The winter rains falling across the Middle East this Sunday have equally drenched the camps of hundreds of thousands of displaced people in southern Gaza and tens of thousands of protesters in Tel Aviv demanding the release of more than a hundred hostages on the October 7 strip. With nearly 24,000 Palestinians killed and 7,000 missing, the war has already lasted 100 days without Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government achieving its goals: rescuing those kidnapped and destroying the Hamas militia that still controls them in the center and south of the country Landes fights coastal enclave. Today, two societies, shattered by post-traumatic stress, survive in the midst of a conflict with no end in sight. The entire population of Gaza is crammed into a devastated area alien to human nature, according to the United Nations. And at least a third of Israelis, according to a study that also confirms support for the continuity of hostilities within the Jewish state.
It is already the bloodiest war since the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. It has also caused the largest exodus of civilians since the Palestinian Nakba (catastrophe) that same year. And the one that caused the highest Israeli death toll (1,200) in a single day. “The war can last for many more months,” Netanyahu, who has tied his political future to the race, announced this Sunday when he presented the extraordinary defense budget at the weekly cabinet meeting.
According to the United Nations World Food Program, Gaza's 2.3 million people are at risk of severe food insecurity and half a million more are already on the brink of “catastrophic” famine as a decline in telephone and internet communications prevents us from recognizing their status know. Israel does not allow foreign press into the Gaza Strip, as was the case during the 2014 conflict.
Everyday war has been going on almost uninterrupted for 100 days. Tanks and warplanes opened fire this Sunday on units of the Ezedín al-Qasam Brigades, Hamas' armed wing in Khan Yunis (south of the Gaza Strip), as well as Al Bureiy and Al Maghazi (centre), where fierce clashes broke out. The Gaza Health Ministry counted another 125 Palestinian deaths. Most hospitals in the enclave are out of service.
The Israeli military said last week that it had entered a new phase of the war, with fewer massive attacks and more operations against specific targets. Netanyahu again ruled out a ceasefire on Saturday evening until he had crushed Hamas forces.
Palestinian refugees walk through the mud left by heavy rains at a UNRWA school in Deir Al Balah in the central Gaza Strip this Thursday.Naaman Omar / Zuma Press / Conta (Naaman Omar / Zuma Press / Conta)
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“War is itself a crime against humanity,” Pope Francis shouted from the Vatican, calling for “prayers for those who suffer atrocities, especially in Palestine and Israel.” The Commissioner General of the United Nations Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), Philippe Lazzarini, also condemned the prolongation of the conflict. “The death, destruction, displacement, hunger and pain on such a large scale in the last 100 days blights our human existence,” he said in a statement.
70% of Gaza's homes were completely or partially damaged and nine out of ten residents were forced to leave their homes. “Many will carry scars for life, both physical and psychological,” the UNRWA official warned. “An entire generation of children is traumatized and it will take years to heal,” he lamented. “International humanitarian law is regularly violated in Gaza,” he questioned, “while a humanitarian ceasefire for the safe delivery of food, medicine and water is not permitted.”
Dozens of makeshift camps and shelters at UNRWA facilities and schools in Gaza have been flooded due to heavy rains. “Many displaced people no longer have a place to stay,” say those responsible for the UN agency. “The onset of winter makes life even more unbearable, especially for those who live outside.”
“We have already been at war for 100 days,” admitted Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, “but we will not stop until we achieve victory.” “No one will win,” said Rebecca Brindza, spokeswoman for the families of the Israelis Gaza abductees, quoted by Portal. Of the 240 people captured by Hamas on October 7, 136 remain in Gaza, although around twenty of them may have already died. This Sunday, the first working day of the week in Israel, more than 150 companies supported a 100-minute partial strike in memory of the hostages.
From Saturday night to Sunday, tens of thousands of demonstrators gathered in front of the Tel Aviv Art Museum to demand the release of the kidnapped people. Israel has just rejected a proposal from Qatar to free all hostages in exchange for allowing Hamas leaders from Gaza, including political chief Yahya Sinwar and military chief Mohamed Deif, to leave and withdraw all of their forces from the Palestinian Strip.
Some politicians addressed messages to the participants. Like the abbess of the city of Haifa (north), Labor member Einat Kalisch-Rotem, who has a relative among those kidnapped, called for new leaders to lead the negotiations for the release of the hostages with “prudence and reason”. Israeli actress Gal Gadot also sent a video recording to the relatives of the prisoners. “We have to do everything we can to bring her home, there is no other option,” she said emotionally.
Deadly attack on the Northern Front
Military spokesmen reported that at least four Hezbollah-allied Palestinian militiamen were shot dead on Saturday evening as they attempted to enter northern Israel along the Lebanese border in the disputed Shaba Farms area. Five soldiers were injured in the clash. An attack with an anti-tank missile this Sunday also claimed the lives of a 76-year-old woman and her 40-year-old son in the eastern area of the Lebanese border. Meanwhile, in the Red Sea, Yemen's Houthi rebels, supported by Iran, are continuing their operations to attack merchant ships heading to Israel via this strategic sea route. Despite US-led retaliatory bombing, the escalation of a potential conflict threatens to destabilize the Middle East.
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