GAZA: Israel\u2019s army claimed to have begun flooding Hamas\u2019s network of tunnels as intense fighting rages in Gaza, with the UN warning of the potential \u201ccollapse of the humanitarian system\u201d in the territory after a funding row hit its Palestinian aid agency.
\nThe epicentre of the fighting in recent weeks has been Khan Yunis, southern Gaza\u2019s main city, where vast areas have been reduced to a muddy wasteland of bombed-out buildings, and where an AFP journalist witnessed people leaving town on Tuesday as explosions sounded nearby.
\n\u201cWe left the Nasser hospital without any mattresses, under tank and air strikes. We didn\u2019t know where to go,\u201d said one young woman.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re out in the cold, left to fend for ourselves, with no tents and nothing to survive on.\u201d
\nElsewhere in the city, Israeli troops gave journalists a tour of a tunnel they said had been used as a Hamas command centre.
\n\u201cEvery war has its own characteristics, and I think that this war, its basic character is about that over \u2013 and underground manoeuvre,\u201d Dan Goldfus, commander of the 98th Paratroopers Division, told reporters outside of the shaft.
\n\u201cI think the enemy is on the run and is trying to put itself under the civilians as much as it can,\u201d he added.
\nThe Israeli military, which has dubbed the vast network of tunnels \u201cthe Gaza metro\u201d, said Tuesday that it had begun flooding the underground complexes with water in a bid to \u201cneutralise the threat of Hamas\u2019 subterranean network\u201d.
\nIsrael\u2019s horrifying air, land and sea offensive in Gaza has killed at least 26,751 people, mostly women and children, since October 7, 2023, when Hamas raided Israeli occupied territories along the Gaza border after suffering years of violent settler colonialism.
\nThe raid resulted in the deaths of 1,140 settlers, as per twice revised estimates by Israeli authorities. About 250 foreign and Israeli hostages were also taken to Gaza, of whom around 132 are still there. That figure includes the bodies of at least 28 people believed to have been killed.
\nThe war has displaced the vast majority of Gaza\u2019s population, according to the UN, which warned the humanitarian crisis in the besieged territory would only get worse if major donors didn\u2019t restore funding to UNRWA, its main aid agency for Palestinians.
\nIsrael has alleged that several agency staff members took part in the October 7 attacks, leading key donor countries including the United States and Germany to suspend funding.
\nThe UN\u2019s coordinator for Gaza aid, Sigrid Kaag, said Tuesday that no other agency could \u201creplace or substitute\u201d UNRWA, which has thousands of employees.
\nThe heads of several UN agencies, including the WHO, the UN rights office, UNICEF and the World Food Programme, later issued a statement warning that defunding UNRWA would \u201chave catastrophic consequences for the people of Gaza\u201d.
\nWithholding the funds, they said, was \u201cperilous and would result in the collapse of the humanitarian system in Gaza, with far-reaching humanitarian and human rights consequences\u201d.
\nWashington, which said it had given $131 million to UNRWA since October, said it \u201cvery much supported\u201d the agency\u2019s work.
\n\u201cWe want to see that work continued, which is why it is so important that the United Nations take this matter seriously, that they investigate, that there is accountability for anyone who is found to have engaged in wrongdoing,\u201d said State Department spokesman Matthew Miller.
\nAfter a recent meeting in Paris US, Israeli, Egyptian and Qatari officials yielded a proposed framework for a truce, Hamas confirmed on Tuesday it had received the proposal and was \u201cin the process of examining it and delivering its response\u201d.
\nQatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, whose government helped broker a previous truce in November, voiced hope an initial deal might lead to a permanent ceasefire.
\nSheikh Mohammed said the current plan included a phased truce that would see women and children hostages released first, with more aid also entering Gaza.
\nThe United States also expressed hope for a deal, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken saying that \u201cvery important, productive work has been done\u201d.
\nIsraeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose office earlier called the talks \u201cconstructive\u201d, ruled out releasing \u201cthousands\u201d of Palestinian prisoners as part of any deal.
\n\u201cI would like to make it clear\u2026 We will not withdraw the IDF (army) from the Gaza Strip and we will not release thousands of terrorists. None of this will happen,\u201d he said Tuesday.
\nFears have grown that the Middle East could face a wider conflict, after months of violence involving Iran-backed allies of Hamas in Lebanon, Iraq, Syria and Yemen, who have also targeted US forces.
\nUS President Joe Biden said Tuesday, without offering details, that he had decided on a response to a recent drone strike that killed three American troops in Jordan, but added: \u201cI don\u2019t think we need a wider war in the Middle East. That\u2019s not what I\u2019m looking for.\u201d
\nThe United States and Britain have also launched a campaign of air strikes against Yemen\u2019s Iran-backed Houthi rebels, who have carried out repeated attacks on shipping in the Red Sea in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
\nLate Tuesday, the US military shot down another Houthi anti-ship missile over the vital trade route, according to US Central Command.
\n\u201cThere were no injuries or damage reported,\u201d it said in a statement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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