In the early hours of Saturday, 20, Israeli attacks killed at least 14 people in the city of Gaza, according to health officials, while Israel intensifies their offensive in the region and asks the Palestinians to leave the site. The attacks take place at a time when Western countries are increasingly dissatisfied with the intensification of war in Gaza, with some moving to recognize Palestinian sovereignty at the meeting of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly next week.
In a statement issued on Friday, 19, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Portugal said it will recognize the Palestinian state on Sunday, 21. The Iberian country had already announced its plans to do so, but has now set an official date. Portugal is among other Western nations, including the United Kingdom, France, Canada, Australia, Malta, Belgium and Luxembourg, which should recognize Palestinian sovereignty in the coming days.
The last Israeli operation, which began this week, intensifies even more a conflict that has stirred the Middle East and probably further removes any possibility of ceasing. The Israeli Armed Forces, who claim to want to “destroy Hamas’s military infrastructure”, did not disclose a schedule for the offensive, but there is evidence that it may take months.
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Israeli bombing over the past 23 months has killed more than 65,000 people in Gaza, destroyed vast areas of the track, moved about 90% of the population and caused a catastrophic humanitarian crisis, with experts claiming that the city of Gaza is experiencing a situation of hunger. Dr. Rami Mhanna, director-general of Shifa Hospital, where some of the bodies were taken, said that the dead were six people from the same family after an attack hit their home at dawn on Saturday.
They were relatives of the hospital director, Dr. Mohamed Abu Selmiya, he said. The growing red Palestinian said that five other people were killed in another attack near Shawa Square. Israel’s Armed Forces said they could not comment on specific attacks without further information, but they were “operating to dismantle Hamas’s military capabilities” and “taking viable precautions to mitigate civil damage.”
In recent days, Israel has forced hundreds of thousands of Palestinians sheltered in the city of Gaza to travel south, to what it calls the humanitarian zone, and opened another corridor south of the city of Gaza for two days this week to allow more people to evacuate.
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The Palestinians have left the city by car and on foot. But many in the hunger -affected city are not willing to be displaced again, they are too weak to leave or are unable to afford the costs of change. Humanitarian aid groups warned that forcing thousands of people to evacure will aggravate the humanitarian crisis. They are asking for a ceasefire so that help can reach those who need it.
On Friday, 19, UNICEF reported that therapeutic foods designed to save the lives of thousands of children in Gaza were stolen from four of their trucks. The statement said that armed people approached the vehicles outside the organization’s complex in the city of Gaza and kept drivers under the gun while the food was taken. “They were intended to treat malnourished children in the city of Gaza, where a situation of hunger was declared … It was a load that would save lives amid severe restrictions on the delivery of humanitarian aid to the city of Gaza,” said Ammar, spokesman for UNICEF.
In a statement released also on Friday, the Israeli army blamed Hamas for food theft. Israel accuses Hamas of diverting humanitarian aid and using it to finance its military activities without presenting evidence. The UN states that there are mechanisms that prevent any significant deviation from humanitarian aid. The Ministry of Health of Gaza states that the death toll in Gaza has exceeded 65,100 since the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, which triggered the war.
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The ministry, part of the government of Hamas, does not inform how many of the dead were civilians or terrorists. Its numbers are considered a reliable estimate by the UN and many independent experts. Militants led by Hamas invaded southern Israel in the 2023 attack, killing about 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping 251. Forty-eight hostages remain in Gaza, and less than half are believed to be alive.
