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The Israeli army attacked the al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the most important in the enclave, at dawn with tanks and snipers for the fourth time since the war in the Strip began.
There are several deaths, whose number is unknown at the moment, among the more than 30,000 displaced people who took refuge in that center, according to the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, for his part, has criticized the “short memory” of the international community with the Hamas attacks and has assured that there will be a military offensive in Rafah, before stating that he will “let the population out.” Gazati from the enclave before attacking.
Israel and Hamas returned to the negotiating table this Sunday, this time in Doha (Qatar) to try to achieve a ceasefire.
The envoys of both parties, with the mediation of the United States, Qatar and Egypt, will discuss a truce of at least six weeks in which there would be new exchanges of hostages and prisoners, with the ultimate goal that this truce can become permanent.
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The country
Israel attacks Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City again
The Israeli Army laid siege at dawn with tanks and snipers and attacked for the fourth time since the war in the Strip began the al Shifa hospital in Gaza City, the most important in the enclave, causing deaths among the more than 30,000 displaced people. They took refuge in that center, as reported by the Gaza Ministry of Health, controlled by Hamas.
In addition, a fire broke out in one of the buildings as a result of the attack.
“Troops are carrying out a precise operation in the Shifa hospital area, which is based on intelligence information indicating the use of the hospital by senior Hamas terrorists for terrorist activities,” the Israeli military said of that operation.
Israel has stated that its troops were attacked when they entered the center.
“The troops responded with live fire and impacts were identified.
“Our troops continue to operate in the hospital area,” the statement read.
(Efe/Reuters)
ACT.18 MAR 2024 - 08:32
War between Israel and Gaza
Von der Leyen sees “the famine” that Gaza faces as unacceptable and demands a “ceasefire”
Manuel V. Gomez
The humanitarian catastrophe that is being experienced in Gaza has been very present in the launch of the strategic cooperation agreement that the EU and Egypt staged this Sunday in Cairo.
“Gaza is facing famine and we cannot accept it.
It is essential to quickly reach a ceasefire agreement that releases the hostages and allows more humanitarian aid to arrive,” proclaimed the president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, one of the voices of the Union closest to Israel. since this new chapter of the conflict in the Middle East exploded.
At her side was the president of Egypt, Abdel Fattá al Sisi, one of the main actors in the negotiation of this possible ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, who has asked her and the five leaders of EU member countries who accompanied her ―Italy, Cyprus, Austria, Greece and Belgium―, “more efforts to achieve an unconditional ceasefire in addition to increasing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip” and that Israel does not attack the city of Rafah due to the “risks it would have on the vulnerable civilian population.”
You can read the complete information here.
ACT.17 MAR 2024 - 22:08
The country
UNICEF assures that more than 13,000 children have died in Gaza since the start of the Israeli offensive
The UN children's agency (UNICEF) reported this Sunday that more than 13,000 children have died since October 7 in the Gaza Strip due to Israel's offensive.
The organization adds in a statement that many children suffer from severe malnutrition and that "they do not even have the energy to cry."
"Thousands more have been injured or we cannot even determine where they are. They may be trapped under the rubble... We have not seen that death rate among children in almost any other conflict in the world," said the Executive Director of Unicef, Catherine Russell, in an interview for the American network CBS News.
(Reuters)
ACT.17 MAR 2024 - 21:23
The country
Humanitarian aid falling on the Gaza Strip after being dropped from a plane, seen from Israel, this Sunday / Amir Cohen / REUTERS
What has happened in the last few hours
These are the most relevant news about the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip at 9:00 p.m. this Sunday, March 17:
Netanyahu assures that there will be an Israeli military offensive in Rafah
.
The Israeli prime minister has stated that he will “let out” the civilian refugees in the south of the enclave, where more than 1.5 million Palestinians have been displaced.
He has criticized the international community's “short memory” of Hamas attacks.
Olaf Scholz: “We cannot remain passive while the Palestinians risk dying of hunger
. ”
The German Chancellor met with Netanyahu in Jerusalem, and recalled that the death of civilians is “unjustifiable.”
The death toll in Gaza stands at 31,645, most of them children and women
.
The Gaza Health Ministry, controlled by Hamas, has also reported that 73,676 people have been injured since the start of the conflict, and puts the number of Palestinians trapped in the rubble at between 7,000 and 8,000.
Von der Leyen insists on the need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza “quickly”
.
“Gaza is facing famine and we cannot accept this,” the president of the European Commission said in Cairo.
ACT.17 MAR 2024 - 21:00
The country
Palestinian president warns that Israeli attack on Rafah will cause a "humanitarian catastrophe"
The president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, has warned that the military offensive on the Rafah region of Gaza announced by Israel will cause a "humanitarian catastrophe."
"The most urgent priority for us is to prevent the Israeli occupation forces from invading the city of Rafah, where there are more than 1.5 million displaced Palestinians, which would cause a humanitarian catastrophe," Abbas said from Ramallah, in the West Bank.
Abbas has called on the international community to prevent the Israeli attack and to force Israel to "immediately cease its aggression and open all border crossings in the Gaza Strip so that aid can enter and reconstruction can begin."
(Efe)
ACT.17 MAR 2024 - 19:34
The country
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this Sunday in Jerusalem.
/ DPA / via EUROPA PRESS
Olaf Scholz: "We cannot stand by while Palestinians risk starvation"
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has assured that Israel will not leave Gaza civilians trapped in Rafah when its forces begin the expected military assault on the southern Gaza city, where more than 1 million Palestinians have taken refuge.
Netanyahu has insisted in a joint conference with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz that military defense and the total destruction of Hamas is the only way to ensure peace in Israel and that a terrorist attack like the one carried out by the Islamist militia last October 7 is not repeated.
"Attacking Rafah is not something we will do while keeping the civilian population locked up. In fact, we will do the opposite, we will allow them to leave. That is our conscience for their protection," he said.
The German Chancellor assured this morning that an Israeli attack on Rafah, the last remaining unattacked stronghold of the Strip and where the vast majority of the displaced Gazan population is located, will greatly complicate the possibility of achieving peace in the region.
Although Scholz reiterated Germany's support for Israel during the meeting, he also stressed that it is necessary to achieve a ceasefire and a truce for the release of the Israeli hostages who are still in the hands of Hamas.
"Persecuting Hamas is a legitimate goal of Israel. But no matter how important the final objective is, the means and the death of civilians cannot be justified. There is a humanitarian logic in addition to the military one," declared the German leader, leaving glimpse the differences between the Israeli and German Governments.
After advocating the reconstruction of the Palestinian Authority for the Gaza government, Scholz declared: "We cannot stand by while Palestinians risk starvation, that is not what we advocate. Neither. Humanitarian conditions in the Strip must be massively improved.
ACT.17 MAR 2024 - 18:09
The country
Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi with the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, at the presidential palace in Cairo this Sunday.
/ REUTERS
Von der Leyen insists on the need to reach a ceasefire in Gaza "quickly"
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, reiterated this Sunday that Gaza is facing famine and that it is necessary to reach a quick ceasefire agreement in the war between Israel and Hamas.
"Gaza is facing famine and we cannot accept this," she said in Cairo, after signing a strategic partnership agreement with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi.
"It is essential to quickly reach an agreement on a ceasefire now that frees the hostages and allows more humanitarian aid to reach Gaza," she insisted.
(Reuters)
ACT.17 MAR 2024 - 17:30
The country
Germany warns that an Israeli military operation in Rafah would make peace in the region "very difficult"
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has called for the immediate declaration of a ceasefire in Gaza to prevent the next large-scale Israeli offensive on the town of Rafah, in the south of the enclave and the last refuge for hundreds of thousands of expelled displaced people. because of the bombings.
Scholz has assured that it would be a military operation whose "enormous number of casualties" would "make any progress towards peace" in the region very difficult.
"I think there are many people in Israel who know this," said the German chancellor after a meeting in Jordan with King Abdullah II.
Scholz has joined US President Joe Biden in already calling on Netanyahu to exercise maximum restraint in his future military plans in the Strip.
"As the president of the United States commented, we are at a point where we must be very, very, very careful to prevent the number of victims from skyrocketing again," he declared at the end of the meeting and before addressing the to Israel, where he will meet with the prime minister and other members of the Israeli Government.
(Europa Press)
ACT.17 MAR 2024 - 15:40
The country
Smoke from the explosions in the Gaza Strip seen from southern Israel this Sunday.
/ ARIEK SCHALIT / AP
Netanyahu criticizes the “short memory” of the international community with the Hamas attacks and assures that he will enter Rafah
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has criticized the “short memory” of the international community for forgetting the Hamas attacks of October 7, “the worst massacre committed against Jews since the Holocaust.”
He has said that despite international pressure against the offensive in Gaza, the operation will continue until Israel achieves its objectives, including the ground operation in Rafah, on the southern tip of Gaza, where more than a million Palestinians displaced from other countries take refuge. areas of the Strip.
"I ask our friends in the international community: 'How short is your memory? Have you so quickly forgotten October 7, the worst massacre committed against the Jews since the Holocaust?'" Netanyahu said before a meeting of his security cabinet.
“Are you so quickly willing to deny Israel its right to defend itself against the monsters of Hamas?” he insisted, before reiterating that Israel will continue its offensive, including the city of Rafah, ensuring that, when carried out, it will evacuate. to civilians in combat zones.
Netanyahu has responded to statements this week by the leader of the Democratic Party in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, a prominent American Jewish leader, who called for elections in Israel arguing that the ultra-nationalist governing coalition “no longer covers the needs of Israel after October 7”, stating that he lives in the past.
According to Netanyahu, his government is being subjected to “international pressure based on false accusations” that “attempt to stop the war before all objectives are achieved.”
According to the Israeli leader, an election “would stop the war and paralyze the country for at least six months.”
Thus, he has assured that the Rafah operation “will take place in a matter of weeks”, despite international pressure against it.
“We accept these pressures and will not give in to them,” he added.
(Agencies)
ACT.17 MAR 2024 - 15:34