Gaza has been bombarded and on the verge of humanitarian collapse since October 7, when the terrorist group Hamas invaded southern Israel and killed 1,400 people. In the Palestinian enclave, a strip 11 km wide and 40 km long, the 2.3 million residents have been faced with a power outage since last Thursday (October 12). Drinking water is running out and food is scarce in the markets. Hospitals are resorting to ice cream trucks to house bodies while also taking in thousands of injured people. At least 500,000 Palestinians fled the north of the Gaza Strip towards the south. In the early hours of the morning (local time), the US and Israel agreed to develop an aid plan for the area.
“There are still 24 hours of water, electricity and fuel left,” the World Health Organization (WHO) warned, condemning the blockade of the territory imposed by the Israeli authorities. “We’re talking about 2 million people who don’t have water, and the water is running out, and water is life. Life in Gaza is dwindling,” said Juliette Touma, spokeswoman for UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees. On Monday evening (October 16th), the number of war dead reached 4,100 2,700 in Gaza and 1,400 in Israel.
In an interview with postBefore the USIsrael deal was announced, Ali Barakeh, head of Hamas’ national relations department, accused the “enemy” of “preventing the entry of humanitarian convoys.” “We call on the international community to urgently send humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing, especially supplies of food, medicine, fuel and drinking water,” said one of the group’s leaders from Beirut. Yesterday the Rafah border crossing was bombed for the fourth time. Late in the evening, Israel attacked targets of the Shiite Hezbollah militia in Lebanon. Iran warned of possible “preventive measures” against Israel “in the coming hours.” Faced with the threat of an expansion of the war, the US will send 2,000 marines to the Middle East. President Joe Biden will land in Israel this Wednesday (18), confirmed American Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Democrat will meet leaders of the Palestinian Authority, Egypt and Jordan in Amman.
Hamas said it was holding 200 hostages of various nationalities and that the foreigners would be released “as soon as conditions permit.” Another 50 would be in the hands of other factions. The group assured that it was not afraid of a ground offensive by the Israeli forces and released the first video with one of those abducted in the October 7 attacks. “We are ready to negotiate indirectly with the occupying government on the issue of prisoners, but after stopping the aggression against our people in Gaza, the AmericanZionist massacre and genocidal war against our people must stop,” Ali Barakeh said. when asked about the fate of the hostages.
The terrorist group again fired several rockets at Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where a Knesset (parliament) session had to be interrupted twice because of antiaircraft sirens.
Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan spoke by telephone with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh about the possibility of releasing the hostages. Previously, Khaled Meshaal, another former leader of the group, called for the release of 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant warned that the war would last a long time. “The price will be high, but we will win for Israel, for the Jewish people and for the values our people believe in,” he said at a meeting with Blinken in Tel Aviv.
Said Khatib/AFP Young Palestinian man is rescued from the rubble of a building after bombings in Rafah
No place to go
Regardless of diplomatic efforts, the residents of the Gaza Strip are trying to survive. 57yearold teacher Huda Al Assar says she has nowhere to go. For the Palestinian, who lived in Duque de Caxias (RJ) for 15 years and is waiting for Brazilian citizenship, leaving the city of Deir AlBalah in the southcentral Gaza Strip is out of the question. “Danger lurks everywhere. This is the largest homeless prison in the world. What is happening now is not a war, but a tragedy. They want to end everything. Before, when they wanted to bomb a house, they would call people and them.” “They warned that they had ten minutes to leave. Now they are attacking people inside the property,” he reported. “There are still many dead people under the rubble. We’re afraid of disease.”
According to Huda, the prices of fruits and vegetables have risen sharply. “The harvest takes place under bombing raids. A kilo of tomatoes that used to cost between 2 and 3 reais is now worth 7 or even 10 reais,” he told the reporter. She said many Palestinians who migrated to the south are beginning to return to the north of the enclave. “This happens for several reasons. Not everyone has found a house to rent. Up to 200 people live in a building with four or five apartments. Those who came with children and could not find housing returned,” Huda added.
The resident of the Jabalia refugee camp in the north of the Gaza Strip, Mohamed Abu Naser, 26, has ruled out fleeing to the south, even if he has no lack of reasons. “I lost several friends and neighbors in the bombings. My house was partially damaged. My grandfather was also injured,” he said post. “Some people have gone south, others are waiting to see what will happen in the next few hours. I don’t know whether they will be alive or dead. I will not leave here.” He accused the “Israeli occupation” of bombing ambulances and civil defense buildings and acknowledged a scenario of a humanitarian catastrophe. “We have no water, no electricity, no internet. At least 25% of Gaza is in ruins. Around a thousand people are lying under the rubble of buildings and houses.”
In a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured that the war would only end with the elimination of Hamas. Ronen Bar, head of the Shin Bet secret service, claimed responsibility for the October 7 Hamas attacks. “Despite a number of measures we took, unfortunately we were unable to provide sufficient warning to prevent the attack. As the head of the organization, the responsibility for this lies with me,” he said.
hostage
reproduction FrenchIsraeli Maya Sham, one of the Hamas hostages: “Please take me home”
In the video released by Hamas, 21yearold FrenchIsraeli Maya Sham, who was filmed during a rave at Kibbutz Re’im, appears lying on a bed while someone bandages her right arm. Maya is then shown sitting making a statement. “My name is Maya Sham, I am 21 years old and I come from Shoham. I’m in Gaza. I came back from a party in Sderot on Saturday (7) morning. I was seriously injured in my hand.” They took me to Gaza and took me to the hospital here, where I stayed for three hours. They looked after me and gave me medication. All I ask is that you take me home to my family as soon as possible “My parents, my brothers. Please let me get out of here,” he pleads.
I FIND…
Personal archive Ali Barakeh, head of Hamas’ national relations department
“No one can eliminate the Hamas movement because it was born from the womb of the Palestinian people and has revolutionary legitimacy, as well as popular and electoral legitimacy, having won the 2006 parliamentary elections. Hamas is a national liberation movement and fights the occupation in defense of our land, our people and our Islamic and Christian shrines. It has no goals other than the liberation of our lands and our shrines, and it targets none other than the occupation.”
Ali BarakehHead of Hamas’s national relations department
INTERVIEW / UALID RABAH, President of the Palestine Arab Federation of Brazil
“How soon will there be another massacre?”
ISABELA STANGA / SPECIALLY FOR THE POST
Ualid Rabah, president of the Palestinian Arab Federation of Brazil (Fepal), told Correio that the war between Israel and Hamas will only end with the final resolution of the Palestinian issue. For him, a peaceful solution is only possible if Israel reverses its military advance in Gaza. Ualid also compares Hamas’s visibility to that of Israel’s Likud party, which is owned by Prime Minister Benjamin Nenyahu. “What does the world think about Israel’s ethnic cleansing and fascism?” asks the leader of Fepal.
Do you think the negotiations on the humanitarian corridor will work?
The humanitarian corridor is an important element in the face of the crisis, but the discussion needs to be intensified. There must be a release of the Gaza Strip and an end to Israel’s constant harassment of the region. The big question is: How quickly will there be a new massacre and a new discussion about a humanitarian corridor? Are the Palestinians being decimated every few ceasefires? The entire Palestinian problem must end. Without this, we will continue to discuss humanitarian corridors.
Personal archive Ualid Rabah, President of the Palestinian Arab Federation of Brazil (Fepal)
How long will Hamas have the military power to wage war?
The problem is not Hamas, but the question of how long Israel will continue to occupy Palestine. How long will he stick to the apartheid regime recognized by the UN and all international human rights organizations? Three months ago, the United Nations reported that the Gaza Strip was an openair prison. Israel must stop.
How is Hamas viewed by the Palestinian community?
We see Palestine as a whole. Palestinians have the right to think whatever they want. We want to know what the world thinks of the Likud, what the world thinks of ethnic cleansing and fascism in Israel. That’s what we want to know.
Can the conflict be resolved through diplomacy?
This has been attempted. In 1993, the Palestinians signed an agreement at the White House that was damaging to them, accepting only 22% of their historic territory. Israel’s only obligation was to withdraw from the Palestinian territories. A peaceful solution will only come if Israel’s collective murder machine and the United States, which is currently commanding the genocide against the Palestinians, are contained.