They are taken back Israeli air strikes which targeted the central part of the Gaza Strip, as reported by Al Jazeera. The bombings particularly hit the areas of Az-Zawayda and Al-Muharraga. Tension also beyond the borders of Gaza, with Hezbollah last night launched 26 rockets towards Mount Meron in Israel, provoking an immediate response from the Israeli army which hit Hezbollah targets in the south of Lebanon, including military sites and terrorist infrastructure. Other Hezbollah infrastructures were also targeted in the Tayr Harfa area and in Yarine, also in southern Lebanon. All in times that are increasingly crucial for the destinies of Rafah, on the southern border of the Strip, where there are currently over a million Palestinians, besieged by Israeli troops ready for days to intervene in the city. Second Philippe Lazzarini, commissioner general of UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees), Israel is reportedly preparing a large-scale military operation in Rafah. Lazzarini expresses deep concern about military escalation: “My fear right now is what the Israeli army intends to do, regardless of military assistance to Israel from the United States.”
The fate of Rafah therefore remains hanging by a thread, on the proposal of agreement advanced by Israel, currently under consideration by Hamas and who “will give an answer”, it was declared. Meanwhile, the families of the hostages still held by Hamas demonstrated, imploring the government to give priority to the release of the hostages rather than the military conquest. Meanwhile, expectations shift to the scheduled meeting between the Palestinian president Abu Mazen and the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, which could be crucial in defining the next phases of the conflict. But “Israel will enter Rafah in the next few days,” Abu Mazen said today at the World Economic Forum (WEF) underway in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, during which he will meet Blinken. The Palestinian president declared that “at this point only the United States can stop the Israeli attack on Rafah, which would constitute “the greatest disaster in the history of the Palestinian people”. “We appeal to the United States of America to ask Israel to stop the operation in Rafah, because America is the only country capable of preventing Israel from committing this crime,” continued Abu Mazen, who is in Riyadh for the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit. In a previous meeting a Riad with representatives of six Arab countries and chaired by Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister, the Prince Faisal bin Farhan Al Saudthe need to end the war and the importance of recognizing one was reiterated State of Palestine along the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. The group rejected any attempt to displace Palestinians from their lands and any military operation in Rafah.
Meanwhile, the mobilization in support of Palestine continues in the world, and so does arrests of pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the United States, who, unlike other countries, have reiterated that they do not want to resume funding for UNRWA until March 2025. Last January several countries, including the USA, had decided to suspend funding funding to UNRWA after Israeli authorities said some agency employees were linked to Hamas. Saturday, during a pro-Palestinian protest at Washington University in St. Louisin the state of Missouri, the US presidential candidate of the Green Party was arrested, Jill Stein, CNN reported. Stein was at the protest to support the students by declaring that they would not leave until Washington University divested from Boeing and boycotted Israeli academic institutions, among other demands. “We are not aware of any charges at this time,” her campaign spokesman said.
