RAFAH, Gaza Strip (AP) – Israeli airstrikes across Gaza overnight and into Sunday, doctors and witnesses said, as the United States announced it would veto another U.N. ceasefire resolution. At least 18 people died during that time.
The United States, Israel's biggest ally, wants instead to broker a ceasefire agreement and hostage releases between Israel and Hamas, and is envisioning a broader solution. Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pushed back, calling Hamas' demands “delusional” and rejecting U.S. and international calls for a path to Palestinian statehood.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue and increase the scale of the offensive until “complete victory” against Hamas. Rafah, the southernmost town in GazaMore than half of the enclave's 2.3 million Palestinians there have fled fighting elsewhere.
Meanwhile, the head of the World Health Organization said Nasser Hospital, the main medical center in southern Gaza, was “no longer functioning” due to the impact. Israeli forces attack facility Last week in the southern city of Khan Yunis.
A night airstrike in Rafah killed six people, including one woman and three children, and another airstrike killed five men in Khan Yunis, a main target of attacks over the past two months. Associated Press reporters witnessed the body arriving at a hospital in Rafah.
Gaza City is isolated and largely displaced; suffered widespread destruction Saeed al-Afifi, a relative of the deceased, said his family was completely destroyed in airstrikes in the early weeks of the war, killing seven people, including three women.
The Israeli military rarely comments on individual attacks, blaming Hamas for civilian casualties because the militants operate in densely populated areas.
United Nations says hospital hit by attack will cease functioning
The head of the UN health agency, Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said that despite WHO teams arriving at the hospital premises to deliver fuel, on Friday and Saturday they were unable to “evaluate the condition of patients and their critical medical needs”. He was not allowed to enter Nasser Hospital for evaluation.” With your partner. ”
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), he said there were still about 200 patients in the hospital, 20 of whom urgently needed referral to other hospitals.
Israel announced, without providing evidence, that it had arrested 70 suspected militants, including 20 who allegedly took part in Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel. The military said it was searching the facility for the remains of hostages and had not targeted doctors or patients.
War broke out on October 7 after Hamas broke through Israeli defenses and attacked communities across southern Israel, killing around 1,200 people, mostly civilians. Take about 250 people hostage. The militants still hold about 130 hostages, a quarter of whom are thought to have died, although most of the others were released during a week-long ceasefire in November.
The war has reportedly killed at least 28,985 Palestinians, most of them women and children. Gaza Ministry of Health, whose records do not distinguish between civilians and combatants. The death toll includes 127 bodies taken to hospitals in the past 24 hours, according to Sunday's announcement. Approximately 80% of Gaza's population has been forced to flee their homes. face quarter starvation.
David Satterfield, the U.S. special envoy for humanitarian affairs in the Middle East, said Friday that Israel attacked Hamas-run police guarding an aid convoy, causing the escort to stop. Delivering desperately needed aid 'virtually impossible' Because there is a threat from criminal organizations. He also said Israel had not provided concrete evidence of its claims that Hamas was diverting UN aid.
US opposes new ceasefire resolution
Algeria, the Arab representative on the UN Security Council, has circulated a draft resolution rejecting the forced evacuation of Palestinian civilians and calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and unhindered humanitarian access.
U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield said in a statement late Saturday that the draft resolution goes against America's own efforts to end the fighting and “will not be adopted.”
“It is important that other parties give this process the best chance of success, rather than forcing measures that jeopardize this process and the opportunity for a durable resolution of hostilities,” she said. .
The United States exercised its veto with similar previous resolution With broad international support, President Joe Biden Bypassing Congress and shipping weapons to Israel Meanwhile, he called for greater steps to rescue civilians and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
The United States, Qatar and Egypt have spent weeks trying to broker a cease-fire and the release of hostages. There is a huge gap between the demands of Israel and Hamas Qatar said on Saturday that negotiations were “not progressing as expected”.
Hamas has said it will not release all remaining hostages unless Israel ends the war and withdraws from Gaza. He also demands the release of hundreds of Palestinians imprisoned in Israel, including senior militant leaders.
Prime Minister Netanyahu publicly rejected both demands and a scenario in which Hamas could rebuild its military and governance capabilities. He said he sent a delegation to ceasefire talks in Cairo last week at Biden's request, but saw no point in doing so again.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's national security adviser said in an interview with Israel's Kan public broadcaster on Saturday that military pressure and adhering to strict lines in negotiations will help Hamas withdraw its “absurd demands that no one can accept.” He said it was possible.
Tzachi Hanegbi said the United States supports Israel's operations to destroy Hamas' capabilities and is not pressuring Israel to end the war or withdraw its troops from Gaza.
Prime Minister Netanyahu pushed back against international concerns. Planned Israeli ground attack He said residents in Rafah would be evacuated to safer areas. It is not clear where they will go in largely destroyed Gaza.
Israeli leaders also oppose the establishment of a Palestinian state, which the United States insists on. Key elements in the broader picture There is a need for normalization of relations between Israel and Saudi Arabia, a regional power, and for Arab investment in Gaza's postwar reconstruction and governance.
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Mr. Magdy reported from Cairo and Mr. Goldenberg from Tel Aviv, Israel.
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