The war is raging in the Gaza Strip where intense Israeli bombardments caused dozens of deaths this Wednesday March 27 across the besieged territory threatened with famine, where the army continues its operations near several large hospitals , despite the call for an “immediate ceasefire” from the UN Security Council. For its part, Israel reacted to the statements of a former hostage who spoke in the American press to recount the sexual assaults to which she was the victim in captivity.
Information to remember
⇒ IDF continues operations near hospitals in the Gaza Strip
⇒ A former Israeli Hamas hostage recounts the sexual violence she suffered in captivity
⇒ Several deaths in tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border
The operation in hospitals continues
The war that has raged since October 7 between Israel and Hamas has seen no respite in the Palestinian territory, where 66 people were killed in overnight bombings, according to the Islamist movement’s Ministry of Health. The Israeli army’s ground operations continue in and around three large hospitals, accused by Israel of housing Hamas bases.
The army announced on Wednesday that it was continuing its operation which began on March 18 in the large al-Chifa hospital complex in the city of Gaza, in the north, claiming to have killed so far “dozens of terrorists”, having arrested “some hundreds” and having discovered weapons. Military operations also continue in Khan Younes, in the south, in the area of two hospitals approximately one kilometer apart, Nasser and al-Amal, the latter now being “out of service”, according to the Palestinian Red Crescent. The Nasser hospital surrounded by the army was still sheltering thousands of civilians the day before, according to the same source.
Victims during food distributions
In a sign of a desperate humanitarian situation, the Hamas Ministry of Health announced Tuesday the deaths of 18 people, including 12 drowned at sea while trying to recover parachuted food and six killed in stampedes in the same circumstances. Hamas called on foreign countries to cease these operations and demanded the opening of land access for humanitarian aid, strictly controlled by Israel and very insufficient given the immense needs of the 2.4 million inhabitants.
On the ground, residents watch for parachutes every day and rush when they land, jostling and even fighting. The United States said it would continue these airdrops, while “working tirelessly to increase the arrival of humanitarian assistance by land.”
Former Hamas hostage testifies to sexual assault
Israel reacted at the highest level on Wednesday after revelations of sexual assault suffered by a former Hamas hostage, Amit Soussana, during her 55-day captivity. In an interview with New York Timesthe 40-year-old lawyer, kidnapped on October 7 by around ten men, recounts the sexual abuse of which she was a victim.
Held alone in a child’s room, chained by her left ankle, she said that sometimes the guard would come in, sit next to her on the bed, lift her shirt and touch her. She also recounts forced sexual acts while held at gunpoint. Amit Soussana is the first Israeli hostage to speak publicly about sexual assault during her captivity following the Hamas-led raid in southern Israel.
The army spokesperson, Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, called on “the world to act” and do “everything to free our hostages”, after the publication of the interview with this former hostage. “This is a horrible testimony, it is a wake-up call,” he added.
The UN Security Council adopted on Monday a first resolution calling for an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza, by 14 votes in favor and one abstention, that of the United States which had until then blocked three projects of resolution in this sense. Qatar, a mediating country with the United States and Egypt, said Tuesday that indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a truce associated with an exchange of hostages and Palestinian prisoners were continuing, although the two camps blame the blockage.
Climbing on the border with Lebanon
The war in the Gaza Strip is accompanied by an outbreak of violence on the Israeli-Lebanese border. Lebanese Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, announced Wednesday that it had fired rockets into northern Israel, where Israeli emergency services reported one death, in retaliation for a bombing blamed on the Israeli army which killed seven rescuers in a border village.