Israel has killed at least 20 people in the attack on Al Shifa hospital. The Israeli army laid siege to the most important complex in the Strip with tanks and snipers at dawn. It is the fourth time it has done so since the beginning of the Israeli offensive. The Al Jazeera network has stated that Ismail al Ghoul, one of its journalists, was working on the siege of the hospital when he was attacked and arrested by the Israeli army, and all his materials were destroyed. The Qatari media has called for his “immediate release.”
Meanwhile, Israel has confirmed that it will send a delegation to Washington to discuss alternative ways to a military invasion of Rafah to dismantle Hamas, as reported by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan. The measure was agreed upon after a phone call between the US President, Joe Biden, and the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu. Both administrations differ over the offensive that Israel threatens in Rafah, on the border with Egypt and the only enclave that Israel has not yet invaded in the strip, and humanitarian aid. The conversation, according to Sullivan, took place in a “working” tone and did not end abruptly.
On the other hand, the foreign ministers of the European Union have unanimously approved sanctions against violent settlers in the West Bank. Spain already confirmed that it would impose these sanctions in the middle of last month. “We have achieved a solid commitment” to sanction violent settlers, celebrated the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell.
The head of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA), however, has denounced that Israel does not allow him to return to Gaza. “My application to enter Rafah has been rejected,” Philippe Lazzarini wrote on his X account. The organization has been in crisis since Israel accused 12 of its employees of participating in the Hamas attack against Israel on October 7. . Lazzarini has claimed that he had intended to go to the city of Rafah, in the south of the Strip, when he was informed of its blockade.