Gaza Strip (Palestinian Territories) (AFP) – Israel continues to bomb the Gaza Strip this Sunday, despite increasing pressure on the Israeli government to negotiate the release of hostages kidnapped by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government is under increasing pressure, particularly since it was revealed on Friday that soldiers “accidentally” killed three hostages after mistaking them for Palestinian fighters.
The three hostages were among nearly 250 people captured in the unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, in which 1,140 people died, according to the latest authorities.
Around 129 people remain trapped in the Gaza Strip.
According to the health ministry of the enclave, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas and is relentlessly bombing the Palestinian territory, where some 18,800 people have died, 70% of whom are women and minors.
“Too many civilians are dying,” said French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on her trip to Israel, from where she called for “a new immediate and permanent humanitarian ceasefire.”
His Israeli counterpart Eli Cohen reiterated his government's position that a ceasefire would be “a gift to Hamas.”
“Bloodbath”
Thick smoke could be seen in the north of the strip on Sunday after the Israeli bombings.
The Hamas Ministry of Health reported 24 dead in the Jabaliya refugee camp, many of whom still lie “under the rubble.”
At least twelve people were killed in further bombings in the city of Deir al Balah in the center of the enclave. Witnesses also reported airstrikes in the southern town of Bani Suheila and AFPTV reported heavy fighting in Gaza City.
The emergency room at Al-Shifa Hospital in northern Gaza has become a “bloodbath,” with hundreds of patients and “new wounded every minute,” the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Israeli attacks have devastated much of the territory and the UN estimates that 1.9 million people in Gaza have been forced to leave their homes.
At the end of the Angelus prayer, Pope Francis lamented the deaths of two women in a Catholic community in Gaza on Saturday, saying that there are “defenseless civilians” in the area who are being targeted by shootings and bombings.
“Bring the hostages back to life”
Pressure is growing in Israel to release the hostages still held in Palestinian territory.
Hundreds of people demonstrated in Tel Aviv on Saturday. They then camped in front of the Ministry of Defense headquarters and demanded the return of their relatives.
“The Israeli government must (…) put its best proposal on the table to bring the hostages back to life. Alive,” emphasized Ruby Chen, Itay Chen’s father.
During a week-long ceasefire sponsored by Qatar in November, more than 100 captured Israelis and foreigners were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners.
But according to Netanyahu, it is necessary to “maintain military pressure” to bring the hostages and put an end to Hamas.
Qatar confirmed on Saturday that it was making “diplomatic efforts to restore a humanitarian pause.”
According to news site Axios, Israeli intelligence chief David Barnea met on Friday with Qatari Prime Minister Mohamed bin Abdulrahman al Thani, who took part in the previous ceasefire negotiations.
Hamas rejects “any negotiations” if “the aggression against our people is not completely stopped,” Telegram reports.
Fear of tensions in the region
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will also be in Israel, Bahrain and Qatar this week to reaffirm “Washington's commitment to strengthening regional security and stability.”
The United States, Israel's biggest ally, has in recent days called for a “lower intensity” phase of the Israeli operation to protect civilians.
British diplomatic chief David Cameron and his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock also called for a “permanent ceasefire” in a text published in the Sunday Times.
Outside the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Authority on Sunday mourned the deaths of five Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has increased since the conflict erupted.
The war is also raising fears of rising tensions in the region, particularly in Lebanon, where the pro-Iranian Hezbollah movement, a Hamas ally, is based.
In northern Israel, on the border with Lebanon, there are daily exchanges of fire between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.
The head of French diplomacy called on Sunday for a “de-escalation” of violence at that border. “If there is a spiral, a conflagration, I don’t think anyone will benefit from it, and I say that for Israel too,” Colonna said.
And in the Red Sea, a strategic trade route through which 20,000 ships travel each year, several major global shipping companies have suspended the passage of their ships due to attacks by Houthi rebels in Yemen near Iran, portrayed as a response to the war between Israel and Hamas.
© 2023 AFP