The ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip completed one month this Monday (10) with 271 Palestinians murdered during the period, Hamas reported. Another 622 people were injured in the shelling and shooting, including 221 children.
“Among the martyrs were 107 children, 39 women and 9 elderly people — meaning that 58% were children, women and elderly people — reflecting the occupation’s continued policy of systematic murder against unarmed civilians,” the group said in a statement published today.
The Islamic group announced that only 40% of the humanitarian aid provided for in the agreement entered Gaza during the period. The document provided for the entry of 600 trucks per day, 50 of which were fuel tankers.
“Effective aid deliveries did not exceed 40% of the agreed quantity — less than 200 trucks per day in the first month — while commercial shipments constituted 60%, part of which was falsely registered as humanitarian aid,” reported the political-military group operating in Gaza.
Hamas also accuses Israel of having detained 35 Gaza residents during the period, including fishermen at sea, in addition to demolishing houses within the yellow line. “These demolitions persisted for an entire month without interruption, causing widespread destruction of civilian properties,” the note concluded.
At the same time, Israel has been accusing Hamas of violating the ceasefire. The Israel Defense Force (IDF) has claimed that suspected terrorists have been crossing the yellow line, or even carrying out attacks, putting soldiers from the Israeli army at risk.
“Two terrorists were identified crossing the Yellow Line and approaching Israel Defense Forces (IDF) troops in the southern Gaza Strip, posing an immediate threat,” the IDF said Monday morning.
Hamas denies any violation of the agreement.
Humanitarian aid
Humanitarian aid provided by the UN Palestine Refugee Agency (UNRWA) would continue to face blockades by Israel. This is despite the opinion of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) stating that Israel has an obligation to allow supplies provided by UNRWA to enter Gaza.
“In direct violation of the agreement, the occupying regime continues to block the entry of humanitarian assistance provided by UNRWA, resulting in the backlog of more than 6,000 shipments of essential supplies,” Hamas said.
Israel claims that the UN Agency provides support to Hamas, but the ICJ assessed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government did not prove the accusation against the United Nations entity that was banned from operating in Israel.
According to UN data, 3.2 thousand trucks with humanitarian aid in this one month of the ceasefire agreement, not a single vehicle was from UNRWA.
Despite the restrictions still imposed, the distribution of hot meals, bread and basic food baskets has gradually increased since the beginning of the ceasefire, reported the UN Office for Humanitarian Aid (Ocha).
The entity, on the other hand, complains about the lack of safe access to the sea for fishermen, who continue without authorization to fish. Furthermore, the entry of agricultural inputs continues to face restrictions.
“Since the start of the ceasefire, 23 requests from nine aid agencies to bring nearly 4,000 pallets of urgently needed shelter supplies to Gaza have been rejected by Israeli authorities. For 57 days, no aid has entered directly into northern Gaza through any northern crossing,” Ocha reported.
Israel
The Tel Aviv government also demands the return of the remains of four of the hostages taken on October 7, 2023. Defense Minister Israel Kartz further added that the objective is to destroy all Hamas tunnels in Gaza.
“Until all the dead hostages are returned and until the last tunnel is dug, we will continue to act vigorously to achieve our objectives in Gaza,” Kartz said, adding that Israel still intends to completely demilitarize Gaza.
Hamas, in turn, argues that it was not possible to find the remains of all the hostages due to the destruction of Gaza’s infrastructure and the lack of excavation equipment.
“Despite this, the Movement managed to locate twenty-four (24) bodies of the twenty-eight (28) and, through mediators and the Red Cross, provided coordinates for the location of other bodies in areas under the control of the occupation forces. The Movement continues its intensive efforts to locate the remaining bodies”, concluded the Palestinian group.
