Residents reported Israeli forces escalating their assault on Rafah, both from the air and ground, as attempts to cease warfare in Gaza by mediators saw no fruit. As tanks manoeuvred further west, fierce clashes occurred between the Israeli army and Palestinian combatants led by Hamas.
Civilians reported numerous incursions by tanks, which have gained control of the border with Egypt, towards the western and central sectors of the southern city. These invasions caught several inhabitants off guard in their dwellings, causing injuries.
One Palestinian male believed that the intent of the Israeli forces was to reach Rafah’s coastal areas. He described the overnight bombings and incursions as strategic and noted that the forces entered amid heavy gunfire before retreating.
He described the prior night as one of the worst, with certain individuals getting wounded within their homes and only being evacuated the following morning. His statements were relayed to Reuters via a messaging application.
Likewise, Israeli forces have encroached the Al-Bureij camp within central Gaza Strip, and maintained heavy shelling from aircraft and tanks on two other camps and an adjacent city, killing and wounding several Palestinians, according to medical personnel.
Hamas’s military arm, along with the Islamic Jihad and other smaller factions, have purported that they conducted attacks on the Israeli invaders in several central and southern sectors of the enclave.
Mediation efforts for a ceasefire, backed by the United States and led by Qatar and Egypt, have amplified with an intended outcome of halting hostilities and leading to the release of Israeli hostages and various Palestinians detained by Israel. However, insiders privy to the negotiations disclosed no signs of advancements.
A weeklong truce was implemented back in November, and all subsequent efforts towards a ceasefire have been unsuccessful. Hamas is standing firm on its requirement of a conflict resolution, while Israel is only willing to consider temporary halts until the defeat of the militant group.
A Hamas representative stated to Reuters that they had exhibited the necessary flexibility for an arrangement, yet the Israeli forces continue to deny commitment to end hostility and retract forces from the Gaza Strip. He held America and “the occupation” responsible for the current impasse in the negotiations as he believes they hold no desire to terminate warfare on their citizens.
According to Israel, Hamas initiated the conflict by attacking Israeli territory on the 7th of October last year, leading to approximately 1,200 fatalities and the capture of over 250 hostages. Nearly half of these hostages were released in the November truce.
Health authorities in Gaza have reported that the recent military operation by Israel has resulted in more than 36,000 deaths, with fears being expressed that thousands more bodies could be lying underneath debris. Regarding the casualty count of Hamas, American and Israeli functionaries have conveyed to Reuters that about 50% of its forces have lost their lives in the hostilities. Yet the credibility of these figures is disputed since Hamas refrains from publishing any statistics related to combatant casualties while others opine that Israel may have inflated the numbers. The Israeli military losses are close to about 300 as per the country’s own record.
Meanwhile, the war’s knock-on effects on employment have been profound, particularly in the Gaza Strip, where the United Nations’ labour body declared on Friday that the unemployment rate has soared to nearly 80% as a result of the conflict. As a consequence, the average joblessness rate throughout Palestinian territories has escalated above 50%. The International Labour Organization (ILO), while unveiling its fourth appraisal of the war’s repercussions on labour, stated that the unemployment rate in the Gaza Strip has peaked at an alarming 79.1%, while a significant surge has been witnessed in the West Bank as well with nearly 32% of the population without work. Combined, the unemployment rate stands at around 50.8%.
Ruba Jaradat, the ILO Regional Director for Arab States, pointed out that these figures do not count Palestinians that have lost hope in securing employment, indicating that the situation might be significantly worse.
(c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2024.