Bombings and fighting between the Israeli army and Hamas have left dozens dead in 24 hours in the Gaza Strip, where the Palestinian Islamist movement said on Tuesday it was studying a planned ceasefire deal with Israel.
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Hamas' health ministry announced on Tuesday the deaths of 128 people in the area, including dozens in Khan Younes, the large southern Gaza city that became the epicenter of the war that began with the Islamist movement's bloody attack on October 7 was triggered against Israel.
The Israeli army admitted to flooding the tunnels dug by Hamas underground in Gaza to “neutralize” them, which was one of the tactical objectives of the war and ensured that civilians' access to drinking water would not be jeopardized.
“Large amounts of water” were being released into the tunnels, the military said.
Hamas, which seized power in the area in 2007, has dug this labyrinth of galleries for its fighters to emerge from. Freed Israeli hostages also said they were held there.
“Multiple reprisals”
According to the army, fighting raged on Tuesday “in the west” of Khan Younes, a now largely destroyed city that Israel considers a Hamas stronghold, where “terrorists were eliminated and significant quantities of weapons were found.”
Amid the risks of expanding the conflict, American President Joe Biden assured on Tuesday that he does not “expect” a “major war in the Middle East” after a drone strike attributed to pro-Iranian militants that killed three American soldiers in Jordan on Sunday, near the Syrian border.
Joe Biden reiterated that he holds Iran “responsible” for providing the weapons necessary for this attack, after which the United States is considering “multiple retaliatory measures,” according to the White House.
An influential pro-Iranian armed group in Iraq, the Hezbollah Brigades, immediately announced the “suspension” of its military operations against American troops stationed in the region.
The war in Gaza is also fueling violence in the West Bank, where an Israeli commando killed three Palestinians portrayed as “terrorists” in Jenin on Tuesday. According to Palestinian sources, they were “shot” in a hospital by soldiers disguised as caregivers.
Hamas is preparing its response
After nearly four months of war, Qatar-based Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh confirmed on Tuesday that his movement had received a ceasefire proposal with Israel, the result of a meeting in Paris between CIA Director William Burns and Egyptian, Israeli and Qatari forces Officer.
“Hamas is studying the proposal” and preparing its response, said a statement from the movement in Gaza, which is considered a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union and Israel.
Qatar, the main mediator in the conflict, announced Monday that it would send Hamas a framework for a ceasefire that would be accompanied by the release of new hostages.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday that Israel “will not withdraw the army from Gaza” and “will not release thousands of Palestinian terrorists” in exchange for hostages.
The war was sparked by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7 that left about 1,140 people dead, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures.
About 250 people were kidnapped and taken to the Gaza Strip, about a hundred of whom were released in late November as part of a ceasefire in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. According to Israeli authorities, 132 hostages remain held in Gaza, 28 of whom are believed to be dead.
In response, Israel vowed to “destroy” Hamas and launched a massive military operation that left 26,751 people dead, the vast majority of them civilians, according to the Palestinian movement's health ministry.
Meeting at the UN
In the devastated Israeli-besieged area, which is beset by a major humanitarian crisis, the bombings have displaced 1.7 million Palestinians out of a total population of 2.4 million, according to the United Nations.
Most moved south as fighting spread. According to the United Nations, more than 1.3 million displaced people are currently crowded together in Rafah, a few kilometers south of Khan Younes, and trapped at the closed border with Egypt.
Adding to the population's plight, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees' (UNRWA) civilian relief operations are at risk after Israel accused 12 of its 30,000 regional staff of involvement in the October 7 attack.
The Israeli government on Tuesday accused UNRWA of allowing Hamas to “use its infrastructure” to carry out its military activities.
Thirteen countries have announced they will end their aid to this agency, which has fired most of the affected staff and promised an investigation.
No organization is “able to replace UNRWA’s enormous capacity, structure and knowledge of the Gaza Strip’s population,” said UN Humanitarian Coordinator for the Territory, Sigrid Kaag, in New York on Tuesday .
At the initiative of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a meeting of major donors is scheduled for 5pm (10pm GMT) in New York to try to maintain funding for the organization.
“Without this funding, the outlook for UNRWA and the millions of people it helps is very bleak,” said Mr. Guterres’ spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.