International criticism

Paramedic killed in Israeli shelling

A paramedic was killed by Israeli fire in the Gaza Strip on Thursday. According to the Palestinian Red Crescent rescue service, two others were injured. The team had wanted to rescue the injured.

According to the Israeli army, dozens of terror suspects were killed or arrested during fighting in various locations in the Gaza Strip. The Hamas health authority spoke of a total of 130 Palestinians killed within 24 hours. The figures could not be independently verified.

The fighting is currently said to be concentrated in the town of Khan Younis in the south. According to eyewitnesses, Israeli fighter jets also bombed targets in Rafah, also in the south. Residents reported that at least eleven people were killed in the shelling of two houses. Tanks also shelled areas in the east of the city.

Fighting in Rafah?
This is now causing international criticism. "Rafah is an important place for the transportation of aid to the Gaza Strip," said French Foreign Ministry spokesman Christophe Lemoine. It is against international law to prevent the civilian population from receiving humanitarian aid.

US State Department spokesman Vedant Patel, on the other hand, said that the US government had not yet seen any evidence of "serious planning" for an Israeli operation in Rafah. Carrying out such an operation "without planning and little thought" in an area where one million people were seeking refuge "would be a disaster", he continued. The USA would not support this.

Hundreds of thousands of Palestinians have so far sought refuge from the Israeli ground offensive in the south of the Gaza Strip (see video above). The United Nations has now warned of a famine in the north.