About 100 Palestinians were killed overnight in Israeli strikes in the Gaza Strip, while the head of the Mossad was in Paris today (Saturday) holding talks in an attempt to move forward efforts to conclude a truce with Hamas and recover hostages it is holding.
This comes as the brutal war continues twenty weeks after its outbreak, and after the “post-war” plan in Gaza proposed by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was subjected to major criticism, including by the American ally.
It also comes at a time when fears are increasing for the fate of civilians in the Strip, with the United Nations warning of the increasing risk of famine, and while the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Refugees (UNRWA) pointed out on Saturday that the residents of Gaza are “in grave danger while the world watches.”
Footage published by Agence France-Presse showed exhausted Gazans queuing for food in the northern devastated Strip, where they organized a protest against their living conditions on Friday.
Ahmed Atef Safi, a resident of Jabalia, said: “Look, we are fighting over some rice. Where are we supposed to go?
Wajdi’s mother, Salha, said: “We have no water or flour, and we are exhausted because of hunger. Our backs and eyes hurt from the fire and smoke. We cannot even stand on our feet due to hunger and lack of food.”
In a statement published on Friday night on the “X” platform, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said: “Without adequate supplies of food and water, as well as health and nutrition services, the risk of famine in Gaza is expected to increase.”
Without adequate food and water supplies, as well as health and nutrition services, the elevated risk of famine in #Gaza is projected to increase.To avert the threat of mass starvation, humanitarians need safe, unfettered access for an urgent scale-up of aid. Learn more
— A Humanitarian (@UNOCHA) February 23, 2024
Post-war plan
Israel pledged to eliminate Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007, and began an intensive military campaign after the “Al-Aqsa Flood” attack.
The Ministry of Health in the Gaza Strip announced, on Saturday, that the death toll in the Strip had risen to 29,606, with about 70,000 injured since the start of the war on October 7th. The ministry indicated that at least 92 people were killed in the past 24 hours.
The Ministry of Health announced that an Israeli air strike yesterday (Friday) destroyed the home of the famous Palestinian comedian Mahmoud Zuaiter, killing at least 23 people and wounding dozens.
The famous Palestinian comedian Mahmoud Zuaiter carries a member of his family after his house was targeted by an Israeli raid (X)
On Thursday evening, Benjamin Netanyahu presented to his government’s security cabinet a plan that specifically stipulates maintaining Israeli “security control” over the Gaza Strip once the war ends, with its affairs being managed by Palestinian officials who have no connection to Hamas.
The plan stipulated that even after the war, the Israeli army would be “absolutely free” to enter any part of Gaza to prevent any anti-Israel activity, and that Israel would move forward with a plan, already underway, to create a security buffer zone inside Gaza along the Strip’s borders.
The plan sparked criticism from the United States. National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Friday that Washington “has been consistently clear with its Israeli counterparts” about what is needed in Gaza after the war. He said: “The Palestinian people must have their voice and express their position… through a reclaimed Palestinian authority.” He stressed that Washington rejects “reducing the size of Gaza” and “forced displacement.”
In response to a question about the plan during his visit to Argentina, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said that he was reticent to express his opinion until he saw the details, but Washington opposes any “reoccupation” of Gaza after the war.
Osama Hamdan, a senior Hamas official, rejected Netanyahu’s plan and described it as unimplementable. He said from Beirut: “This paper will not have any reality or any practical impact; Because the reality of Gaza and the reality of the Palestinians is decided by the Palestinians themselves.”
We cannot “turn a blind eye”
In the space of four and a half months, the war has displaced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and pushed about 2.2 million people, the vast majority of the Gaza Strip’s population, to the brink of famine, according to the United Nations.
UNRWA wrote on the X platform: “We can no longer turn a blind eye to this human tragedy.”
Palestinian children queue for food in Rafah (AP)
Concern is increasing day after day in Rafah, where at least 1.4 million people are gathered, most of whom have fled the fighting, while the specter of a large-scale ground operation being prepared by the Israeli army looms.
The scarce aid that requires Israel’s approval is still insufficient, and its delivery to the north is difficult due to the destruction and continuing fighting.
Paris delegation
On Friday, a delegation headed by the head of the Israeli Mossad, David Barnea, arrived in Paris in the hope of “breaking the deadlock” in talks for a new truce, according to an Israeli official.
Pressure is increasing on Netanyahu’s government to negotiate a ceasefire and secure the release of the hostages after more than four months of war. A group representing the families of the prisoners called for a “huge march” on Saturday, coinciding with the Paris talks on Saturday evening, to demand accelerated action.
The United States, Egypt, and Qatar participated heavily in previous negotiations that aimed to secure a truce and exchange prisoners and hostages. White House envoy Brett McGurk held talks this week with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in Tel Aviv after meeting other mediators in Cairo who met with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. Barnea previously met his American and Egyptian counterparts and the Prime Minister of Qatar in Paris at the end of January.
A Hamas source said that the plan stipulates stopping the fighting for six weeks and releasing between 200 and 300 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 35 to 40 hostages held by Hamas.
Palestinian crowd in Rafah (AP)
Kirby told reporters earlier that the discussions were “going well” so far, while Israeli war cabinet member Benny Gantz spoke of “early indications that progress could be made.”
In Geneva, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned in a report on Friday “serious violations” of human rights in Gaza “by all parties” since the beginning of the war.
For his part, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who recently sparked a diplomatic crisis when he compared the Israeli attack to the “Holocaust,” insisted on accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in the Gaza Strip.
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2024-02-24 09:45:27