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Israel plans ‘humanitarian pockets’ in Gaza
Reuters news agency has quoted an unnamed senior Israeli official as saying that Israel is planning “humanitarian pockets” in districts of the Gaza Strip from which Hamas has been expelled as part of its plan for the post-war administration of the enclave. Israel is seeking Palestinians who are not affiliated with Hamas to manage civilian affairs in these areas of the Gaza Strip, designed as testing grounds.
“We’re looking for the right people to step up to the plate,” the official told the news outlet. “But it is clear that this will take time, as no one will come forward if they think Hamas will put a bullet in their head.”
Hamas said the plan, which would also exclude anybody on the payroll of the internationally recognised Palestinian Authority, would amount to an Israeli reoccupation of Gaza and was doomed to failure.
Israel’s Channel 12 reported that the Zeitoun neighbourhood of northern Gaza City was a candidate for implementation of the plan.
Gaza’s north faces famine, south continues to be bombed
An intense bombing campaign across Rafah city stretched into the early hours of this morning. In the last 45 minutes, loud explosions could be heard from the northern part of the city. The sound is coming from the systematic demolition of homes.
Overnight, we’re looking at attacks in the eastern part, the northern part and even the western part where literally hundreds of thousands of people have been sheltering. A mosque nearby was destroyed completely, and we are looking at least three to four homes within its vicinity that have been severely damaged.
Another home was targeted and destroyed and five people were killed.
Palestinians recover bodies of victims after Israeli attacks hit Deir el-Balah
A doctor of Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital was killed today in an Israeli attack in Deir el-Balah, central Gaza. Khalid Abu-Owaimer was at his relatives’ house when it was shelled. He was one of the few medics to keep working at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, refusing to leave despite intense bombardment last month.
I had seen him as recently as Friday at the hospital, he was a neighbour. We have known each other a long time. We used to pray together side by side. We used to talk about our love for Chelsea Football Club. Dr Khalid Abu-Habel, Abu-Owaimer’s colleague, said, “It’s a huge loss for us. He has been working for at least 80 hours a week. Over our suffering at the hospital, we are losing our staff. That’s unbearable.”
Casualties reported in Israeli bombing of UNWRA building in Jabalia
Casualties are being reported from an Israeli bombing of a UNRWA building housing displaced people in the Jabalia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip. An Israeli raid was targeting a Palestinian vehicle east of the camp at the time.
Footage of the incident, verified by Al Jazeera, indicated the death of at least one person as well as the injuries of several others. “An Israeli reconnaissance plane bombed the car, and we found martyrs and wounded in the street,” one witness said.
Israel pushing ahead with Rafah plan without precise strategy: Report
Israel is determined to carry out an attack on Rafah, where more than a million displaced Palestinians are sheltering, even though officials acknowledge in private they have no precise strategy for it and don’t know how long it will take or where the people in the city will be relocated to, Bloomberg News reports.
The report quoted former national security adviser Yaakov Amidror as saying Israeli forces would move into Rafah in March and estimating that the fighting would last until the end of April. “We can then move to a configuration of smaller forces like we have in the north,” Amidror was quoted as saying.
No ‘plan B’ once funds end in March: Head of UNRWA’s Lebanon office
The United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees has no “plan B” past March should donor countries that withheld funding following Israeli allegations uphold their suspensions, according to the head of its Lebanon office, Dorothee Klaus.
“We hope that as many donors as possible indicate to the agency that they are reconsidering the funding freeze, and that funding will be restored to the agency, hopefully in such a way that we don’t have a cash flow issue, and services continue uninterrupted,” she said. “We do not have a plan B.”
Already, her office may not be able to finance its quarterly cash distribution to 65 percent of Palestinian refugees in Lebanon. “This will be the first indicator to the community that UNRWA is cash-strapped, and this would be the first service that we will not be able to provide in quarter one,” Klaus said.
