Awaiting Hamas’s response to the new ceasefire proposal in Gaza – Telquel.ma

IIsrael and mediating countries are still awaiting a response from the Islamist movement to a proposal for a 40-day truce linked to the release of hostages held in Palestinian territory in exchange for Palestinians detained by Israel.

During a visit to Israel on Wednesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken called on Hamas to say “yes” to a deal he sees as “extremely generous” from Israel. He also called on Israel to abandon a potentially devastating ground offensive on the town of Rafah, turned into a giant refugee camp on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip.

In the absence of progress, Israel continues its deadly offensive launched on October 7 following an unprecedented attack by Hamas on Israeli soil. At least 28 people were killed in 24 hours, according to the Hamas Health Ministry. The bombings were aimed at the north, center and south of the territory occupied by Israel, mostly turned into a field of ruins.

In late November, a week-long ceasefire allowed the release of 105 hostages, including 80 Israelis and dual nationals who were exchanged for 240 Palestinians detained by Israel. Since then, mediation attempts by Qatar, the United States and Egypt have been unsuccessful.

The Islamist movement, which has been in power in Gaza since 2007, stands by its demands, primarily for a permanent ceasefire before any agreement, which Israel has always rejected. A senior Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, told AFP that the movement’s current position is “negative“, but the discussions continued. “The situation is sensitive“, added Zaher Jabareen, a member of the Hamas negotiation team.

Israel, for its part, says it is determined to continue the offensive until “total victory” about the Islamist movement, which it considers a terrorist organization along with the United States and the European Union.

To achieve this goal, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised to launch, “with or without agreement” truce, the ground offensive in Rafah, the last major bastion of Hamas, according to him, where a million and a half Palestinians have accumulated, most of whom have been displaced by the war.

Antony Blinken on Wednesday reaffirmed Washington’s opposition to “major military operation” in Rafah, as well as many capitals and humanitarian organizations that fear heavy civilian losses. US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, according to the Pentagon, emphasized the need to “credible plan for the evacuation of civilians“, during a telephone interview with his Israeli colleague Yoav Gallant.

“No physical or mental rest”

In the southern Gaza Strip, airstrikes on Thursday targeted the town of Khan Younes, which has already been leveled after months of fighting, and artillery fire was reported on the outskirts of Rafah, according to witnesses and an AFP correspondent.

Witnesses also reported shelling and fighting accompanied by artillery fire in Gaza City, in the north, as well as in Nousseirat, in the center of the territory. The military announced that it had hit several “terrorist infrastructure“, including tunnels used by Hamas.

The war has caused massive destruction in a small territory, where there is now more debris and rubble to clear than in Ukraine, a UN demining official said on Wednesday.

Gaza’s civil defense official, Mohammed Al-Mughayyir, warned Thursday of the danger associated with the presence of unexploded ordnance. “Every week, more than ten explosions occur due to the handling of them by children and civilians, causing death or serious injury.“, he told AFP.

In a workshop in Rafah, Yousef Harazi, a mechanic, hopes for an end to the bombing. “The war had a profound effect on us. We find no physical or mental respite“, he testified.

Not far from there, doctors began to restore the Nasser hospital in Khan Younès, which had been destroyed in the fighting, after receiving new equipment. “Our priority was to reopen the emergency room, we managed to equip it almost entirely using what was available within the complex, borrowing from other hospitals or relying on foreign help“, hospital director Atef al-Hout told AFP.

International aid, which is tightly controlled by Israel, is trickling in, mostly from Egypt, via Rafah, to a territory of 2.4 million people who are at risk of starvation.

The United States is pressuring Israel to release more humanitarian aid. “Progress is real, but given the enormous needs in Gaza, it must be acceleratedAntony Blinken said on Wednesday.

After the Kerem Shalom crossing, Israel opened, for the first time since the beginning of the war, the Erez crossing, which allows access to the northern part of the Gaza Strip for aid coming from Jordan.