Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa Agence France-Presse A woman stands with some personal belongings in front of a destroyed UNRWA building in the Al-Sinaa neighborhood in western Gaza City.
France Media Agency in Gaza
Posted at 9:19 a.m.
- Middle East
Around forty bodies were discovered Friday in two neighborhoods of Gaza City, targeted by Israeli military operations, according to the Civil Defense of the Palestinian Territory, after Joe Biden reported “progress” in discussions with a view to a truce.
In the tenth month of war between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas, fighting continues from the north to the south of the Gaza Strip, particularly in the eponymous city.
Hamas media outlets reported “more than 70 airstrikes” in the besieged Palestinian territory, where the Health Ministry said that “32 martyrs, the majority of whom were children and women, had been transferred to hospitals during the night.
« Bodies on the roads »
In the southwest of Gaza City, “about 40 martyrs” were also discovered on Friday in the neighborhoods of Tal al-Hawa and al-Sinaa, according to the Civil Defense, reporting dozens of other bodies “on the roads and in the rubble.”
On Thursday, about sixty bodies had already been discovered under the rubble in Shujaiya, an eastern neighborhood, after the end of a vast Israeli operation that devastated the area, according to the same source.
Witnesses and a correspondent saw soldiers withdrawing from certain neighborhoods of Gaza City. Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army did not immediately comment.
In the Al-Rimal neighborhood, the Israeli army left behind “massive destruction and burned buildings,” Tariq Ghanem, a 57-year-old teacher, told AFP on Friday.
The army had called on Wednesday all residents of Gaza City to evacuate, some 300,000 to 350,000 people, according to the UN.
“I been moved four times,” says Oum Ihab Arafat, sitting on a pile of sand surrounded by her children. “I want a total truce so that we can return home,” she added.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) indicated in a statement having received “hundreds of calls in recent days from people desperately calling for help” in Gaza.
“Entire families are stuck and desperately searching to be safe”, according to the ICRC.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000In downtown Gaza, an AFP correspondent saw charred buildings, other buildings heavily damaged or completely razed, with the incessant drone of Israeli drones in the background.
In the south, the Israeli army said it continued its operations in Rafah, where it “eliminated numerous terrorists in close combat and airstrikes.”
L The Israeli air force targeted projectile launch sites in Beit Hanoun after firing towards southern Israel, according to the same source.
Call to release the hostages
While the Israeli-Lebanese border is the scene of daily clashes between Israel and Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, sirens have again sounded Friday in northern Israel. A projectile fired from Lebanon fell on wasteland in Israel, causing no injuries, according to the army.
The war broke out on October 7 after an unprecedented attack by Hamas commandos infiltrated from Gaza in southern Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,195 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally. based on official Israeli data.
Of the 251 people kidnapped, 116 are still being held in Gaza, 42 of whom are dead, according to the army.
“Hamas and other armed groups must immediately and unconditionally release all civilian hostages,” Amnesty International called on Friday. “Taking hostages is a war crime.”
In response to the October 7 attack, Israel promised to destroy Hamas and launched an offensive that has left 38,345 dead so far, mostly civilians, the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government announced Thursday.
The situation in the besieged territory is dire: humanitarian aid is waiting on the Palestinian side of the Kerem Shalom checkpoint. The UN and Israel blame each other for blocking distributions.
On the diplomatic level, efforts under the aegis of Qatar, Egypt and the States -United States were relaunched to move towards a ceasefire and a release of the hostages.
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“Complex questions”
“These are difficult, complex questions. There are still gaps to be filled. We are making progress. The trend is positive,” said US President Joe Biden on Friday.
Regarding the ongoing indirect negotiations, Hossam Badran, a member of the Hamas political bureau , said Friday that his movement had proposed a “non-partisan, nationally competent government” to rule Gaza and the West Bank after the war.
Thursday, the first Israeli Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, met with the head of the Israeli delegation returning from Doha, David Barnea, director of Mossad (foreign intelligence) to take stock of the progress of the talks, according to an official statement.
From the same source, a delegation led by the head of the Shin Bet (internal security), Ronen Bar, was to go to Cairo on Thursday evening to continue talks.
Hamas announced a concession on Sunday, saying it agreed to negotiate on the release of the hostages in the absence of a permanent ceasefire with Israel, which it had until now always demanded.
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 the hostages.