Day 93-99

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CWA # 1202, 16 January 2024
Day 93-99
NIAS-Conflict Weekly Special Alert | The War in Gaza: Thirteen Week

  IPRI Team

The Israel-Hamas War: Day 96

Rosemary Kurian, Nuha Aamina, Rishita Verma and Gananthula Uma Maheshwari

WAR ON THE GROUND
On 10 January, Al Jazeera reported that the patients, displaced civilians, and medical staff at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital had become increasingly concerned for their safety as Israeli bombardment increased and approached the hospital. Subsequently, unmanned Israeli quadcopters fired at objects surrounding the hospitals, forcing tens of thousands of families to flee. By that point, Israeli tanks had advanced near the Maghazi refugee camp's gate, and the Israeli army had declared the area around the hospital to be a theatre of operations.

REGIONAL RESPONSE
On 10 January, The Jerusalem Post reported that Lebanon was unable to launch its new currency platform due to tensions in the southern part of its country between Hezbollah and Israeli forces. The foreign officials who were supposed to launch the platform could not arrive due to months of shelling. 

On 10 January, Yahya Saree, the spokesperson of the Houthi military, said that the Houthis attacked a US ship that was supporting Israel. He added that the attack was a retaliation to the US attack that had killed ten Houthi terrorists.

GLOBAL RESPONSE
On 10 January Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, met with Mahmoud Abbas, the President of the Palestinian Authority (PA), during his visit to the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Blinken was set to discuss the PA’s need to reform itself in order to improve its governance in the region, as the PA emerged as the best hope for the Palestinian cause. Blinken would also discuss on the PA’s need to prepare for governance after the Gaza war.

On 10 January, according to the BBC, David Cameron, the British Foreign Secretary, stated that he was “worried” that Israel had breached the rules of International Law in its war in Gaza. Cameron stressed that the UK’s support for Israel had not changed since the beginning of the war. 

Additionally, Camron expressed disagreement with South Africa’s claims that incriminated Israel of “genocide,” He further called on Israel to increase humanitarian aid and water supply in Gaza.

The Israel-Hamas War: Day 97

Rosemary Kurian, Nuha Aamina, Rishita Verma and Gananthula Uma Maheshwari

WAR ON THE GROUND
On 11 January, Al Jazeera reported on information from the Israeli military, who said that they had   discovered proof of a subterranean tunnel containing prisoners on 10 January. According to AP, Daniel Hagari, the military spokesperson,declined to comment on what precisely was discovered in the tunnel, or who the detainees were and how long they had been there for. 

REGIONAL RESPONSE
On 11 January, Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the President of Egypt, met with Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State of the US, in Cairo. They held talks over the diplomatic relations between Israel and its neighbours. The visit of Blinken came a day after El-Sisi and Abdullah, King of Jordan, warned of Israeli occupation of Gaza and the displacement of 2.3 million people.

GLOBAL RESPONSE
On 11 January, Antony Blinken, the US Secretary of State, on the culmination of his visit to the Middle East, stated that a path towards creating a Palestinian state could end the regional tensions and isolate Iran in the region. Blinken pointed out that anything on the contrary to this would amount to continued terrorism and threats from Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis, which would escalate regional tensions.

On 11 January, Amos Hochstein, a senior White House advisor, stated that both Lebanon and Israel would “prefer” a diplomatic solution to the regional conflict in the Middle East. Hezbollah and the Israeli Defence Forces have engaged in cross-border attacks for several months, and as per Hochstein, they wish for a diplomatic end to enable citizens to peacefully move back to their homes. 

On 11 January, on the first day of the two days of hearings at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Tembeka Ngcukaitobi, an advocate of the High Court of South Africa, said that Israel intended to destroy Gaza at "the highest level of state.” He called Benjamin Netanyahu's, the Prime Minister of Israel’s, government and military leaders “genocidal inciters.” However, Netanyahu denied these claims, saying that "Israel is accused of genocide while it is fighting against genocide.” Netanyahu further stated: “Israel is fighting murderous terrorists who carried out crimes against humanity: They slaughtered, they raped, they burned, they dismembered, they beheaded - children, women, elderly, young men and women.” To support its argument, South Africa brought up continued Israeli military offence and Yoav Gallant's, the Israeli Defence Minister’s, comments of carrying out a total blockade against “human animals”.

The Israel-Hamas War: Day 98

Rosemary Kurian, Nuha Aamina, Rishita Verma and Gananthula Uma Maheshwari

WAR ON THE GROUND
On 12 January, Al Jazeera reported that in the Shawka neighbourhood in southern Gaza, , an Israeli airstrike on a residential building resulted in the deaths of at least nine Palestinian civilians and the injuries of numerous more. According to local sources, at least eight Palestinian civilians were killed on 11 January in Khan Younis' Al-Manara neighbourhood, by an Israeli airstrike on a vehicle. According to the Shehab news agency, an Israeli bomb struck a house in the al-Masha'la neighbourhood, west of the city of Deir el-Balah, killing at least five persons.

REGIONAL RESPONSE
On 12 January, Iran termed the US attacks against the Iran-backed Houthi rebels as "arbitrary" and a "violation" of international law. Nasser Kanani, the spokesperson of the Foreign Ministry of Iran, condemned the attacks on several Yemen cities. The attacks came after weeks of missile and drone attacks by the Houthis on vessels in the Red Sea, in a show of solidarity with Palestinians.

On 12 January, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish President, criticised the US and UK’s strikes on Houthi targets in Yemen. He called the attacks a disproportionate use of force and accused both countries of attempting to turn the Red Sea into a "sea of blood".

GLOBAL RESPONSE
On 12 January, Lars Lokke Rasmussen, the Danish Foreign Minister, expressed his approval of the attacks by British and American forces against the Houthis in Yemen. Denmark had earlier warned the Houthis to halt their attacks against commercial vessels in the Red Sea after Maersk, the Danish shipping company, was forced to divert its vessels to a longer sea route around Africa. 

The Israel-Hamas War: Day 99

Rosemary Kurian, Nuha Aamina, Rishita Verma and Gananthula Uma Maheshwari

WAR ON THE GROUND
On 13 January, Al Jazeera reported that Israeli forces stormed and searched homes in Qalqilya, Bethlehem, Hebron, and Nablus during nighttime raids. The searches took place throughout the occupied West Bank.

On 13 January, Al Jazeera reported that according to Gaza officials, medical staff at the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital were struggling to treat patients after the facility ran out of fuel, putting patients' lives in jeopardy and sending one of the remaining operational hospitals in the enclave into darkness. The Israeli shelling disrupted internet and telephone services, making it more difficult for rescue personnel to perform their duties.

REGIONAL RESPONSE
On 13 January, The Jerusalem Post reported that Mohammed Abdulsalam, the spokesperson of the Yemeni Houthis, said that the US’ strikes on Yemen had no visible impact on the Houthi's capacity to prevent Israeli-affiliated vessels from passing through the Red Sea and Arabian Sea. 

On 13 January, The Jerusalem Post reported that in a recent opinion poll carried out by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, 67 per cent of the Arab population perceived the military operation carried out by Hamas on 7 October as a "legitimate resistance operation.” Around 8000 Arab respondents from 16 countries were part of the survey.

GLOBAL RESPONSE
On 13 January, according to The Times of Israel, Bernie Sanders, a Democrat US Senator, urged Joe Biden, the President of the US, to distance himself from Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli Prime Minister, and his violence against the Palestinian people. Sanders stated that American support for Israel did not amount to support for Netanyahu, and that Biden’s support for him could cost him the presidential elections. Sanders supported Israel’s right to defend itself and destroy Hamas, but not at the cost of the Palestinian population. 

About the Authors
Rosemary Kurian and Nuha Aamina are undergraduate scholars from St Joseph's University, Bangalore. Rishita Verma and Gananthula Uma Maheshwari are postgraduate scholars from Pondicherry University.

Curated by Dhriti Mukherjee and Shamini, Research Assistants at NIAS.

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