Deadly Israeli bombings in Gaza, an American envoy to Israel

The Israeli army has intensified its attacks. its strikes on the Gaza Strip, one of which killedé Sunday 20 Palestinians in their homes, said a hospital source, à the time when an American envoy is expected in Israel to talk about the ongoing war.

In the eighth month of the conflict between Israel and Hamas triggered by an unprecedented attack on October 7 by the Palestinian Islamist movement on Israeli soil, fighting has resumed with a vengeance in Jabalia (north), where the Hamas has regained its footing according to the army, and continues in Rafah (south), according to witnesses.

Some “800,000” Palestinians were “forced to flee” Rafah according to the UN to crowd in particular in Khan Younes, further north, since the Israeli evacuation order on May 6, a day before the entry of the tanks Israelis in the east of this crowded city where the international community fears for the civilian population.

Before dawn, an Israeli airstrike hit the family's home Hassan in the Nusseirat refugee camp (center), said al-Aqsa hospital and witnesses. “We received twenty dead and several injured,” said the hospital.

Wounded people, including children, were taken out of the rubble of the house, reported the Palestinian agency Wafa.

In the north of the besieged and devastated Palestinian territory, the Al-Ahli Arab hospital reported three deaths in an Israeli raid on a school housing displaced people in eastern Gaza City.

Witnesses reported explosions and continued fighting throughout the night in Jabalia, after the army ordered the evacuation of neighborhoods where rockets were fired fired on Israel.

– “Against a superpower?!” –

Children in front of a crater caused by an Israeli bombardment in Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip, May 18, 2024 © AFP – –

At the beginning of January, Israel announced that it had neutralized Hamas in the north of the Palestinian territory, but according to the army, the movement has regained a foothold in Jabalia leading to a new ground operation by its soldiers.

“I appeal to everyone who has an ounce of humanity. Massacres are taking place here. Children are being torn to pieces. What is the fault of these children and women ? I don't understand, you think you're fighting against a superpower ? I swear it's the civilians who are dying,” Abou Nabil, a resident of Jabalia, told AFP.

In the south of the Gaza Strip, the army announced it was intensifying its operations in Rafah with the stated objective of annihilating the last Hamas battalions there. The fighting mainly takes place in the eastern sector.

Israel's primary supporter, the United States, which also opposes a major offensive in Rafah, announced the visit to Israel on Sunday of the White House national security adviser, Jake Sullivan.

On October 7, Hamas commandos infiltrated from the neighboring Gaza Strip in southern Israel, carried out an attack that killed more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP report established using official Israeli data. Of the 252 people taken as hostages during the attack, 125 are still detained in Gaza, including 37 dead according to the army.

Israel has vowed to destroy Hamas which took power in Gaza in 2007 and which it considers terrorist along with the United States and the European Union.

Photo released by the Israeli army on May 18, 2024, showing a military operation in the Gaza Strip © Israeli Army – –

Its army launched intense bombardments on the small, overpopulated territory, subject before the siege to an Israeli blockade for more than 15 years, then a ground offensive. Toll: at least 35,386 deaths, most of them civilians, according to data from the Health Ministry of the Hamas-led Gaza government, colossal destruction and a humanitarian catastrophe with some 2.4 million residents threatened with famine. after the UN.

– Dissensions –

Mr. Sullivan's visit coincides with deep divisions in the summit of the Israeli state.

© AFP – JACK GUEZ

Benny Gantz, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu's war cabinet, has threatened to resign if a strategic “action plan”, particularly for the post-war in Gaza, is not adopted within three weeks. Before him, Defense Minister Yoav Gallant ordered the Prime Minister to “immediately prepare” a “governmental alternative to Hamas” in Gaza.

Mr. Netanyahu, who has so far refused “any discussion” about the future before Hamas is wiped out, accused Mr. Gantz of wanting to “overthrow the government.”

Saturday evening, many Israelis demonstrated again in Tel Aviv against Benjamin Netanyahu, demanding the return of the hostages.

“Bring them home” could be read on signs.

– Rare humanitarian aid –

Photo released by the Israeli army on May 18, 2024, showing, according to it, humanitarian aid entering Gaza via a temporary American jetty © Israeli Army – –

Negotiations on a truce associated with the release of hostages and an increase in humanitarian aid to Gaza, under the aegis of international mediators, are at an impasse.

The delivery of humanitarian aid has virtually come to a standstill since the Israeli army took and closed the Rafah crossing on the Egyptian border on May 7, a crucial entry point for this aid, including essential fuel for hospitals and humanitarian logistics.

Deliveries are also largely hampered at the Israeli-side crossings of Kerem Shalom and Erez.

A strategic military road in the center of the Gaza Strip, controlled by Israel © AFP – Nalini LEPETIT-CHELLA, Sabrina BLANCHARD

Despite the establishment of a temporary pier by the Americans near the Gaza beach for the arrival of aid, the UN and humanitarian organizations repeat that only the opening of road crossings can guarantee the necessary large-scale deliveries.

On Saturday, Palestinians rushed near Nousseirat on trucks carrying aid transported from the American pier.

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