The intense fighting, especially in central Gaza, suggests that Israeli forces have not yet fully retreated from their offensive despite US pressure over heavy civilian casualties and increasing doubts among hostage families that this is the best approach to releasing those held by Hamas and its allies. In a sign of hope in the conflict, medicines destined for the hostages appear to have crossed into Gaza, although it is not clear whether they have reached their intended beneficiaries yet.
The Israeli army said that its forces attacked several Hamas weapons caches and bases around Khan Yunis, relying on ground forces supported by tanks and aircraft. The Israeli army withdrew from the vicinity of Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis on Wednesday, after several days of intense fighting that destroyed residential buildings and a cemetery and caused thousands of refugees to flee, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Fighting also broke out in northern Gaza, where some civilians are trying to return to their homes after a partial withdrawal of Israeli forces in the area. Eyewitnesses reported artillery shelling and gunfire in several areas of Gaza City and the surrounding towns. A resident provided The Washington Post with recordings of gunfire and explosions around the Jabalia refugee camp, which suffered severe damage.
The widespread collapse of communications across the Gaza Strip has continued for a seventh day – the longest of several collapses during the conflict – making it difficult to reach witnesses.
Intense fighting continued despite Israel withdrawing at least three divisions and announcing that it had largely completed its operations in the north. Residents said that the number of firefights had decreased compared to the first months of the ground invasion, but shelling was still common.
Mahmoud, one of the residents who saw civilians fleeing to Al-Shifa Hospital on Wednesday afternoon during one of the raids, said, “The Israeli bombing of various areas in Gaza City has not stopped.” He added that Israeli tanks withdrew from the area on Thursday. Like other Gazans, he spoke on the condition that his last name not be used for his safety.
Shukri, a resident of Gaza City, said that the increasing fighting forced Palestinians to return to the streets. He said: “During this week, my family and I moved to three different places due to renewed bombing and clashes in the northern Gaza Strip.”
The pace of fighting and intense aerial bombardment has raised concerns for the families of more than 100 hostages who have been held in Gaza for nearly 15 weeks. Many of them have appealed to the Israeli government for a ceasefire that would allow the negotiated release of the hostages.
81 Israeli hostages were released during a week-long hiatus in late November. Military and political leaders stress that continuing the fighting is the best way to pressure Hamas to return to meaningful talks in order to reach another agreement. Hamas said it would not agree to another agreement unless Israel stopped all military operations.
Defense Minister Yoav Galant said Thursday in an interview with Israeli Radio: “We have no right to stop the fighting as long as there are hostages in Gaza.”
Many of the hostages who were released said the bombings appeared to leave Hamas unfazed and, in some cases, killed or injured hostages. Merav Svirsky, the sister of the hostage whose death was recently announced inside Gaza, blamed the ongoing fighting for his death after being held captive for a long time. His parents were killed in the initial Hamas attacks.
“It is unfortunate that it did not end for him also on October 7,” she said. “In this way he would have been saved from 99 days of fear and death,” referring to her brother Itay Svirsky in a radio interview on Thursday, according to what the British newspaper “Daily Mail” reported. . The Times of Israel. “He was shot by Hamas apparently out of stress over a nearby raid – military pressure endangers hostages.”
The hostage's family's anger at the government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has increasingly extended to the public, both in Israel and abroad.
In an appearance Wednesday on Capitol Hill in Washington, Liz Hirsch Naftali, whose granddaughter, Abigail Aidan, 4, was kidnapped after Hamas militants killed her parents and then released in November, accused the prime minister of putting his political needs before securing more hostage releases. She said President Biden must reconsider his strong support for the Israeli government so that it does more.
Naftali said, in statements that seemed to have surprised some pro-Israel American lawmakers: “Sometimes friends have to deliver harsh messages.” After 104 days, we need to deliver those messages. “We need to make sure that Israel is under pressure to reach an agreement to stop this war and return these hostages to their homeland.”
Hostage advocates praised the rare diplomatic breakthrough: a shipment of medicines to Gaza in a deal between Israel and Hamas brokered by Qatar. The militant group agreed to allow drugs provided by France to reach individual hostages. In return, the agreement provides for the transfer of vital medicines to the most vulnerable areas in Gaza, where the health system is collapsing as the fighting intensifies.
The medicines entered the Strip on Wednesday night after being inspected by Israel, according to local news reports, but officials are still waiting for proof that they were delivered to the hostages. The International Committee of the Red Cross said on Thursday that it was working with both parties to facilitate the handover process.
“As far as I know, so far, we have not seen evidence of this,” Avi Heyman, an Israeli government spokesman, said in a press conference on Thursday.
A crowd of Israelis tried to block aid trucks from entering Gaza on Thursday, objecting to humanitarian aid that they said was mainly aimed at prolonging Hamas' control of the Strip.
“These trucks, which enter directly into the murderous arms of Hamas, must stop,” Riut Ben Haim said in an interview with Israeli Radio at the scene, where police were preventing protesters from blocking vehicles.
Ben Haim lives in Netivot in southern Israel, which was hit by a barrage of rockets from central Gaza on Tuesday. The Israeli army withdrew thousands of soldiers from the area earlier this week, angering Israelis who are calling for more aggressive attacks.
Israeli forces also intensified their raids across the occupied West Bank, and Palestinian officials on Wednesday reported air strikes on two refugee camps that they said killed at least nine people. The Palestinian Red Crescent said that at least another Palestinian was killed by Israeli fire and 12 others were wounded as of Thursday morning.
Israeli military operations were concentrated in the Tulkarm and Nour Shams refugee camps in the north of the country for the second day on Thursday. Local media published videos of Israeli bulldozers and tanks in the torn streets, and reported raids and clashes between Palestinian fighters and Israeli forces.
The Israeli military told The Washington Post on Thursday that there has been an “ongoing, ongoing anti-terrorism operation in the Tulkarm camp for more than 35 hours,” and that security forces “continue to operate in the city.”
Balousha reported from Amman.
