The Israeli army announced on Sunday the establishment of a daily pause in its military operations on a section of road in the south of the Gaza Strip, to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to the enclave, threatened with famine . The UN welcomed the decision, calling for further measures “concrete”.
For the first day of Eid, Joe Biden again called for a ceasefire.
We take stock of the latest developments in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
“Almost calm” day in Gaza for the first day of Eid
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 enclave, where the UN fears famine widespread, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
On the first day of the Muslim holiday of Eid-el-Adha, the territory bombarded by the Israeli army for more than eight months experienced a day “almost calm compared to previous days”, Palestinian Civil Defense spokesperson Mohamed Basal told Agence France Presse (AFP). The latter reported “a few keystrokes” 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.
An AFP correspondent indicated that calm remained in the evening in most sectors, after the expiration of the pause which will be observed, according to the army, “from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day and until further notice”, on a road section of around ten kilometers.
The Israeli army, however, stressed that there was no “clearly no cessation of hostilities in southern Gaza” and “operations in Rafah continued.”
The UN “welcomes” the announcement of a pause in Israeli operations in part of Gaza
The United Nations (UN) welcomed this Sunday, June 16, the announcement by the Israeli army of the establishment of a pause in daily military operations in the south of the Gaza Strip, but requests that this “lead to other concrete measures” to facilitate humanitarian aid, a spokesperson in Geneva told AFP.
“We welcome this announcement but of course this has not yet translated into increased help for those in need,” underlined Jens Laerke, spokesperson for the UN agency for emergency situations (Ocha).
“We hope this will lead to further concrete steps by Israel to resolve the long-standing problems that prevent a meaningful humanitarian response in Gaza,” added Jens Laerke in an email.
He underlined the extremely difficult conditions in which the population of the besieged Gaza Strip lives, where only very insufficient humanitarian aid has been received since the start of the war between Israel and the Islamist movement Hamas.
In Eid message, Joe Biden encourages ceasefire in Gaza
US President Joe Biden on Sunday defended the ceasefire plan supported by his country in Gaza in a message to Muslims for Eid-el-Adha, seeing it as the best way to come to the aid of civilian victims of “horrors of the war between Hamas and Israel”.
“Too many innocent people have been killed, including thousands of children. Families have fled their homes and seen their communities destroyed. Their pain is immense”wrote Joe Biden in a press release published on the occasion of the Feast of Sacrifice, the largest in the Muslim calendar.
“I firmly believe that the three-phase ceasefire proposal made by Israel to Hamas, and supported by the UN Security Council, is the best way to end the violence in Gaza and ultimately of putting an end to the war”, added the Democratic 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 the Gaza Strip, the release of certain hostages and the release of Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.
Israel warns of escalation after intensification of Hezbollah fire
The intensification of fire by Lebanese Hezbollah against Israel could trigger a dangerous escalation, the Israeli army warned on Sunday.
“Hezbollah’s growing aggression brings us to the brink of what could be a larger escalation that could have disastrous consequences for Lebanon and the region as a whole,” Army spokesman Daniel Hagari said in a video.
Hezbollah launched rocket and drone attacks last week, its most significant offensive with this type of weapon since the start of the conflict between Hamas and Israel on October 7.
The Israeli army said it carried out several airstrikes against the group in southern Lebanon on Sunday.
“Israel will take all necessary measures to protect its population until security on our border with Lebanon is restored,” added Daniel Hagari.
