Background and Key Players
The ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, a Palestinian Islamist group, has reached its 700th day. The situation escalated when the Israeli military targeted a central apartment building in Gaza City, causing its collapse. This action comes amidst threats of a large-scale military offensive by Israel.
In Tel Aviv, families of hostages taken during Hamas’s unprecedented abduction in Israel on October 7, 2023, released 700 balloons into the sky as part of a national mobilization demanding the release of their loved ones.
US President Donald Trump suggested that some hostages might have “recently perished,” estimating the death toll at around 38, which he later revised to 20 or 30. The Israeli military currently believes that 25 of the 47 remaining hostages have died.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, urged Israel to halt the “catastrophe” in Palestinian territories, where at least 370 deaths from starvation have been reported since the conflict began.
Impact on Gaza Strip
In the devastated Gaza Strip, under siege and grappling with famine in 20% of its territory, according to the UN, the Civil Defense organization, operating under Hamas’s authority, reported 42 deaths from Israeli gunfire and bombardments on Friday. Half of these fatalities occurred in Gaza City.
Due to media restrictions in Gaza and limited access to the area, AFP cannot independently verify these figures.
Terrified Children
In Gaza City, the Israeli military bombed a central apartment building, causing its collapse.
Arej Ahmed, a 50-year-old resident, shared her husband’s account of seeing residents from the Mushtaha Tower throwing their belongings from upper floors to escape before the bombing. Less than half an hour after evacuation orders were given, the tower was bombed.
The Israeli military had previously warned of “precise, targeted attacks” against “terrorist infrastructure,” particularly high-rise buildings, in the coming days.
Izzat al-Rishq, a member of Hamas’s political office, dismissed Israel’s claims that the group was using these buildings as cover. Meanwhile, Mahmoud Bassal, a spokesperson for Civil Defense, accused Israel of implementing a “policy of forced displacement against civilians” by targeting these structures.
“These announcements are terrifying. Everyone is afraid,” said Ahmed Abu Woutfa, a 45-year-old resident living on the fifth floor of a building in western Gaza City. “My children are terrified.”
The Israeli military, claiming control over 75% of the Gaza Strip and 40% of Gaza City, intends to capture this northern city, considered Hamas’s last major stronghold.
A high-ranking Israeli military official stated that this operation could displace “one million” people towards southern Gaza.
“Diabolical Propaganda”
Hamas’s armed wing, the Ezzedine al-Qassam Brigades, released a video featuring two hostages, Guy Gilboa-Dalal and Alon Ohel, on Friday.
Gilboa-Dalal urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to launch an offensive against Gaza City. In response, Netanyahu, after speaking with the men’s parents, stated that “no diabolical propaganda video will weaken or undermine our determination to crush Hamas and free the hostages.”
French President Emmanuel Macron demanded the “immediate release” of all remaining hostages and deplored “700 days of detention under atrocious conditions.”
The October 7 attack resulted in 1,219 deaths on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official data. The same day, 251 people were abducted.
Israeli retaliations have left at least 64,300 dead in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry’s data. The UN considers these figures reliable but does not specify the number of combatant fatalities.
