After the announcement of the Israeli army, which admitted having shot three hostages by “error”, voices are being raised for the establishment of a new truce in order to free the hostages. The French Minister of Foreign Affairs calls for “an immediate and lasting truce”.
Pressure in Israel on the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has increased since Friday’s announcement of the death of three hostages killed by soldiers who mistook them for Palestinian fighters.
They were among some 250 people captured during the unprecedented attack launched on October 7 by Hamas on Israeli soil which left 1,140 dead, according to Israeli authorities.
Among the hostages was Alon Shamriz, a 26-year-old young man who had managed to escape and take shelter in a building. Chased by the soldiers, he was killed while shouting for help in Hebrew. The army says it regrets a “tragic event”, which occurred in a time of great tension, according to the soldiers.
During Alon Shamriz’s funeral, his brother accused the Israeli army of abandoning and murdering him.
Since the death of the hostages, voices have been raised in favor of a new truce, demonstrations have taken place in the capital Tel-Aviv.
Catherine Colonna visiting the region
“Too many civilians are being killed,” Ms. Colonna said on Sunday, following a meeting with her Israeli counterpart, Eli Cohen, who hammered home the Israeli government’s position according to which a call for a ceasefire is (…) a gift for Hamas”, in power since 2007 in the Gaza Strip.
On Sunday, thick clouds of smoke caused by Israeli strikes rose from the northern Gaza Strip.
The Hamas Health Ministry deplored the death of 24 Palestinians killed in the Jabaliya camp during an Israeli bombardment.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs condemned the expansion of new settlements in the occupied West Bank as well as the violent attacks against Palestinians by settlers, she also met in the village of al-Mazra’a al-Qibliya, in the province of Ramallah, olive producers having explained to him that after being threatened and chased from their land by settlers, they were unable to harvest their harvest.
“These are serious acts which undermine the prospect of a political solution and which weaken the Palestinian Authority, which perhaps can even push towards new developments and a destabilization of the West Bank, which is not, yet once, in the well-understood interest of Israel,” said Catherine Colonna.
Gaza is on the verge of chaos
Other strikes killed at least twelve people in the town of Deir al-Balah on Sunday, according to the government of Hamas, classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, the European Union, Canada, among others.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the emergency department of al-Chifa hospital in northern Gaza has become “a bloodbath”, with hundreds of injured patients inside and new ones arriving “every minute”.
Israeli bombings have left much of the territory in ruins and the UN estimates that 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced by the war.
“I would not be surprised if people started dying of hunger, or a combination of hunger, disease and low immunity,” denounces Philippe Lazzarini, head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA).
To alleviate the shortages in food, water, medicine and fuel, since the start of the war and the total siege of the Gaza Strip established on October 9, Israel began to let in humanitarian aid from the Kerem Shalom crossing. , on the border with Egypt.
A source from the Egyptian Red Crescent, equivalent to the Red Cross, told AFP that 79 trucks passed through this terminal on Sunday.
A decision taken by Israel to relieve the Rafah terminal, which until now was the only one through which humanitarian aid entered.
According to a message on “X” (formerly Twitter) from Cogat, the Israeli body coordinating government activities in the Palestinian territories, this new crossing point was opened “to respect our agreement with the United States”.
The release of the hostages
On Sunday, Ms. Colonna met families of French hostages still held captive by Hamas and allied groups. Around 129 people remain prisoners in the Gaza Strip.
Hundreds of people marched in Tel Aviv on Saturday evening before camping in front of the Defense Ministry headquarters to demand the return of their loved ones.
“The Israeli government must (…) put its best offer on the table to bring back the hostages alive. Alive,” insisted Ruby Chen, father of hostage Itay Chen, during the rally.
More than 100 Israelis and foreigners kidnapped by Hamas were released in exchange for 240 Palestinian prisoners during a week-long truce in November brokered by Qatar.
On Saturday evening, Mr. Netanyahu judged that “military pressure” remained necessary to bring back the hostages and break Hamas.
Appearing to refer to Qatar’s ongoing diplomatic efforts to secure the release of more hostages, he added that Israel had “serious criticism of Qatar… but for now we are trying to finish recovery of our hostages.
Qatar confirmed “ongoing diplomatic efforts” on Saturday.
Hamas, however, declared itself “against any negotiations on the exchange of prisoners until the aggression against our people ceases completely”, in a message on Telegram.
Risk of a kiss in the Middle East
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin is scheduled to travel to the Middle East on Sunday to meet with leaders in Israel, Bahrain and Qatar.
In recent days, the US administration has pushed Israeli authorities to move to a less intensive phase of their operation in Gaza, in order to better protect civilians.
The head of British diplomacy, David Cameron, and his German counterpart, Annalena Baerbock, for their part called for “a lasting ceasefire”, as quickly as possible, in a joint article published in the Sunday Times.
But they are opposed to a “general and immediate ceasefire” believing that Hamas “must lay down its arms”.
Ms Colonna is also due to meet on Sunday her Palestinian Authority counterpart, Riyad al-Maliki, as well as Palestinians who have been driven from their land by Israeli settlers.
Outside Gaza, the Palestinian authority deplored the deaths on Sunday of five new Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, where violence has flared since the start of the war.
And the war continues to increase tensions across the region, with the specter of contagion.
Israel regularly exchanges fire across its northern border with Lebanon, mainly with the Iranian-backed Lebanese Shiite Hezbollah movement. On Saturday, the Israeli army said one soldier was killed and two others injured on the Lebanese border.
A call for “de-escalation”.
After attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels, presented as responses to the war between Israel and Hamas, several global maritime transport giants have also announced that they are interrupting the passage of their ships through this major commercial maritime route.
Attacks which, according to the head of French diplomacy, “cannot go unanswered”, with France studying “several defensive options” with its partners.
In total, 18,800 people, 70% of them women, children and adolescents, have been killed since the start of the retaliatory offensive launched by Israel on the Gaza Strip, according to the Hamas Ministry of Health.