“Hell on earth”: the humanitarian situation is deteriorating in Gaza

The war between Israel and Hamas entered its 68th day on Wednesday, as airstrikes and ground fighting continued, particularly in Khan Yunis and Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip, as well as in the city from Gaza to the north.

“It’s hell on earth,” declared Tuesday Philippe Lazzarini, the Commissioner-General of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, returning from the Palestinian enclave.

“Nothing will stop us”

“Nothing will stop us” on the path to “victory” in the war against Hamas, neither the deaths of soldiers nor “international pressure” for a cease-fire, declared the Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

His head of diplomacy, Eli Cohen, assured him that his country would continue the war “with or without international support”.

The Israeli army announced on Wednesday the deaths of 115 soldiers in Gaza since October 27.

Palestinian militants carried out one of the deadliest attacks on Israeli soldiers since the start of the Gaza invasion, killing at least nine soldiers in an urban ambush, the army said Wednesday.

“Illusion”

For his part, Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh described any political solution in the Gaza Strip without the participation of Palestinian “resistance movements” as an “illusion” on Wednesday.

“Any arrangement in Gaza or regarding the Palestinian cause without Hamas or the resistance movements is an illusion,” Qatar-based Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised speech.

His comments responded to the statements of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who on Tuesday excluded “the entry into Gaza of those who educate in terrorism, support terrorism and finance terrorism”, in reference to Hamas against which Israel has been waging war since the 7 october.

Ismail Haniyeh, however, stressed that he was willing to discuss “an end to the aggression in Gaza” and “putting the Palestinian house in order in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.”

Hamas, according to him, is ready for discussions “on a political path that will ensure the right of the Palestinian people to an independent state with Jerusalem as its capital.”

Biden’s adviser to Israel

Jake Sullivan, US President Joe Biden’s national security adviser, is traveling to Israel on Thursday and Friday to meet Mr Netanyahu, his “war cabinet” and Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

Fervent support of Israel, Joe Biden on Tuesday criticized the Israeli government in an unprecedented manner for its opposition to a “two-state” solution to the conflict with the Palestinians, and warned against an erosion of international support because of “indiscriminate bombings” in Gaza.

“We have concerns and we have expressed them about the Israeli military offensive” in Gaza and its impact on the civilian population, a White House spokesperson said Wednesday.

Sanctions against “extremist” settlers

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said she was in favor of sanctions against “extremist” settlers in the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.

According to the NGO Human Rights Watch, violence committed by settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank has increased since October 7.

Kamal Adwan Hospital Headquarters

The Hamas Health Ministry accused the Israeli army of reinforcing the siege of the Kamal Adwan hospital in the north of the Palestinian territory, and of “shooting on patients’ rooms”.

On Tuesday, Hamas declared that Israel had launched an assault against the establishment that had been “besieged and bombarded” for several days.

Israel regularly accuses Hamas of using hospitals, schools and mosques to house military installations, which it denies.

Humanitarian aid

The Hamas Ministry of Health has warned of an “exhaustion of vaccine stocks” for children.

This shortage “would have catastrophic repercussions on the health of children and the spread of diseases, particularly among displaced people living in overcrowded camps.”

Cogat, the Israeli organ of the Ministry of Defense responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, said on Wednesday that 195 trucks of humanitarian aid had entered the besieged territory the day before, an increase compared to previous days.

18,608 dead

According to Israel, 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the October 7 attack perpetrated by Hamas commandos. Around 240 people were kidnapped and taken to Gaza. In total, 135 hostages remain in Gaza, including bodies, according to the army. Around a hundred people were released as part of a truce at the end of November in exchange for Palestinian prisoners incarcerated by Israel.

After the October 7 attack, Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas, shelling Palestinian territory, besieging it and carrying out, since October 27, a vast ground operation.

The Hamas Health Ministry reported Wednesday that 18,608 people had died in Israeli bombings, mostly women, children and those under 18.