Israel intensifies its attack on southern Gaza, despite calls to protect civilians

Netanyahu said after honoring the 153 Israeli soldiers who were killed since the beginning of the earth: “I will be clear: the war will be long (…) until Hamas is eliminated and we restore security in the north and south.” The attack on Gaza on October 27.

The nationalist leader added to members of his government, “We are paying a heavy price for the war, but there is no other choice but to continue fighting.”

The conflict erupted on October 7 after a Hamas attack on southern Israel, during which Islamic militants killed about 1,140 people, most of them civilians, according to a census conducted by Agence France-Presse based on Israeli figures. On that day, the Islamists also kidnapped about 240 people, including 129 who remain captive in Gaza.

In response, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas and launched a ground and air assault on the narrow Palestinian territories that the Islamist movement has ruled since 2007.

According to Hamas, which Israel, the United States and the European Union consider a terrorist organization, 20,424 people, most of them women and children, have been killed so far in the war.

The ground fighting has so far been concentrated in the north of the Gaza Strip, but the army announced that operations will move to the south, where thousands of civilians have taken refuge.

“We are moving south and focusing our main operations in another Hamas stronghold, Khan Yunis,” army spokesman Jonathan Conricus said after Gaza City.

Khan Yunis is the birthplace of Hamas's leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, and home to its center of power. Israel considers Sinwar to be most responsible for the October 7 attack.

Christmas without believers in Bethlehem

US President Joe Biden, during a phone call on Saturday, urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to “protect civilians.”

The United States continues to express strong support for its historic ally, despite its increasing insistence on reducing the intensity of its attack.

In the occupied West Bank, the city of Bethlehem – where Christ was born according to Christian tradition – was preparing for Christmas without worshipers and in the presence of police.

Believers and tourists usually come to the Church of the Nativity every year to admire the Christmas tree and manger located in the square. Due to the situation in Gaza, the authorities decided not to install it this time. The city council canceled most celebrations for the same reason.

“Many of them [los palestinos] Student Nicole Najjar (18 years old) told AFP from Manger Square: “They died for this land, and it is very difficult to celebrate something when our people die.”

In Gaza, Jabalia and Gaza City, in the north, and Khan Yunis, in the far south, were bombed again, according to Hamas.

About 80% of Gaza's 2.4 million people have been displaced by the fighting, according to the United Nations.

The situation in this area, which has been completely besieged by Israel since October 9, is catastrophic. Most hospitals are out of service and residents face high levels of food insecurity, according to the United Nations.

The Israeli army announced on Saturday that it had captured “more than 200 terrorists” in the past week and “more than 700” since the beginning of the conflict.

The bombings did not stop until just one week later, when the two sides agreed to a ceasefire at the end of November, under which 105 hostages held in Gaza were exchanged for 240 Palestinian prisoners.

– “We want a ceasefire” –

On Friday, Washington approved a UN Security Council resolution calling on Israel to allow the “immediate, safe and unhindered” shipment of vital aid to Gaza “on a large scale.”

The world powers debated for several days over the words to be used in the text, and, at Washington's insistence, preferred not to include the term “ceasefire” and called instead for “creating conditions for a permanent cessation of hostilities.”

Gazans interviewed by Agence France-Presse criticized the international community.

Rami Al-Jalout, a resident of northern Gaza, who was forced to flee, said: “Instead of (…) increasing aid deliveries, and stopping support for Israel and supplying it with weapons, (…) stop the war and give us peace.” To the city of Rafah in the south.

He criticized the decision as “reinforcing Israel's decision to kill more civilians and prolonging the war against these people in exchange for little food.”

Mahmoud Al-Shaer, another resident, added: “We don’t want food, we want a ceasefire.”

© 2023 Agence France-Presse