Sameera Casmod | sameerac@radioislam.co.za
05 February 2024 | 12:28 p.m. SAST
3-min read
As Israel’s assault on the Gaza Strip bleeds into its 122nd day, the official death toll in Gaza has reached almost 27 500, with close to 70 000 individuals reported injured. Of grave concern is the number of people unaccounted for, estimated at around 8 000, many of whom remain trapped beneath rubble or strewn in the streets.
This, according to Israeli chroniclers, is Israel’s longest onslaught since 1948, surpassing, in length, the Lebanon War, the Second Lebanon War, the 1973 War, and the Six-Day War.
The current focal point of the Israeli onslaught is Rafah, located on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip, where approximately two million Palestinians are enduring dire conditions described by the United Nations as a “pressure cooker of despair.”
Moulana Ebrahim Moosa reports that the number of Palestinian people who have been displaced to the south of the Strip since October 7th accounts for the “largest mass exodus of Palestinians since the 1948 Nakba.”
Reports indicate that the Israeli occupation forces have placed the Shifa hospital under siege once again. After a previous siege, which saw Israeli troops withdraw, reports confirm their return six days ago.
Civilians trapped inside the medical complex are under sporadic fire from quadcopter military drones and Israeli surveillance drones. They are unable to escape because Israeli occupation forces have been redeployed in the central areas of Gaza City as clashes with Palestinian resistance fighters continue.
“This points to a wider failure of the Israeli assault in the areas of central Gaza and the north, where reports say that Hamas government activity has once again asserted itself in areas where the Israelis withdrew its forces from a month ago. Hamas has redeployed civilian police officers… Israeli reports are saying that this resurgence of Hamas underscores the group’s resilience,” Moulana Ebrahim Moosa said.
This message was posted at 11:43 a.m. on the Al-Qassam and Al-Quds Brigades Telegram Channel, indicating the resilience of the Palestinian resistance.
“Al-Qassam Brigades, in conjunction with the Al-Quds Brigades, bombed a gathering of enemy forces penetrating west of Gaza City with mortar shells and “107” rockets.”
Israeli occupation forces are trying to renew their efforts in the western and northwestern parts of Gaza to thwart the increased presence of Hamas in those areas, while also increasing efforts to destroy the south of the strip.
Hamas has released information about directives given to their troops to return to northern Gaza in order to protect abandoned residential and business buildings.
As part of Israel’s intent to develop a “buffer zone”, a one-kilometre-deep path has been dug to separate Gaza and the rest of historic Palestine, as revealed by recent satellite images.
Internationally, the impact of the ICJ provisional measures ruling reverberates, with a United States federal court officially recognising the complicity of the Biden administration in Israel’s genocide in Gaza.
“The judge acknowledged, drawing on the ICJ precedent, that there is undisputed evidence that Israel’s ongoing siege against Palestinians in Gaza is intended to eradicate the whole people and therefore plausibly, and we know where that terminology comes from, falls within the international prohibition against genocide,” Moulana Moosa said.
A meeting was held in Paris on January 28, 2024, in an effort to negotiate a truce. The discussions proposed a six-week pause in fighting and the release of prisoners of war from Gaza in exchange for Palestinian political prisoners.
“[The Israeli military has] acknowledged privately, not saying this publicly…that the military campaign has not succeeded in releasing the Israeli prisoners of war,” Moulana Moosa said.
Hamas is unwilling to accept a temporary halt, with Ismail Haniyeh’s office insisting on the complete cessation of aggression, withdrawal of Israeli forces, end to the blockade, release of political prisoners in large numbers, and reconstruction of Gaza.
Amidst regional and international considerations, including the upcoming US election campaign and the start of Ramadan, serious discussions are ongoing.
“The United States administration, as complicit as it is in aggression in Gaza, wouldn’t have too much of an appetite for that to be marring the entire election campaign in the USA, and therefore they seem to be keen to find some way of at least barring this conflict for a short period of time.
In tandem with these developments, Aqsa Week has commenced, rallying global support for Masjid Al-Aqsa under the hashtag #LoveAqsa.
The week-long initiative, which began in 2017, is held annually between the 5th and 11th of February and aims to raise awareness about and promote love for Masjid al-Aqsa.
Listen to the Palestine Report on Sabaahul Muslim with Moulana Sulaimaan Ravat.
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