Alameen Templeton
“israel” has started widening its Rafah offensive, forcing patients out of hospitals across the city as it intensifies its bombardment, ceasefire talks break down and US president Joe Biden stands impotently by.
Starvation among the refugees in the city is deepening, with no aid trucks entering Gaza since Sunday. In addition, “israel” is withholding about $46million in tax revenue owed to the Palestinian Authority as “punishment” for urging the International Criminal Court to press war crimes charges against its politicians.
It appears “israel’s” claim on Monday that it was invading Rafah to cut off import duties Hamas was collecting at the Rafah crossing is really intended to intensify its starvation blockade of Gaza.
“israel” has shrugged off Biden threats on Monday to cut off arms supplies to the Nazi state if a wider attack on Rafah breaks out. It says it has enough ammunition for the Rafah offensive.
Biden has tried to portray the offensive as a “limited operation”, but the emptying of hospitals across the city shows “israel” is determined to press ahead with its greater ambitions.
NGOs say 110 000 Palestinians have fled the city as close-quarter fighting breaks out around them. “Israeli” forces are calling in air raids to target pockets of opposition which is worsening the terror.
The Nazi state says its luftwaffe has hit 40 targets from the air in the last 24 hours.
Military analysts warn “israel” appears to be preparing to crush the city in a pincer movement, from the southern border side and from the north, on two fronts.
Egypt has warned it will not allow “israeli” troops on its side of the Rafah border, if the fighting spills over onto its side, saying that would be a breach of the Camp David accords that demilitarised the border strip.
Patients being forced out of hospitals are being left with no way to be treated.
The UN Refugee and Welfare Agency (Unwra) told Al Jazeera “heavy bombardments” were hitting central Rafah city and terrified residents felt they had nowhere safe to go.
“No aid has come into Gaza now since Sunday. No aid, no fuel, no supplies, nothing. And we really are now down to our last reserves. We have a few more days of flour that we can provide. But everything else will start to shut down very soon without fuel, without water. So the situation is really desperate,” Unwra planning director Sam Rose said from Rafah.
“People are petrified. People have been fearing this for a long, long time and it is now upon us. There is constant bombardment. There is smoke on the horizon. There are people on the move. We estimate that, as of last night, about 110,000 people from Rafah had been displaced and had moved on,” he said.
“People are doing whatever they can to flee for safety and yet where are they going to? There are no safe places,” he told Al Jazeera.
“These are populations that are already on the brink of famine who are now being subjected to a medieval siege coupled with scorched earth and heavy bombardment. Already desperate conditions will get worse and we will see multitudes of casualties. Not just from the bombing. But the hunger, the disease and the starvation.”
The latest attacks have taken the Gaza death toll to 34 904, with 78 514 injured.
Meanwhile, the Nazi state has intensified its bombardment of Gaza City in the north. Air raids hit many neighbourhoods of Gaza City last night, killing and injuring more civilians.
“israeli” air raids hit many neighbourhoods of Gaza City, including the CBD, Zeitoun, Sabra, Nassr, Tal al-Hawa, and Shati refugee camp, reports Wafa.
Ahmad Ghuneim, a former Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, along with three members of his family, including children, were among those killed in an Israeli airstrike which targeted a home in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Furthermore, Israeli shelling targeting a warehouse, shops, and agricultural land in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza also injured civilians.
Israeli helicopters and military vehicles opened fire in the central and eastern areas of Rafah concurrently with artillery shelling, Wafa reports.
Hopes for a ceasefire are dwindling, with “Israeli” and Hamas delegations departing Cairo talks with no breakthrough.
Al Mayadeen says Hamas, understandably, has refused to accept the US-“Israeli” position that there isn’t a deal on the table. They claim Hamas’s weekend “acceptance” of a deal was really a counter-offer because it contained clauses “israel” had not agreed to.
That has not gone down well with the resistance group or in wider Arabia. Hamas is adamant the “ball is now completely in the hands of the occupation”.
Mainstream media have opined that a sustainable ceasefire will be possible only if the US changes its role from genocide enabler to that of a genuine mediator.
But that puts the onus on Biden to play a genuine leadership role and place sufficient pressure on “israel” to rehabilitate his and the US’s reputation globally and among US voters.
But it appears Biden has already fumbled the ball.
Any arms embargo at this late stage will not stay “israel’s” hand in Rafah as they already have enough ammunition to level the city.
A three-month state department probe of war crimes by “israel” that was supposed to be released last Wednesday remains withheld, giving Tel Aviv just enough time to finish off the job.
Any evidence of war crimes will force Biden, under US laws, to cut arms supplies to the Nazi state. Biden appears to be delaying for as long as possible the moment the pin drops and he is forced to cut the supply line.
ing to? There are no safe places,” he added.
“These are populations that are already on the brink of famine who are now being subjected to a medieval siege coupled with scorched earth and heavy bombardment. Already desperate conditions will get worse and we will see multitudes of casualties. Not just from the bombing. But the hunger, the disease and the starvation.”
The latest attacks have taken the Gaza death toll to 34 904, with 78 514 injured.
Meanwhile, the Nazi state has intensified its bombardment of Gaza City in the north. Air raids hit many neighbourhoods of Gaza City last night, killing and injuring more civilians.
“israeli” air raids hit many neighbourhoods of Gaza City, including the CBD, Zeitoun, Sabra, Nassr, Tal al-Hawa, and Shati refugee camp, reports Wafa.
Ahmad Ghuneim, a former Palestinian prisoner in Israeli jails, along with three members of his family, including children, were among those killed in an Israeli airstrike which targeted a home in Jabalia refugee camp in northern Gaza.
Furthermore, Israeli shelling targeting a warehouse, shops, and agricultural land in the Nuseirat refugee camp in central Gaza also injured civilians.
Israeli helicopters and military vehicles opened fire in the central and eastern areas of Rafah concurrently with artillery shelling, Wafa reports.
Hopes for a ceasefire are dwindling, with “Israeli” and Hamas delegations departing Cairo talks with no breakthrough.
Hamas, understandably, has refused to accept the US-“Israeli” position that there isn’t a deal on the table. They claim Hamas’s weekend “acceptance” of a deal was really a counter-offer because it contained clauses “israel” had not agreed to.
That has not gone down well with the resistance group or in wider Arabia. Hamas is adamant the “ball is now completely in the hands of the occupation”.
Mainstream media have opined that a sustainable ceasefire will be possible only if the US changes its role from genocide enabler to that of a genuine mediator.
But that puts the onus on Biden to play a genuine leadership role and place sufficient pressure on “israel” to rehabilitate his and the US’s reputation globally and among US voters.
But it appears Biden has already fumbled the ball.
Any arms embargo at this late stage will not stay “israel’s” hand in Rafah as they already have enough ammunition to level the city.
A three-month state department probe of war crimes by “israel” that was supposed to be released last Wednesday remains withheld, giving Tel Aviv just enough time to finish off the job.
Any evidence of war crimes will force Biden, under US laws, to cut arms supplies to the Nazi state. Biden appears to be delaying for as long as possible the moment the pin drops and he is forced to cut the supply line.
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