Intense fighting in south Gaza as Israel vows to shut out UN agency

AFP | Palestinian Territories                                                           

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Intense fighting raged yesterday in the Gaza city of Khan Yunis, sending residents fleeing further south as Israel’s military targets the Palestinian militant group Hamas.

The unabated hostilities came alongside soaring tensions between Israel and the United Nations agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, which has been at the heart of humanitarian efforts in the war-battered Gaza Strip.

On Friday the agency said it had sacked several staff whom Israel accused of involvement in Hamas’s October 7 attack, leading some key donor countries to suspend funding. Foreign Minister Israel Katz said on Saturday that Israel wanted to ensure the UN agency, which provided education, health and other services to Palestinians in Gaza, “will not be part of the day after” the bloodiest-ever war in the territory.

A day earlier, the UN’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled Israel must prevent possible acts of genocide in the conflict -- and allow in aid -- but stopped short of calling for a ceasefire.

Israel has vowed to crush Hamas, and Hamas-ruled Gaza’s health ministry says the Israeli military offensive has killed at least 26,257 people, most of them women and children.

The ICJ decision was based on an urgent application brought by South Africa, long a supporter of the Palestinian cause, but a broader judgement on whether genocide has been committed could take years. “This is the first time the world has told Israel that it is out of line,” said Maha Yasin, a 42-year-old displaced Gaza woman.

The UN Security Council will meet on Wednesday to give “binding effect” to the ICJ decision, said the foreign ministry of Algeria, which called the meeting.

Israel has repeatedly criticised the UN during the war.

Relations between Israel and UNRWA, which have been strained for years, had already soured further after the UN body condemned the shelling of one of its shelters in Khan Yunis on Wednesday, killing 13 people.

After UNRWA announced the sacking of several employees on Friday, its number one financial contributor the United States said it was suspending funding.

Other donors followed including Britain, Finland, Canada, Australia, and Italy