The announcement of new evacuations from Rafah came through the IDF’s Arabic-language spokesperson, Lieutenant Colonel Avichay Adraee, and on paper, with leaflets dropped from above. The message was to leave the Sgaboura camp and the neighborhoods of Geneina and Khirbat al-Adas as soon as possible, to move to an expanded “humanitarian zone” in the area of al-Mawasi and Khan Younis. A separate order was also imposed in Jabaliya, in the north of the Gaza Strip, affected by the night bombings that hit much of the Strip, in which at least forty-seven Palestinians lost their lives according to local authorities, bringing the death toll to almost 35 thousand. Among the latest victims there would also be minors and a journalist with his family. In Zeitun, a neighborhood of Gaza City, weapons were found inside a clinic and several fighters died after a close firefight with Israeli forces. But it is to the south that the hottest center is located. Since the first appeal five days ago, the Israeli army has estimated that approximately 300 thousand civilians have already left Rafah, where 1.4 million people are crowded together, while it continues to operate throughout the area, including the crossing where ” numerous tunnel entrances were discovered” and “armed terrorists” were eliminated.
Despite the incessant request to stop – the latest being that of France which asked to interrupt its military activities “without delay” and to reopen the Rafah crossing, from where the Egyptians also stopped coordinating with the Israelis due to “the unacceptable escalation” provoked by them – the feeling, however, is that the further eviction is the signal that Israel will move forward.
Hamas’ response was four missiles launched towards the Israeli Kerem Shalom crossing, the main gateway where humanitarian aid passes, without causing damage or casualties. The Islamic group also released a new video of Nadav Popplewell, kidnapped on October 7 while he was in his kibbutz. The man (diabetic) was most likely mistreated by his captors, given the black eye with which he appeared in front of the camera to inform his fellow citizens that “time is running out, your government is lying”. The video lasts a few seconds and ends with a question mark, with the promise of providing new information soon. Hamas keeps its word, but to deliver the sad news: Popplewell died more than a month ago under Israeli bombing.
Like every war, this one is played with weapons and nerves. As with the negotiations, which according to some Israeli officials are going on in secret to reach an agreement, as long as Hamas “receives answers that can be worked on”. The latest draft that seemed to lead to a ceasefire was torn up after the approval of the Palestinian group, which according to Israel had included elements distant from those that had previously been agreed upon, due to the “forcing” of the Egyptian mediators and Qataris. To resolve the situation, the Prime Minister of Qatar, Mohammed bin Abdulrahman al-Thani, invited the head of the CIA William Burns and the head of Egyptian intelligence Abbas Kamel to meet again, in the hope of receiving an affirmative response.
The pressure on the two sides has become much stronger in recent weeks, but for now the appeals have fallen on deaf ears. “There are no more in-person meetings,” but “this does not mean that the process [negoziale] must be concluded. We are all still involved and we will continue to work on it,” White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby said in his press briefing during which he rebuked Israel and Hamas for abandoning the negotiating table. In any case, “we are working hard to try to keep both of us engaged in continuing the discussion, even just virtually, and to work on the text itself. We believe an agreement is still possible. The gaps that remain can be overcome, but it will require leadership, some moral courage, and a persistent ability to compromise and negotiate in good faith.”
Gaza goes to Hollywood. There is an approval for a (symbolic) pro-Palestine resolution, Israel puts the UN through the paper shredder
by Nadia Boffa
His comment comes a few hours after the release of the report presented by the State Department to Congress on Israel’s conduct during the war. Basically, the United States criticized the Jewish state for how it used American weapons, in violation of international law, even if it was not possible to arrive at “conclusive results”. Which is why Washington will continue to send armaments. However, things could soon change if Israel attacks Rafah. For now, the White House says, the IDF’s actions seem limited and do not represent an overcoming of the red line imposed by the Americans, but if more far-reaching operations are launched, the Biden administration could really no longer follow its historic ally middle Eastern.
That report, however, sparked bipartisan criticism against the government. According to the Washington Post, the American president would have ended up at the center of the crosshairs of parliamentarians, both Democrats and Republicans. Even if the reason for the criticism is opposite – with the former complaining about the moral deficiency in the face of a catastrophic situation, while the latter accuse the White House of undermining relations with a historic ally – the result is that Biden is more alone and pressed than never. Even from non-governmental organizations. “They have all seen these trees, but they have concluded that there is no forest,” said the president of Refugees International with a background in USAID, Jeremy Konyndyk, who used the metaphor to say that “the analysis is factual” but “the conclusions are political”. He was followed by chief Abby Maxman, head of Oxfam America. “It is clear that Israel is violating international law and blocking aid from entering Gaza: by turning a blind eye, the administration is allowing Israel to continue to do so without consequences.” All the more reason to believe that the war in Gaza will ultimately influence the November vote.
Convincing Netanyahu, however, is truly complex. In his vision, there seems to be no other choice to proceed to Rafah. The prime minister has made it clear on several occasions that, if necessary, Israel will do it alone, without the support of its partners, because victory can only be achieved with the dismantling of Hamas. A goal that seemed difficult seven months ago, no less than today. The two American think tanks, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and the Critical Threats Project (CTP), wrote this in a joint analysis, underlining that “Hamas was able to preserve or reconstitute military capabilities” . As happened around Zeitoun, where in seventeen attacks against the IDF the militiamen used sniper rifles, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades. “This high rate of attacks is not consistent with a destroyed military force,” they say, alerting Israel. “In Rafah it will not destroy Hamas, a group that has survived as a military entity in the rest of the Strip, including the entire north.”
Also because to achieve this he must inevitably eliminate his boss, Yahya Sinwar. According to Israeli information, he is hidden in Rafah, which is why he would like to attack, but from what two Israeli sources told the Times of Israel, the wanted man is no longer there. The leader would still be in Gaza, perhaps in some tunnel under Khan Yunis, seven kilometers from an emptying Rafah. “They threw leaflets and said that al-Zawayda is safe, people should evacuate there,” a lady who lost ten relatives in an attack tells Reuters, speaking of the town which is more than twenty kilometers from Rafah. “They did it and what became of them? Dismembered bodies? There is no safe place in Gaza.”
