Strikes and fighting in Gaza City, expected resumption of negotiations in Qatar

Intense fighting takes place on Thursday at Gaza, shelled by the Israeli army, despite the term given the day before à a vast Israeli operation in the eastern sector of this city, totally devastated, in the tenth month of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas.

After months of unsuccessful diplomatic efforts, new discussions must begin in Qatar, a mediator country with the United States and Egypt, to try to move towards a ceasefire and a release of hostages kidnapped during the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which started the war.

Mossad chief David Barnea and the Director of the CIA, William Burns, arrived in Doha on Wednesday.

The Israeli army announced on Thursday that it was continuing its operation in the center of Gaza City (north) against fighters “integrated into the headquarters of UNRWA”, the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees. She accused Hamas of using it “as a base to launch attacks”.

Clashes also took place in Tal al-Hawa, in the south of Gaza City, and in Sabra (west).

Wednesday evening, the Israeli army announced having “completed” its operations launched on June 27 in Choujaiya, in the east of Gaza City, after violent fighting.

The soldiers there “completed their mission”, which allowed the dismantling of “eight tunnels” and the elimination of “dozens of terrorists” as well as the destruction of “combat bases and trapped buildings”, according to a press release.

The offensive on Shujaïya was extended on Monday to the districts of the center of Gaza city, and the army on Wednesday called on all residents to evacuate the city, where until then there were 300,000 to 350,000 people. according to the UN, via “security corridors”.

In leaflets, she warned that the city, where she had announced in early January that she had “completed the dismantling of the military structure” of Hamas, remained “a dangerous combat zone”.

< p>– “Immense Destruction” –

A Palestinian walks through rubble after the Israeli army withdrew from the Shujaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City on July 10, 2024. © AFP – Omar AL-QATTAA

The war broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP count. based on official Israeli data.

Of 251 people then kidnapped, 116 are still being held in Gaza, 42 of whom are dead, according to the army.

In response, Israel promised to destroy Hamas, which has taken power in Gaza since 2007, and launched a military offensive which has so far left 38,243 dead, mostly civilians, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government.

Map of the Gaza Strip locating the towns of Gaza, Rafah, Khan Younes, Deir el-Balah and Al-Zawayda © AFP – Sylvie HUSSON, Sabrina BLANCHARD

Thursday, residents began to return to the Choujaiya district, walking among the rubble, in a devastated landscape, according to AFPTV. According to Civil Defense, Israeli forces withdrew from the area, which had become “a ghost town”.

“We found immense destruction that defies description,” lamented Mohamad Nairi, a displaced Palestinian. “All the houses have been demolished,” he told AFP.

At least six bodies were found in the ruins of the neighborhood, said the Hamas Ministry of Health on Thursday.

Hostilities also continue in the south of the small Palestinian territory, where residents have reported intense Israeli bombardment in the north of the town of Rafah, bordering Egypt.

A malnourished Palestinian child is treated by a nurse at Nasser Hospital in Khan Younes, southern Gaza Strip, July 10, 2024 © AFP – Eyad BABA

The Israeli army said Thursday that it was continuing its operations in the Rafah region, claiming that its troops had “eliminated dozens of terrorists”, including Hassan Abou Kouik, described as one of the heads of operational security Hamas internal security forces having “carried out numerous terrorist attacks” Israel.

According to the army, five “projectiles” were fired from the Rafah area towards southern Israel.

In the central Gaza Strip, besieged and Threatened with famine according to the UN, four people were killed in an Israeli strike on a house in the Nousseirat refugee camp, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.

– Diplomatic marathon –

For several months, Qatar, the United States and Egypt have been struggling on the demands of both camps to move towards a ceasefire.

A woman holds a sign calling for the release of a hostage held in the Gaza Strip since the Hamas attack on October 7, at the start of a protest march from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in an attempt to pressure their government to he negotiates an agreement to release their loved ones, July 10, 2024 © AFP – JACK GUEZ

Hamas announced a concession on Sunday, saying it agreed to negotiate on the release of hostages still held in the Gaza Strip in the absence of a permanent ceasefire with Israel, which it had until now always demanded.

The diplomatic marathon has since resumed with a vengeance.

During a meeting Wednesday in Jerusalem with White House Middle East coordinator Brett McGurk, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated his commitment to a ceasefire agreement “as long as that Israel's red lines are respected.”

A Palestinian walks past destroyed buildings after the Israeli army withdrew from the Shujaiya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City on July 10, 2024. © AFP – Omar AL-QATTAA

Mr. Netanyahu has always said he wants to continue the war until the destruction of Hamas – considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union – and the release of all hostages.

An official of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Hossam Badran, however declared to AFP that the “intensification” of Israeli “massacres” in the Gaza Strip in recent days had the effect of reinforcing demands of the Islamist movement.

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