Past attacks by Israeli forces on aid workers have strained the Biden administration’s ties with Netanyahu’s government, which has been a steady supplier of weapons to Israel throughout the war.
Nine months into the conflict, with more than a million civilians taking refuge in tents to escape the summer heat, aid groups describe Gaza as one of the most dangerous places in the world to work in. A UN-backed assessment says famine is looming, and the Israeli Health Ministry said Friday it had detected a strain of the polio virus in Gaza’s sewage amid a growing sanitation crisis.
The Israeli army on Monday ordered troops to withdraw from areas it had previously designated safe zones for civilians and said it was planning operations against Hamas fighters who were using the area as a place to fire rockets into Israel. In a statement, Hamas’ military wing said it had opened fire on three Israeli tanks and a bulldozer in the Bani Suhayla neighborhood of Khan Yunis, suggesting heavy fighting was taking place.
The areas in question include eastern Khan Yunis, part of the humanitarian area that includes Mawashi, where the Israeli army estimates some 1.8 million Palestinians have been displaced, with families crowded together so tightly that tents stretch all the way to the coastline.
Images from inside the Gaza Strip showed thousands of people clutching their belongings as they pushed through crowded streets and debris to flee the area where Israel said it would soon launch military action.
Iman al-Zeer, a 34-year-old mother of four who could be reached by phone in the Khan Yunis neighborhood, which was also under evacuation orders, said she was unable to leave because of heavy firing.
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Gaza’s Health Ministry said 70 people had been killed and 200 injured by Monday. The local Civil Defense said a paramedic was injured while trying to rescue the injured at the Bani Suhaila crossing.
Zeal said she could hear heavy artillery and airstrikes nearby. “We could hear the screams of people fleeing,” she said. “Every time we try to move, they shoot at us. It’s impossible to move because we have to walk towards Bani Suhaila.”
Philippe Lazzarini, head of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which provides support to Palestinian refugees, said on Monday that one of his convoys had been fired upon by Israeli forces a day before it had begun its journey into the war-scarred northern Palestine region, awaiting Israeli army permission.
“The team was travelling in clearly marked UN armoured vehicles and wearing UN vests. One vehicle was hit by at least five bullets,” Lazzarini said in a message to X. “Those responsible must be held accountable.”
The Israeli army did not respond to a request for comment on the incident. UNRWA spokeswoman Louise Waterridge said she happened to be sitting in the passenger seat of a car that was hit by gunfire. Bullets appeared to have come from the IDF’s area of operations in the east, Waterridge said, leaving shrapnel in the back seat.
“We were very lucky that there was no one in the back seat. This is the first time we’ve had no one in the back seat during a mission in Gaza. But it shouldn’t be down to luck,” she said.
She added that there were no visible military targets in the area and that a volley of bullets erupted after a displaced Palestinian mother, who was walking in the scorching heat with her baby in her arms and her three young children behind her, passed by her car.
“They were there just a moment ago,” Waterridge said. “They would have been at the forefront of the attack, but for what purpose?”
More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed since the start of Israel’s military operations, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says the majority of the dead are women and children.
Tensions between Netanyahu and Biden have worsened significantly in recent months as Israel has ignored repeated requests from the White House to provide more humanitarian aid to Gaza and better protect civilians. In May, the administration suspended supplies of 2,000-pound bombs to Israel for use in populated areas.
Israeli military officials say the most violent phase of the war with Hamas is nearing an end. But Palestinian and foreign medical workers on the ground in Gaza say they have seen a sharp increase in mass casualty attacks by Israeli forces in recent weeks. Aid groups say the toll is outstripping hospitals’ capacity, and they are barely able to cope with the high number of unhealed wounds they were treating from previous attacks.
Analysts see the change in policy as part of an Israeli strategy to pressure Hamas in ongoing diplomatic talks aimed at securing a ceasefire and the release of more than 100 hostages still being held by Hamas. With U.S.-backed talks in Cairo reportedly gaining momentum, the Biden administration is pressuring a reluctant Prime Minister Netanyahu to accept a deal. Netanyahu has denied allegations that he is sabotaging the talks.
Netanyahu has been accused of prolonging the war for his own political gain, a charge he denies, and remains adamant that Israel must fight until Hamas is destroyed, even though his own generals say that goal is unattainable.
Before Biden dropped out of the 2024 presidential race, U.S. administration officials denied that Netanyahu had been significantly emboldened by his criticism of the president’s job performance, but acknowledged that he had hardened his stance as Biden’s problems mounted. Diplomats familiar with the discussions said Netanyahu had made last-minute demands in recent days that U.S. negotiators worried could derail the Cairo talks.
The Israel Defense Forces said on Monday that two more hostages, Alex Dansig, 76, and Yagev Bukshtab, 35, had been killed in the Gaza Strip. “The circumstances of the deaths of the two men held captive by Hamas are being investigated by all relevant specialized agencies,” military spokesman Daniel Hagari said. “The IDF and other security services will continue to provide support to the hostages’ families as needed.”
The Hostage Families Forum, an umbrella group representing the families of more than 250 hostages abducted by Hamas and other militant groups on October 7, called the news “devastating.” It said Bukhshtab “was a humble, unassuming man who loved life at the kibbutz where he was taken. Hostages held with him report that during his captivity, (Danzig) gave history lectures to his fellow captives.”
“The deaths of prisoners are a tragic reflection of the delays in the negotiations. We reiterate our call on the Israeli government and its leaders to ratify the agreement immediately.”
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Lior Soroka in Tel Aviv and Steve Hendricks in Jerusalem contributed to this report.