Concerns about an Israeli ground offensive in Rafah are growing. The US President is now speaking clearly. Is Israel giving in? The developments at a glance.
According to Palestinian sources, Israeli attacks in the central section of the Gaza Strip have resulted in numerous deaths. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that several houses were bombed by fighter jets, including in Deir al-Balah.
Eight people were killed and dozens more were injured or buried. Paramedics even spoke of 40 people having been killed. Many injured people were taken to a hospital. When asked, an Israeli army spokesman said they were checking the reports.
Israel is currently under increasing pressure to shelve its plans for a ground offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. US President Joe Biden warned Israel in clear terms: He is firmly convinced that there must be “a temporary ceasefire” to free the hostages. Biden said at the White House that he expected “that the Israelis will not carry out a massive ground offensive in the meantime.”
Despite international warnings, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterates that Israel will launch a military offensive in Rafah in the southern Gaza Strip. “Of course only after we will enable civilians in the combat zones to move to safe areas,” Netanyahu told reporters in Jerusalem. He emphasized that they would not bow to international pressure on the issue. “Anyone who wants to prevent us from operating in Rafah is ultimately telling us ‘lose the war’.” He won’t allow this.
Scholz calls on Israel to comply with international law
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has made an unusually clear call on Israel to comply with international humanitarian law in view of a planned ground offensive against the Islamist Hamas in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip.
“We do not comply with international law and rules just because we have signed some agreements around the world. This is something that comes from our view of humanity and how we want to be and how we want to see ourselves,” said the SPD politician at the Munich Security Conference.
At the same time, the Chancellor emphasized the call for a two-state solution. This means an independent Palestinian state that exists peacefully side by side with Israel. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is also pushing for a two-state solution as a way out of the vicious circle of violence between Israel and Palestinians.
Report: USA is preparing to deliver more arms to Israel
Despite calls for a ceasefire, the US is preparing to deliver more bombs and weapons to Israel, according to a media report. As the “Wall Street Journal” reported on Saturday night, citing current and former US officials, the plans are currently being examined within the government of US President Joe Biden and could change in detail before they are presented to the US. submitted to Congress for approval.
The Israeli government has asked for “rapid procurement of these items to defend Israel against ongoing and new regional threats.” The new proposed arms shipment includes precision weapons, according to the report. The US is urging Israel to shift from massive bombing to more precise strikes.
Biden hopes for a quick hostage deal
According to information from the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, the negotiators are working to ensure that a ceasefire coincides with the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which begins on March 10th. Biden said he hoped there would be a quick deal with Hamas to free the hostages. He spoke to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu every day last week, for almost an hour each time.
Biden’s blunt words showed that Rafah’s fate was a potential tipping point in relations between Washington and Jerusalem, the Financial Times reported. US officials, including Biden, have consistently supported Israel since the start of the war, but their tolerance for Netanyahu’s actions and the worsening humanitarian crisis “is rapidly waning,” the newspaper wrote.
G7 foreign ministers “deeply concerned” about impending offensive
The G7 foreign ministers have warned of dramatic consequences of a possible Israeli ground operation in Rafah in the south of the Gaza Strip. After a meeting on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference, Italian leader Antonio Tajani said G7 foreign ministers were “deeply concerned about the potentially devastating consequences for the civilian population of another full-scale military operation by Israel in this area.”
Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry also warns of the incalculable consequences of expelling Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. “It would be a threat to our national security.” Saudi Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan Al Saud emphasized that his country is focusing on a ceasefire and Israeli withdrawal from Gaza in the negotiations.
UN court rejects appeal against Rafah offensive
Meanwhile, the United Nations International Court of Justice rejected an urgent request from South Africa to review the legality of Israel’s planned military offensive in Rafah. The dangerous situation in the place full of refugees requires “the immediate and effective implementation of the court’s requests”, which it issued at the end of January, the court announced at its headquarters in The Hague.
These requests would apply to the entire Gaza Strip, including Rafah. “It is not necessary to adopt additional measures,” the court stated. Israel’s allies such as the USA and Germany firmly advise Israel against large-scale military action in Rafah. The United Nations has warned of a massive humanitarian catastrophe in the event of such an offensive.
Tens of thousands protest for Palestinians in London
Meanwhile, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in London in a pro-Palestinian demonstration. According to police estimates, around 30,000 people took part. The protest was supposed to lead to the Israeli embassy. About a dozen people were temporarily arrested, including a man with an anti-Semitic poster, the Metropolitan Police said. The organization Palestine Solidarity Campaign called for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip with the protest march in the British capital.
Thousands of Israelis also protested in various cities against the policies of Benjamin Netanyahu’s right-wing religious government. Many of the demonstrators called for new elections. Others called for a ceasefire in the Gaza war and a quick deal with Hamas to release more hostages. There were also protests near Netanyahu’s villa in Caesarea.
Riots over trucks carrying aid deliveries in Rafah
Dozens of people tried to storm a truck carrying aid supplies at the Rafah border crossing. Police intervened and dispersed the crowd, the Hamas-controlled authority said. Video footage shared on social media showed people entering the border crossing’s processing area. Shots can be heard and black smoke can be seen. Eyewitnesses reported that Hamas police fired into the crowd and killed a youth. The authority initially did not want to confirm this.
In Rafah, right on the Egyptian border, 1.3 million people are crowded together in a very small space. Most of them have fled other parts of the Gaza Strip to seek protection from the war. Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre is calling on the international community to make increased humanitarian assistance to the civilian population in the Gaza Strip a priority.
It was right to support the Israelis in their right to defense, but then we lost sight of how the situation was developing, criticized the Norwegian. There must be a balance between the right to defense and the requirements of international humanitarian law. He said: “And in my view they’ve gone too far. That’s not really appropriate and I think that’s a huge problem that’s arising now.”
Israel’s army continues to operate in the hospital in Khan Yunis
Meanwhile, the Israeli army has so far arrested around 100 people in an operation at Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Yunis. The military said they were “individuals suspected of being involved in terrorist activities.”
According to the army, Israeli special forces “continued their operation against the terrorist organization Hamas within the Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis.” This is based on intelligence information that Hamas operated from the clinic. Terrorists were also killed in the area around the clinic.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
