Despite repeated calls from the United Nations (UN), the Israeli government ruled out, on Monday October 30, any ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, on the twenty-fourth day of the war launched on October 7 by the Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel. Since Friday evening, Israeli ground operations and strikes have intensified, with the aim of “wiping out” the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas and “bringing the hostages home”, say Israeli authorities.
“The IDF has extended its land entry into the Gaza Strip, it is doing so in measured and very powerful stages, progressing methodically,” said Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday, according to whom the “third phase” of the military operation has begun. .
During the night from Monday to Tuesday, the Palestinian Red Crescent expressed alarm on took refuge to protect themselves from Israeli bombings. “The building is shaking and the displaced people as well as the staff are prey to fear and panic,” denounced the humanitarian organization which had already reported bombings in this area on Sunday evening. In addition to patients, the hospital complex houses 14,000 people who have taken refuge there to escape the strikes, according to the Red Crescent.
Another establishment, the Turkish-Palestinian hospital in Gaza, also suffered strikes according to its director. Bombings condemned “with the greatest firmness” by the Turkish Foreign Ministry – this hospital, “the only one to treat” cancer patients in Gaza, was financed by Ankara. “The siege and these inhumane attacks, which aim to deprive Palestinians in Gaza of their most fundamental rights, clearly violate international law,” the ministry said.
Israel has repeatedly accused Hamas of using hospitals to hide weapons or fighters. The Palestinian Islamist movement has categorically denied this.
One hostage released, another declared dead
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu once again rejected any idea of a truce on Monday. “Calls for a ceasefire are calls to surrender to Hamas. This is not going to happen,” he insisted, comparing the October 7 attack on Israel to Pearl Harbor and 9/11. At the UN on Monday, Israeli Ambassador Gilad Erdan hung a yellow star on his chest to protest the Security Council’s silence on the massacres perpetrated by Hamas. Deeply divided, the Council failed to agree on a resolution on the conflict between Israel and the armed Islamist group.
In Israel, according to authorities, more than 1,400 people, mainly civilians, were killed the day of the Hamas attack, and 239 people have been held hostage since October 7 in the Palestinian territory.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog urged the international community to demand the “immediate and unconditional” release of all hostages. One of them, a soldier, Ori Megidish, was released by the Israeli army during a ground operation, the IDF announced on Monday, specifying that she was doing well and had been reunited with her family. For its part, Hamas published on Monday a video of three women presented as hostages, where one of them calls on Benjamin Netanyahu to conclude an exchange of prisoners with the Islamist movement for their release. Mr Netanyahu denounced “cruel psychological propaganda”. Only four women have been released by Hamas to date.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, however, confirmed on Monday the death of Shani Louk, a German-Israeli woman who was recognized after her kidnapping on videos showing a half-naked, unconscious woman, face down on the ground in the back of her car. ‘a pick-up. Denouncing an act of “barbarism”, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz repeated that “Israel has the right to defend itself”.
The war between Hamas and Israel has left thousands dead, mostly civilians, and is putting a severe strain on the 2.4 million inhabitants of the Gaza Strip, who have been subjected to a “complete siege” since October 9. depriving them of water, food and electricity. Hamas says more than 8,300 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli bombardments since October 7.
Current aid system in Gaza ‘doomed to fail’ says UN
The current system of aid to the Gaza Strip via the Rafah border crossing is “doomed to failure”, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) warned on Monday ), denouncing the “collective punishment” imposed by Israel.
Thirty-three trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza on Sunday via the Rafah crossing point on the border with Egypt, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said. A total of 117 heavy goods vehicles have been able to enter the enclave since the limited resumption of aid delivery on October 21. The Israeli Defense Ministry body overseeing civilian activities in the Palestinian territories, COGAT, said Tuesday that another thirty-nine trucks arrived Monday.
For the first time since the start of the war, Israeli tanks were seen on the edge of Gaza City, according to witnesses. According to these sources, Israeli armored vehicles and aircraft bombed a north-south road axis before withdrawing. Hamas’ military wing said it responded by firing shells at “two armored vehicles.”
In twenty-four hours, the Israeli army claims to have struck “600 targets” – weapons depots, missile launch sites and caches – of Hamas, which Israel, the United States and the European Union consider to be a “terrorist” organization. She also claims to have killed “dozens of terrorists”. Hamas reported “intense fighting” in the north of the territory on Monday, without giving an assessment.
The conflict has also exacerbated tensions in the occupied West Bank. On Monday, five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli army raid, according to the local health ministry. He said nearly 120 Palestinians have been killed since October 7 in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and settlers.
While the international community fears a regional conflagration, tensions remain very high on the Israeli-Lebanese border between the troops of the Hebrew State and armed groups, notably Hezbollah. The latter announced on Monday the death of one of its fighters, bringing to 47 the total of its members killed since October 7. And the Israeli army again carried out strikes against “infrastructure” of the Shiite armed group in Lebanon on the night of Monday to Tuesday.
In an interview Monday with Agence France-presse, Lebanese Prime Minister Najib Mikati assured that his country was doing everything possible not to be drawn into the conflict: “I fear that an escalation will encompass the entire region. »