Violent battles continue today, Thursday, in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and the Israeli army, which took control of the city of Khan Yunis, as it pursues the leader of the movement in the Strip, Yahya Sinwar, who is accused of being the architect of the October 7 attack on the Hebrew state.
With the intensification of the war and the increasing deterioration of the humanitarian situation, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warned on Wednesday of an “imminent complete collapse of public order” in the Gaza Strip, renewing his call for a humanitarian ceasefire, which sparked condemnation from Israel, according to what Agence France-Presse reported.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced overnight that the Hebrew state would allow a “minimum” increase in fuel supplies to southern Gaza, sufficient to “avoid a humanitarian collapse” and the spread of epidemics in the Strip.
In parallel with the devastating bombing campaign that it launched in response to the unprecedented Hamas attack, since October 27, Israel has launched a ground attack in northern Gaza, expanding its scope to the entire small, completely besieged and densely populated strip, forcing civilians to displace into an increasingly narrow circle in Rafah on Borders with Egypt.
In Khan Yunis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip, soldiers arrived in armored vehicles and bulldozers in the city center, according to what witnesses reported.
The Israeli army confirmed on Wednesday evening that it had “breached the defensive lines” of Hamas, “liquidated a number of terrorists,” and destroyed about “thirty tunnel entrances.”
Plumes of thick black smoke and flames continued to rise over Gaza on Wednesday evening, after a day that witnessed the launching of rockets from Rafah at Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Wednesday that Israeli forces were “surrounding Al-Sinwar’s house” in Khan Yunis.
For his part, military spokesman Daniel Hagari said, “Sinwar is hiding underground,” referring to the Hamas movement’s network of tunnels.
Al-Sinwar (61 years old), who spent 23 years in Israeli prisons, is accused of being behind the sudden Hamas attack, which is considered the worst against civilians in the history of Israel.
1,200 people were killed in Israel, most of them civilians, who died on the first day of the Hamas attack, according to the Israeli authorities. 83 soldiers were killed in battles in the Gaza Strip.
On the Palestinian side, 16,248 people have been killed since the start of the war, more than 70 percent of whom were women and children, according to the Hamas government.
Israel reports that 138 hostages taken to the Gaza Strip on the day of the attack are still being held after the release of 105 hostages during the truce, including 80 Israelis who were released in exchange for the Hebrew state releasing 240 Palestinian detainees from its prisons.
Three Israeli soldiers were killed on Wednesday in battles in the Gaza Strip, according to the army.
The Israeli army, on the other hand, announced that it had discovered in the north of the Strip “one of the largest weapons depots” in all of Gaza, noting that it was located “among civilians” near a clinic and a school, considering this “further evidence of Hamas using the residents of the Gaza Strip as human shields.”
He also announced that he had so far killed “half of Hamas’ leaders.”
For its part, the movement confirmed via the Telegram application that the Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades, the military arm of Hamas, is engaged in “violent clashes with the occupation forces on all fronts of the incursion into the Gaza Strip.”
Hassan al-Qadi, who was displaced from Khan Yunis to Rafah, said, speaking to Agence France-Presse, “The entire city is being destroyed and bombed continuously. Many are arriving from the north in disastrous conditions, without shelter, searching for their children.”
In light of the increasing death toll, food shortages, and the displacement of thousands, Guterres, for the first time since assuming the Secretariat in 2017, used Article 99 of the Charter of the United Nations, which allows him to “draw the attention” of the Council to a file that “could endanger the maintenance of international peace and security,” in At the time, diplomats reported that the Security Council would meet on Friday to consider this call.
The Secretary-General wrote, “With the continuous bombing of Israeli forces, and with no shelters or minimum survival rates, I expect an imminent complete collapse of public order due to desperate conditions, which makes it impossible to (provide) humanitarian assistance, even if it is limited.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen responded on the “X” platform, saying that “Guterres’ mandate represents a threat to world peace.” His demand to activate Article 99 (of the United Nations Charter) and the call for a ceasefire in Gaza constitute support for the Hamas (terrorist) organization,” he said.
The leaders of the G7 countries also called, during a video meeting on Wednesday, for urgent action to confront the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, declaring their support for new truces and reiterating their support for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna, along with representatives of about fifty countries and international organizations, also called on Wednesday for respect for international law in Gaza, and for “a new, immediate and permanent humanitarian truce…leading to a permanent ceasefire,” during a follow-up video meeting of the International Humanitarian Conference from The evacuation of civilians in the Gaza Strip organized by French President Emmanuel Macron on November 9.
Netanyahu’s office said in a post on the “X” platform that the mini-security government agreed on Wednesday evening to bring “a minimum amount of fuel (necessary to prevent a humanitarian collapse and the spread of epidemics) into the southern Gaza Strip,” explaining that this “minimum quantity will be determined periodically.” Before the Israeli War Council, which is managing the battle against Hamas, according to developments in the humanitarian situation in the Palestinian Strip.
This announcement was made two days after the United States, Israel’s largest ally, called for allowing larger quantities of fuel to enter Gaza.
The United Nations reports that 1.9 million people, or 85 percent of the population of the Strip, were displaced as a result of the war in the Gaza Strip, where more than half of the housing was destroyed or damaged.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Aid (OCHA) said that the city of Rafah has become the only area in the Gaza Strip where humanitarian aid is distributed in limited quantities, while it no longer reaches Khan Yunis almost completely, and access to the areas north is not possible.
The Israeli army drops leaflets on Khan Yunis daily warning of imminent bombing and asking residents to leave their residential areas. However, the United Nations, which estimated that 28 percent of the territory of the Gaza Strip is covered by these orders, considers it “impossible” to establish safe areas to receive civilians, as defined by Israel.
Palestinians who fled from Khan Yunis, less than ten kilometers away, set up a camp using blankets, plastic sheets, and wooden boards, while some displaced people wandered around carrying jerry cans in search of some water.
Ghassan Bakr told Agence France-Presse: “We arrived here without shelter. We spent the night in the rain. We have no food, bread, or flour.”
Amal Mahdi, who survived a raid, said: “We are collapsed. We need someone to support us, someone to find a solution to get us out of this situation.”
#Violent #battles #Israel #Hamas #Khan #Yunis #Gaza #Strip
2023-12-07 08:45:57
