A complex attack, with the simultaneous use of dozens of penetrating bombs aimed at destroying everything and anyone in the underground bunker near the European hospital in Khan Younis, in southern Gaza. Whether the objective was achieved - eliminating Muhammed Sinwar - the Israeli army is not yet able to say with certainty: the fate of the Hamas leader remains a mystery for now, who since he took over from his brother Yahya, killed by the Israeli army in October, has stood in the way of every negotiating step.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, Israeli raids continue, with bombs that in the north of the Strip, in the area of the Jabalia camp, have killed dozens of people, including, according to Palestinian hospital sources, 22 children. Meanwhile, Tsahal, and some Arab sources, seem to believe that in the bunker with Sinwar there were the high-ranking commander of the Rafah brigade Mohammad Shabaneh, one of the leaders who started the war, and the spokesman for Hamas Abu Obeida.
For much of the day, Israeli Air Force (IAF) fighter jets continued to bomb the shattered perimeter of the ground above the tunnel and the command center where Gaza's leaders were meeting. The ring of fire surrounding the already pounded area is used by the IDF to prevent rescue attempts, the recovery of the wounded and bodies, and to keep people away from the scene: anyone not directly hit by the explosions and the collapse of the structure is destined to die from toxic gases released underground by the detonation. On Wednesday morning, a bulldozer that had approached to remove rubble was hit by a drone. An Israeli security source estimated that it will be some time before there is definitive news about Sinwar and the militants believed to be with him, also because of the large amount of ammunition dropped on the underground compound.
The military scheme used by the army and intelligence, which seized on the fly a valuable piece of information from the ground, recalls the operation in which Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah was eliminated eight months ago in Beirut. Tons of penetrating bombs, carpet bombing outside, victims under the rubble, rescuers kept outside. Even in that case, anyone who did not die inside the armored room from the shock wave, the extreme heat, the combustion of flammable materials, was killed by toxic gases.
Meanwhile, it is difficult to count the total number of victims in different parts of the Strip where the raids hit from Wednesday night to the evening: medical, hospital and rescue sources are reporting numbers that are impossible to verify. Al Jazeera reports 65 dead, the AP says that 22 are children, the Palestinian news agency Wafa says that in the last 24 hours 20 Palestinians have died and 125 people have been injured. During the night the bombings targeted Jabalia, in the north of the Strip, in the evening after an evacuation order the IDF targeted an area of Gaza city and again Khan Younis.
In the meantime, there is discouraging news from Doha: the mediation of US envoys Steve Witkoff and Adam Boehler with the Israeli team and indirectly with Hamas through Qatar is once again at a standstill. Benyamin Netanyahu's mandate is very limited and tied to the previous American draft. Witkoff, local media reported, spoke several times on the phone with the Israeli prime minister but, apparently, without managing to obtain an expansion of the negotiating instructions to proceed towards a truce agreement in Gaza and the release of hostages. Finally, indignation was caused by a report by the Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) which documents "the systematic use of torture and inhuman treatment of Palestinians in Gaza detained by Israel since October 7, 2023".
The document is based on testimonies from 100 former detainees, including 10 women, and legal visits to 53 others still in custody. PCHR calls on states to uphold international law and urgent action by the International Criminal Court.
(Online Union)