And the war continues.
Despite an agreement on Monday before the Security Council by the international community to ask Israel to cease fire in the Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continued its operations, and Hamas continued to fire rockets into Israeli territory.
Early on Tuesday, the Hamas Ministry of Health reported 70 deaths overnight.
The Israeli army notably bombed a house in Rafah, in the south of Gaza, killing at least 15 people, according to the Palestinian authorities.
The Israeli defense forces also made around ten arrests in the West Bank, notably in Jenin, in Beit Fajar near Bethlehem, and in the town of Dora south of Mount Hebron.
Violent unrest took place in Nablus and shots were exchanged.
Furthermore, Israeli settlers attacked the town of Beit Ummar, north of Hebron.
In the Balata refugee camp, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society reports that a man was shot dead by Israeli forces during their raid on the town, while Palestinian resistance groups targeted Israeli soldiers with IEDs explosives.
In Sderot, air raid sirens sounded and three rockets fired from the Gaza Strip were intercepted by air defenses.
According to Israel, Hamas and its ally Palestinian Islamic Jihad launched more than a dozen rockets into southern Israel on Monday, including the city of Ashdod, which has a population of 220,000.
COGAT, the Israeli Ministry of Defense body responsible for Palestinian civil affairs, broadcast on X a short video denouncing the fact that Hamas militants fired rockets at Ashdod “from a humanitarian zone where civilians were present” in Deir al-Balah, in the center of the Gaza Strip.
Israel continues to accuse the Palestinian movement responsible for the barbaric attacks of October 7 of placing its forces among the population to act as “human shields”.
Not only did Hamas launch rockets towards the Ashdod city (pop. 220k), but they also did it from a humanitarian area with civilians present.
Another example of Hamas' calculated manipulation of civilian infrastructure, placing assets within civilians, using them as human shields.
pic.twitter.com/ZrzUFxVCl7
— COGAT (@cogatonline) March 26, 2024
In response to Hamas rocket fire launched from a humanitarian area in central Gaza toward the city of Ashdod earlier today, IAF fighter jets destroyed the post from which the fire originated.
The strike was precise, avoiding harm to civilians who evacuated the area prior to it.… pic.twitter.com/SVkfBYeblB
— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) March 25, 2024
On Monday, for the first time since the start of the war, the UN Security Council adopted by 14 votes in favor and one abstention - that of the United States - a resolution calling for an "immediate ceasefire" in exchange for “the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages”.
Israel's historic ally, Washington had until now opposed the term "ceasefire" in UN resolutions, blocking three texts to this effect.
Not implementing this resolution would be “unforgivable”, judged the Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, in the wake of the vote welcomed by major capitals.
A hundred hostages in the hands of Hamas
After the UN vote, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled the visit to Washington of a high-level delegation which was to discuss alternatives to the massive ground offensive that the IDF wants to carry out on Rafah.
An overreaction for the United States, which tried to convince its Israeli ally of its full support.
“I had the pleasure of welcoming Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant to the White House today.
We had a constructive discussion on the best way to ensure a lasting defeat of Hamas in Gaza,” Jake Sullivan, Joe Biden’s adviser on security issues, wrote on X for example.
I was pleased to welcome Israeli Minister of Defense Yoav Gallant to the White House today.
We had a constructive discussion on how best to ensure Hamas' lasting defeat in Gaza.
— Jake Sullivan (@JakeSullivan46) March 25, 2024
“We do not have the moral right to stop the war as long as there are hostages in Gaza,” responded Defense Minister Yoav Gallant, visiting the United States.
130 people kidnapped on October 7 are still in the hands of Hamas, of whom 33, according to the Israeli army, are dead.
During the night from Monday to Tuesday, Israeli forces carried out strikes in Lebanon, after identifying the source of fire towards the north of its territory, where Israel regularly comes under attack.
Warplanes also claim to have struck a Hezbollah military structure in the Tayr Harfa region, as well as another military structure belonging to the terrorist organization in the Dhayra region.