The Israeli army, which bombarded southern Gaza on Tuesday, has issued new evacuation orders. It is also continuing its operations in the north and centre of the Palestinian territory.
The Israeli army bombarded the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, particularly the south of the besieged Palestinian territory where it issued new evacuation orders, which concern “about 250,000 people” according to the UN. “We saw people moving, families moving, people starting to pack up.”Louise Wateridge, spokeswoman for the UN refugee agency (UNRWA), told reporters in Geneva via video link from Gaza. UNRWA “estimates that around 250,000 people were affected by these orders”she added.
Meanwhile, the Israeli army says it is continuing its operations in Shujaiya (north), in the center of the Gaza Strip as well as in Rafah, in the south of the Palestinian territory where it issued new evacuation orders to the population on Monday. AFP images showed displaced families in the middle of the ruins of the city of Khan Younis (south), fleeing once again on foot or crammed onto trailers. In recent weeks, fighting has again intensified in several regions that the army had said it controlled, particularly in the north of the territory.
Israeli army claims to have eliminated ‘numerous terrorists’
The new evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army in the southern Gaza Strip came after the Islamic Jihad, another Palestinian armed group, claimed responsibility for rocket fire toward Israel on Monday. The army said it had targeted the source of the fire, near Khan Younis. Palestinian medical sources reported at least eight dead and more than 30 wounded in Israeli shelling in Khan Younis and Rafah. The Israeli army also announced the death of two soldiers on Monday in the central Gaza Strip, bringing to 319 the number of soldiers killed since October 27.
In the north, the army says it is continuing its operations launched on June 27 in Choujaïya, claiming to have eliminated “many terrorists”An AFP correspondent reported on Tuesday that there had been new bombings in the eastern Gaza City district. According to the UN, between 60,000 and 80,000 people have fled the bombings and fighting in Shujaiya in recent days. “We fled Shujaiya. The situation is very difficult. We have no place to stay.”said a Palestinian who sought refuge in western Gaza City.
Accusation of torture
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said more than a week ago that the phase «intense» the war was coming to an end. “We are moving towards the end of the phase of eliminating the Hamas terrorist army” in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, he said again on Monday. “We have heard the Israelis talk about a significant decline in their operations (…). That remains to be seen.”reacted the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken.
On Monday, dozens of Palestinian prisoners, including the director of Gaza City’s al-Shifa hospital, Mohammed Abu Salmiya, were released by Israel and transferred to Gaza hospitals, according to a medical source. Salmiya said he had been subjected to “to severe torture” during his seven months of detention. “Prisoners are subjected to all kinds of torture”he accused. “Many prisoners died.” Netanyahu denounced the release as a “serious mistake”considering that “The place of this man, under whose responsibility our hostages were killed and held, is in prison”the Shin Beth (Internal Security) invoking a means “to free up places” in prisons.
