UN forced to halt humanitarian operations in Gaza

• Israel strikes Palestinian enclave after Lebanon flare-up
• Egypt says it will not accept Jewish state’s force on its Gaza border
• White House says Cairo talks made progress

UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations said on Monday it had been forced to halt its humanitarian operations in Gaza due to a new Israeli evacuation order for the Deir al-Balah area, a senior UN official said.

“We are not operating today. As of this morning, we’re not operating in Gaza,” the official said, adding that since the start of the war the UN has sometimes had to “delay or take a pause.” “This is not a decision that we’re saying we’re stopping to operate, but practically we cannot operate,” the official said.

According to the official, the UN “had relocated most of our personnel in our operations” to Deir al-Balah following a Rafah evacuation order several months ago.

The Israeli military had told people on Sunday to “evacuate immediately”. “We need to find solutions,” the UN official said. “And if it means that we need to anchor down for 24-48 hours and reset, we do that. But we’re not leaving.

“Right now the challenge is to find a place where we can reset and effectively operate.”

Israeli strikes

Israel’s military struck the Gaza Strip on Monday a day after truce talks in Cairo coincided with a major but brief cross-border escalation involving Hezbollah in Lebanon.

In the latest flare-up between Israel and Hamas-ally Hezbollah, the Lebanese group on Sunday launched rockets and drones in retaliation for a top commander’s killing as Israel carried out air raids the military said thwarted a larger attack.

Israel swiftly revoked a state of emergency declared early on Sunday, and Hezbollah said its operation was “completed”.

On the ground, witnesses and AFP correspondents reported air strikes and shelling in Gaza City and other parts of the besieged Palestinian territory overnight and Israel’s military said it had struck fighters in the south.

Medics said an air strike on a Gaza City house killed at least five people, with two rescuers telling AFP more victims may be buried in the ruins in Al-Rimal neighbourhood. “There are still martyrs and body parts under the rubble,” ambulance driver Hussein Muhaysen said.

An Israeli military statement said troops had “eliminated” dozens of fighters over the past day in the southern areas of Khan Yunis and Rafah, and near Deir al-Balah in central Gaza.

Israel’s military campaign since October 7 last year has killed at least 40,435 people in Gaza, according to the territory’s health ministry. The UN rights office says most of the dead are women and children.

Hezbollah has traded near-daily fire with Israeli forces throughout the war, in what the group says is support for its Palestinian ally Hamas.

After weeks of retaliation threats, Hezbollah early on Sunday launched what it said was part of its response to Shukr’s killing.

Intense diplomacy

Intense diplomacy has sought to head off a broader retaliation for the late July killings of senior Hezbollah commander Fuad Shukr in an Israeli strike on Beirut, and of Hamas political leader Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran.

Mediators held meetings in the Egyptian capital on Sunday but reported no breakthrough in months of protracted negotiations to end the Gaza war as the fighting raged on.

A key sticking point has been Israel’s insistence that it keep control of several strategic areas, including the so-called Philadelphi Corridor along the Gaza-Egypt border, to stop Hamas from re-arming, something the group has refused to countenance.

Cairo, which has been mediating the talks alongside Qatar and the United States, made clear on Monday it would not support continued Israeli control of the corridor, according to state-linked media.

Egypt “reiterated to all parties that it will not accept any Israeli presence” along the corridor, Al-Qahera news reported, citing a high-level source.

The White House claimed on Monday that Gaza truce talks in Cairo have made progress and were expected to continue at a working level for several days despite clashes between Israel and Hezbollah.

“There continues to be progress, and our team on the ground continues to describe the talks as constructive,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters. “So despite the rocket and drone attack by Hezbollah over the course of the weekend, which Israel did a terrific job defending against, it has not affected the actual work on the ground by the teams trying to get this ceasefire deal in place,” Kirby said.

Kirby said that senior White House official Brett McGurk stayed in Cairo for an extra day to allow further talks at a lower level.

Published in Dawn, August 27th, 2024