AFP
Hamas evaluates Gaza ceasefire as deadly conflict approaches fifth month
Israeli attacks on Gaza left scores dead overnight, and clashes intensified in the south of the besieged area on Sunday, when Hamas was considering a proposal to end nearly four months of war. French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne was in Egypt and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was also in Egypt. It is expected that pressure will be put on the region in the coming days for a ceasefire and the release of hostages. The health ministry in the Hamas-run region said that at least 127 people died in Israel’s attacks on the Gaza Strip in the last 24 hours, more than 90 of them. The Hamas government’s media office said a kindergarten housing families in the southern border city of Rafah, overflowing with Palestinians displaced by the war, had been hit. There is no safe place in the Gaza Strip from north to south. Displaced man Mohammed Kloub is now more than half of Gaza’s population, according to UN figures Israel has warned that ground forces may advance into Rafah as part of a campaign to eliminate Hamas, he told AFP in Rafah, the host city. Tank fire opened on Khan Younis, the main city in southern Gaza, while some air strikes also hit nearby Rafah. The army said in a statement on Sunday that its troops raided “a compound used by the commander of Hamas’ Khan Younis brigade” and seized weapons, as well as confirming air and sea strikes. It was reported that many militants who tried to attack Israeli soldiers were killed. – ‘Hit them hard’ Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the army “destroyed 17 out of 24 (Hamas) battalions.” Most of the remaining battalions are in the southern strip and in Rafah, and we will deal with them.” “The pressure on Hamas is working, they are in a very difficult situation and we are hitting them hard,” said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav. Gallant. As the war entered its fifth month on Wednesday, international mediators He was pressing to sign a ceasefire agreement discussed at a meeting of senior US, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials in Paris. At the beginning of his meeting, Sejourne, on his First Middle East Tour as Secretary of State, called out French President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi on social media. “Restarting talks for a humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza and … a two-state solution,” Lebanon official Osama Hamdan said on Saturday, saying the group needed more time to “make known our position” on the ceasefire agreement. Hamdan added that Hamas wants “to put an end to the aggression that our people are being subjected to as quickly as possible.” A Hamas source said the proposal would see more aid delivered to Gaza and the gradual release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel, over an initial six-week period. – Criticism of US support – Netanyahu responded to his own criticism. The Prime Minister stated that Washington did not fully support Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza. “We greatly appreciate the support we have received from the Biden administration since the beginning of the war,” the Prime Minister said. National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir told the Wall Street Journal that US President Joe Biden was “busy delivering humanitarian aid and fuel to Hamas (in Gaza).” The United States is Israel’s main international ally and provides billions of dollars in military support each year. However, in recent weeks he has insisted on greater protection of civilians in the Gaza Strip and the eventual establishment of a Palestinian state. – Gaza has been made ‘uninhabitable’. -The war was sparked by Hamas’ unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7; According to AFP’s calculation based on official figures, approximately 1,160 people lost their lives, most of them civilians. Militants also took about 250 people hostage, and Israel says 132 people remain in Gaza, including at least 27 believed to have been killed. Vowing to eliminate Hamas, Israel launched a major military offensive in Gaza that killed at least 27,365 people, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry. Gazans face dire humanitarian conditions and the UN’s Palestinian Authority Refugee Agency UNRWA said in a statement on social media platform X: “Access to clean water and sanitation is very limited amid brutal bombardment.” Experts and human rights groups told AFP that Israeli forces were demolishing buildings near the border to create a buffer zone in Palestinian territory. He did not publicly endorse the plan, which Human Rights Watch’s expert on refugees, Nadia Hardman, said “could constitute a war crime.” “We are seeing growing evidence that Israel has made large parts of Gaza uninhabitable.” French Prime Minister Sejourne told her Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry that she understood Cairo’s concerns about the “forced displacement” of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to Egypt. “We condemn and reject any action taken in this direction,” he said. – ‘Turmoil,’ he said. Across the region, concerns about hostages still in Gaza and security failures related to the October 7 attack, the deadliest attack in Israel’s 75-year history, have led to criticism of Netanyahu and rallies against the government.Michal Hadas protesting in Tel Aviv He told AFP on Saturday night that he feared Israeli leaders were prolonging the conflict for political reasons because “there will be no elections as long as the war continues”. The war also caused regional tensions to rise, along with an increase in Iranian attacks. Supported groups in solidarity with Gaza have triggered counter-attacks by Israel’s key ally, the United States. The United States and its partner Britain said they struck dozens of targets in Yemen late Saturday in response to repeated attacks on ships by Iran-backed Houthi rebels. A Houthi spokesman said the latest wave of airstrikes “cannot pass without response and punishment.” Iran said the attacks “contradicted” statements by the US and UK to prevent regional tensions, and Hamas warned that the attacks would bring “more turmoil” to the Middle East. burs /spm/jsa