War between Israel and Hamas in Gaza, live

Jerusalem (EFE).- Israel assured that the meeting held in Paris this Sunday with the US, Qatar and Egypt for a possible ceasefire in Gaza was “constructive”, although it clarified that there are still differences, so the meetings continue. Will remain. In the coming days.

While Israel considered such a meeting “constructive”, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said, “there are still significant shortcomings which the parties will continue to discuss in additional mutual meetings this coming week”.

It is a new effort to promote negotiations for a ceasefire with Hamas in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for the release of Palestinian prisoners.

An attempt was made in Paris by the Mossad, David Barnia, and the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, the directors of the two Israeli intelligence agencies, together with the CIA director, William Burns; the head of Egypt’s intelligence, Abbas Kamel; and Qatar’s prime minister, Mohammed bin Abderrahman Al Thani, who negotiates on behalf of Hamas.

According to various media, the purpose of the meetings is to reach a “starting point” to start negotiations, and based on joint understanding, to take steps towards a ceasefire in Gaza, where Israeli attacks have since killed more than 26,400 Palestinians. . The war began on 7 October.

Similarly, 132 hostages remain held inside the bar since October 7, of whom it is estimated that around 25 may have been killed.

In total, 110 hostages have been released alive, some released by Hamas for humanitarian reasons ahead of the November ceasefire, and Israeli troops have recovered the bodies of 11 dead captives, three of whom were mistakenly believed to have been taken by the army. Was killed by.

Netanyahu is facing strong pressure from the families of the hostages, who demand that he negotiate their release at any cost.

To reach a ceasefire, several proposals designed by mediator countries Qatar, Egypt and the US have been put on the table in recent weeks.

However, all of them have been rejected by both Israel and Hamas, which de facto rules the Gaza Strip, which still maintain opposing stances that prevent a starting point for negotiations.

Israel does not accept an end to hostilities, only a temporary ceasefire that allows the release of hostages, and then continues its objective of destroying Hamas; Whereas Hamas demands the complete withdrawal of Israeli troops from the Gaza Strip.

The two sides reached a ceasefire agreement for a week between 24 and 30 November, which stopped fighting and allowed the exchange of 105 hostages – including foreigners – for the release of 240 Palestinian prisoners; Something that has not been repeated since.

At least 165 dead in Gaza Strip

While this is happening, at least 165 Gazans have been killed and 290 wounded by Israeli bombardment over the past 24 hours across the Gaza Strip, particularly in the Khan Yunis area, where “intense fighting” is taking place according to the army.

According to the latest counts of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry, on the 114th day of the Israeli military attack on the enclave, 26,422 deaths and more than 65,000 injuries have already been recorded, in addition to approximately 8,000 people missing under the debris.

Ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra warned that “there are victims under the debris and on the streets, while the occupation prevents ambulances and civil protection teams from coming to their aid.”

Khan Younis, increasingly haunted

Khan Yunis, in southern Gaza, is becoming a ghost town as residents of the second most populous city in the Strip continue to flee the fighting and force of the Israeli military offensive.

During the week, thousands of residents fled towards the city of Deir Bala – further towards the center – and especially to the southern area of ​​Rafah, where about 1.1 million of the approximately 2 million internally displaced Gazans are concentrated.

Meanwhile, Israel is controlling the urban center of Khan Yunis and continues intense attacks and fighting against Palestinian militants from Hamas and other factions.

In Rafah, a pre-war city of 275,000 inhabitants, there is almost no room for people, and given the lack of shops or spaces to accommodate them, many displaced people who recently arrived from Khan Yunis live at street level. And sleep with almost the same person. As EFE was able to verify in a scenario of permanent humanitarian crisis.

In fact, it is estimated that there are now fewer than 100,000 residents left in the city, and many of them are crowded between hospitals like Nasser or Al Amal, which have been hit by intense attacks and a state of siege in the area around them over the past week. Are subject to. The Palestinians have been critical of the Red Crescent and their own health teams, who limit the movement of their rescue teams.

Since the start of the war on October 7, Hamas attacks on Israel have killed nearly 1,200 people and taken at least 240 hostages to Gaza, bringing the number of Palestinians killed in the Strip to more than 26,400, while more than 65,000 were injured. Are.

Mass graves in hospitals

According to a video circulated on social networks, this Sunday a common grave was dug at the medical center to bury about 14 dead people, whose bodies were kept in the morgue because it was impossible to remove them and take them to the cemetery because of the soldiers . around the area.

This also includes a lack of electricity or basic medical resources, while their hospital medical services are at a standstill.

The Gaza Health Ministry today asked that “injured people who require neurosurgery should be allowed safe passage” and that they be transferred to receive care at a nearby Jordanian field hospital.

In turn, he alleged that the Nasser hospital “accumulates medical and non-medical waste everywhere” which cannot be disposed of “due to the siege by Israeli occupation forces”.

The situation is also extreme at Al Amal hospital in Khan Younis, which “suffers from a lack of oxygen supply that prevents medical teams from carrying out surgical operations,” said this Sunday the Palestinian Red Crescent, which is trying to ensure Is doing so so that it can be “a safe step” to supply oxygen to the hospital.

UK has proposed a five-point plan

The British government has proposed a peace plan, in line with what Josep Borrell, the EU High Representative for Foreign Policy, did this week as part of efforts by the international community to implement a peace plan. Five points to achieve a permanent ceasefire in Gaza and pave the way towards a Palestinian state.

According to the “Financial Times” newspaper, the initiative was presented by Foreign Minister David Cameron to Israeli and Palestinian officials during his visit to the Middle East this week, where he also met with regional actors.

The official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported dozens of civilian deaths in air and artillery strikes in both Khan Yunis and Gaza City, where Israeli warplanes struck the Salmi family home in the Zaytoun neighborhood, killing at least 8 people. Went.

Wafa also noted that artillery strikes were carried out by Israeli forces against a civilian house in the Jura al Aqd neighborhood of western Khan Yunis.

Warning of cold and torrential rain

Humanitarian agencies working in the strip have warned that the cold and torrential rains of recent weeks have worsened the difficult conditions of displaced people in camps and shelters across the enclave, where tents have been flooded, destroying blankets and mattresses. etc. and warm clothes have been damaged.

Both the Gaza ministry and the United Nations have warned of the threat of famine in the strip, which already affects more than 800,000 people.

90% of the population of the strip was displaced

Nearly two million people, 90% of the Strip’s population, have been forcibly displaced by the bombing; And according to official figures, more than 65,000 homes have been destroyed or rendered uninhabitable and about 290,000 have been damaged.

Overcrowding of the population, now largely concentrated in Rafah, has also led to a worrying increase in the epidemic: the Health Ministry has recorded more than 180,000 cases of acute respiratory infection, 136,418 of diarrhea – among those under five. Children died from 48,000 to 71,000 in just one week in December – 55,472 from scabies and lice, 38,010 from skin diseases, 5,330 from chickenpox and 4,683 from jaundice.

Additionally, Israeli forces destroyed two military installations of the Shia militia Hezbollah in the southern Lebanon towns of Zibkin and Hula, after attacking several military posts of the Lebanese group yesterday in response to the launch of rockets and drones towards Israel.

On the other hand, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) announced this Sunday that it would take legal action against Israel if its forces kill or attack journalists in Gaza, and condemned that after the start of the war About 10 died in the Palestinian territories. % of information professionals in the strip.

If attacks against journalists continue, IFJ will condemn Israeli politicians and Hebrew Army commanders before international courts, as expressed by the organization in a letter sent to Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Defense Minister, Yoav . Daring.