Shootings strongly condemned. This Thursday, the town of Khan Younes, in the south of the Gaza Strip, remains the epicenter of clashes between the Israeli army and Palestinian Hamas following deadly shootings against a UN shelter housing people displaced by the war.
Tank fire against a building of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees left at least “nine dead and 75 injured” on Wednesday, said Thomas White, head of the organization in Gaza. Medical and UN sources fear that the toll will rise.
“Violation of the fundamental rules of war”
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), said the reception center was “clearly” identified and its contact details had been ” shared with the Israeli authorities. He denounced “a flagrant violation of the fundamental rules of war”.
The Israeli army said it had “surrounded” Khan Younes and called on the local population to leave for Rafah, further south, on the border with Egypt. But the fighting makes transport to this region dangerous, where the majority of the 1.7 million Palestinians already displaced by the war are concentrated.
After the deadly shooting at the UN site, the Israeli army told AFP that a “review” of the operations was underway but that it had “ruled out […] an air or artillery strike”, also evoking “the possibility” of a Hamas shot.
An act “deplored” by the United States
During the night, witnesses also reported airstrikes towards Rafah. The Islamist movement’s Ministry of Health reported in the morning numerous additional deaths and injuries across this territory ravaged by months of war.
The United States, Israel’s first ally, said it “deplored” these shots and called for UN sites in Gaza to be “protected”. A State Department spokesperson called the incident “terribly worrying,” while the White House stressed its “serious concern.”
Israelis call to cease fire
On the 111th day of the war, the humanitarian situation continues to worsen in the besieged territory. At the same time, Israeli demonstrators blocked a key artery in the Israeli metropolis of Tel Aviv on Wednesday evening to urge the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to accept a pause in the fighting, or even a cease-fire.
” That’s enough ! […] We do not want the hostages to return to us as corpses, we are tired of the bombings in Gaza, we are tired of seeing dead children, we want to send a clear message: the people in Israel are demanding an agreement, demanding peace. peace,” said Sapir Sluzker Amran, a protester.
A region that is on fire from all sides
Qatar, Egypt and the United States are currently trying to mediate to reach a new, longer truce in Gaza including the release of hostages and prisoners. But in a recording obtained by Israeli channel 12, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu deemed the mediator role of Qatar, the country where the political leadership of Hamas is established, “problematic”.
The conflict is also exacerbating regional tensions, particularly off the coast of Yemen where Houthi rebels, close to Iran, fired missiles against two American ships on Wednesday, forcing them to turn back.