- Over 1m people fled north Gaza so far, says UN
Hopes for a brief ceasefire in southern Gaza to allow foreign passport holders to leave the besieged Palestinian enclave and aid to be brought in were dashed yesterday.
This came up as Israeli bombardments were intensifying ahead of an expected ground invasion.
Residents of Hamas-ruled Gaza said the overnight strikes were the heaviest yet in nine days of conflict. Many houses were flattened and the death toll rose inexorably, they said.
Diplomatic efforts have been underway to get aid into the enclave, which has endured unrelenting Israeli bombing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants that killed 1,300 people, the bloodiest single day in the state’s 75-year history.
Israel has imposed a full blockade and is preparing a ground invasion to enter Gaza and destroy Hamas, which has continued to fire rockets at Israel since its brief cross-border assault.
Yesterday, rocket-warning sirens sounded in several towns in southern Israel, the Israeli military said.
Israeli troops and tanks are already massed on the border.
Authorities in Gaza said at least 2,750 people had so far been killed by the Israeli strikes, a quarter of them children, and nearly 10,000 wounded. A further 1,000 people were missing and believed to be under rubble.
As the humanitarian crisis deepened, with food, fuel and water running short, hundreds of tonnes of aid from several countries have been held up in Egypt pending a deal for its safe delivery to Gaza and the evacuation of some foreign passport holders through the Rafah border crossing.
Yesterday, Egyptian security sources had told Reuters that an agreement had been reached to open the crossing to allow aid into the enclave.
However, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said in a statement, “there is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out”.
Chief military spokesperson Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari also said there was no Gaza ceasefire and that Israel was continuing its attacks.
Hamas official Izzat El Reshiq told Reuters that there was “no truth” to the reports about the opening of the crossing with Egypt or a temporary ceasefire.
Egypt has said the crossing remained open from the Egyptian side in recent days but was rendered inoperable due to Israeli bombardments on the Palestinian side.
The UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Martin Griffiths said yesterday that over one million people have fled from the northern Gaza Strip to the south of the coastal enclave ahead of an expected Israeli ground invasion.
“My main concern right now is to get aid into Gaza,” Griffiths said.
It was of utmost importance to help the people on the move as well as those already in southern Gaza, “because they won’t get out of Gaza,” he said.
Griffiths plans to travel to Cairo today to negotiate with senior Egyptian officials on opening the southern border with Gaza for aid deliveries.
He said the UN was engaged in “hourly” negotiations with Israel about aid access.
His main message was “urgency” in view of the increasingly poor supply situation in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt yesteday said Israel was not cooperating with the delivery of aid into Gaza and evacuations of foreign passport holders via the only entry, leaving hundreds of tonnes of supplies stuck.
Cairo said the Rafah crossing, a potentially vital opening for desperately needed supplies into the besieged Palestinian enclave, was not officially closed but inoperable due to Israeli air strikes on the Gaza side.
Egypt’s Foreign Minister, Sameh Shoukry, told reporters that, “there is an urgent need to alleviate the suffering of Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” adding that talks with Israel had not been fruitful.
“Until now the Israeli government has not taken a position on opening the Rafah crossing from the Gaza side to allow the entrance of assistance and exit of citizens of third countries,” said Shoukry.
More than two million Gazans have been under siege since Israel launched an intense bombardment and blockade in retaliation for an assault by the Hamas Islamist militants.
Two Egyptian security sources had told Reuters a ceasefire in southern Gaza to last several hours had been agreed for Monday morning to facilitate aid and evacuations at Rafah.
However, Israel denied that.
“There is currently no truce and humanitarian aid in Gaza in exchange for getting foreigners out,” a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said.
Hamas official, Izzat El-Reshiq, told Reuters the same.
On the ground at Rafah, one source said there had been no bombardments on Monday and that the Egyptian side of the crossing was ready.
