Prospects for a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel in Gaza faded on Sunday as the United States threatened to again block a draft resolution in the U.N. Security Council and Qatari negotiators expressed pessimism about the possibility of a ceasefire.
Locally, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says he is determined to carry out a ground offensive in Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are huddled, despite calls from part of the international community.
The draft resolution, initiated by Algeria, was drawn up following the International Court of Justice's ruling at the end of January, which called on Israel to prevent any possible “genocide” in Gaza. He calls for “an immediate humanitarian ceasefire that must be respected by all.” Parties,” says the latest version available to AFP.
Algiers requested a vote on Tuesday. The United States has already threatened a veto, as it did in previous votes in mid-October and early December, despite pressure from the international community over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“If we were to vote on the current draft, it would not be adopted,” its UN ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a press release.
The draft resolution “rejects the forced relocation of Palestinian civilians” and reiterates its call for the release of all hostages taken to Gaza during the October 7 attack.
On Saturday in Jerusalem, Mr. Netanyahu reiterated his intention to launch an offensive in Rafah.
“Anyone who wants to stop us from carrying out an operation in Rafah is basically telling us to lose the war. I will not give in to this,” he said.
Serious concerns have been raised around the world, including by the American ally, about the civilians, most of whom have been displaced, in this city on the closed border with Egypt.
During a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi, according to his services, reiterated “Egypt's categorical position of rejecting the expulsion of Palestinians.” [son territoire]in any form.
In recent days, an Egyptian NGO and the Wall Street Journal reported that Egypt is building a closed and secure camp in Sinai to house Palestinian refugees in the event of an Israeli offensive on Rafah.
“Not very promising” negotiations
Negotiations have taken place in recent weeks between Egyptian, American and Qatari mediators to reach a ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, including an exchange between Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners.
The negotiations “have not been very promising in the last few days,” said Qatar’s Prime Minister Mohammed bin Abdelrahmane al-Thani in Munich. But “we will do our best to get closer to an agreement,” he added.
Hamas, which seized power in Gaza in 2007, threatened to break off talks on a possible ceasefire if “help was provided.” [humanitaire] was not transported to the northern Gaza Strip.
Its leader Ismaïl Haniyeh reiterated that his movement was calling for a ceasefire and Israel's withdrawal from Gaza as part of the negotiations.
Conditions repeatedly rejected by Israel, whose major offensive in Gaza has destroyed entire neighborhoods, displaced 1.7 million of its 2.4 million residents and, according to the United Nations, caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip carried out an attack in southern Israel that killed more than 1,160 people, the majority civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli data.
Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas, which it, like the United States and the European Union, classifies as “terrorists.” According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, the Hamas army's offensive in Gaza has killed 28,858 people, the vast majority of them civilians.
Israel says 130 hostages are still being held in Gaza, 30 of whom are believed to have died of the approximately 250 people kidnapped on October 7. In late November, a week-long ceasefire enabled the release of 105 hostages and 240 Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
“Catastrophic” situation
After carrying out continuous bombings of the 362 km2 area since October 7, the Israeli army launched a ground offensive in the north of the Gaza Strip on October 27 before extending it south.
For weeks, its soldiers have concentrated their operations in Khan Younes, the hometown of Gaza's Hamas leader Yahia Sinouar, the suspected mastermind of the Oct. 7 attack.
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, six patients, including a child, have died as a result of power outages at the Nasser Hospital in the city, which has been turned into a rubble field, since Friday.
Soldiers entered the hospital on Thursday because they knew hostages were being held there, the army said, reporting the arrest of 100 people and the discovery of weapons.
International organizations expressed concern: Doctors Without Borders described the situation in the hospital as “catastrophic”.
According to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Israeli army also carried out operations in several locations in the occupied West Bank on Saturday evening, including in the city of Hebron and near Bethlehem and Jenin. No casualties were reported.
Danger of starvation
As more aid arrived in Rafah on Saturday, the United Nations warned that Gazans were at risk of starvation.
“We will not die from the bombs, but from hunger,” said Mohammed Nassar, a 50-year-old Palestinian from Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip.
In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis demonstrated against the Netanyahu government and called on it to reach an agreement to release the hostages.
“I ask the Prime Minister and the government to negotiate […] Don’t sentence my husband to death,” Sharon Aloni-Cunio, a hostage who was released with her twins while her husband remains imprisoned in Gaza, said at the rally.
“I don’t want to worry about getting a body,” said Adi Angrest, the sister of another hostage, Matan Angrest. “I ask you to give me back my brother now.”
Abroad, there were demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians in several cities, including Rome, London, Stockholm, Istanbul and Mexico City.