Israeli bombings left dozens dead on Sunday in the Gaza Strip, where no truce between Israel and Hamas is expected for Ramadan, while the international community tries to send aid to the population hit by starvation.
As part of a maritime corridor announced by the EU, a first ship loaded with 200 tonnes of food was preparing to leave Cyprus for the Palestinian territory besieged and devastated by more than five months of war.
No break in fighting is expected for the start of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting which begins Monday in most Muslim countries, as mediating countries had hoped.
“They say every day that there will be a truce on the first day of Ramadan.
But as you can see, there were more strikes this morning.
Enough of this war!
», Declared to AFP a displaced person, Moumen Ahmad, after an Israeli bombardment on Rafah, in the south of the Gaza Strip.
Hamas “open to negotiations”
Hamas remains “open to negotiations” on a truce in Gaza, the leader of the Palestinian Islamist movement, Ismaïl Haniyeh, said on Sunday.
“I say clearly that the occupation
(of Israel)
bears the responsibility for not reaching an agreement, but I say that we are open to continuing negotiations, in whatever form it takes,” he said. he assured in a televised message.
Also read: Truce in Gaza: Hamas blockade, American pressure… the hope of an agreement before the start of Ramadan gone?
“If we receive from our brother mediators a clear commitment from the occupier to withdraw, to stop its aggression and to allow the return of the displaced, we are ready to move forward and show flexibility on the exchange
(of hostages and prisoners)
,” he added.
The Hamas leader said he had been in contact with the mediators “a few hours” before his speech, but without result.
85 dead, according to Hamas
On Sunday, Hamas authorities counted 85 dead in 24 hours in more than 60 strikes that hit central and southern Gaza, including the town of Khan Younes.
At least 13 people died when shells fell on displaced people's tents in the Al-Mawasi region, between Khan Younes and Rafah, according to the Ministry of Health.
Israel, for its part, announced the death of a soldier, bringing to 249 the number of soldiers killed since the start of the ground offensive on October 27.
The war has also caused a major humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, where the UN fears widespread famine.
“I feed my daughter water, water, just so she doesn't die.
I have no choice,” said a woman, Barak Abhar, in Gaza City, carrying her crying baby in her arms.
Also read: Why is it so difficult to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip?
According to the Hamas Ministry of Health, 25 people, most of them children, have already died of malnutrition and dehydration in the territory, which has been under total siege by Israel since October 9.
And humanitarian aid, controlled by Israel, only arrives in trickles in Gaza, mainly from Egypt, even though the needs are immense.
On Sunday, Jordan, the United States, France, Belgium and Egypt participated in new aid airdrops.
The EU and the United States announced on Friday that they were preparing a maritime corridor from Cyprus, located in the eastern Mediterranean, some 370 km from Gaza.
VIDEO.
Ship loaded with food to leave Cyprus for Gaza
A first ship chartered by the Spanish NGO Open Arms, in partnership with the American NGO World Central Kitchen (WCK), should set sail from the port of Larnaca "in the coming hours", the Cypriot government announced on Sunday.
Laura Lanuza, spokesperson for Open Arms, said on Saturday that WCK was “building a pier” in Gaza to be able to unload the cargo.
On Sunday, residents took to the beach in southern Gaza City hoping to see the ship arrive.
“I have been waiting since this morning, because tomorrow begins the holy month of Ramadan and the situation is tragic,” Mohammed Harrara assured AFP.
US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that a US military ship had left the United States with the materials needed to build a pier, which could take up to 60 days.
But the UN says that airdrops and sending aid by sea cannot replace land delivery.
Biden raises his voice
This aid mainly passes through Rafah, a town stuck against the Egyptian border, where, according to the UN, nearly a million and a half people live in fear of a ground offensive announced by Israel.
Joe Biden once again raised his voice on Saturday, saying that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was doing “more harm than good to Israel”.
“He has the right to defend Israel, the right to continue attacking Hamas.
But he must, he must, he must pay more attention to the innocent lives lost,” he said.
VIDEO.
Gaza: Biden vents his frustration with Netanyahu without knowing he is being filmed
President Biden “is wrong,” Benjamin Netanyahu retorted on Sunday, denying that he was acting against the interests of his country.
During new discussions in early March in Cairo, the mediating countries - the United States, Qatar and Egypt - were unable to reach a compromise allowing a truce as well as the release of hostages held in Gaza, while Israel and Hamas accuse each other of preventing an agreement.
According to Israel, 130 hostages are still in Gaza, 31 of whom are believed to have died, out of around 250 people kidnapped on October 7.
A source close to the negotiations, however, told AFP on Sunday “that there would be an acceleration of diplomatic efforts in the next ten days” in order to try to obtain an agreement during the first half of Ramadan.
The United States fears that the situation could become “very dangerous” particularly in East Jerusalem, where the Mosques Esplanade, the third holiest site in Islam, is located, if fighting continued during the fast.