The UN says that Israel’s siege of Gaza and its evacuation order “cannot be considered a lawful temporary evacuation and will therefore constitute a forced transfer of civilians in violation of international law”. Joe Biden is scheduled to visit Israel on Wednesday. In the UN Security Council, a proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire was voted down. The Israeli authorities report that they have carried out 200 airstrikes against Gaza on the night of Tuesday. Several of the night’s attacks were aimed at Khan Younis and Rafah. The towns are in southern Gaza, where Israel has ordered civilians to seek refuge. At least 71 are said to have been killed, according to Al Jazeera, many of them women and children. On Monday, a humanitarian convoy arrived at Rafah, Egypt’s entrance to Gaza, but it was not allowed through the border crossing. The World Health Organization is asking for an open route out of the conflict zone, and not just a one-off opening of the border crossing. – We need sustained, unimpeded access to Gaza, says Richard Brennan, a WHO regional crisis director. Arab countries and international aid organizations have flown in 100 tonnes of supplies to Egyptian el-Arish, writes The Economist. The city is 45 kilometers west of Gaza. Palestinians remove a man from the ruins of a house destroyed by Israeli attacks, in Khan Younis Photo: AHMED ZAKOT / Reuters But Israel, which must approve imports from Egypt, has refused to allow the supplies into Gaza. At the same time, Egypt refuses to accept Palestinian refugees. Heralds disaster The situation in Gaza is precarious when US President Joe Biden now travels to Israel. Together with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, he will, among other things, discuss the possibility of a humanitarian corridor. Israel has cut off food, water, medicine and fuel supplies to the Gaza Strip. The hospitals in Gaza only have power out on Monday, according to the UN. Photo: Adel Hana / AP The major humanitarian organizations warn everyone that the need for aid is critical. So far, 115 health facilities have been attacked, according to the World Health Organization. At least a thousand patients are treated daily at the 20 remaining hospitals in Gaza. The UN believes the blockade is the definition of collective punishment. Yesterday, the UN aid organization for Palestinian refugees announced that they are no longer able to provide humanitarian aid. The WHO warns of “a real disaster”, and explains that without assistance the doctors will have to “prepare death certificates for their patients”. The Red Cross has previously emphasized that without electricity, hospitals risk becoming morgues. The Gaza Strip is almost sealed, and no one escapes. Nor the 200 Norwegian citizens who are there. The UN is now protecting over 400,000 Palestinians in Gaza. Many are located at the organisation’s schools. Barth Eide fears it will get worse – It is almost difficult to describe how difficult it is inside Gaza now, when an already quite exhausted people in a kind of open prison, do not get access to essential necessities of life. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB Espen Barth Eide is adamant that emergency aid, such as food and medicine, must be given to the civilian population in Gaza, who are now in an “incredibly difficult situation”. – But in the long run, this, like all other conflicts, must find some form of solution. – There is a strong fear now that it will get significantly worse before it possibly gets better. In the UN Security Council, a proposal for a humanitarian ceasefire was voted down on Monday. Five voted in favor and four against, while six abstained from voting. In addition to a ceasefire, the release of hostages, the safe evacuation of civilians and the delivery of emergency aid were mentioned in the Russian proposal. Has mobilized 360,000 soldiers An Israeli ground invasion has been announced, and the IDF has mobilized approximately 360,000 soldiers. In the Gaza Strip, the Israeli forces want to eradicate Hamas. – They are like walking corpses. It is only a matter of time. That’s what Jonathan Conricus, spokesman for the IDF, says about people associated with Hamas. He says that civilians are not targets in the military operation. The IDF’s spokesman tells news that he “does not think” Israel will reoccupy Gaza. Attacked “without reservations” At least 2,808 people have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to the Ministry of Health in Gaza. Almost 11,000 are injured. 64 percent of those killed since 7 October are women and children, according to the authorities’ press office. Several hundred thousand are internally displaced in Gaza. Several of the residents of Beit Hanoun have chosen to flee south. Photo: Felipe Dana / AP There are at least 853 children among the dead, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa, which cites the hospitals in the Gaza Strip. Even before an Israeli ground invasion has begun, figures on the number of people killed show the dimensions of Israel’s air operation against Gaza. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has specified that Israel will act “without reservations and without respite” to destroy Hamas’s military capability. In just under a week, the death toll in 2023 has surpassed the number killed in 2014, the year of the bloody 50-day war. Before Hamas’ attack on October 7, 227 Palestinians and 29 Israelis had been killed. – Difficult for the Israeli military Ground operations in an urban area will be difficult for the Israeli military, points out Tom Røseth. He is the head teacher in Intelligence at the Norwegian Defense Academy. – There will be major challenges where Hamas has fortified itself, where they have placed explosives, where they have tunnels. The Israelis themselves have said that the expected ground operation is on hold due to bad weather conditions. Røseth points out that the operation is on hold more probably as a result of political reasons. – A ground operation will be difficult, also because there are many civilians in the area.
ttn-69
“A war in Gaza is a war in a kindergarten”, says the UN’s special mission – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
