Fighting broke out elsewhere in the Palestinian enclave on Sunday as the Israeli military ramps up pressure on the Gaza Strip, which it calls Hamas' last stronghold, raising concerns that the insurgents may remain in power for a long time to come. A warning has been issued.
Even though the world's attention is mainly focused on the southern city of Rafah, where Israel escalated its military operation last week, there was a close-quarters attack in parts of northern Gaza over the weekend between Hamas fighters and Israeli forces. Ground fighting has intensified, both sides announced on Sunday.
This has become a common scenario in Gaza throughout the seven months of war. After heavy fighting, Israel declares the area separate from Hamas, but will only return once the militants have reorganized their forces.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said Israel's failure to present a template for governing Gaza meant its victory was not “sustainable” and would be followed by “chaos, anarchy, and ultimately chaos.” He said he was concerned that this could happen. It's Hamas again. ”
Blinken's warning came as the Israeli military said its soldiers had “elimminated a large number of combatants” in Gaza City's Zeitoun district. In nearby Jabaliya, where civilians were ordered to evacuate on Saturday, troops moved in overnight after fighter jets hit more than 20 targets, the military said. The operation was “based on intelligence information regarding regroupment attempts by Hamas,” the newspaper said.
Hamas said Sunday that its fighters had a “violent clash” with Israeli soldiers near Jabaliya, and that its fighters fired large-caliber mortar shells at Israeli forces in Zeitoun.
Neither claim could be independently verified.
Palestine Television, a network affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, a rival of Hamas based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, broadcast footage showing civilians, many of them women and children, fleeing northern Gaza. . Some people were on foot, others on bicycles, others in cars, and others piled into donkey-drawn carts.
“We are deeply saddened by the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Gaza Strip,” U.N. human rights chief Volker Türk said in a statement about the fighting in the north.
In the southernmost city of Rafah, where more than 1 million Palestinians have fled seeking safety since the war began in October, Gazans fear that Israel is making a serious move into the city. was starting to move again.
Israel is under international pressure, including from its closest ally the United States, not to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah. Israel says it is determined to eradicate the extremists who led the October 7 attack on Israel.
But U.S. officials say Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip, including Yahya Sinwar, are not hiding in Rafah and have intelligence that could undermine Israel's rationale for a major military operation in the city. No activity is taking place.
U.S. officials said Israeli intelligence agrees with the U.S. assessment. U.S. officials said intelligence services from both countries believe it is likely that Mr. Sinwar never left the underground tunnel system in the main northern city of Khan Yunis. The U.S. officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the classified intelligence assessment.
Nevertheless, Israel is increasing pressure on Rafah.
The main United Nations agency assisting Palestinians in the Gaza Strip said early Sunday that about 300,000 people had been evacuated from Rafah in the past week. Another organization, the World Food Program, warned that a full-scale invasion of the city would be “catastrophic”. In a phone call with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, Blinken reiterated that the United States opposes such operations.
Gaza's largest telecommunications company announced on Sunday that internet services were being disrupted in parts of southern Gaza due to Israeli military operations. And Médecins Sans Frontières said it had begun referring the last 22 patients at the Rafah Indonesia field hospital to other facilities because “their safety can no longer be guaranteed.”
On Sunday, the people of Israel were celebrating Memorial Day. Memorial Day is a national day of remembrance that has become even more poignant this year. At 8 p.m., a one-minute siren sounded across the country, stopping pedestrians on the streets and traffic at a standstill.
Even in normal years, commemorating soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks is sacred in the small nation of Israel, where many people know someone has been killed or injured as a result of the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
According to Israeli authorities, about 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage on October 7. At least 272 soldiers have been killed since Israel began its invasion of Gaza, the military said. More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to Gaza officials, and most Gazans have been forced to flee their homes.
liam stack Report from Tel Aviv, aaron boxerman from Jerusalem and Eric Nagany From New York. Report contributor: Julian E. Burns, Adam Entos, mike ives and Edward Wong.
