Israel continues massive attacks in Gaza Strip even after UN resolution
According to Hamas, 18 people were killed in an attack on a house in the refugee settlement of Nuseirat in the center of the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army also continued its "heavy artillery bombardment" in the city of Gaza and in Jabaliya in the north and Deir al-Bala in the center. There were also attacks in the area of Chan Junis in the south, as pictures from the AFP news agency showed.
The Israeli military reported the "elimination of terrorists" on Friday evening. The army had also discovered tunnels used by Hamas in the city of Gaza. On Saturday, the military published footage showing soldiers operating in ruins.
According to the army, a further five soldiers have been killed during operations in the Gaza Strip since Friday, four of them in the south of the territory and another in the north. This brings the number of soldiers killed since the start of the Israeli military 's ground offensive on October 27 to 144.
Hamas, for its part, accused the Israeli army of "executing" dozens of people in Jabaliya last week. The army did not comment directly on the accusations when asked by AFP, but stated that it complied with the "provisions of international law" when attacking military targets.
On Friday, the UN Security Council called for comprehensive humanitarian aid deliveries to the Gaza Strip in a painstakingly negotiated resolution. In the war between Israel and Hamas, all sides must enable the "safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale", according to the resolution, which 13 of the 15 member states voted in favor of. The veto powers USA and Russia abstained.
The Security Council members struggled for days over the wording of the resolution. A central point of contention was the possible demand for an immediate ceasefire. A corresponding passage was not included in the resolution. It merely states that the conditions for a "sustainable cessation of hostilities" must be created "with all urgency".
With regard to aid deliveries, the resolution states that all routes in and through the Gaza Strip must be used, including the border crossings. A UN report had previously warned of an imminent famine in the Gaza Strip.
Regardless of the UN resolution, Israel intends to continue its actions against Hamas. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen announced that his country would continue the war in the Gaza Strip against the Islamist Palestinian organization until it had been "eliminated" and the 129 hostages still held by it had been freed.
Israel also announced that it would continue to control all humanitarian deliveries to the Gaza Strip. This was necessary "for security reasons". The UN resolution refrained from demanding that deliveries be controlled "exclusively" by the UN. Instead, only a UN humanitarian coordinator is to be appointed. Hamas criticized the resolution as "insufficient".
On Friday, thousands of people fled the center of the Gaza Strip following an evacuation order from the Israeli army. The army had ordered the residents of the Bureij refugee camp and the surrounding area to move to Deir al-Bala further south. According to UN estimates, the war, which has now been going on for eleven weeks, has turned around 1.9 of the 2.4 million people in the Gaza Strip into internally displaced persons.
The war was triggered by Hamas' major attack on Israel on October 7. Hundreds of fighters from Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA, had infiltrated 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.
Since then, Israel has carried out massive attacks in the Palestinian territory - with the declared aim of destroying Hamas. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, at least 20,258 people have been killed so far.
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Source: www.stern.de
