The border at Rafah, the only one between the Gaza Strip and Egypt, reopened on Wednesday. Not only to allow in 55 humanitarian aid trucks, but also to allow for the first time the exit of 76 injured Palestinians and at least 335 foreign nationals and dual nationals. Others have to leave today. As hope is reborn for a minority in the south of the Palestinian territory, Tuesday’s Israeli bombardment of the Jabalia refugee camp (reportedly to kill a Hamas commander involved in the October 7 attack that killed 1,400 people) renews died) in the north criticizes Israel and calls for the protection of civilians. Despite this, the refugee camp was attacked again and the Israeli army says they are at the gates of Gaza City.
“We open our eyes and see dead people and we close our eyes and see dead people”, says doctor with a US passport Fathi Abu al-Hassan, quoted by Reuters. “If this happened in any other country… even in the desert, people would come together to help us,” he added as he waited to enter Egypt. About 400 Americans and their immediate family members are among those waiting to leave at the Rafah border.
‘I hope this is just the beginning. I pray that all the injured get the help they need. That this is not a one-off Ismail Al-Fajm, whose seven-year-old nephew was among the injured who were allowed to leave, told Al-Jazeera. His body is covered in shrapnel from the explosion that killed his father and other members of his family. According to the World Health Organization, thousands of Palestinians are in urgent need of medical care, either due to war injuries or chronic diseases.
The list of those authorized to leave was published on the Facebook page of the General Authority for Palestinian Borders and Transitions, but communication restrictions common in Gaza make it difficult to announce. This Wednesday, a group of about 550 foreigners and dual nationals were allowed to leave – and should continue to do so today. This group included Japanese, Austrians or Jordanians, but also members of non-governmental organizations or the Red Cross.
The hope is that 7,500 people, including Portuguese, can leave in the next two weeks. On October 18, Prime Minister António Costa said in the General Assembly of the Republic that there were two national citizens in the Gaza Strip, “three relatives of these national citizens and three more relatives of Palestinians living in Portugal.” , requiring the government to “undertake a repatriation operation so that they can safely return to their lives in Portugal”.
Bombings in Jabalia
The explosion at Al-Ahli hospital, which caused hundreds of deaths on October 17, raised doubts: the Palestinians pointed the finger at Israel, but the Israelis and Western allies blamed a rocket launched from Gaza by the terrorist group Palestinian Islamic Jihad. But Tuesday and Wednesday’s attacks on the Jabalia refugee camp, in the northern Gaza Strip, left no doubt as they were claimed by the Israelis. Israel’s target was Hamas leaders. But by killing dozens of Palestinian civilians – including children – the attack sparked a new chorus of criticism.
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, whose resignation has been requested by Israel, said through a spokesman that he was “shocked by the escalation of violence,” and reiterated that “all parties must respect humanitarian law, including principles of differentiation. , proportionality and precaution”. The Jabalia bombings are “the latest atrocity to hit the people of Gaza, where fighting has entered an even more terrible phase, with increasingly dire humanitarian consequences,” said Martin Griffiths, the UN director of humanitarian affairs.
The Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas said more than 50 people were killed in Tuesday’s attack, while “dozens” more were killed and injured in a second attack this Wednesday. The UN says these could be ‘war crimes’. In the first case, Israel explained that its fighter jets had struck a “major” tunnel complex, killing “many Hamas terrorists,” including the local battalion leader, Ibrahim Biari. However, the terror group denied being there and claimed the bombing had killed seven of the 240 hostages brought to Gaza.
The attack reportedly killed a second Hamas commander in charge of the anti-tank missile unit, Muhammad Atzar. “Hamas deliberately builds its terrorist infrastructure under, around and within civilian buildings, deliberately endangering the citizens of Gaza. the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said in a statement. Spokesman Daniel Hagari later said the operation was “progressing as planned”, claiming the IDF had “breached Hamas’ front lines in the northern Gaza Strip”. In 24 hours, the army suffered 16 casualties during the ground operation.
After the first attack on Jabalia, Jordan announced the withdrawal of its ambassador from Tel Aviv. Jordan was the second Arab country in 1994, after Egypt in 1979, to sign peace with Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken will visit Jordan for a new trip to the region. Tomorrow he will meet again with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Saudi Arabia, which before the war was on the verge of normalizing relations with Israel thanks to US mediation, condemned “in the strongest possible terms” the attack on Gaza’s largest refugee camp.
Bolivia had already announced the severance of diplomatic relations in ‘rejection’ of the ‘disproportionate’ offensive in the Gaza Strip. Chile and Colombia – the three Latin American countries governed by left-wing governments – also summoned their ambassadors for consultations. “If Israel doesn’t stop the mass murder of Palestinians, we can’t be there,” Colombian President Gustavo Petro wrote on Twitter (now X). In a second message he even spoke of ‘genocide’.
Source: DN
