UN: Israel orders further evacuations in Chan Junis
According to the UN, more than 110,000 people were living in the area before the fighting between Israel and the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas began. There are also 32 emergency shelters in the area with more than 140,000 internally displaced persons, most of them from the north of the Gaza Strip.
The Israeli armed forces stated that attacks were carried out on Wednesday against "dozens of terrorists and terrorist infrastructure" in Khan Yunis using ground forces, from the air and from the sea. The army had announced on Monday that it would intensify its attacks on targets in the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip.
On 7 October, hundreds of fighters from Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA, invaded Israeli towns and committed atrocities against civilians. According to Israeli reports, around 1140 people were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
In response, the Israeli army has since bombed targets in the Gaza Strip and launched a ground offensive. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, at least 20,000 people have now been killed.
In a television interview on Wednesday evening, French President Emmanuel Macron warned that fighting terrorism does not mean "razing everything in Gaza to the ground or indiscriminately attacking the civilian population". That is why the protection of civilians and a ceasefire that leads to a ceasefire are necessary, Macron said on France 5.
Hamas leader Ismail Haniya held talks in Egypt on Wednesday about a possible ceasefire and a new prisoner exchange. The British broadcaster BBC and the US newspaper "Wall Street Journal" reported, citing informed circles, that the talks had not led to any results, but were to be continued.
Meanwhile, Israel is holding talks with Qatar and the USA in order to reach a possible ceasefire with further hostage releases. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned on Tuesday, however, that there would be no ceasefire before an "elimination of Hamas". "Anyone who thinks we will stop is out of touch with reality."
US President Joe Biden said there was no expectation "at this point" of an immediate hostage agreement between Israel and Hamas. "But we are pushing for it."
Meanwhile, the UN Security Council in New York will try again on Thursday to agree on a resolution calling for a ceasefire. Votes on a resolution text planned for the past few days have been repeatedly postponed. The aim of the consultations is to ensure that the USA - one of Israel's most important allies - does not block the resolution with its veto.
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Source: www.stern.de
