JERUSALEM. During tonight’s raids on Gaza, the Israeli armed forces hit a tunnel used by Hamas that was located near an asylum and a mosque. The Twitter profile of the Israel Defence Forces, who points out that the site of the tunnel “proves once again how the terrorist organization Hamas is deliberately placing its military equipment among the civilian population.” The Israeli armed forces emphasize that it is an extension equal to 163 football fields, 46 Eiffel Towers and 34 Empire State Buildings. The same armed forces have also reiterated that “they take as many precautionary measures as possible to reduce possible harm to civilians during their military activities”.
The tension and the contri do not seem to diminish. Indeed: alarm sirens for the arrival of rockets have sounded in the Israeli city of Kerem Shalom, near the border with Gaza, after a three-hour truce. The Israeli armed forces also reported that they had hit nine residences belonging to high-level Hamas commanders. They claim they are strategic bases “used as terrorist infrastructures” and also “to store weapons”.
Among the targets hit, the Israeli Defense points out the residences of the commander of the Beit Hanoun battalion, of the Beit Hanoun company, of the company in the Sabara battalion in Gaza city and of the commander of a company of the Shati battalion. The Israeli raids also hit a military infrastructure used for command and control and installed in the home of the Hamas military intelligence officer in Shejaiya.
Electricity grid in Gaza damaged
The Israeli raids have severely damaged the electricity supply network in Gaza City: a spokesman for the Gaza Electricity Distribution Company, the electricity company in Gaza, said the news was reported by al Jazeera. Immediately after the intense Israeli fire barrage, several sources on the spot reported that large sections of the city had remained completely dark.
“Cease-fire”
Meanwhile, twenty-eight US Democratic senators have in the meantime called for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas. “To prevent any further loss of civilian lives and to prevent a further escalation of the conflict in Israel and the Palestinian territories, we urgently call for an immediate ceasefire,” says the text of the brief statement, the purpose of which is to put pressure on the president of the United States, Joe Biden. The note is first signed by Jon Ossoff and was signed by leading Democratic Party figures such as Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar.
Even the Egyptian president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi – reports al Jazeera – called for an end to “all violence and hostilities” between Gaza and Israel. Al-Sisi, whose government is at the forefront of mediation of the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel, added that Cairo works “around the clock to try to reach a truce.” Hope “is always the same – concludes Abdel-Fattah el-Sisi – and now we must all work to put an end to the current state of violence”.
The PA: “An investigation into the destroyed media tower immediately”
Sally Buzbee, the director ofAssociated Press, called for an independent investigation into the Israeli attack that razed the al Jala tower to the ground on Saturday, the building that housed the offices of major international news outlets in Gaza. The Israeli raid completely destroyed the 12-story tower that housed, among others, the offices of AP, Al Jazeera and Middle East Eye. Also “Reporters Without Borders” and asked the International Criminal Court to investigate whether the attack could be a possible war crime. But Israel claims that the building was used by Hamas, which used journalists as “human shields”. “We do not take sides in that conflict, we have heard the Israelis say they have evidence, but we don’t know what that evidence is,” Buzbee replied, speaking to Cnn. “We think at this point it is appropriate that there is an independent look at what happened on Saturday, an independent investigation.”
Israel had given reporters an hour to leave the building. Despite the indignation of many, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu defended the operation and tweeted a video of the building crumbling to the ground. The administration of the president of the United States, Joe Biden, has limited itself to expressing “concern” for the safety of journalists, without condemning the raid.
But according to the Jerusalem Post, Israel shared intelligence material with the US that proves Hamas operated inside the same building they worked in Associated Press e Al-Jazeera: Biden’s Saturday phone call to Prime Minister Netanyahu concerned, in part, the bombing of the building and Israel showed the American administration the “smoking gun” that would justify the operation: “We showed him the smoking gun proving that Hamas worked in that building – explained a diplomatic source – and I understand that they have found a satisfactory explanation ». Netanyahu himself spoke about it publicly when he was asked about the attack on Sunday, interviewed during the US program “Face the Nation”: “We share all the information with our American friends: the intelligence in our possession concerns a (Hamas) intelligence office housed in that building that plots and organizes terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians. It is a perfectly legitimate objective ».
Netanyahu also noted that “there have been no deaths whatsoever” thanks to measures taken by Israel to avoid harm to civilians, including warning. Sally Buzbee, 30 years of experience in AP, long-time editor of the agency for the Middle East, starting next month will become the first woman to lead the editorial staff of the Washington Post.