Israel’s military on Tuesday advanced further into the densely populated areas of Gaza City, underscoring for residents that Western recognition of a Palestinian state has not halted the ongoing conflict as tanks draw closer.
Israel pressed on with its Gaza offensive a day after dozens of world leaders gathered at the United Nations to embrace a Palestinian state, a landmark diplomatic shift after nearly two years of war that faces resistance from Israel and its close ally, the United States.
Local health authorities said Israeli fire on Tuesday killed at least 22 people across the Gaza Strip, 18 of them in Gaza City, and the Gaza health ministry said hospitals in the enclave would run out of fuel in the coming few days, endangering lives.
Explosions Destroy Gaza Homes, Roads
“We are not steadfast, we are helpless. We don’t have money to leave to the south, and we don’t have guarantees that if we do, the Israelis will not bomb us, so we are staying,” Huda, a mother of two from Gaza City, told Reuters via a chat app.
“The children tremble all the time from the sounds of explosions, we do too, they are wiping out a city that is thousands of years old, and the world is celebrating a symbolic recognition of a state that won’t stop our killing.”
Israeli forces detonated explosive-laden vehicles in the suburbs of Sabra and Tel Al-Hawa as tanks made a big push towards the western side of Gaza City. Residents said the explosions destroyed dozens of homes and roads.
Three hospitals were taken out of operation on Monday as Israeli forces advanced, further weakening the health system and depriving residents of medical care, local authorities said.
President Emmanuel Macron announced that France recognised Palestinian statehood at a meeting he convened with Saudi Arabia on Monday – a milestone that appeared unlikely to change much on the ground. Israel has said such moves will undermine prospects for a peaceful end to the conflict.
Two-State Solution
The two-state solution was the bedrock of the U.S.-backed peace process ushered in by the 1993 Oslo Accords, but the process has all but died.
The Israeli government has declared there will be no Palestinian state as it fights the militant group Hamas in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that killed about 1,200 people.
Israel has drawn global condemnation over its military conduct in Gaza, where more than 65,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to local health authorities.
Despite this, Israel has begun a ground assault on Gaza City with few prospects for a ceasefire, and wants Hamas to hand over the last hostages it seized in the 2023 attack on Israel.
Gaza City is the capital of the Gaza Strip and used to house Hamas’ most powerful battalions before the war.
“Are we now being killed as the citizens of the state of Palestine? Is that what happened?” said Abu Mustafa, hours after he fled his Gaza City home because Israeli tanks were close.
“Those countries that suddenly remembered Palestine was occupied forgot that Gaza is being wiped out. We want the war to end, we want our slaughter to end, that’s what we need now, not declarations.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed the criticism of the military campaign and said the war will not stop until Hamas is eliminated. But he has not produced a plan for Gaza, much of which has been reduced to rubble, after the war ends.
Trump’s Combative UN Speech
U.S. President Donald Trump warned Russia he is prepared to impose strong economic measures over the war in Ukraine and rejected a global move toward recognition of a Palestinian state, in a combative speech to the U.N. General Assembly.
In his first U.N. address since regaining power in January, Trump spoke to dozens of world leaders, many of whom have been alarmed to see the United States turn away from traditional alliances in favour of an isolationist “America First” policy.
Trump rejected statehood for Palestinians, adopting the stance of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
“The rewards would be too great for Hamas terrorists, for their atrocities,” he said, repeating his call for the return of hostages taken by the Palestinian militant group.
Trump said the United States wants a ceasefire-for-hostages deal that would see the return of all remaining hostages, alive and dead.
“We have to stop the war in Gaza immediately. We have to immediately negotiate peace,” he said.
(With inputs from Reuters)
