On Tuesday, Israeli artillery re-entered parts of the northern Gaza Strip they had previously evacuated weeks prior, accompanied by air attacks on Rafah – the remaining sanctuary for Palestinians within the southern segment of the territory. Several injuries and fatalities resulted from these attacks, according to onlookers and medical personnel.
In northern Gaza, specifically in Beit Hanoun and Jabilia, an internet blackout was experienced as tanks advanced into Beit Hanoun, encircling several schools that were sheltering displaced civilians, as stated by Hamas media outlets and locals. An individual from northern Gaza communicated to Reuters via a messaging application that military personnel of the occupation ordered all families in the near vicinity of the tanks to disperse, and many men were reportedly detained.
Beit Hanoun, with its population of 60,000, endured early targeting by Israeli ground forces during last October’s Gaza offensive. Once celebrated for its fruitful orchards and dubbed “the basket of fruit”, Beit Hanoun now resembles a desolate ghost town, mostly reduced to heaps of debris after the aggressive bombardment.
After the Israeli forces’ withdrawal, many families who had temporarily returned to Beit Hanoun and Jabilia were forced to vacate once again due to Tuesday’s raid.
In a single air raid, four fatalities and many wounded were reported by Palestinian health officials in Rafah, a city on the border of Egypt, where more than half of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents are seeking refuge. They anticipate the execution of an Israeli ground offensive.
Talks, supported by US and spearheaded by Qatar and Egypt, have not yet yielded any significant progress towards a ceasefire in Gaza after six months of conflict, due to inflexible terms by Israel and Hamas.
The Israeli military claimed ongoing operations in central Gaza and succeeded in neutralising several assailants who had intended to strike their forces. They also said they had managed to destruct a missile launcher, several terrorist infrastructure and terror tunnels, and Hamas militant bases.
In the central Gaza Strip’s Al-Nusseirat refugee camp, the airstrike reportedly levelled four high-rise residential buildings on Tuesday, as stated by its inhabitants.
The United Nations’ human rights office has criticised Israel for placing “illegal” constrictions on Gaza’s humanitarian aid, dismissing claims from Israel and others regarding the softening of barriers. There is contention regarding the scale of aid currently reaching Gaza. While Israel and the US maintain that assistance has increased in recent days, UN organisations stress that the amount is still considerably less than the necessary minimum standard.
The international community is pressuring Israel to allow a greater influx of aid to Gaza, particularly in the north where the United Nations predicts a famine could occur by May. The Israeli military divulged that it enabled the passage of 126 vehicles into the northern region of Gaza from the south on Monday.
Simultaneously, Israel announced its cooperation with the World Food Program (WFP) in their efforts to establish two additional bakeries in northern Gaza, following the successful commencement of the first with WFP assistance on Monday.
However, the Palestinian health ministry reported that over 33,000 Palestinians have been victims of Israeli gunfire since October 7th, with 46 fatalities occurring in the last 24 hours alone.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza began when militants from the Hamas group, which controls the area, attacked Israel on October 7th. Israeli records indicate that the assault resulted in the death of 1,200 people and the taking of 253 hostages.