Now even UNRWA aid will no longer reach the exhausted people of Gaza. After yesterday’s attack on UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, accused of having dragged the United Nations towards an anti-Semitic drift and in fact supporting terrorism, Israel has decided to block the food convoys of the UN organization for Palestinian refugees towards the north of the Strip, provoking the anger of its leader, Philippe Lazzarini, who in a post on An Israel-UN wall to wall that seems to leave no room for any glimmer of dialogue, as confirmed by the harsh reaction of the director of the WHO. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus called for the “decision to be urgently revoked” underlining that “blocking food deliveries by UNRWA effectively means denying starving people the chance to survive”. But it is unlikely that Israel will retrace its steps, convinced as it is of collusion between Hamas and various UNRWA employees in the Strip. And not only. The hospitals, the IDF has been repeating since the beginning of the ground operation in Gaza, are in fact terrorist bases. Searches have continued for a week in the Shifa hospital where, the military spokesperson reported, “480 terrorists affiliated with Hamas and Islamic Jihad” have so far been captured and “terrorist weapons and infrastructure have been found”. And in the last few hours, armored vehicles and military bulldozers have taken up positions in the immediate vicinity of the Amal and Nasser hospitals, located in two different districts of Khan Yunis, part of a larger operation aimed at “dismantling terrorist infrastructures and eliminating terrorists”, the military spokesman announced. Meanwhile, American Vice President Kamala Harris intervened promptly on the decision announced at the beginning of March by Israeli Prime Minister Benyamyn Netanyahu for a large-scale operation in Rafah. In an interview with the ABC broadcaster he suggested that there could be “consequences” for Israel if it went ahead with the invasion of Rafah where almost one and a half million displaced people live in precarious conditions. “We have been clear in multiple conversations and in every so that any major military operation in Rafah would be a huge mistake,” Harris said and added: “I’ve studied the maps. There’s nowhere for those people to go.” Translated, there is the risk of an additional massacre to the 32,226 deaths reported by Hamas. And on the international front, a tough stance also came from French President Emmanuel Macron who warned Netanyahu that any “forced transfer” of the population would constitute a “war crime”. The Doha talks for the release of the hostages are still on the high seas, or rather on a roller coaster. After the Israeli openness to the American proposal on the relationship that should be established between the release of each Israeli hostage held by Hamas and the number of Palestinian prisoners held in Israel who should be released, there was a negative reaction from Hamas for the failure to ” reference to the ceasefire and withdrawal of forces from Gaza”. In the evening, however, a glimmer of hope. According to Channel 12, Israel has sent Hamas a document detailing three phases of an agreement for the release of the hostages. The new numbers speak of a willingness, in a first phase, to free between 700 and 800 Palestinian prisoners in exchange for 40 hostages during a six-week truce. According to the TV, there is also a series of proposals for the return of some of the displaced civilians to the north of the Strip. Israel, however, rules out a total withdrawal of its army from Gaza. A condition that Hamas will hardly be able to accept.
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