(Rafah) The Israeli army carried out new deadly bombings on the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip on Thursday, with Palestinian Hamas reporting street fighting in Rafah, hours after US Secretary of State Antony Blinken ruled a ceasefire still possible.
The war, now in its 9th month, knows no respite. And Israel’s northern front with Lebanon saw a new outbreak of violence, with the Israeli army threatening to respond “with force” to attacks by Lebanese Hezbollah which fired dozens of projectiles against Israeli military targets.
A truce plan in Gaza announced on May 31 by US President Joe Biden has still not seen the light of day, with Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas sticking to their intangible positions.
“What have we gained from this war other than killing, destruction, extermination and starvation? » exclaims Oum Chadi, a 50-year-old Palestinian, urging Hamas to “end the war immediately, without seeking to control and rule Gaza”.
While hopes for a ceasefire have been regularly disappointed, some Gaza residents, like Oum Chadi, criticize Hamas and demand a truce at a time when the Palestinian territory is in the grip of a major humanitarian crisis with a threat of famine.
In Jerusalem, students holding up photos of Israelis kidnapped during Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel and held in Gaza, also called on Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to stop the war and return the hostages to home during a demonstration in front of Parliament.
But Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly expressed his determination to continue the war until the defeat of Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007 and considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
On Thursday in the Gaza Strip, heavy artillery fire and airstrikes targeted several areas, including Rafah, in the south on the border with Egypt, according to AFP correspondents.
Hamas’ military wing said it was engaged in street fighting in western Rafah, where witnesses reported fire from Apache helicopters, with others describing “a very violent night” in the town.
The soldiers “continue their targeted operations in the Rafah sector,” the army said, adding that they “eliminated several terrorists in close combat” on Wednesday.
Israel had presented its ground offensive launched on May 7 in Rafah as essential to eliminate Hamas, but fighting has resumed in recent weeks in several other regions of Gaza, notably in the center where three bodies were found in a bombed house according to the Civil defense.
The war was sparked on October 7 by the attack launched by Hamas from the Gaza Strip in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally. based on official Israeli data.
Of 251 people kidnapped, 116 are still held hostage in Gaza, of whom 41 are dead, according to the army.
In response, the Israeli army launched a large-scale offensive in Gaza which left 37,232 dead, including 30 in the last 24 hours, the majority civilians, according to data from the Ministry of Health of the Gaza government led by the Hamas.
After more than eight months of war, the United States is striving to obtain an agreement based on the plan announced by Joe Biden which provides, in a first phase, a six-week ceasefire accompanied by a withdrawal Israeli government of densely populated areas of Gaza, the release of certain hostages held in Gaza and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Mr. Biden presented this plan as coming from Israel. But Mr Netanyahu deemed it incomplete, reaffirming his government’s determination to destroy Hamas and free all hostages.
For its part, Hamas sent the mediating countries an initial response which was not disclosed. According to a source close to the discussions, it contains “amendments” to the plan, including “a timetable for a permanent ceasefire and the full withdrawal of Israeli troops from Gaza.” Demands that Israel has always rejected.
Mr. Blinken said Wednesday in Doha, the last stop of yet another tour of the Middle East since October 7, that “certain changes” demanded by Hamas were “feasible, others not.” He expressed the hope of being able to “bridge” the gap between the protagonists.
Meeting in Italy, G7 leaders gave their support to the plan announced by Mr. Biden, calling on Hamas to “give the necessary agreement” for its implementation.
The war in Gaza has led to violence between Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, and the Israeli army on the Israeli-Lebanese border, which has intensified in recent days.
On Thursday, Hezbollah launched attacks “with rockets and drones” against several military positions in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Syrian Golan.
The Lebanese movement has intensified its attacks since the death of one of its commanders killed Tuesday in a targeted Israeli strike in southern Lebanon.