Israel and Hamas at war, day 155 | First aid ship ready to embark for Gaza

A first ship loaded with aid is ready to embark from Cyprus for the Gaza Strip affected by famine and relentlessly bombarded by Israel, at a time when hopes of a truce before Ramadan are fading, more than five months later the start of the war.

Israel on Saturday accused the Palestinian movement Hamas of “not being interested in an agreement” and of wanting to “inflame the region during Ramadan”, the month of fasting for Muslims which begins at the beginning of next week, according to a press release from the Hamas services. Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.

The press release announces a meeting on Friday between the heads of the Israeli and American intelligence services, the Mossad and the CIA, as part of negotiations around a truce in the besieged Gaza Strip where the humanitarian situation is becoming more catastrophic every day.

While the aid provided by land or air remains largely insufficient in the Palestinian territory, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, expressed the hope on Friday of an opening on Sunday of a maritime corridor allowing deliver aid from Cyprus, located some 370 kilometers from Gaza.

Two NGOs are already preparing to leave the port of Larnaca, in the south of the Mediterranean island, a first boat loaded with 200 tonnes of food.

“Everything will be ready today to be able to leave,” Laura Lanuza, spokesperson for the Spanish NGO Open Arms, a partner in this project of the American NGO of the Spanish-American chef José, told AFP. Andrés, World Central Kitchen (WCK).

She indicated that the Israeli authorities – who authorized the principle of this operation like the Cypriot authorities – were in the process of inspecting the cargo.

WCK “already has people in Gaza” and the NGO is “building a pier” to be able to unload the cargo on the coastal territory, according to the Open Arms spokesperson.

“Inevitable” famine

On Thursday, US President Joe Biden announced the construction of a “temporary pier” in Gaza which could, according to the Pentagon, provide “more than two million meals per day to the citizens of Gaza”.

Building the structure would likely involve more than 1,000 troops and could take up to 60 days, according to the Pentagon.

According to the UN, 2.2 of the 2.4 million inhabitants of this cramped territory hit by significant water and food shortages are threatened with famine, and 1.7 million have been displaced by fighting and violence. Israeli strikes which caused massive destruction.

For the UN, which warns of an “almost inevitable widespread famine” in Gaza, airdrops, as well as sending aid by sea, cannot replace the land route.

The fall of packages dropped by planes from different countries on Gaza killed five people on Friday, according to a hospital source. It has not yet been possible to know which country carried out the deadly drop. The United States, Jordan, France, Belgium and the Netherlands said they were not involved in the incident.

In addition, Canada and Sweden announced on Saturday that they would resume funding for the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the main provider of aid in the Palestinian territory, more than a month after suspending it. like around fifteen countries. Israel called the two countries’ decision a “serious mistake.”

The UN agency has been at the center of controversy since Israel accused 12 of its employees at the end of January of being involved in the bloody October 7 attack carried out by Hamas against Israel.

Children who died of malnutrition

According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, at least 23 civilians have died of malnutrition and dehydration in Gaza, after the deaths of three more children.

And Israeli strikes on Gaza have seen no respite since October 7: in the last 24 hours, at least 82 people have died, bringing the death toll in Gaza to 30,960 since the start of the conflict, according to the authorities of the Islamist movement. .

The Hamas government reported more than 30 strikes overnight.

The Gaza Strip, already subject to an Israeli blockade since Hamas took power in 2007, is bordered by Israel, Egypt which keeps its border closed and the Mediterranean Sea.

Hamas leader Ismaïl Haniyeh called in a statement on Saturday for “the total opening of the crossing points (…) in order to put an end to the siege of our people”, and for the “rapid distribution” of aid.

The Hamas attack on October 7 resulted in the deaths of at least 1,160 people, most of them civilians, in southern Israel, according to an AFP count based on official sources.

Around 250 people were also kidnapped and taken to Gaza that day, and 130 hostages are still being held there, 31 of whom Israel says are dead.

In response, Israel has vowed to annihilate Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, along with the United States and the European Union.

“No compromise”

To achieve “total victory”, Israel says it is preparing a ground offensive on Rafah, on the Egyptian border, where nearly 1.5 million Palestinians are massed according to the UN.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Friday it was up to Hamas to agree to a truce with Israel, but the group’s military wing said it would make “no compromise” on its demands for peace. a definitive ceasefire and a withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip in exchange for any agreement on the release of the hostages.

President Biden, for his part, estimated that it would be “difficult” to obtain a ceasefire before the start of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan (next Monday or Tuesday), an objective that had tried to achieve this week in Cairo the mediator countries (Egypt, Qatar and the United States) and Hamas.