Israel presses on with targeted strikes in Gaza
Continues assault despite cease-fire resolution in UN
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military pressed on with its bombardment of the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, signaling that the passing of a United Nations resolution calling for a cease-fire for the holy month of Ramadan the day before had not shaken Israel’s determination to keep fighting.
The military said its fighter jets had struck “over 60 targets” in Gaza over the previous day. It added that its forces were also operating in central Gaza, where it said they had killed “a number of terrorists.” The military also said Tuesday that it had confirmed the death of a senior Hamas leader. Wafa, the Palestinian Authority’s news agency, said Tuesday that the Israeli military had struck residential homes and buildings and that dozens of people were killed.
In a statement, the Israeli military added that it was continuing its “operational activity” around Al-Amal Hospital and the town of Al-Qarara, in the Khan Younis area of southern Gaza, adding that its forces were “eliminating terrorists and carrying out targeted raids on terrorist infrastructure.”
Al-Amal Hospital went out of service Monday night after Israeli forces besieged it a day earlier and forced everyone inside to leave before closing off its entrances, according to the Palestine Red Crescent Society, which runs the hospital. The organization said Monday that two people had been killed and three others wounded when Israeli forces opened fire as they were being evacuated.
In Washington, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin met at the Pentagon on Tuesday to discuss the rapidly deteriorating humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip and Israel’s plan to invade the southern city of Rafah, where US officials have warned that a major military action could lead to catastrophe.
The meeting came amid growing friction between the two allies a day after the US decision to allow the passage of the UN cease-fire resolution. Afterward, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared he was scrapping a plan to dispatch a delegation to Washington to discuss the potential offensive in Rafah.
Remarks by Gallant and Austin before the meeting underscored the divide. While both noted their countries’ commitment to Israel’s security, Gallant emphasized what he said was the urgent need to destroy Hamas, secure the release of Israelis taken hostage in the Hamas-led Oct. 7 attacks, and “ensure Israel’s military edge and capabilities.”
Austin focused on the dire consequences the war has had for Palestinian civilians. “The number of civilian casualties is far too high, and the amount of humanitarian aid is far too low,” he said. The safety of Palestinians in Rafah, where more than 1 million people are holed up, was a “top priority,” he added.
After the meeting, a senior Defense Department official said Austin presented the broad outlines of the Biden administration’s alternative approach to a major operation in Rafah.
The Israeli military also said
Tuesday that it was pressing on with its assault on Shifa Hospital in the north for a ninth day. It said its forces there had “located weapons, and engaged with and eliminated several terrorists in the hospital area.” Witnesses have described days of fear at the complex.
Israel has long accused Hamas, the armed group that led an attack into southern Israel on Oct. 7, of using hospitals in Gaza for military purposes, a claim that Hamas and hospital administrators have denied.
Although a UN resolution had passed, Ezzeldine al-Dali, 22, said it did not give him or those around him any hope that the Israeli bombardment would stop soon. “We have lost hope in every way,” he said in a phone call Tuesday.
“The International Court of Justice, Biden, and all the Arab and Western countries could not stop Israel,” said al-Dali. “So why would the United Nations be able to stop them?”