GAZA: Israeli military on Wednesday continued bombing Gaza’s southern city of Rafah, witnesses said, as fears grow of a wider regional war drawing in Lebanese Hamas ally Hezbollah.
The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification partnership warned of acute famine in north Gaza and stated that around 495,000 Palestinian people face “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity”.
Following Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s recent statement suggesting that the “intense phase” of the Gaza conflict was nearing its conclusion, Israeli bombardment in the besieged Palestinian enclave appeared to ease. This assertion coincided with Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant’s visit to Washington for urgent discussions on the crisis.
During talks, United States Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin cautioned Israel about the risks associated with heightened tensions with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Austin emphasized the importance of diplomacy in averting a potential regional conflict.
“Another war between Israel and Hezbollah could easily become a regional war, with terrible consequences for the Middle East,” Austin stated. He urged restraint and diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions. “Diplomacy is by far the best way to prevent more escalation,” Austin said.
While Israeli leaders, including Netanyahu, expressed openness to diplomatic solutions, Defense Minister Gallant underscored Israel’s readiness for any scenario, indicating that plans for an offensive in Lebanon had been validated amidst renewed threats from Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.
In response to the escalating situation, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, in Beirut on Tuesday, cautioned against miscalculations that could escalate into full-scale war, advocating for extreme restraint in the region.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan also weighed in, accusing Western powers of supporting Israel’s regional ambitions, particularly its actions targeting Lebanon.
On the ground in Rafah, witnesses reported overnight clashes and airstrikes, with the Israeli military confirming strikes on rocket launch sites. Mohammad al-Mughayyir of Gaza’s civil defence agency reported the recovery of 15 bodies from various areas in Rafah, underscoring the human toll of the conflict.
The civil defence agency and hospital medics said at least four people, including three children, were killed in a strike early on Wednesday targeting a house in Beit Lahia, in the north.
An air raid on Tuesday killed Fadi al-Wadiya, an employee of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF). MSF said on social media platform X that it was “outraged” by Wadiya’s killing in a strike in Gaza City.
“The attack killed Fadi, along with five other people including three children while he was cycling to work near the MSF clinic where he was providing care,” the charity said.
UN and humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that aid workers are not safe in Gaza, impeding their desperately needed efforts to deliver aid to Gaza’s 2.4 million people.
Since October 7 last year, Israel has launched a relentless bombardment campaign in Gaza killing at least 37,718 Palestinians, mostly women and children, Gaza’s health ministry said.
The deaths include 10 members of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh’s family, including his sister, who Palestinian officials said was killed in a Tuesday strike.
UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini warned of the war’s dire impact on children.
“We have every day 10 children who are losing one leg or two legs on average,” Lazzarini told reporters.
“Ten per day, that means around 2,000 children after the more than 260 days of this brutal war.”
Meanwhile, the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification partnership said its March warning of imminent famine in north Gaza had not materialized, but around 495,000 people still face “catastrophic levels of acute food insecurity”.
