Israel
continues to bomb Gaza as hopes fade of Hamas leader’s death ending war
More than 60
deaths recorded in territory in past day as Israel launches more airstrikes and
sends in more troops
Jason Burke
and Malak A Tantesh in Gaza
Fri 18 Oct
2024 18.02 BST
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/oct/18/israel-gaza-airstrikes-hamas-leader-yahya-sinwar-death
Israel has
launched new airstrikes and sent more troops into Gaza, dashing brief hopes
among many residents of the territory that the killing of the Hamas leader,
Yahya Sinwar, could bring an end to the devastating conflict.
Sinwar, 62,
was killed on Thursday by tank fire directed at a building in Rafah in the far
south of Gaza after exchanging fire with an Israeli patrol.
Several
airstrikes were reported overnight and on Friday morning. At least 62 deaths
have been recorded since Thursday, according to Palestinian health authorities
in Gaza.
The most
intense recent clashes have come in Jabalia, the largest of Gaza’s eight
historical refugee camps and the site of fierce fighting in recent weeks
between Israeli forces and Hamas militants who have regrouped there. Tens of
thousands of civilians are thought to be trapped in Jabalia, where conditions
are deteriorating.
Israeli
military officials said Israel was sending reinforcements to bolster its
operation in Jabalia, raising fears of an escalation of violence there.
“We always
thought that when [Sinwar was killed] the war would end and our lives would
return to normal,” said Jemaa Abou Mendi, a 21-year-old Gaza resident. “But
unfortunately, the reality on the ground is quite the opposite. The war has not
stopped, and the killings continue unabated.”
Mustafa
al-Zaeem, 47, a resident from the Rimal neighbourhood in western Gaza City,
said Israel had achieved one of its principal war aims and should stop the
fighting. “If Sinwar’s assassination was one of the objectives of this war,
well, today they have killed Yahya Sinwar,” Zaeem said. “Enough death, enough
hunger, enough siege. Enough thirst and starvation, enough bodies and blood.”
Some in Gaza
said they had been inspired by the images released by Israeli military of
Sinwar’s last moments, which showed the veteran leader covered in dust, wounded
and with his head wrapped in a Palestinian keffiyeh. In the footage, Sinwar
appears to throw a stick at a drone that has tracked him into a half-destroyed
apartment.
Adel Rajab,
60, said he had not supported the 7 October attacks that triggered the
conflict, believing Palestinians were not prepared for all-out war with Israel,
but he felt Sinwar’s death was heroic. “He died wearing a military vest,
fighting with a rifle and grenades, and when he was wounded and was bleeding he
fought with a stick. This is how heroes die.”
A poll in
September showed a majority of people in Gaza thought the attack on Israel,
which killed 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and led to the abductions of 250,
was the wrong decision and a growing number of Palestinians have questioned
Sinwar’s willingness to start a war that has caused them so much suffering.
Palestinian
authorities said on Friday that more than 42,500 people had been killed since
the Israeli offensive began. Most are civilians. Almost 100,000 have been
injured.
Haniyeh
Ashour, 48, said intensive recent bombing had forced her family from its
makeshift shelter in a hospital. “These two weeks were one of the worst weeks
we lived in this war. We have seen death a lot of times. My children and I do
not know what it is like to sleep, and when there is a bombing nearby we get
terrified. We are just waiting for that missile that will send our souls to my
children and husband,” said Ashour, whose husband and three sons were killed
earlier in the conflict.
Much of
northern Gaza remains under siege by Israeli forces, with road closures
preventing the delivery of supplies to the area, despite warnings from the US
that failure to end the blockade could result in it reducing arms deliveries to
Israel.
“While we
hear that delivery of aid will increase, people in Gaza are not feeling any
difference,” Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian
refugees, wrote on X. “They continue to be trapped, hungry and sick, often
under heavy bombardment.”
Israel said
it sent in about 30 truckloads of aid into northern Gaza on Friday including
food, water, medical supplies and shelter equipment. “We’re fighting Hamas,
we’re not fighting the people of Gaza,” Nadav Shoshani, a military
spokesperson, told journalists in an online briefing.
On Friday,
health officials in Gaza appealed for fuel, medical supplies and food to be
sent immediately to three northern hospitals overwhelmed by the number of
patients and injuries. “We face a lack of medical equipment, medicine and power
outages. We use our mobile phones or use a battery to light just one lamp and
we have to operate almost in the dark. We cannot perform a caesarean delivery
because there is no oxygen or electricity,” said Ahmed al-Masry, a 68-year-old
obstetrician.
Israel has
issued evacuation orders for inhabitants in almost all of northern Gaza, but
many cannot or do not want to comply.
“We know
that there is no safe place, neither in the north nor in the south, and also I
am afraid that if we go to the south they will occupy our lands and homes and
we will not be able to return to the north, and that is what they are trying to
do, so we are still holding out,” Masry said. “We only hope that the war will
stop.”
With winter
approaching, there are acute fears for the 345,000 people in the territory
predicted to face “catastrophic” levels of hunger, according to a recent UN
survey.
“We get only
polluted water and canned food from aid agencies because we do not have a
source of income or even work. We cannot buy food because everything is
expensive,” said Ashour. “But the biggest problem we face is finding safety.
There is no safety at all, wherever we go.”
With
additional reporting by Agence France-Presse and Reuters
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário