2023-12-03 16:30:35
Without calling into question the right of its ally “to defend itself” against Hamas, the United States warned Israel against a growing death toll in Gaza. KEYSTONE/EPA/ATEF SAFADI sda-ats
This content was published on December 3, 2023 – 5:30 p.m. December 3, 2023 – 5:30 p.m.
(Keystone-ATS)
Israel carried out new strikes on the Gaza Strip on Sunday. The Palestinian death toll continues to rise since the end of the truce with Hamas, amid increasingly pressing calls to protect civilians.
In the far north of Gaza, along the border with Israel, the Israeli army carried out airstrikes on Sunday followed by artillery fire. Engaged in a ground offensive since October 27 in the north of Gaza, the army has also increased air raids in the south of this territory where hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have been displaced by the conflict.
She said on Saturday that she had carried out more than 400 strikes on Gaza in nearly 48 hours, with the region of Khan Younes (south) having been particularly targeted. And on Sunday, she tweeted that she had “eliminated five terrorists” and targeted “terrorist tunnel shafts, command centers and weapons storage locations” of Hamas.
Evacuation orders
According to the UN, the army’s evacuation orders to Palestinians before strikes affected a quarter of the Gaza Strip on Saturday. For the NGO Norwegian Refugee Council, these orders, “without guarantees of security or return”, are “equivalent to a forced population transfer”.
Israel vowed to destroy Hamas after the October 7 attack which left 1,200 people dead, mostly civilians, while some 240 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza, according to Israeli authorities.
Israeli retaliatory bombings on Gaza have killed 15,523 people, “70% of them women and children”, since the start of the war, according to the Hamas government. A spokesperson for this government also affirmed that Israeli attacks have left 700 dead in the last 24 hours in the enclave. A figure impossible to verify independently.
Rocket fire
On Sunday, Hamas and Islamic Jihad, like the day before, announced new rocket attacks towards Israel. Most of the devices are intercepted by the Israeli anti-aircraft defense system.
Israeli authorities also announced the death of two soldiers killed during ground operations, bringing to 398 the number of soldiers killed since October 7.
“By expanding our military operations, we fulfill two objectives. First, we strike Hamas, eliminate more terrorists, commanders, terrorist infrastructure, … and we create the conditions to force (Hamas) to pay a heavy price: the release of the hostages,” declared Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The United Kingdom announced its intention to carry out surveillance flights over Israel and Gaza to help locate the hostages, some of whom are British.
“Price to pay”
According to the army, 137 hostages are still in the hands of Hamas or affiliated groups, after the release during the truce of around a hundred hostages in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu assured Saturday that the war would continue. “There is no other way to win than by continuing our ground campaign,” he said.
Opposite, the number two of the Hamas political bureau, Saleh al-Arouri, declared: “the price to pay for the release of Zionist prisoners will be the release of all of our prisoners, after a cease-fire” .
Protect civilians
Without calling into question the right of its ally “to defend itself”, the United States warned Israel of the increase in civilian victims in Gaza. “Too many innocent Palestinians have been killed,” insisted American Vice President Kamala Harris from Dubai, alarmed by “devastating” images from Gaza and calling on Israel to “do more to protect innocent civilians.”
However, White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said on Sunday that Israel was “making efforts” to minimize civilian casualties in Gaza. “There aren’t many modern armies that would do that,” he told ABC.
The belligerents blame each other for the end of the truce. Benjamin Netanyahu accused Hamas of having “violated the agreement” by “firing rockets” towards Israel. The Islamist movement, which claimed responsibility for an attack in Jerusalem that killed four Israelis, for its part accused Israel of having imposed new conditions on the release of hostages, including Israeli soldiers.
“Blood on my hands”
On Saturday evening, hundreds of people, including recently released ex-hostages, demonstrated in Tel Aviv to demand the immediate release of all captives remaining in Gaza.
At another rally in Tel Aviv, hundreds of people protested against Benjamin Netanyahu. “He is weakening our country,” said one protester, “the horrible massacre of October 7 is our price and he has blood on his hands.”
Humanitarian aid
In the Gaza Strip, the Palestinian Red Crescent received the first “aid trucks” on Saturday since Friday, via the Egyptian Rafah terminal. According to the UN, 880 foreigners and dual nationals were also evacuated via Rafah in Egypt, as well as 13 injured.
The needs are immense in the Gaza Strip, which has been under a “complete siege” by Israel since October 9, when 1.8 million people – out of 2.4 million inhabitants – have been displaced by the post-war war. the UN.
The UN commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, ruled that the evacuation orders given by Israel to Gazans resulted in “hundreds of thousands of people finding themselves confined to increasingly smaller areas”. He is worried about the lack of water, food and healthcare, especially since there is, according to him, “no safe place in Gaza”.
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