Hundreds of people fled the northern Gaza Strip this Sunday, driven by hunger and exposed to incessant fighting, despite efforts in Qatar to reach a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas that includes the release of hostages.
First change: 02/25/2024 – 5:38 p.m
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The situation continues to deteriorate in the area, where the UN says 2.2 million people, the vast majority of the population, are at risk of “massive starvation”. Doha is hosting a new round of ceasefire negotiations involving “experts from Egypt, Qatar, the United States and Israel” and representatives of the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, Egyptian television reported.
But for now the bombings don't stop and humanitarian aid arrives drop by drop through the Rafah border crossing at the southern end of the enclave, where it depends on the approval of Israel, which has imposed a total siege on the Gaza Strip. With fighting raging across the country, it is nearly impossible to direct aid north.
Clashes continued last night in Khan Yunis in the south and Beit Lahia and Zeitun in the north. A large part of the population had already fled this area in October following evacuation orders from the Israeli army. But this time it is the lack of food that is forcing Gazans to flee. An AFP correspondent reported that hundreds of people left their homes to move to other areas of the territory, which has been ruled by Hamas since 2007 and has been subjected to heavy Israeli bombing since October 7.
– “I have no words” –
The war broke out that day when Islamist militants killed about 1,160 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapped about 250 in southern Israel, according to an AFP report based on Israeli data. In response to the attack, Israel launched an air and ground offensive that has already claimed 29,692 lives in Gaza, the vast majority of them civilians, according to the Palestinian territory's health ministry.
“I came on foot (…) I have no words to describe the kind of famine that is spreading there (…),” said Samir Abd Rabbo, 27, who lives with his family in Nuseirat in the center A six-month-old daughter arrived from Gaza. “There is no milk [para mi hija]. “I try to give him bread that I prepare from fodder, but he cannot digest it (…) our only hope is God's help,” he said.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, denounced on Friday that “the use of famine as a method of war” could be a “war crime.” “Starving our people is a crime of genocide that jeopardizes the entire negotiation process,” a Hamas official told AFP on condition of anonymity. In Jabaliyia in the north, dozens of residents stormed in with empty containers on Saturday in the hope of getting some food.
– Talks about a ceasefire –
According to Israeli media, Israel's war cabinet agreed on Saturday to send negotiators to Qatar to continue talks on a ceasefire.
The talks are “a continuation of what was discussed in Paris” and there will be further meetings in Cairo, reported Al-Qahera News, which is linked to Egyptian intelligence services. The head of Mossad, Israel's foreign intelligence service, traveled to the French capital on Friday to review a draft ceasefire discussed with his American and Egyptian counterparts as well as the Qatari prime minister.
According to a source at Hamas, which is classified as a “terrorist” organization by the United States, Israel and the European Union, the plan calls for a six-week ceasefire and an exchange of 200 to 300 Palestinian prisoners for 35 to 40 hostages. After an exchange in November, Israeli authorities estimate that 130 hostages remain in Gaza, 30 of whom have died.
Israel, facing growing internal pressure, is demanding “the release of all hostages, starting with all women, and that such an agreement does not mean the end of the war,” said Tzachi Hanegbi, national security adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Hamas, on the other hand, is calling for a “complete ceasefire” and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza. Concern is growing in Rafah, where at least 1.4 million people are seeking refuge along the border with Egypt and are threatened by a major Israeli ground military operation.