Rédaction Africa Links 24 with AFP
Published on 2024-02-03 15:59:26
Israel continued its intense assault in the Gaza Strip on Saturday, with growing concerns about a potential offensive in Rafah, a southern city filled with displaced civilians from the nearly four-month war. Khan Yunis, the main city in southern Gaza, was the focus of Israel’s offensive, being rocked by a barrage of air strikes and tank fire overnight and throughout the day as reported by an AFP journalist.
According to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza, more than 100 people, mostly women and children, were killed across the Palestinian territory overnight, while the Israeli army claimed its forces killed “dozens of terrorists” in northern and central Gaza over the past 24 hours.
Due to the fierce fighting, hundreds of thousands of Gaza’s 2.4 million people have been displaced, with many fleeing south to Rafah. The city, which previously housed 200,000 people, is now home to more than half of Gaza’s population, leading to concerns about the pressure this is putting on the city and its residents.
Civilians who fled to Rafah have been pushed up against the border with Egypt, trying to avoid parts of the city exposed to the fighting in nearby Khan Yunis. The overwhelming situation was captured in AFPTV images that showed Palestinians gathered around a row of body bags at the Najjar hospital in Rafah after Israeli strikes.
Hamas, the Palestinian Islamist group that has ruled Gaza since 2007, remained defiant, with an official stating that they were “holding their ground” in Khan Yunis. The official emphasized that “the resistance is still steadfast in Khan Yunis… it is inflicting losses on the occupation,” and that “the enemy will not achieve anything by targeting Khan Yunis.”
The growing humanitarian concern in Rafah led to a statement from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), expressing deep concern about the escalation of hostilities in Khan Yunis. Additionally, the OCHA spokesman, Jens Laerke, expressed fear for what comes next, referring to Rafah as a “pressure cooker of despair.”
The war in Gaza was sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel, which resulted in a high number of casualties. Israel launched a massive military offensive in response. The fighting has severely devastated the Gaza Strip and an Israeli siege has resulted in dire shortages of food, water, fuel, and medicines.
The soaring civilian death toll in Gaza, as well as fears among Israelis over the fate of hostages, have led to calls for a ceasefire. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to travel to the Middle East to press a new proposal involving the release of Israeli hostages in return for a pause in the fighting.
The trip will be his fifth to the region since the war broke out and will involve visits to Qatar, Egypt, Israel, the occupied West Bank, and Saudi Arabia. This comes after statements from Qatar’s foreign ministry spokesman, expressing hope for a fresh pause in the fighting.
The ongoing conflict in Gaza has led to a surge in attacks by Iran-backed groups in support of the Palestinians. In retaliation, the US military carried out airstrikes against Iranian forces in Iraq and Syria. Meanwhile, Hamas denounced the strikes, and tensions continued to escalate as the conflict showed no signs of abating.
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