Thousands of civilians remain trapped this Saturday the 27th in catastrophic humanitarian conditions, rain and cold in the Gaza Strip, where fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas militants continues to devastate the south of the Palestinian territory.
In the fenced area, the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) has been targeted by Israeli authorities, who have accused some of the organization's employees of involvement in the violent October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war.
Israel wants to ensure that UNRWA no longer plays a role in Gaza after the conflict, Israel Katz, the country's diplomatic chief, said on Saturday. The Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas condemned Israeli “threats” against the agency.
The United States government announced on Friday the temporary suspension of funding to UNRWA, a measure also taken this Saturday by Australia, Canada and Italy.
The Palestinian Authority called on taxpayers to lift the suspensions, saying the international organization must receive “maximum support.”
The current concern is in Khan Yunis, the largest city in southern Gaza, where the two largest hospitals housing thousands of displaced people are barely functioning in a scenario of relentless offensive.
Witnesses said that violent clashes broke out again in the city this Saturday. The Hamasrun health ministry in the Gaza Strip said 135 people had died overnight.
Further south, hundreds of thousands of civilians are crowding into Rafah, near the border with Egypt. According to the UN, more than 1.3 million people live in this small town.
Hospitals are collapsing
According to United Nations estimates, almost 1.7 million civilians have fled their homes since the war began.
Rafah doesn't escape the bombs either. “There is no safe place in the Gaza Strip. “Everything that is said is wrong,” declared Mohamed Al Chaer this Saturday amid the ruins of his neighborhood, destroyed after a new attack.
According to AFP images, heavy rains overnight flooded refugee camps as they struggled in the mud to save their few belongings.
“The heavy rains are flooding thousands of displaced people in Rafah, Khan Yunis, Nuseirat, Deir al Bala and in the city of Gaza further north,” said Civil Protection President Mahmoud Basal.
The war began on October 7 with an attack by Islamist militants that killed nearly 1,140 people, most of them civilians, and kidnapped around 250 in southern Israel, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data.
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, retaliation with incessant bombings and ground operations in Gaza has so far killed 26,257 people, most of them women, children and teenagers.
“Since the morning, tank fire has been directed at the western sectors of the city, at the Khan Yunis refugee camp and the area around Nasser Hospital,” where there was “a power outage,” Hamas said.
Doctors Without Borders said the surgical capacity at Nasser Hospital, the city's largest, was “almost nonexistent” and that the few health workers remaining at the medical center were working with little material.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that 350 patients and nearly 5,000 people displaced by the fighting are in hospital.
This Saturday, the Palestinian Red Crescent once again condemned the siege of its Al Amal hospital “for the sixth consecutive day” by the Israeli army.
Israel accuses Hamas of building tunnels under hospitals in the Gaza Strip and using these buildings as command centers.
No “imminent” announcements
On Friday, the Haguebased International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel must prevent possible acts of “genocide” in its war against Hamas, which is designated a terrorist organization by Israel, the United States and the European Union.
He also called on Israel to ease the access of “urgently needed” humanitarian aid to Gaza. However, the court cannot require compliance with its decisions.
The war continues uninterrupted, but Qatar, Egypt and the United States are trying to act as mediators to reach a new ceasefire that would include the release of Palestinian hostages and prisoners, as happened in late November.
Almost 100 hostages were released in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. According to Israeli authorities, 132 hostages are still held captive in the Gaza Strip, 28 of whom are dead.
A security source told AFP that the director of America's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) would meet with officials from Israel, Egypt and Qatar “in the next few days in Paris” to try to reach a ceasefire agreement with Hamas .
President Joe Biden spoke with the Emir of Qatar, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, about the “latest developments in Israel and Gaza, including efforts to release hostages kidnapped by Hamas,” the White House said Friday, though it hinted at it An announcement is not expected soon.