Israeli warplanes continued their violent and continuous bombardment of various areas of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, leaving dozens dead and wounded, most of them women and children.
Israel resumed its war on Gaza for its eighth day, launching more raids and shelling, while imposing a stifling blockade on the Strip and closing the crossings to aid convoys.
A UNICEF spokesperson announced that 30 children have been killed in Gaza on a daily basis as a result of the enemy’s aggression since October 7.
For his part, UN Secretary-General António Guterres decided to reduce the organization’s presence in Gaza following the killing of two UN staff members following Israel’s resumption of its genocidal war on the Strip.
In press statements yesterday, Stéphane Dujarric, Guterres’ spokesman, indicated that Israel carried out “horrific attacks” last week that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of civilians, including UN staff members.
He addressed Israel’s refusal to allow humanitarian aid to enter Gaza since early March, adding, “For this reason, the UN Secretary-General was forced to make the decision to reduce the organization’s presence in Gaza.”
He explained that this decision comes “despite the increasing needs of civilians for humanitarian assistance and protection,” stressing that the UN will not leave Gaza and will continue to provide assistance to ensure the lives and protection of civilians.
In this context, Dujarric explained that the number of UN international staff in Gaza will be reduced, indicating that there are currently approximately 100 international staff in the Strip, 30 of whom will leave.
Regarding the progress of negotiations to reach a ceasefire agreement in the Strip before Eid al-Fitr, Egyptian sources said that an Israeli security delegation left Cairo last Saturday evening without reaching an agreement. Meanwhile, mediators in Egypt and Qatar informed the Hamas leadership that the negotiations have reached a dead end at the present time, despite Hamas’s openness to discussing the recent Egyptian proposal to release a number of Israeli prisoners in exchange for a humanitarian ceasefire.
The same sources confirmed that the Israeli side rejected attempts to reach a solution.
On the Israeli side, Hebrew media reported on Monday that the Zionist enemy army is moving to escalate its war of extermination in the Gaza Strip, including the deployment of more ground forces, on the pretext that current military pressure is insufficient to compel Hamas to release the Israeli detainees.
