The Hamas Ministry of Health announced on Wednesday March 27 a new toll of 32,490 people killed in the Gaza Strip. Despite growing international pressure, including from the United States, for a ceasefire, Israel continued its military operations in the Palestinian enclave, with the stated goals of destroying Hamas and freeing the 130 hostages still being held by the Islamist group.
Two days after violently canceling the arrival of an Israeli delegation which was to discuss this subject, the services of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu “said that they would like to find a new date to organize the meeting devoted to Rafah”, said explained a senior American official, cited by Agence France-Presse.
Washington, Tel Aviv’s main ally, opposes any large-scale ground offensive against Rafah, where more than a million Palestinian civilians are refugees.
President Joe Biden asked Benjamin Netanyahu to send a delegation to the United States to discuss possible “alternatives”. The Israeli Prime Minister, however, decided on Monday that she would not make the trip, to protest against the decision of the United States to abstain during the vote on a United Nations resolution calling for a “ceasefire immediate” in the Gaza Strip.
The Americans said they were “surprised” by this reaction, affirming that they had not changed course in their support for Israel, and stressing on several occasions that in their opinion this resolution was not binding.
The Israeli army’s ground operations continue in and around three large hospitals, accused by Israel of housing Hamas bases. The vast operation around Al-Shifa hospital is still ongoing, with the army explaining that it has killed “dozens of terrorists” and arrested “hundreds”.
Military operations also continue in Khan Younes, in the South, in the area of ??two hospitals approximately one kilometer apart, Nasser and Al-Amal, the army added.
Al-Amal Hospital is “out of service” and “has completely stopped functioning,” the Palestinian Red Crescent said on Tuesday after the evacuation of civilians there. According to the organization, thousands of civilians were still in the Nasser hospital on Tuesday, the largest in the south of the territory, surrounded by the army.
“The forced closure of Al-Amal Hospital, one of the few remaining medical facilities in the South, puts countless lives at risk,” denounced the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies .
At the same time, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Germany and Spain parachuted new shipments of food on Wednesday to help the more than 300,000 people remaining in the north of the Gaza Strip, where trucks entered from the south it is very difficult to reach.
Hamas had called on foreign countries to cease these operations and requested the opening of land access for humanitarian aid, strictly controlled by Israel, after announcing the death on Monday of 18 people, including 12 drowned while trying to collect food. fallen into the sea.
Three Palestinians were killed and others arrested during an Israeli military operation early Wednesday in the occupied West Bank city of Jenin, the Palestinian health ministry and the Israeli army said.
According to residents of Jenin, the army arrived shortly after midnight and carried out searches in houses where clashes then broke out between young Palestinians and Israeli soldiers.
The Israeli military confirmed that a “sniper” killed “a terrorist,” saying the man threw explosive devices at Israeli forces. “Two terrorists were eliminated” by airstrikes, she added.
“Explosives buried on roads” were discovered, according to the army, which specifies that a “wanted person was arrested” in the village of Qarawat Bani Hassan, near Jenin, where “weapons were confiscated “. In addition, the army said it “destroyed a vehicle in which explosive charges had been placed” and arrested two individuals.
The Palestinian Red Crescent also announced that three people were injured by Israeli fire in the town of Qabatiya, neighboring Jenin. In recent months, the Israeli army has carried out several operations in and around Jenin, as well as in the Nour Shams camp, near Tulkarem, also in the northern West Bank. These operations target “terrorist cells that are preparing attacks against Israeli targets,” according to the army.
The United Nations special rapporteur for the Palestinian territories, Francesca Albanese, said in a report published on March 25 that there were “reasonable grounds” to believe that Israel had committed several “acts of genocide.” The rapporteur claimed to have received threats following these conclusions.
For its part, Israel assures that this report was part of “a campaign aimed at undermining the very establishment of the Jewish state.” The United States claims to have “no reason to believe that Israel has committed acts of genocide in Gaza.”
“I do not question the existence of the State of Israel,” Ms. Albanese defended herself on Wednesday, affirming that she also “condemns” Hamas. According to her, “the genocide has already been committed”, but “we can still save lives”.