As the Israeli military stepped up pressure on what it called Hamas’s last stronghold in Gaza, fighting elsewhere in the Palestinian enclave on Sunday led to warnings that militants could remain remains a force for a long time to come.
Both sides said on Sunday that close fighting between Hamas militants and the Israeli army broke out in northern areas of Gaza over the weekend, even as world attention was mainly focuses on the southern city of Rafah, where Israel escalated its military operations last week.
It has become a familiar scenario in the Gaza Strip throughout the seven-month war: After intense battles, Israel declared a Hamas-free zone, only to return after the militants regrouped. their quantity.
On Sunday, Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken said he was concerned that Israel’s failure to set a template for governing Gaza means its victories may not be “sustainable” and that “chaos” will follow. , anarchy and finally chaos.” Hamas too.”
Blinken’s warning came as the Israeli military said its soldiers had “eliminated several” gunmen in the Zeitoun neighborhood of Gaza City. In nearby Jabaliya, where civilians were ordered to evacuate on Saturday, troops moved in overnight after warplanes attacked more than two dozen targets, the military said. The operation, it said, was “based on intelligence related to Hamas’ regrouping efforts.”
Hamas on Sunday said its fighters were involved in “violent clashes” with Israeli soldiers near Jabaliya and that fighters fired heavy-caliber mortar rounds at Israeli forces in Zeitoun.
None of the claims could be independently verified.
Palestine TV, a network affiliated with the Palestinian Authority, a rival of Hamas based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, aired footage it said showed civilians, many of them women and children, fleeing northern Gaza. Some walked, while others rode bicycles, cars or loaded into donkey-drawn carts.
“I am deeply saddened by the rapid deterioration of the situation in Gaza,” said the head of the United Nations human rights agency, Volker Türk. statement about the war in the North.
In Rafah, the southernmost city where more than a million Palestinians have fled for safety since the war began in October, Gazans are once again on the move out of fear that Israel is about to invade. forces entered the city.
Israel has come under intense international pressure – including from the United States, its closest ally – not to launch a full-scale invasion of Rafah. The Israelis said they were determined to destroy the militants who led the October 7 attack on Israel.
But top leaders of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, incl Yahya SinwarAccording to US officials, without hiding in Rafah, the intelligence could weaken Israel’s rationale for major military operations in the city.
US officials said Israeli intelligence agencies agreed with the US assessment. According to US officials, the two countries’ intelligence agencies believe that Mr. Sinwar most likely never left the tunnel network under Khan Younis, a major city in the north. The US officials spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive intelligence assessments.
However, Israel is still increasing pressure on Rafah.
The main United Nations agency assisting Palestinians in Gaza said early Sunday morning that about 300,000 people had fled Rafah over the past week. Another organization, the World Food Program, warned that a full-scale invasion of the city would be “disastrous.”
Gaza’s largest telecommunications company said on Sunday that internet service was down in some areas of southern Gaza because of Israeli military operations. And Doctors Without Borders said it had begun transferring the last 22 patients at one hospital, Rafah Indonesia Field Hospital, to other facilities because it “can no longer guarantee their safety.” .
On Sunday, Israelis are observing Memorial Day, a national day of mourning that has deepened this year. At 8 p.m., one-minute sirens sounded across the country, causing pedestrians to stand still in the streets and traffic to a standstill.
Even in a normal year, commemorations of soldiers and victims of terrorist attacks are sacrosanct in Israel, a small country where many people know someone who was killed or injured by The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lasted for decades.
Israeli authorities said about 1,200 people were killed and 250 were taken hostage on October 7. The army said that since Israel launched its invasion of Gaza, at least 272 soldiers have died. Gaza officials say more than 34,000 Palestinians have died in the war and most Gazans have been forced to flee their homes.
Liam Stack Reporting from Tel Aviv, Aaron the boxer from Jerusalem and Eric Nagourney from New York. Report contributed by Julian E. Barnes, Adam Entous And Mike Ives.
