Gaza Strip (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Israel launched intensive raids on Friday on Rafah in the far south of the Gaza Strip, while threatening a ground attack whose “catastrophic” consequences Washington warned, while US President Joe Biden considered that the Hebrew state’s response to the Hamas attack “ excessive”.
More than five months after the outbreak of war between Israel and the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7, Rafah, near the border with Egypt, and which houses more than a million displaced people who fled the destruction and battles in the rest of the besieged areas of the Strip, has become the focus of anticipation. Regarding the next stage.
Meanwhile, concern remains about the possibility of regional escalation, especially in northern Israel, where missiles fell on Thursday night after the Hebrew state confirmed that a Hezbollah military official was targeted by an air strike in the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon, and in Yemen, where the US army launched new strikes on sites. For the Houthis.
On Thursday, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken concluded a regional tour, his fifth since the outbreak of the war, during which he sought to push for a long truce that would allow the release of Hamas hostages and the delivery of more aid. Washington continues to work on reaching an agreement formula in cooperation with Doha and Cairo.
Despite this, intense Israeli bombing continues, especially on the city of Rafah, where more than 1.3 million people live, according to the United Nations. The majority of these are displaced people from the cities of Gaza and Khan Yunis in particular.
Witnesses reported to Agence France-Presse that intense air strikes were recorded on the night of Thursday and Friday in the center and south of the Gaza Strip.
The Hamas Ministry of Health indicated that more than 100 people were killed as a result of Israeli bombing throughout the Gaza Strip during the night, including eight in Rafah. The Palestinian Red Crescent Society announced that at least three children were killed in Rafah.
‘Excessive’ Israeli response
The Israeli military operations ranged from the northern Gaza Strip and Gaza City to the central regions, especially the refugee camps, and then Khan Yunis, which has been witnessing intense bombardment and fierce battles for weeks.
US President Joe Biden at the White House on February 8, 2024 © Mandel Nagan / AFP
Despite being bombed, Rafah remains relatively safe from direct military operations and widespread destruction.
But Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Wednesday that he had ordered the army to “prepare” for an attack on Rafah, raising international concerns about the fate of civilians.
The United States, Israel’s most prominent political and military supporter in the war, warned of a “disaster” in Rafah.
US State Department deputy spokesman Vedant Patel said that Washington “has not yet seen any evidence of serious planning for such an operation,” warning that “carrying out a similar operation now, without planning and with little thought in an area” where a million people have been displaced, “would be a disaster.” “.
Hours later, Biden directed a rare implicit criticism of Israel.
Biden said during a press conference in response to a question that “the response in Gaza… is excessive,” stressing that he had made efforts since the beginning of the war to reduce its impact on civilians.
The war broke out on October 7, following an unprecedented attack by Hamas on southern Israel, killing more than 1,160 people, most of them civilians, according to a tally prepared by Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures.
Also, about 250 hostages were taken into custody in the attack, and Israel says that 132 of them are still in Gaza, and at least 29 of them are believed to have been killed, according to figures issued by the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office.
Israel responded with a concentrated bombing campaign, followed by a massive ground attack in the Gaza Strip, killing 27,840 people, the majority of whom were women and children, according to the latest tally of the Hamas Ministry of Health.
Shortly after the outbreak of war, Israel announced the tightening of its siege imposed on Gaza. The sector is witnessing catastrophic humanitarian conditions with a scarcity of aid, which international humanitarian organizations confirm remains far less than the needs of the population.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) warned Thursday that the lives of hundreds of thousands are at risk in the northern and central Gaza Strip due to food shortages.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini said the agency was last allowed to deliver supplies to the area on January 23.
Destruction in Rafah on February 9, 2024 © Mahmoud Al-Hams / AFP
He said, “The United Nations has identified deep pockets of famine and hunger in northern Gaza… At least 300,000 people living in the area depend on our aid for their survival.”
Diplomatic movement
In parallel with the military track, diplomatic efforts continue to stop the war.
Blinken left the region on Thursday without announcing a long truce, although he confirmed that there was a possibility of achieving this.
New talks began in Cairo on Thursday, led by Egypt and Qatar, in an effort to reach a truce agreement between Hamas and Israel, after the latter rejected the movement’s proposals regarding this agreement earlier this week.
In addition, the foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Jordan and Egypt stressed the necessity of taking “irreversible” steps to establish a Palestinian state, during a meeting they held on Thursday night in Saudi Arabia.
Two diplomatic sources familiar with the preparations for the meeting told Agence France-Presse that its aim was to formulate a unified Arab position on the war.
The attendees stressed “the necessity of ending the war on the Gaza Strip, reaching an immediate and complete ceasefire, ensuring the protection of civilians in accordance with international humanitarian law, and lifting all restrictions that impede the entry of humanitarian aid into the Strip,” according to the official Saudi SPA agency.
They highlighted “the importance of taking irreversible steps to implement the two-state solution and recognize the State of Palestine on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” stressing that the Gaza Strip “is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory, and their categorical rejection of all forced displacement.” “.
In addition, the Israeli army announced that about 30 missiles were launched on the night of Thursday-Friday from Lebanon towards the north of the Hebrew state, hours after a Hezbollah military leader was seriously injured in an Israeli air strike that targeted his car in the city of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.
An army spokesman said, “We can confirm that about 30 missiles were fired from Lebanon towards the Ein Zeitim and Dalton areas in northern Israel,” stressing that no “human casualties” were recorded.
The bombing came shortly after the army confirmed that it launched an air strike on Thursday targeting a military “leader” in Hezbollah, accusing him of involvement in the missile attacks it has launched towards Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza war.
The party did not comment on the strike, but it later claimed “targeting the Meron Air Base” with missiles “in response to the Zionist attacks on villages and civilians, the latest of which was the attack on the city of Nabatieh.”
On Thursday and Friday night, the United States announced the targeting of four booby-trapped drone boats and seven cruise missiles that were “ready to be launched against ships in the Red Sea” by the Houthi rebels in Yemen.
US Central Command said that these boats and missiles had been spotted “in areas of Yemen controlled by the Houthis” and represented an “imminent threat.”
Since November 19, the Iranian-backed Houthis have carried out attacks on commercial ships they suspect are linked to Israel or heading to its ports, saying that this comes in support of the Gaza Strip.
American and British forces have launched three waves of strikes on Houthi sites in Yemen since January 12. Washington and London say that the strikes aim to reduce the Houthis’ capabilities to threaten shipping traffic.
© 2024 AFP
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2024-02-09 08:31:13
