Qatar Emir’s rare remarks: Occupation era is gone, Israel needs to understand
Qatar calls on the UN Security Council to force Israel to return to the negotiating table over the war in Gaza, Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani said. “It is shameful for the international community to allow this heinous crime to continue for nearly two months, during which the systematic and deliberate killing of innocent civilians continues, including women and children,” he said during a Gulf Cooperation Council summit in Doha.
Israel-Hamas War: Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani(AFP)
“We are constantly working to renew (the truce) and to alleviate the burden of our people in the Gaza Strip, but truces are not an alternative for a comprehensive ceasefire,” he said.
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This comes as a World Health Organization official in Gaza said that the situation there is deteriorating by the hour as Israeli bombing intensified in the south of the enclave around Khan Younis and Rafah.
“The situation is getting worse by the hour,” Richard Peeperkorn, WHO representative on the occupied Palestinian territory, said, adding, “There’s intensified bombing going on all around, including here in the southern areas, Khan Younis and even in Rafah.”
What is happening in Gaza?
Israel’s military pushed deeper south in Gaza as it called for more evacuations in the southern portion of the enclave. The war has already killed more than 15,000 Palestinians and displaced over three-fourths of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents. In Gaza, the death toll has surpassed 15,890, with more than 41,000 wounded. Almost 70% of the dead in Gaza were women and children.
Satellite photos showed that the Israeli military has begun its ground offensive in the southern reaches of the Gaza Strip. The satellite photos released by Planet Labs PBC provide the first clear look at the intensity and scope of the war, Associated Press reported.
Would there be another ceasefire?
The United States, Qatar and Egypt, which mediated the earlier ceasefire, said that they are working on a longer truce. Although, hopes for another temporary truce faded as Hamas said that talks on releasing more hostages must be tied to a permanent ceasefire.