Two-thirds of Gaza Strip affected by Israeli evacuation orders

More than half of the Gaza Strip’s 2.3 million residents are now crowded into the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, and surrounding areas, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said of ONU. A quarter of Gaza’s residents are now directly at risk of starvation and 85% of the population has been driven from their homes, with hundreds of thousands surviving in makeshift tent camps as fighting continues in the enclave.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant recently said that the army would continue operations in the northern Gaza Strip for many months and would continue its main offensive in the south until that she has “full power” throughout the territory. The offensive has already reached the town of Rafah, notably via bombings, which left at least four dead, including two children on Tuesday.

Egypt has already warned that an Israeli deployment along the border threatens the peace treaty the two countries signed more than four decades ago. Egypt fears that an expansion of fighting to the Rafah area could push terrified Palestinian civilians across the border, a scenario Egypt has said it is determined to prevent.

Negotiations for a truce and further liberations

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is back in the Middle East, where he is pushing for a deal on the release of around 100 Israeli hostages and a post-war plan for Gaza. Antony Blinken met with the leaders of Egypt and Qatar on Tuesday, after visiting Saudi Arabia the day before. Qatar and Egypt are key U.S. allies who often serve as mediators between Israel and Hamas.

This Tuesday, the Prime Minister of Qatar declared alongside Antony Blinken that Hamas’ reaction to the latest ceasefire plan in Gaza and the release of the hostages was “overall positive“. The American Secretary of State is meeting with Israeli leaders this Wednesday to try to negotiate a truce agreement.