Efforts are intensifying towards a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas on Thursday, February 1, in the Gaza Strip, where Israeli fighting and raids continue, worsening the already dire humanitarian situation. US President Joe Biden has adopted an unprecedented measure aimed at sanctioning Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has increased on the sidelines of the war in Gaza to, according to him, reach “intolerable levels.”
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) has announced that it risks having to close its doors “by the end of February, not only [in the] Gaza Strip, but also throughout the region,” after thirteen countries, including major donors, announced they were suspending their funding.
“The backbone” of aid to Gaza, according to the UN, UNRWA is accused by Israel of being “totally infiltrated by Hamas”. Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, for his part, “stressed the immediate need for the international community to support UNRWA.”
On the same day, Norwegian Labor MP Asmund Aukrust told the Dagbladet newspaper that he had nominated UNRWA for the Nobel Peace Prize “for its long-term work in providing vital support to Palestine and the region in general “.
In the devastated Palestinian enclave which has become “uninhabitable”, according to the United Nations, the population is “starving” and “being pushed to the brink”, according to the World Health Organization.
The attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement on October 7, 2023 killed some 1,163 people, mostly civilians, according to a new count from Agence France-Presse based on official Israeli figures. In response, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007, and launched a military offensive that left 27,019 dead, the vast majority civilians, according to the Hamas health ministry.
US President Joe Biden has adopted an unprecedented measure aimed at sanctioning Israeli settlers accused of violence against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has increased on the sidelines of the war in Gaza to, according to him, reach “intolerable levels.”
According to Washington, the sanctions target people accused of “acts of terrorism” or who “undermine peace, stability and security” in the territory. Israel said there was “no room for exceptional measures” against Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, where violence has increased on the sidelines of the war in Gaza, after sanctions announced by Washington.
“The absolute majority of [West Bank] settlers are law-abiding citizens, many of whom are currently fighting in defense of Israel. Israel acts against all those who violate the law everywhere,” the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
Hamas has given a “first positive confirmation” to a proposed humanitarian pause in its war with Israel and an exchange of Palestinian hostages and prisoners, said Majed Al-Ansari, spokesperson for Qatar’s foreign ministry. . “This proposal was approved by the Israeli side,” he continued.
This new agreement is based on a proposal made following a meeting in France last weekend between American, Israeli, Qatari and Egyptian representatives. “The road ahead is still very difficult (…) We hope that in the next two weeks we will be able to share good news on this,” Al-Ansari added.
Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh is expected in Egypt on Thursday or Friday to discuss a new cessation of fighting. According to a Hamas source, the proposal includes a six-week truce during which Israel will release between 200 and 300 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 35 to 40 hostages held in Gaza and 200 to 300 aid trucks. will be able to enter the Palestinian territory every day.
Some 250 people were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip on the day of the Hamas attack, around 100 of whom were released at the end of November during a first truce, in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel. According to Israeli authorities, 105 hostages remain detained and alive in Gaza, and 27 others have been declared dead by the army.
On “We are finalizing our missions in Khan Younes. We will also reach Rafah and eliminate the terrorist elements that threaten us,” he said of the city located at the southern tip of the Palestinian enclave, on the border with Egypt.
Many Palestinian civilians fled to the southern Gaza Strip and then to Rafah as Israel’s massive offensive in retaliation for the Hamas attack on October 7 expanded into the narrow coastal strip, densely populated.
The Israeli army initially focused its bombings and ground operations in the north of the Palestinian enclave. After claiming to have taken control of the area, the Israeli army intensified its operations in southern Gaza, mainly in and around Khan Younes.
