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Twelve people and three organizations sanctioned
The European Union (EU) announced on Friday June 28 that it had taken sanctions against six people and three companies accused of financing the Islamist movement Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ), or of having “facilitated their violent actions”These sanctions target three companies described as “front companies intended to facilitate financial flows” and Hamas investments, controlled by a businessman established in Sudan, already sanctioned by the EU, specifies the European Council in a press release. Also sanctioned is Ahmed Sharif Abdallah Odeh, who is accused of directing Hamas’s foreign investment activities.
Twelve people and three organizations are now subject to sanctions by the EU since the attack launched on October 7 by Hamas against Israel. These sanctions provide for an asset freeze and a ban on entry into the EU for those affected.
In January, the EU had already announced sanctions against Hamas and the PIJ, targeting in particular the leader of Hamas in Gaza, Yahya Sinouar, considered to be the architect of the October 7 attack. This unprecedented attack by the Islamist movement against Israel resulted in the death of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to a count by Agence France-Presse (AFP) based on official Israeli data. During the attack, 251 people were kidnapped, 116 of whom are still being held in Gaza, of whom 42 died, according to the army.
No respite in the war in Gaza
Backed by the air force, Israeli soldiers carried out operations against Hamas in the city of Gaza on Friday, forcing tens of thousands of people to flee, in the ninth month of a war that has raised fears of a regional conflagration.
In eastern Gaza City (north), the army announced an operation in Chadjaya due to the “presence of terrorists and [d’]terrorist infrastructure ». Soldiers entered it and military planes targeted “dozens of Hamas terrorist sites”. Columns of smoke rose above Chadjaya following aerial bombardments and shelling, according to an AFP correspondent. The operation began Thursday with artillery and helicopter fire as well as clashes between soldiers and fighters. Civil defense and witnesses reported “many deaths”.
In a statement, the Al-Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, reported Friday that “engaged in intense clashes” with Israeli soldiers in Chadjaya, claiming that there was “dead and wounded” Israeli side and that a helicopter had come to evacuate them.
Israeli strikes targeted other areas of northern Gaza, “eliminating dozens of terrorists hiding in UNRWA schools”the United Nations (UN) agency for Palestinian refugees, the military reported.
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In the central Gaza Strip, medical sources reported three deaths, including a girl, in Deir Al-Balah, and artillery fire was heard in Nuseirat. In the south, artillery fire targeted Khan Younis and Rafah. Muhammad Al-Mughair, a civil defense official, told AFP that Israeli forces were advancing in western Rafah and targeting his agency’s headquarters. He added that civil defense members had been wounded.
The Israeli army announced the death of a 19-year-old soldier in the south of the enclave, bringing to 314 the number of soldiers killed since the start of the ground offensive in the Palestinian territory on October 27.
Exchange of fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border
In the aftermath of the October 7 attack, Hezbollah opened a front with Israel in support of Hamas; since then, exchanges of fire on the Israeli-Lebanese border have been almost daily and sometimes very intense. Hezbollah attacks against Israeli positions and those of the Israeli army against targets in Lebanon continued on Friday, with the Lebanese movement reporting the death of four fighters. Fears of this conflict spreading to Lebanon have increased in recent weeks.
37,765 people killed in Gaza
In nearly nine months of war, at least 37,765 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the Gaza Strip, according to data from the health ministry of the Hamas-run local government. “Tens of thousands of civilians” fled the area, civil defense said, after a call from the army to evacuate and while no place is safe in the Gaza Strip, according to the UN.
US Gaza aid pier towed again
The temporary US pier – intended to unload humanitarian aid for the besieged Gaza Strip – was removed again due to swells and towed to an Israeli port, the Pentagon reported Friday. This is the third time since its installation in mid-May that the pier has been detached from the shore due to weather conditions. Israel’s primary supporter, Washington installed this pier given the severe restrictions imposed by Israel on the land delivery of aid to the Palestinian territory. According to the Pentagon, since May 17, it has enabled the delivery of more than 8,831 tons of humanitarian aid to the coast.
Gaza residents live near huge piles of garbage, UNRWA says
In Gaza, residents are living in ruins of buildings or tents around a gigantic pile of rubbish, denounced Louise Wateridge, UNRWA mission officer, on Friday. She described it as “disastrous” living conditions in the Gaza Strip. “It’s truly unbearable”said M.me Wateridge to the press in Geneva, via video link from the center of the Gaza Strip.
Returning to Khan Younis on Wednesday after four weeks outside the Palestinian territory, she said the situation had improved. “considerably deteriorated”. Mme Wateridge explained that the difficulties in safely transporting and distributing fuel to Gaza were having an impact on the ability to deliver humanitarian aid. “Without fuel, humanitarian assistance really stops”she added.
