The Israeli military operation against Gaza is entering a new stage after the international community failed to clinch a ceasefire last weekend. On Friday the Israeli government criticized the efforts of Secretary of State, John Kerry, to achieve a humanitarian ceasefire, thus adding new tensions to the diplomatic relations between the two countries. Later the Israeli prime minister slammed a UN Security Council statement calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza. The prime minister said the statement does not address Israel’s demands for demilitarization of the Gaza Strip.
The intransigent position adopted by the Israeli government reflects the state of mind of most Israelis, as polls show that 87 percent of the Israeli public support the offensive on Gaza.
Escalation started on Monday afternoon as Israeli forces bombed a park near the beach in al-Shati refugee camp, killing 10 Palestinians, eight of them children, and wounding 40. In a second strike Israeli drones hit the outpatient clinic of al-Shifa Hospital, the main hospital Gaza. No casualties were reported.
The Israeli army attempted to blame these strikes on the Islamic Jihad. Witnesses, however, testify that the attack was made with drones and a spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Gaza, Iyad al-Buzm, said that explosives experts from the Gaza police had examined “the targeted places and the remnants of shells there”, as well as the wounds on the bodies, determining them to be inflicted by an Israeli strike.
Following the attack a Palestinian counteroffensive cost the lives of ten Israeli soldiers. Four soldiers were killed and six others wounded by mortar fire on the Eshkol region, located near the Gaza border. Later an additional Israeli soldier was killed in an RPG attack on an armored car. Five soldiers were killed overnight during an attempt to infiltrate Israel through a tunnel.
On Monday evening the Israeli military called on some 400,000 residents of the northern Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes immediately. In addition, the Israeli army said it would treat all civilians who remain in areas it had deemed off-limits to be combatants. According to UNRWA, 43 percent of the Gaza Strip had been deemed off-limits to civilians. The assault has already displaced 135,000 people .
The latest order results in displacement of over a quarter of the Palestinian population of Gaza, as all borders of the coastal strip are closed and UN-designated shelters have been bombed repeatedly.
The prime minister said in a televised speech following the death of four soldiers in a mortar attack, that Israel must be prepared for a long military campaign in the Gaza Strip.
“We will not end this operation without neutralizing the tunnels”, said the prime minister, adding that the international community must demand the”demilitarization of Gaza".
Netanyahu was supported by the Communications Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud), who called on fellow ministers and MKs to support the prime minister.
He urged MKs to “unify in support for the prime minister, who is conducting a difficult war and fighting [pressure from] the international community.”
Despite Israeli escalation over the past 24 hours, Palestinian sources report a breakthrough in talks towards a ceasefire. According to sources who spoke to the Al-Hayat newspaper, Secretary of State Kerry has formulated a new proposal based on the Egyptian initiative. The sources also say that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas contacted senior Hamas and Islamic Jihad leaders and received their consent to send delegations to Cairo. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, however, refuses to join any negotiation as long as the hostilities in Gaza continue.
Sergio Yahni