Israel carried out new airstrikes on the crowded town of Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip on Thursday as complicated talks continue to try to establish a truce in the Palestinian territory.
The bombings left 97 dead in 24 hours, according to the Hamas Health Ministry, across territory besieged by Israel since the start of the war against the Islamist movement on October 7, and plunged into a major humanitarian catastrophe.
According to the UN, 2.2 million people, the vast majority of the population, are threatened with famine.
To try to break the deadlock in discussions on a truce, US President Joe Biden’s adviser for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, is expected in Israel on Thursday. He had previously stopped in Cairo where the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismaïl Haniyeh, also visited this week.
The international community is particularly concerned about the fate of nearly a million and a half Palestinians, according to the UN, massed in Rafah after fleeing the fighting and trapped against the closed border with Egypt.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced an upcoming ground offensive on this city, in order to defeat Hamas in its “last bastion” and free the hostages held in Gaza.
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2024-02-22 09:01:18
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