual, and I believe that for this reason it has used – as the casualty figures in Gaza reflect – much greater force than in last.
I have seen estimates that suggest the Israel Defense Forces will remain the same for a couple more weeks, but I think their allies are rallying to announce that the nature of the military operation needs to change.
This does not necessarily translate into a call for it to stop and we have certainly not yet heard a firm request for a ceasefire from the British or American governments, Israel’s main allies.
BBC
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