ISRAELI Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced yesterday afternoon that he had ordered ‘immediate powerful strikes on Gaza,’ claiming that the corpse that Hamas had handed over to the Red Cross on Monday evening was not that of one of the dead captives.
Earlier, Gaza’s Government Media Office (GMO) reported: ‘The Israeli occupation army continues to flagrantly and systematically violate the ceasefire agreement, committing more than 125 breaches since the truce came into effect.
‘These violations have resulted in the killing of 94 civilians and the injury of 344 others, constituting a grave breach of international law.
‘The Israeli occupation forces have carried out 52 shooting incidents targeting civilians directly, along with nine incursions into residential neighbourhoods, crossing what is known as the “yellow line”.
‘In addition, they launched 55 bombardments and targeted attacks, demolished 11 civilian buildings, and kidnapped 21 Palestinians from different areas of the Gaza Strip,’ the GMO statement said.
It holds the Israeli occupation regime fully responsible for any humanitarian and security consequences resulting from its repeated ceasefire violations.
The GMO also called on US president Donald Trump and the mediators to assume their responsibilities and pressure the Israeli regime to stop its violations and honour its signed obligations.
And it is demanding the immediate and permanent reopening of all border crossings with Gaza, and for the unrestricted entry of aid, including medical supplies and shelter materials.
Sami Al-Arian, a professor at Istanbul Sabahattin Zaim University, says the international community has failed to hold Israel to account for ignoring its obligations under the ceasefire, including facilitating the entry of more aid into Gaza.
Al-Arian pointed out that the amount of aid entering Gaza since the ceasefire started has fallen well short of the promised 600 trucks a day.
‘All of the conditions of the ceasefire have been violated,’ he said. ‘Where is the aid they were promised? Where is the safety they were promised – the shelter, the medical aid? None of that is coming in. Famine is still a policy that Israel has been upholding.’
• ‘The United Nation’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA) said it is ramping up educational opportunities for children in Gaza, opening new temporary learning spaces in the enclave and expanding its online reach.
It said its in-person spaces are already teaching 25,000 children with more locations planned, while its online classes aim to teach about 300,000 children.
With most of Gaza’s educational institutions destroyed nearly all children in Gaza have been out of school during the two-year war.
- The spokesman for the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital has said that more than 70,000 people in Gaza are infected with hepatitis C and require urgent treatment outside the Strip.
‘We demand the immediate opening of the crossings to limit the spread of epidemic diseases in Gaza,’ Khalil al-Daqran said.
