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The Israeli army announced that it has concluded significant battle in the northern region of Gaza, stating that it has finished taking apart Hamas’ military systems there, as the conflict with the extremist organization reached its fourth month on Sunday.
According to Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari, a spokesperson for the organization, their forces will maintain progress in the area, reinforce defenses along the border between Israel and Gaza, and concentrate on the central and southern regions of the territory.
Before his trip to Israel, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken made a statement. Officials from the Biden administration, including Blinken, have continuously advised Israel to decrease their intense aerial and ground attacks in Gaza and instead focus on specific strikes against Hamas leaders to minimize harm to innocent Palestinians.
In the past few weeks, Israel has been decreasing its military attack in northern Gaza and focusing on its operation in the southern region. This area is home to the majority of Gaza’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents, who are facing a dire humanitarian crisis as they are forced into smaller spaces and continuously targeted by Israeli airstrikes.
The conflict began when Hamas launched an assault on southern Israel on October 7th, resulting in the deaths of approximately 1,200 individuals, mostly innocent civilians. The militants also took around 250 individuals as hostages.
The Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has declared that the war will only conclude once the goals of eradicating Hamas, securing the return of Israel’s hostages, and ensuring Gaza does not pose a threat to Israel are achieved.
According to the Health Ministry in Gaza, Israel’s response through aerial, land, and sea attacks has resulted in the deaths of over 22,700 Palestinians and the injuries of over 58,000. The reported number of casualties does not differentiate between soldiers and civilians. Health authorities state that approximately two-thirds of those killed were women and children. Israel holds Hamas accountable for the high number of civilian casualties due to their presence in densely populated residential areas.
Officials at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, a southern city, received the remains of 18 individuals, including 12 minors, on Sunday. These individuals were victims of an Israeli attack that occurred on Saturday night. Over 50 others were wounded in the strike, which targeted a residence in the Khan Younis refugee camp. The camp was originally established to shelter refugees who were displaced during the 1948 Mideast conflict surrounding the creation of Israel, but has since become a neighborhood within the city.
According to a journalist from the Associated Press at the European Hospital, a house between Khan Younis and the southern city of Rafah was struck by an airstrike, resulting in the deaths of seven individuals. Their bodies were transported to the nearby hospital.
Israeli troops were advancing further into Deir al-Balah, a central city, on Saturday. Flyers dropped over the city warned residents in multiple neighborhoods that they needed to leave their homes.
The organization Doctors Without Borders, also known as MSF, announced that they are removing their medical team and their families from Al Aqsa Martyrs’ Hospital in Deir al-Balah due to increasing risks.
Carolina Lopez, emergency coordinator at the hospital, stated that the situation became extremely perilous, preventing some staff residing in nearby areas from being able to leave their homes due to the persistent dangers posed by drones and snipers.
On Friday, she reported that a bullet had pierced through the wall of the hospital’s intensive care unit. She also mentioned that there had been drone attacks and sniper fire near the hospital, only a few hundred meters away, in the previous days.
The hospital had a team of approximately 50 medical workers, both Palestinian and international. Lopez stated that the hospital has been treating 150 to 200 wounded individuals every day in the past few weeks. She also mentioned that on certain days, they have had more deceased individuals than injured. She emphasized that no one or place is secure in Gaza.
The military spokesperson, Hagari, stated that Israeli forces would approach the south differently than they did in northern Gaza. In the north, there was extensive bombing and ground fighting that destroyed entire neighborhoods.
He stated that the military is currently focusing on urban refugee camps which are filled with armed individuals. He also mentioned that a network of tunnels was found beneath Khan Younis, resembling an underground city. He mentioned that the military is implementing strategies learned from past experiences, but did not provide further details. In line with Israeli politicians, he declared that the conflict will persist until 2024.
His remarks regarding altering the tactics of the armed forces seemed to be a gesture towards Blinken, who is currently on his fourth visit to the Middle East within a span of three months.
Blinken has not only requested for a decrease in intense fighting, but also for increased assistance to reach Gaza. He has also encouraged Israel’s leaders to develop a plan for the future of Gaza after the war.
Two American senators who examined the distribution of aid this past weekend depicted a complicated procedure that is impeding assistance to the Palestinian people in the blockaded region – primarily due to Israeli scrutiny of shipment trucks, which appear to be rejecting essential humanitarian supplies without reason. Senators Chris Van Hollen and Jeff Merkley, both members of the Democratic party, stated that the system in place to safeguard aid deliveries from being targeted by Israeli forces is “completely dysfunctional.”
At present, there is a significant disagreement between the Biden administration and Netanyahu regarding who should be in charge of the territory after the war. The Israeli leader has consistently rejected the proposal from Washington to have a reformed Palestinian Authority, an autonomous government that would oversee parts of the occupied West Bank and eventually take control of Gaza.
Blinken’s mission has become more complicated due to a recent increase in fighting between Israel and Hezbollah in Lebanon. This has created challenges for the United States’ efforts to prevent a larger conflict in the region. According to Hezbollah, Saturday’s fighting was a retaliation for the assassination of a prominent Hamas leader in a Hezbollah-controlled area of Beirut last week. It is believed that Israel was responsible for the attack.
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Magdy and Jobain both reported from different locations – Magdy from Cairo and Jobain from Rafah in the Gaza Strip.
You can access additional coverage of the Israel-Hamas war at: https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war.
Source: independent.co.uk
