GAZA: Israeli strikes in southern and central Gaza intensified on Wednesday despite a pledge by Israel that it would pull out some troops and shift to a more targeted campaign, and pleading from its ally Washington to kill fewer civilians.
In the latest sign of the three-month-old war spreading, US and British warships in the Red Sea fended off the biggest attack yet from Yemen’s Houthi movement, which says it is acting to support Gaza. Washington and London said they shot down 21 drones and missiles aimed at shipping lanes. No one was hurt.
Israel has said this week it is planning to begin drawing down troops, at least from the northern part of Gaza, after weeks of US pressure to scale down its operations and shift to what Washington says should be a more targeted campaign. But the fighting appears to be as intense as ever, especially in the southern and central areas where Israeli forces launched ground advances last month.
Israel has killed more than 23,000 Palestinians in Gaza since launching its campaign to eradicate the Hamas militant group that runs the enclave, after Hamas fighters killed 1,200 Israelis and captured 240 hostages in a rampage on October 7.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on his fourth trip to the region since the war began, went to Ramallah on Wednesday and met Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The PA, which exercises limited self rule in the West Bank and accepts Israel’s right to exist, lost control of Gaza in 2007 to Hamas, which is sworn to Israel’s destruction. Blinken discussed efforts to protect and aid civilians in Gaza.
At the same time, the World Health Organization has cancelled another planned medical aid mission to Gaza over security concerns, the sixth such cancellation in two weeks, and sounded a fresh alarm over the spread of infectious disease there.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was the sixth mission to northern Gaza cancelled by the United Nations agency because requests to visit had not been approved or assurances over security provided since its last visit, on 26 December.
“We call on Israel to approve requests by WHO and other partners to deliver humanitarian aid,” he added.