Two warnings were issued this Saturday by the United Nations regarding the situation in the Gaza Strip due to the war between Israel and Hamas: 40% of the population is at risk of going hungry and about 100,000 people have moved to the city of Rafah South. of the enclave, in recent days, as a result of the intensification of attacks in Khan Younis and its surroundings.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) reported yesterday that “Gaza is facing a catastrophic famine. 40% of the population is now at risk of starvation. Every day is a fight for survival, for food and water. We need regular supplies and safe and sustainable humanitarian access throughout the Gaza Strip,” UNRWA wrote in a message published on the social network X, also sharing a video of the director of this agency showing the arrival of a humanitarian convoy. aid to Gaza: “People are hungry and desperate for food. UNRWA convoy in Gaza City this week,” said Thomas White.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told the BBC yesterday that it estimates that at least 100,000 people have moved to Rafah, Gaza’s southernmost city, in recent days due to the increase in fighting. , including in the south and surrounding areas, worsening the situation of overpopulation and limited resources.
According to Thomas White, who stays in Rafah, there are “well over a million people” seeking safety in the city, a situation of overcrowding that leads to thousands of people sleeping in the open “under vulnerable pieces of plastic”.
Juliette Touma, also from UNRWA, told the BBC yesterday that “humanitarian needs on the ground continued to grow enormously”, adding that “nowhere is safe in Gaza, not in the north, not in the center and not in the south” .
At least 165 Palestinians were killed and another 250 injured in 14 Israeli attacks on Gaza in the past 24 hours, according to information provided yesterday by the Hamas Health Ministry. Since the start of the conflict on October 7, 21,672 Gazans have been killed and 56,165 injured by Israeli army attacks, and according to the same source, 70% of the victims are women and children. The Israeli newspaper Haaretz indicated yesterday that at least 1,300 civilians and soldiers have been killed in Israel since October 7.
About 5,300 people must be evacuated abroad to receive medical care due to a lack of adequate aid in the Gaza Strip, the territory’s health ministry, controlled by Hamas, said.
According to the spokesperson of this organization, Ashraf Al-Qudra, the current mechanism for the daily removal of injured or sick people, through the Rafah border crossing to Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, “does not meet” the needs, with only 1% of the injured were allowed to leave.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) reported yesterday that “fierce fighting” took place between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, with IDF forces operating in several parts of the region and “attacking terrorist cells and infrastructure,” with support from the navy. through “fire assistance from the sea”, resulting in the deaths of “dozens of terrorists”.
Israeli military authorities also reported that two Hamas military complexes had been “dismantled” in Beit Lahia, northern Gaza Strip, and that “numerous weapons, explosives, military equipment and communications equipment were located in the complexes before the attack.”
Request immediate elections
Hamas guaranteed that there will be no more hostage releases without the prior imposition of a ceasefire, as its priority is to stop the aggression of the Israeli forces in the Gaza Strip “once and for all”, and that this was announced to all mediators. Osama Hamdan told Al-Jazeera yesterday, responding to news published by Israeli media, that Hamas was negotiating a new deal for the release of hostages.
The Hamas representative also denied that a possible release was discussed in exchange for a one-month ceasefire, allegations that were published in the Israeli media. Hamdan had already expressed this position of the Islamist group in mid-December, emphasizing that all issues are “subject to negotiation.”
Hundreds of people gathered in Tel Aviv yesterday to demand immediate elections and “a better Israel,” the newspaper reported Times of Israel. Protesters demanded the return of all hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, calling on the government not to abandon those who have not yet been released. ‘This is our life with [Benjamin] Netanyahu in power. Catastrophe after catastrophe after catastrophe,” the demonstrators chanted, according to the newspaper.
“Fight on all fronts”
The Israeli Prime Minister declared at a press conference yesterday that the country is “fighting on all fronts,” but warned that it will take months to win this campaign and that the fighting will only end when all objectives are achieved, namely defeating Hamas and rescuing all the hostages.
“To achieve such a victory and achieve our objectives. We need time,” Benjamin Netanyahu declared, pledging that “Gaza will not be a threat to Israel.” The head of government also stated that the Israeli army is working to ensure “maximum protection” for its soldiers and reported that “more than 8,000 terrorists have been killed” and that Hamas’s military capabilities are being destroyed “step by step.” step.”
Source: DN
