The hope of a ceasefire in the Middle East is still present thanks to the calm that has prevailed for several hours. But the shootings of the last few days, between Israel and the Gaza Strip, have killed 30 people: 29 on the Palestinian side, including several children, and the first victim was recorded on Thursday evening May 11 on the Israeli side.
It was shortly before midnight that the last Israeli bombardments took place, reports our correspondent in Jerusalem, Sami Boukhelifa. In the aftermath, the Jewish state army published the photos of six members of the Islamic Jihad eliminated the last days. And since this Friday morning, it has been broadcasting figures, statistics: more than 200 targets destroyed, more than 800 rockets fired from Gaza, 600 of which have reached Israeli territory, largely intercepted.
What should be understood? Mission accomplished ? We take stock, do we stop there? Difficult to say in the absence of an official announcement of a cessation of fighting.
Has Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian armed group, for its part reached the limit of its military capabilities? Has he thrown all his forces into battle? In any case, it unleashed a veritable deluge of fire on Thursday evening against the Israeli towns where the population had to take refuge in the shelters. Tali Lavy moved to the Sderot region eight months ago. She says she is angry with the Palestinian armed groups who target her town, but also with the Israeli authorities, who she says are not doing enough to guarantee her safety.
This Israeli testified Thursday evening by message, her voice trembling: “ They fired a rocket, and it hit the town in a split second. The Iron Dome intercepted it, just overhead. The Iron Dome is this Israeli anti-missile device, deployed over almost all the territory. A few minutes after this interception, Tali Lavy regains her senses. She sends a second message: I screamed earlier, didn’t I? I do not remember. But really, it was terrifying. I have never experienced this. I was there, in the middle of the street, and there was this attack “.
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A scared child
In Gaza, civilians are helpless. During the last three days, they have suffered the full brunt of Israeli strikes. ” We have nowhere to take shelter “, confided Thursday evening a resident of Gaza. In addition to all the victims killed in these Israeli airstrikes, a young five-year-old Palestinian boy literally died of fear, a panic attack following these intense bombardments. Terrifying explosions, which in addition to destroying infrastructure and homes, traumatize the population of the Palestinian enclave.
” You have an unbearable situation where 2 million people live, deprived of the most basic notions of security or stability, deprived of this very idea of planning their lives for one or two days, one or two years, and who live without being even able to make their children understand and assure that in their arms, during the night, they will be safe, explains Nour Odeh, Palestinian analyst in Ramallah at the microphone ofAlice Froussard. It is a reality of constant punishment that Gazans have had to endure for years and years. And while some Palestinians in Gaza no longer have the strength to live there, we see that thousands of young people are leaving the coastal enclave, just as doctors, specialists and other professions are also leaving Gaza. They leave behind an even more miserable territory. »