2024-02-19 09:50:50
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The US approves of Israel carrying out genocide in Gaza. Photo/Reuters
WASHINGTON – Israeli attacks on Gaza killed at least 18 people on Sunday (18/2/2024) as the United States said it would veto another UN ceasefire draft resolution.
The US, which is Israel’s main ally, instead hopes to broker a ceasefire and hostage release agreement between Israel and Hamas, and envisions a broader resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected the demands, calling Hamas’ demands “delusional” and rejecting US and international calls for a path to Palestinian statehood.
His cabinet adopted a declaration on Sunday saying that Israel “firmly rejects any international decision regarding a permanent agreement with Palestine” and opposes unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state, which it said would “reward terror” following the October 7 attacks in Israel.
Netanyahu has vowed to continue the offensive until “total victory” over Hamas and expand it to the southernmost city of Rafah in Gaza, where more than half of the Palestinian population of 2.3 million has sought refuge from fighting elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) said Nasser Hospital, the main medical center serving southern Gaza, was “no longer functional” after Israeli forces raided the facility in the southern city of Khan Younis last week.
An airstrike in Rafah overnight killed six people, including a woman and three children, and another attack killed five men in Khan Younis, the main target of attacks over the past two months. Associated Press journalists saw the body arrive at a hospital in Rafah.
In Gaza City, which was isolated, largely evacuated and suffered widespread destruction in the early weeks of the war, an airstrike leveled a family home, killing seven people, including three women, according to Sayed Al-Afifi, a relative of the dead.
The Israeli military rarely comments on individual attacks and blames Hamas for civilian casualties because the militants operate in densely populated residential areas.
Meanwhile, Algeria, the Arab representative on the UN Security Council, has circulated a draft resolution demanding an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access, as well as rejecting the forced transfer of Palestinian civilians.
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