In Rafah, the town in southern Gaza bordering Egypt where more than 1.3 million displaced people are crowded according to the United Nations (UN), Gazans testify to Agence France-Presse (AFP ) of their concern, Monday January 29. Further north, in Khan Younes, which has become the epicenter of the war, “very violent” fighting is raging, according to witnesses. Images shot by AFP during a recent visit organized by the army showed Israeli tanks advancing in a devastated landscape, between gutted buildings, where soldiers discovered a tunnel attributed to Hamas.
In Israel, rocket warning sirens sounded Monday in Tel Aviv and the center of the country. The shooting was claimed by Hamas’ armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, after several weeks of calm in this region.
According to the health ministry in the Gaza Strip, a territory administered by Hamas, 26,637 people have died from the Israeli military operation, which began after the Islamist movement’s attack on October 7 which caused the deaths of around 1,140 people in Israel, mainly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
“We are asking them to agree to an audit being carried out by independent experts, chosen by the European Commission,” said Eric Mamer, spokesperson for the European Union. The European Commission said in a statement that it would decide whether or not to suspend its funding to UNRWA, “in light of the investigation announced by the UN and the actions it will take.” She added that no payments were expected until the end of February.
Based on information provided by Israel, the UN said Friday that twelve UNRWA employees were suspected of having participated in “allegedly heinous acts” during the Hamas attack on Israeli soil. The UN agency separated from the employees involved. Since then, eleven countries, including the United States and Germany, have decided to suspend their funding to the UN agency.
The Qatari prime minister announced that a framework for a truce in Gaza and the release of hostages held in Gaza must be transmitted to Hamas. “Notable progress” was made this week during talks in Paris, said Mohammed bin Abdulrahmane Al-Thani.
The various parties “hope to convey this proposal to Hamas and get it to engage in a positive and constructive manner in the process,” he continued. Mohammed bin Abdulrahmane Al-Thani said Hamas had “clearly requested” a “permanent ceasefire before negotiations,” adding that the current proposal “could lead to a permanent ceasefire in the future.” .
Some 250 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. In total, 132 hostages are still captive in the Palestinian territory, of whom 28 are believed to be dead.
US President Joe Biden will respond “in a very consequential way”, John Kirby, spokesperson for the White House National Security Council, said on CNN, after the death of three US soldiers following a drone strike in Jordan, Sunday, January 28. Washington blames this attack on pro-Iran groups while Tehran denies any involvement.
The day after this strike, American forces and those of their allies within the anti-jihadist coalition in Syria were the target of missiles on Monday in the northeast of the country, which caused “no injuries and no damage infrastructure,” said a senior US military official.
Mr. Kirby, however, assures that the United States was not “seeking war with Iran” or “a broader conflict in the Middle East.” On the Iraqi side, “the government denounces the ongoing escalation,” said Bassim Alawadi, spokesperson for the Iraqi government in a statement. While calling for “stopping the spiral of violence”, Iraq is ready to help in “developing fundamental rules of engagement to avoid further repercussions in the region and prevent the expansion of the conflict”, a- he added.
Since mid-October, more than 150 drone strikes or rocket attacks have targeted American and coalition soldiers in Iraq and Syria, a direct repercussion of the war in Gaza between Israel, Washington’s ally, and Hamas. , supported by Tehran.
Yoav Gallant, Israeli Defense Minister, informed soldiers stationed near the border with Gaza that others currently deployed in the Palestinian territory would leave the Gazan enclave to station themselves in northern Israel, on the border with Lebanon where there are daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah.
Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi recently estimated that the probability of war “in the coming months” in the north of the country was today “much higher than it was in the past.” In more than three months, more than 200 people have been killed in Lebanon, according to an AFP count. On the Israeli side, fifteen people died, including nine soldiers and six civilians, according to the Israeli army.
The White House called the call to resettle Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip “irresponsible” and “dangerous,” through John Kirby, spokesperson for the US National Security Council. This idea was the subject of a recent gathering in Jerusalem, attended by ministers from Benjamin Netanyahu’s government. “We have made it clear that there can be no reduction in the territory of Gaza,” Mr. Kirby added.
On Sunday, Mr. Netanyahu affirmed that the elected officials and ministers participating in this meeting were “right to their opinions. » As early as November, the prime minister had deemed the settlers’ project “unrealistic” and rejected any discussion on the “day after” the war during a security council.
The deputies of La France insoumise (LFI) ask the government “to urgently take the necessary measures to ensure the application by Israel of the precautionary measures decided by the International Court of Justice, in the face of a “genocidal risk”. The ICJ, in fact, on Friday called on Israel to take all measures in its power to prevent “acts that could fall under the United Nations Convention on Genocide, established in 1948 after the Holocaust.”
The elected officials drafted a proposed parliamentary resolution on the subject, a text which has very little chance of succeeding, but which allows them to express their position. The ICJ, which has no means of enforcing its decisions, also calls on Israel to take “immediate measures” to allow the provision of “humanitarian aid which the Palestinians urgently need”. South Africa launched the procedure believing that Israel is violating the United Nations Convention on Genocide.
