The Israeli army and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas engaged in violent fighting on Sunday in the southern Gaza Strip, where hundreds of thousands of people are desperately trying to protect themselves.
Early Sunday, Israeli planes carried out “very heavy airstrikes” near Khan Yunis and on the road between that town and Rafah, near the border with Egypt, the Hamas government said. An AFP journalist was able to observe the attacks in the southern Gaza Strip.
A few hours later, a source close to the military branches of Hamas and Islamic Jihad told AFP that the two movements were engaged in “violent clashes” over Khan Younes.
The Israeli army said it had “intensified” its operations in these areas of the southern Gaza Strip. “We have to increase the pressure,” demanded his army chief Herzi Halevi and reported a growing number of “killed” Hamas fighters.
Right at the start of its ground offensive, the Israeli army called on the population of the northern Gaza Strip to move south.
But as fighting intensifies in the south and after an American veto at the United Nations of a resolution proposing a ceasefire, fears are growing for civilians in the Gaza Strip and particularly in the south.
“death sentence”
A large proportion of the 1.9 million people in Gaza who have fled the fighting and the bombs are cornered in Rafah and turned into a huge refugee camp.
Diseases are spreading due to overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions in the UN Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) shelters in the south of the territory.
“Nearly a million children have been forcibly displaced and are being pushed further south into tiny, overcrowded areas without water, food and protection,” said UNICEF Middle East Director Adele Khodr.
“Restrictions on the delivery of life-saving aid through Gaza are an additional death sentence for children,” she added.
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, the death toll in the narrow strip of land exceeds 17,700, most of them women and children, since the start of Israel's offensive in Gaza aimed at “destroying” this movement, which Hamas has classified as a terrorist organization. United States and the European Union.
Israel launched the operation after the unprecedented attack on October 7 by Hamas commandos who entered Israeli territory from Gaza, in which 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed, according to authorities. Around 240 people were taken hostage and taken to Gaza, where the army says 137 people are still being held.
“We will dance again”
In late November, as part of a seven-day ceasefire agreement, 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis, were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held in Israel.
On Saturday evening, several hundred people gathered in Tel Aviv to call on the government to negotiate the release of the other hostages, whose families are still worried.
“I prefer the release of my children through negotiations rather than military action because I am afraid that they will be killed by the army,” said Yechi Yehud, father of Arbel and Dolev, a sister and his brother.
Mia Schem, an Israeli woman who was kidnapped during the Nova music festival and then released as part of the ceasefire in late November, posted a portrait photo on Instagram showing a new tattoo on her forearm: “We will dance again 71023” (“We will “dance again on October 7, 2023”).
A video of an Israeli soldier smashing objects in a small shop in Gaza played on a loop on Arab social networks. When questioned by AFP, the Israeli army described this behavior as “inappropriate” and is the subject of an “investigation.”
“Death follows us”
After just over two months of war, according to the United Nations, entire neighborhoods in Gaza are now in ruins and more than half of the houses have been destroyed or damaged.
According to an AFP journalist, thousands of people have taken refuge in al-Chifa hospital, which was out of service after it was evacuated by the Israeli army about two weeks ago. Displaced people have set up hundreds of makeshift tents made of fabric covered with plastic or nylon in gardens and courtyards.
“We sought refuge at Al-Chifa Hospital. (…) We don't know whether they will storm the hospital again. No matter where we go, death follows us,” Suheil Abou Dalfa, 56, whose house was hit by a shell and his 20-year-old son was injured, told AFP.
The American government “urgently” approved, without consulting Congress, the sale to Israel of nearly 14,000 120mm grenades equipped with the Merkava battle tanks that took part in the offensive against Hamas in Gaza.
From Lebanon to Yemen
Tensions outside the Gaza Strip still raise the specter of an escalation of the conflict.
Iran, a key backer of Hamas, has warned of the “possibility” of an “uncontrollable explosion” in the Middle East, while Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen have threatened to attack any ship in the Red Sea heading towards Israel, if this is the case, the people of Gaza are not receiving the help they need.
The French multi-purpose frigate Languedoc intercepted two drones that were heading towards it from the coast of Yemen during the night, the army general staff said.
Since the start of the war, there have been increasing exchanges of fire on Israel's northern border between the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement, an Iranian-backed ally of Hamas.
A U.N. peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon was hit on Saturday without causing any casualties, the U.N. force said, adding that it was verifying the origin of the fire.