The Israeli army subjected the Gaza Strip to new deadly bombardments on Thursday, at a time when fears of a spread of this war to Lebanon have amplified with threats from Israel to return its northern neighbor to the “stone age”.
On October 7, the Israeli army launched a large-scale offensive in the Gaza Strip in response to an unprecedented bloody attack carried out the same day by the Islamist movement Hamas in southern Israel from neighboring Palestinian territory.
In the aftermath of this attack, pro-Iranian Hezbollah in Lebanon opened a front with Israel in support of Hamas and, since then, exchanges of fire in the border areas have been almost daily.
On Israel’s southern front in the Gaza Strip, the Civil Defense reported at least five deaths in Gaza City, where intense artillery bombardment and Israeli helicopter fire targeted the Shujaiya neighborhood.
AFP
Violent clashes between Palestinian fighters and Israeli soldiers in this neighborhood, from where “tens of thousands of civilians” fled, according to Civil Defense after the army asked residents to evacuate the area. “There are wounded and martyrs in the street,” said a witness.
In Rafah, several buildings were destroyed by Israeli forces, according to witnesses. And further north, in Khan Younis, Israeli planes targeted a school where, according to the army, “terrorists” were located.
On Israel’s northern front, in southern Lebanon, the Israeli army has intensified its aerial and artillery bombardments against around ten localities, according to Lebanese media. Hezbollah claimed six attacks against Israeli military positions on the border.
“Apocalyptic”
“Hezbollah understands very well that we can inflict enormous damage on Lebanon if a war is launched,” Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said Wednesday after a visit to Washington.
“We have the capacity to return Lebanon to the Stone Age, but we do not want to do it […] We do not want a war,” he added, specifying that his government was “preparing for any scenario”.
On Tuesday, receiving Mr. Gallant, the American Secretary of Defense warned that a war between Israel and Hezbollah could become a “regional war.”
Getty Images via AFP
UN humanitarian chief Martin Griffiths called such a scenario “potentially apocalyptic”.
France said it was “extremely concerned” and urged “the greatest restraint.”
On Sunday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that the “intense” phase of fighting was coming to an end in Gaza and affirmed that afterward, Israel could “redeploy some forces towards the north”, to the Lebanese border, “for purposes defensive.
Following Canada’s lead, Germany has recommended that its nationals leave Lebanon.
Nasrallah speaks on Thursday
Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is due to speak again on Thursday at 1:30 p.m. GMT.
In his previous speech on June 19, he warned that “no place” in Israel would be spared from his movement, the day after an announcement by Israel that “operational plans for an offensive in Lebanon” had been been “validated”.
AFP
On October 7, an attack by Hamas commandos infiltrated in southern Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count established using official Israeli data.
Of 251 people kidnapped during the attack, 116 are still held hostage in Gaza, of whom 42 are dead, according to the army.
In retaliation, Israel vowed to destroy Hamas, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007 and is considered a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union.
The Israeli army has launched a major offensive against Gaza which has so far killed 37,765 people, mostly civilians, including at least 47 in the last 24 hours, according to data from the Health Ministry of the local government. by Hamas.
“Worms in the wounds”
The war in Gaza has caused a humanitarian catastrophe in the small territory of 2.4 million inhabitants, besieged by Israel since October 9 and threatened with famine according to the UN.
Water, in the middle of summer, and food are lacking.
And in the few hospitals still standing in Gaza, many patients who survived Israeli raids are being abandoned or dying of infections due to a lack of simple gloves, masks or soap, American health workers returning from the Palestinian territory said.
One of them, Monica Johnston, recounts in a broken voice how they had to stop treating a little boy’s burns in order to prioritize patients with a better chance of survival.
“Two days later he started getting worms in his wounds.” The child was buried, his body completely infested.
