MOHAMMED ABED / AFP
UPDATE ON THE SITUATION – 174 people have been killed according to Hamas in the last 24 hours.
In Gaza, fighting continues between the Israeli army and the Islamist movement Hamas. This Saturday, January 27, Le Figaro takes stock of the situation.
New death toll
This Saturday, the Hamas Ministry of Health announced a toll of 26,257 people killed, the majority women, adolescents and children in the Gaza Strip since the start of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement.
During the last 24 hours, 174 people were killed, according to Hamas, in power in Gaza, also reporting 64,797 injured.
Deadly fighting continues in the Palestinian territory
Khan Younes, the largest city in southern Gaza considered by Israel to be a Hamas stronghold, is now at the heart of the war. The fighting is raging particularly around the city’s two main hospitals which are only operating slowly and sheltering sick people but also thousands of displaced people.
A few kilometers further south, tens of thousands of civilians are massed in Rafah, stuck in a very small perimeter against the closed border with Egypt. During the night, heavy rains flooded the tent camps, adding to the distress of the displaced who were trampling in the muddy water. “Heavy rains flood thousands of displaced people in Rafah, Khan Younes” as well as in Nuseirat, Deir el-Balah and Gaza City further north, Civil Defense spokesman Mahmoud Bassal said.
Future of UN agency in Gaza seriously threatened
This Saturday, Israel Katz, Israeli Foreign Minister, said he would like the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) to no longer play any role in Gaza. According to Israel, some of its employees were indeed involved in the Hamas attack on October 7.
The government wants “ensure that UNRWA will not be part” of the solution in the Palestinian territory after the war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement, indicated the head of Israeli diplomacy in a press release, hoping “put an end to” all agency activities. On Friday, Philippe Lazzarini, head of Unrwa, announced that he had separated from several members of his staff and “open an investigation so that the truth is established without delay”.
Australia, Canada, the United States and Italy have currently suspended their funding to UNRWA.