The Gaza Strip experienced a day of relative calm on Sunday, after the Israeli army announced a pause in its operations along a road in the south of the Palestinian territory, where the UN fears widespread famine, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
On the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, the territory bombarded by the Israeli army for more than eight months experienced a day “almost calm compared to previous days”, the official told AFP. – Civil Defense spokesperson Mohamed Basal.
He nevertheless reported “a few strikes” on several neighborhoods of Gaza City, in the North, and artillery fire in Rafah, in the South, where the army is leading a ground offensive against the Islamist movement Hamas.
AFP correspondents said the center and north of the territory were calm, while gunfire and shelling hit Rafah.
The army, however, stressed that there was “clearly no cessation of hostilities in southern Gaza” and that “operations in Rafah continued.”
She announced on Sunday a pause described as “tactical” and “local”, which will be observed daily during the day to allow an “increase in the volume of humanitarian aid entering Gaza”, the day after the death in the territory of 11 soldiers , including eight in a bomb explosion.
This toll is one of the heaviest for the Israeli army in a single day since the start of the war, triggered on October 7 by an unprecedented attack by Hamas against Israel.
“Other concrete measures”
The UN “welcomed” this measure but asked that it “lead to other concrete measures” to facilitate deliveries of humanitarian aid.
The spokesperson for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha), Jens Laerke, underlined the extremely difficult conditions in which the population of the Gaza Strip, besieged by Israel, lives, where only aid is received. very insufficient.
“We must be able to deliver aid safely throughout Gaza,” he said.
The break announced on Sunday “will be observed from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., local time, every day and until further notice,” announced the army, along a road which extends for around ten kilometers in heading north from the Israeli crossing point of Kerem Shalom at the southern end of the Gaza Strip.
This road section from the border crossing joins the Salaheddine road, which crosses the Gaza Strip from south to north, and extends to the European hospital in Rafah, about 10 kilometers from Kerem Shalom, according to a published map by the army.
On May 7, the army launched a ground offensive on the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, which forced around a million Palestinians to flee, most of them displaced people who had sought refuge there, and led to the closure of the border post, crucial for the entry of humanitarian aid.
A “different” Eid
In Gaza City, dozens of worshipers prayed on the first day of Eid al-Adha in front of the al-Omari mosque, damaged by bombing. Others gathered near the graves of their loved ones killed since the start of the war.
“Eid is completely different” this year, Oum Mohammad al-Katri told AFP, in the neighboring Jabalia refugee camp. “We have lost a lot of people, there is a lot of destruction,” he added.
The war broke out on October 7 when Hamas commandos infiltrated from the Gaza Strip in southern Israel carried out an attack which resulted in the deaths of 1,194 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count. 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 retaliation, the Israeli army launched an offensive on the Gaza Strip which has so far left 37,337 dead, mostly civilians, including at least 41 in 24 hours, according to data from the Gaza government’s Health Ministry. Gaza, ruled by Hamas.
“Terrible losses”
On Saturday, the army announced the death of eight soldiers whose armored vehicle was “hit by the explosion of a bomb” in Rafah, two soldiers in northern Gaza and another who succumbed to his injuries.
“Our hearts are broken by these terrible losses,” responded Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. But “we must stick to the objectives of the war: to destroy Hamas’s capabilities, to recover all our hostages, to ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat to Israel. »
“The person who made the decision to institute a pause while our soldiers are falling in combat is evil and stupid,” denounced far-right Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Gvir.
Despite international mediation efforts, hopes for a ceasefire continue to come up against contradictory demands from Israel and Hamas.
The American President, Joe Biden, announced on May 31 a plan which provides, in a first phase, a six-week ceasefire accompanied by an Israeli withdrawal from densely populated areas of Gaza, the release of certain hostages detained in Gaza and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Israel has not officially made its position known, but Mr. Netanyahu considered this plan incomplete and reaffirmed his determination to continue the war until the elimination of Hamas, in power in Gaza since 2007 and considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
Hamas, for its part, demanded “amendments” to the plan, according to a source close to the discussions, including a timetable for a permanent ceasefire and the total Israeli withdrawal from Gaza.
