The Hamas-controlled Health Ministry said 18 people were killed in an attack on a house in the Nuseirat refugee settlement in the central Gaza Strip. The Israeli army is continuing “heavy artillery shelling” in the city of Gaza and Jabaliya in the north and Deir al-Bala in the center. There were also attacks in the Chan Yunis area in the south, as images from the AFP news agency showed.
The Israeli military announced on Friday evening that it had “eliminated terrorists.” The army also discovered tunnels used by Hamas in the city of Gaza. On Saturday, the Israeli army released footage showing soldiers operating in ruins.
Shortly before, the UN Security Council had 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 facilitate the “safe and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid on a large scale,” said the resolution, which was voted for by 13 of the 15 member states. The veto powers USA and Russia abstained.
The Security Council members had fought hard 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 simply states that the conditions for a “sustainable cessation of hostilities” must be created “as a matter of urgency.”
Regarding aid deliveries, the resolution states that all routes into and through the Gaza Strip must be used, including the border crossings. A UN report had previously been published warning of imminent famine in the Gaza Strip. It is likely that more than half of the population will be at risk of “acute food insecurity” in the next six weeks.
Shortly after the resolution was passed, UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the Israeli military offensive as the “real problem” for humanitarian aid deliveries. This would create “massive obstacles” to the distribution of these goods. He reiterated his call for a “humanitarian ceasefire.”
Following the adoption of the resolution, Israel declared that it would continue to act against Hamas. Foreign Minister Eli Cohen said his country would continue “the war in the Gaza Strip” against the Islamist Palestinian organization until it was “eliminated” and the 129 hostages it was still holding were freed.
Israel also announced that it would continue to monitor all humanitarian deliveries to the Gaza Strip. This is necessary “for security reasons”. The UN resolution refrained from demanding that deliveries be controlled “exclusively” by the UN. Instead, only a UN humanitarian coordinator should be appointed. Hamas criticized the resolution as “inadequate.”
On Friday, thousands of people fled the center of the Gaza Strip following an evacuation order from the Israeli army. The army had asked the residents of the Bureij refugee camp and the surrounding area to move to Deir al-Bala, further south. The UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said the latest evacuation order affected more than 150,000 people.
“The people of Gaza are people. They are not pieces on a chessboard – many have already been displaced several times,” said UNRWA director Thomas White on online networks. “The Israeli army is simply ordering people to move to areas where there are ongoing airstrikes.”
According to UN estimates, the war, which has now lasted two and a half months, has made around 1.9 of the total 2.4 million people in the Gaza Strip internally displaced. The war was triggered by Hamas’ major attack on Israel on October 7th.
Hundreds of fighters from Hamas, which is classified as a terrorist organization by the EU and the USA, had invaded Israeli towns and committed atrocities against civilians there. According to Israeli information, around 1,140 people were killed and around 250 people were taken hostage in the Gaza Strip.
Since then, Israel has been carrying out massive attacks in the Palestinian territory – with the stated aim of destroying Hamas. According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, which cannot be independently verified, at least 20,000 people have been killed so far.
