Israel pounded
Gaza on Saturday as the Palestinian territory suffered under a dire
humanitarian situation and grappled with a telecommunications blackout on the
99th day of the war.
Fears of the conflict widening have grown after US and British forces struck
pro-Hamas Huthi rebels in Yemen following attacks on Red Sea shipping, with a
fresh US air strike confirmed Saturday.
Witnesses reported Israeli bombardment of Gaza in the early morning, and an
AFP journalist said Friday that strikes and shelling had hit areas between
Gaza’s southern cities of Khan Yunis and Rafah, crowded with people who have
fled from the north.
All internet and telecommunications services in Gaza were cut Friday as a
result of Israeli bombardment, the main operator Paltel said.
“Gaza is blacked out again,” it said in a post on social media platform X.
The Palestinian Red Crescent posted that the disruption was increasing the
challenges in “reaching the wounded and injured promptly”.
Israel’s relentless bombardment of Gaza has killed at least 23,708 people,
mostly women and children, according to the latest health ministry figures.
The war began when Hamas launched an unprecedented attack on October 7, which
resulted in about 1,140 deaths in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an
AFP tally based on official figures. The militant group also seized about 250
hostages.
– ‘Systematic’ aid blocking –
UN aid agency OCHA’s head for the occupied Palestinian territories told AFP
on Friday that Israel was constantly blocking humanitarian aid convoys into
northern Gaza.
“They have been very systematic in not allowing us to support hospitals,
which is something that is reaching a point of a level of inhumanity that for
me is beyond comprehension,” Andrea De Domenico said.
In central Gaza, a lack of fuel forced the shutdown of the main generator of
Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir el-Balah, the health ministry said.
“Does anyone care about us? Why is everyone silent?” asked one mourner at a
hospital where a group of Palestinians had gathered beside white body bags
holding the latest casualties.
But the war didn’t stop Afnan and Moustapha from getting married in Rafah,
near the border with Egypt.
“The house where the groom was supposed to live was destroyed, and as the war
persisted, we thought it best for them to get married,” Ayman Shamlakh, the
groom’s uncle, told AFP.
“We are all living through the same tragedy. However, we must continue to
live, and life should go on.”
Mohamed Gebreel, father of the bride, said he had no doubts about going ahead
with the ceremony.
“We are a people that love life despite death, murders and destruction,” he
said.
– Medicines deal –
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said Friday a deal had been
negotiated with Qatar to get medicine to hostages still being held in Gaza.
The deal “will allow the entry of medicines for the hostages held by the
Hamas terrorist organisation in Gaza”, Netanyahu’s office said in a
statement.
Israeli campaign group Hostages and Missing Families Forum released a report
this week saying the captives were in poor health, some with complex
illnesses, others with injuries.
A diplomat familiar with the negotiations told AFP that both sides had
expressed a willingness to allow the delivery of medicines.
“The mediators are now in the process of finalising the details” of the type
and quantities of medicines required, as well as the conditions for their
delivery, the source said.
A source close to Hamas confirmed to AFP that talks had been held on allowing
the entry of medicines, but that discussions were ongoing.
– 100 days –
Israel criticised the UN human rights office for not reiterating its calls
for the release of the hostages in a statement marking the looming 100th day
of the conflict.
“A call for a ceasefire, without demanding the release of our hostages and
the disarming of Hamas, is a call for terrorism to win,” its office in Geneva
said.
The UN high commissioner for human rights, Volker Turk, has called repeatedly
for the hostages to be freed.
In the occupied West Bank, Israeli troops killed three militants after they
attacked a Jewish settlement, the army said.
It said there had been a “terrorist infiltration” in the Adora settlement,
some 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of Hebron, and soldiers had come under
fire.
The soldiers searched the area and “three assailants were identified and
neutralised by the security forces”.
When questioned by AFP, the Israeli army confirmed the death of the three
assailants, while the Palestinian agency Wafa identified them as a 19-year-
old and two 16-year-olds.
Since the war in Gaza broke out, violence in the occupied West Bank has also
surged, with at least 337 people killed by Israeli troops or settlers,
according to the health ministry in Ramallah. (BSS/AFP)
