More than ten dead in Gaza on first day of Ramadan

Netanyahu after Biden criticism: Rafah ground offensive continues, 4 to 6 more weeks of warfare

The Israeli army continues its ground offensive on the southern city of Rafah. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made this clear in an interview with a German media group including Politico and Bild belong to. His statements follow the criticism that Joe Biden leveled at him on Sunday an interview with MSNBC. In it, the American president spoke of a “red line” with regard to the invasion of Rafah, although he considered an American arms stop towards Israel unthinkable.

Despite international opposition, Netanyahu does not abandon the siege of Rafah by himself talking about “a red line”. “Do you know what the red line is? That October 7 will never happen again,” referring to Hamas’s attacks on Israel that killed some 1,200 people. Due to the impending Israeli offensive, the landlocked Rafah, where 1.4 million Palestinians are currently sheltering from Israeli violence elsewhere in Gaza, is currently a major humanitarian concern for both aid organizations and the United Nations.

Death toll
On Sunday, Biden also indicated that the Israeli army should not “kill another 30,000 Palestinians”, referring to the Palestinian death toll that has now passed 31,000. That figure, kept by the health ministry in Gaza, would be incorrect, according to Netanyahu. According to his information, the Israeli army has now killed 13,000 Palestinian fighters in Gaza. “We have destroyed three-quarters of Hamas’ terror battalions.” Those numbers are for NRC cannot be independently verified.

According to Netanyahu, Israel is in the final stages of its war. By their own admission, the offensive in Gaza — “maybe six weeks, maybe four” — will last no longer than two months. For Biden, the way in which the Israeli war cabinet conducts the war against Hamas in Gaza was a reason to be critical of Netanyahu according to American standards. He would do “more harm than good” for his country. Netanyahu rejected that criticism by stating that the Israeli people support him in his defense against “attempts to ram a Palestinian state down our throats.”

More than ten dead in Gaza on first day of Ramadan

At least ten people were killed in Israeli attacks on Gaza City on Monday, the first day of Ramadan. At least three people were killed in an airstrike on the landlocked Rafah. The Palestinian news agency Wafa reports this writes Al Jazeera on Monday.

The death toll in Gaza City is likely to rise as the airstrikes continue. It is not known how many people were injured. Israel also attacked the southern town of Khan Younis. Nothing is yet known about any casualties or damage there. The information is not for NRC to verify.

These are Israel’s first bombings after the start of Ramadan. In occupied East Jerusalem, hundreds of Muslims were not allowed into the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which they wanted to visit to mark the start of the Islamic fasting month. Only women over forty years old were admitted to the shrine, reports Al Jazeera. Israel has been restricting access to the Al-Aqsa Mosque for months.

Welcome to this blog

This blog will follow NRC the war in Gaza and the related tensions in the Middle East. You can read our previous blog here.