The death toll crosses the milestone of 25,000 deaths in the Gaza Strip

Photo: Agence France-Presse Hundreds of thousands of displaced Palestinians have taken refuge in Rafah, in the far south of the Gaza Strip.

Adel Zaanoun – Agence France-Presse in Palestinian territories

January 21, 2024

• Middle East

The Israeli army shelled the Gaza Strip on Sunday, where the human toll exceeded 25,000 deaths according to Hamas on the 107th day of the war for control of the small Palestinian territory, which is exacerbating regional tensions.

Israel must “ensure that Gaza no longer poses a threat”, which “contradicts the demand for Palestinian sovereignty”, repeated its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, in a new rejection of American calls, European and UN support for the creation of a Palestinian state.

On the ground, Hamas, which took power in Gaza in 2007, reported numerous air strikes and artillery fire, notably in Khan Younes, the large southern city, now the epicenter of fighting.

According to the Palestinian Islamist movement, 178 people have died in the last 24 hours in these operations, with the Israeli army announcing that it had “eliminated terrorists” in Khan Younes.

The army also carries out operations around Jabaliya, in northern Gaza, according to witnesses.

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In southern Israel, sirens warning of rockets fired from Gaza rang out in the community village of Kissoufim.

The war was sparked by Hamas' unprecedented attack on Israeli soil on October 7, which resulted in the deaths of 1,140 people, the majority civilians, according to an AFP tally at based on official Israeli figures.

Some 250 people were kidnapped during the attack, including around a hundred released at the end of November. One hundred and thirty-two are still in Gaza, of whom at least 27 have been killed, according to the same count.

“Little oxygen”

The army said on Saturday that it had discovered a tunnel in Khan Younès where “around twenty hostages” were locked up “without daylight”, with “little oxygen and terrible humidity”. The soldiers found drawings made by a five-year-old captive child.

The air and ground offensive carried out by Israel to “annihilate” Hamas in Gaza has killed 25,105 people, the vast majority civilians, and injured 62,681, the Health Ministry said on Sunday of the Palestinian movement.

At least 1.7 of the approximately 2.4 million inhabitants of the small besieged territory have had to leave their homes, according to the UN, and the population lacks everything, exposed to the risk of famine and epidemics, warns the UN.

According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, there has been “no progress” in increasing humanitarian aid to Gaza.

On Sunday, dozens of displaced people, cans in hand, waited during a water distribution organized by Doctors Without Borders in Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, where people have taken refuge. hundreds of thousands of displaced people, AFP noted.

Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh, based in Qatar, discussed Saturday in Turkey with the head of Turkish diplomacy, Hakan Fidan, “the establishment of a ceasefire in Gaza as quickly as possible, the “increased humanitarian aid, release of hostages and a two-state solution for permanent peace”, according to diplomatic sources on Sunday.

The Netanyahu government remains deaf to international calls for a humanitarian ceasefire, vowing to prolong the war “until total victory” against Hamas, classified as terrorist by the United States and the European Union.

In Tel Aviv, thousands of Israelis demonstrated on Saturday to demand the departure of the prime minister, accused of wanting above all to stay in power.

Iranian threats

The war is exacerbating tensions between Israel and Hamas' allies within the “axis of resistance” which also includes Iran, Lebanese Hezbollah and the Yemeni Houthi rebels.

Iran threatened Israel with retaliation after accusing it of killing five Iranian “military advisors” in a strike in Damascus on Saturday.

The same day, in western Iraq, a new attack targeted a base housing American troops, claimed by the “Islamic Resistance in Iraq”, a nebula of pro-Iran fighters.

At the Israeli-Lebanese border, where there have been daily exchanges of fire between Israeli soldiers and Hezbollah fighters since October 7, a civilian and a fighter were killed in an Israeli strike on Saturday.

And the United States launched new strikes on Saturday against Houthi sites, in the face of repeated attacks on merchant ships by these rebels off the coast of Yemen.

The West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967, is also experiencing a resurgence of violence, at a level not seen in nearly 20 years. The Israeli army has carried out deadly operations there in recent days and destroyed two family homes in Hebron belonging to Palestinian fighters.

According to the Palestinian Authority, since October 7 at least 364 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers in the West Bank, separated from Gaza by Israeli territory.