“Unbearable distress” in northern Gaza as talks take place in Doha

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is “shocked by the horrific number of deaths, injuries and destruction in the north” of the Gaza Strip, his spokesperson said on Sunday. The same day, new strikes were launched in the area, notably in Jabalia, where the Israeli army has been carrying out a devastating and deadly land and air offensive since October 6 to prevent Hamas from regrouping its forces. “The plight of Palestinian civilians trapped in the north of the Gaza Strip is unbearable,” denounced the UN chief in a statement, describing “civilians trapped under the rubble, sick and wounded deprived of care “vital health facilities, and families lacking food and shelter.”

The army first surrounded Jabalia and called on the population to evacuate to the south, setting up crossing points to control residents. The operation was then expanded to an area including the town of Beit Lahia, further north, and its surroundings. Since the start of the operation in Jabalia, around 45,000 people have left the region to take refuge further south, in and around Gaza City, the Israeli army said on Friday.

A school targeted

At Gaza’s al-Ahli hospital, Jihad Muqat on Sunday mourned the death of his wife and two little daughters, whose bodies were pulled from the rubble in Jabalia. “Aline was the eldest, my dear Lulu, she was three and a half years old, and Sama was 12 days old. I also buried my daughter Lara before, she was two years old,” he said with a tearful face. At least nine Palestinians, including a child, were also killed on Sunday in an Israeli strike on the Asmaa school, located inside the al-Shati refugee camp and transformed into a shelter for displaced people on the outskirts of the town. of Gaza, emergency services announced. Several injured people were also taken to the city’s al-Chifa hospital.

When contacted, the Israeli army said it was “verifying” the information. “We saw a (fighter plane) destroy the school where people and children lived” who “were torn apart” by the explosion, said a witness, Thaër al-Rantissi. The school housed “a large number of people who fled the Jabalia region and the north of the Gaza Strip” where the Israeli army is leading an offensive against Hamas, explained Hussein Mohsen, head of ambulance services within city ​​emergency services. “This is not the first time that Israeli planes have targeted schools,” he added, with the Israeli army accusing Hamas of hiding among the refugees and using the buildings as command centers, which which he denies.

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Ceasefire talks

New negotiations were planned for Sunday in Doha between Israelis, Americans and Qataris to discuss the possibility of a truce in Gaza associated with the release of hostages. For Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, “painful concessions” are necessary to “bring our hostages home”. In more than a year of war in the Palestinian enclave, only a one-week truce could be concluded in November 2023, all other attempts having failed due to the maximalist positions of the warring parties. The head of Mossad, David Barnea, was to meet in Doha with the head of the CIA, William Burns, and the Qatari Prime Minister to discuss “different options for resuming negotiations on the release of the hostages”, according to the same source .

New formulas should be proposed to pave the way for progress before the American presidential election on November 5. According to the Saudi newspaper al-Chark al-Awsat, senior Hamas officials intended to offer Doha a unique deal including the release of all hostages held in Gaza in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners and a complete withdrawal from Israel. from the Gaza Strip. A senior member of the movement told the daily that the group was ready to hear “new proposals from mediating countries, but we prefer a comprehensive agreement that will lead to an end to the war.” Key mediator, Cairo for its part proposed “a two-day ceasefire to free four hostages and certain Palestinian prisoners,” declared Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi, quoted in particular in the Israeli daily Haaretz.