Smoke rises following Israeli strikes at the border with Egypt, as seen from Rafah, southern Gaza Strip October. /Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Israeli military said on Sunday that one of its tanks "accidentally" hit an Egyptian position near the border with the Gaza Strip, as a second convoy of aid trucks crossed the frontier.
Since Israel imposed a total blockade and launched its relentless bombardment of Gaza in response to Hamas' deadly attack on Israeli soil two weeks ago, the Palestinian enclave has been shut off from vital aid – including food, water, electricity and medical supplies – as it suffers what the UN described as a catastrophic humanitarian "situation."
On Saturday, after several weeks of aid agencies being barred from crossing into the Strip, the first trickle of supplies was allowed to enter the Palestinian territory. However, the 20 trucks permitted to enter were described by UN agencies as a "drop in the ocean" given the "catastrophic" humanitarian situation there.
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Shortly after a second convoy entered the crossing on Sunday, witnesses said a blast was heard in the vicinity of the crossing and that ambulances could be heard deploying from the Egyptian side of the Rafah border.
The Israeli military said one of its tanks had accidentally fired and hit an Egyptian position near the border. "The incident is being investigated and the details are under review. The IDF [Israel Defense Forces] expresses sorrow regarding the incident," it said in a statement, giving no further details. Several Egyptian border guards sustained minor injuries, a spokesperson for the Egyptian army said.
The Rafah crossing, the main entry and exit point to Gaza that does not lead to Israel, has become the focus of a push to deliver aid as humanitarian conditions in Gaza worsen. UN officials say at least 100 trucks a day would be required in Gaza to cover urgent needs. Before the outbreak of the most recent conflict, several hundred trucks had been arriving in the enclave daily.
Humanitarian situation 'catastrophic'
The humanitarian situation in Gaza was now "catastrophic," said the head of the UN World Food Program, Cindy McCain, adding that the aid trucks that had entered so far were a drop in the ocean and that agencies needed secure, sustainable access to the enclave.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh on Sunday called on the international community to create a "united front" to stop Israel's attacks in Gaza and allow more aid into the Strip. "We place at the top of our priorities stopping the Israeli aggression (...) and bringing in medical and relief aid to prevent a major humanitarian catastrophe," Shtayyeh said.
Mourners attend the funeral of Palestinians from the al-Astal family, who were killed in Israeli strikes, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip. /Ibraheem Abu Mustafa/Reuters
Gaza's Health Ministry said 266 Palestinians, including 117 children, had been killed by Israeli air strikes in the past 24 hours in the enclave.
Israel unleashed an aerial blitz on Gaza to its southwest after Hamas fighters breached the border on October 7 and killed 1,400 people, mainly civilians, and took 212 hostages back to Gaza. The enclave's health ministry said on Sunday that Israel's air and missile strikes had killed at least 4,741 and wounded 15,898, with over a million of the densely populated enclave's 2.3 million people displaced.
With Israel keeping up daily bombings ahead of a widely-predicted land assault on Gaza, Palestinians said they had received renewed Israeli military warnings to move from Gaza's north to the south to avoid being caught up in the ground incursion – otherwise they faced being identified as "terrorist" sympathizers. Gaza's Health Ministry said most of the dead from air strikes over the past 24 hours were in Gaza's south. Israel says it is only targeting militants, claiming they use residential buildings as cover.
Europe pushes back against protests
In Europe this weekend, hundreds of thousands of people joined pro-Palestinian demonstrations across the continent, with London, Paris, Berlin, Sarajevo and Belgrade among the many European cities to stage solidarity marches for the plight of those in Gaza.
Sunday saw the for the first pro-Palestinian demonstration allowed by police in the French capital since Hamas attacked Israel, after France banned such demonstrations. Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin wrote that "pro-Palestinian demonstrations must be prohibited because they are likely to generate disturbances to the public order." Nine protests were banned, while 43 people were arrested and 752 fines were given fines for taking part in unahtorized demonstrations.
French labour unions and organizations call for peace and an immediate ceasefire in Gaza during a demonstration at Place de la Republique in Paris. /Benoit Tessier/Reuters
On Sunday in Paris, around 15,000 people turned out at the Place de la Republique, according to police figures, to express solidarity with Palestinians and to call for a ceasefire. Police said that the protest was authorized, unlike others, because the declaration by organizers condemned the October 7 attacks on Israel.
At a peace summit in Cairo on Saturday, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Israel had a right to self-defence under international law and that a humanitarian corridor to Gaza was necessary and could lead to a ceasefire.
Meanwhile in Germany, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier said on Sunday it was an outrage that Jewish institutions had required enhanced security protection since the escalation, urging attendees at a rally to stand against antisemitism. The Holocaust meant that Germany had a particular responsibility to protect Jewish lives, Steinmeier told a solidarity rally convened in Berlin by its five main democratic parties, its Jewish community, trade unions and employers' organisations.
"Our democracy makes no distinction: regardless of origins, experience or religion, everyone who lives here must know Auschwitz and understand the responsibility that our country has because of it," he said. Every attack against Jewish residents or institutions in Germany was an "outrage", Steinmeier added.
Over the past two weeks, Stars of David have been daubed on some buildings and a petrol bomb was thrown at a synagogue in central Berlin. Some Jewish parents have stopped taking their children to school out of fears for their safety.
Since Hamas's deadly incursion and Israel's consequent bombing of Gaza, Germany has witnessed a series of protests in support both of Israel and Gaza, being home to some of Europe's largest Jewish and Palestinian communities. Though most pro-Palestinian protests have been explicit that their focus is on the humanitarian situation in Gaza and not in support of Hamas, all but two have been banned, with police using pepper spray to disperse gatherings, prompting accusations of discrimination.
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