Israel struck the southern and central Gaza Strip on Monday to put more pressure on Hamas following a weekend strike targeting the militant group's leadership, which killed scores of Palestinians who had sought shelter in a makeshift camp.
Two days after the Israeli strike turned a crowded swathe of Al-Mawasi near the Mediterranean coast into a charred wasteland littered with burning cars and mangled bodies, displaced survivors said they had no idea where they should go next.
Mawasi on the western outskirts of Khan Younis has been sheltering hundreds of thousands of Palestinians who fled to the area after Israel declared it a safe zone. Israel said its strikes there on July 13 targeted Hamas military commander Mohammed Deif, an architect of the October 7 assault on Israeli towns and villages that triggered the Gaza conflict.
The military said it struck an open area, with several buildings and sheds, adding it was a compound run by Hamas and not a tented camp. Palestinian officials say at least 90 people were killed in the strikes and many hundreds wounded.
Further south in Rafah, the main focus of Israel's advance since May, residents reported renewed fighting on Monday. Israeli forces in western and central parts of the city blew up several homes, they said. Medical officials said they recovered 10 bodies of Palestinians killed by Israeli fire in eastern areas of the city, some of which had already begun to decompose.
The military also stepped up aerial and tank shelling in central Gaza in the Al-Bureij and Al-Maghazi historic refugee camps. Health officials said five Palestinians were killed in an Israeli air strike on a house in Maghazi camp.
Employees of United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and Palestinians inspect a damaged school after Israeli fighter jets hit it, Deir al-Balah, Gaza, July 15, 2024. /CFP
EU puts new sanctions
As Israel continues its carnage in Gaza, the European Union on Monday announced sanctions against five Israeli individuals and three entities, describing them as responsible for "serious and systematic human rights abuses" against Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
The list included Tzav 9, a group which it said had regularly blocked humanitarian aid trucks delivering food, water and fuel to the Gaza Strip. Also on the list were Ben-Zion Gopstein, founder and leader of the Lehava organization, and Isaschar Manne, whom the EU described as the founder of an unauthorized outpost in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
The European Union sanctions include an asset freeze and a travel ban to the EU countries.
Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, a proponent of settlements, called the sanctions an "inappropriate and unacceptable step between friendships."
"Imposing sanctions on Israeli citizens in settlements or among right-wing organizations is crossing a red line," said Smotrich, who seeks to have these sanctions cancelled.
Palestinians watch the parachutes carrying aid sail down during an airdrop along the Khan Younis highway, Gaza, July 15, 2024. /CFP
UN aid to enter Gaza
As the conflict enter its 10th month, the United Nations received approval from Israeli authorities on Monday to bring in more armored vehicles and personal protection equipment for its humanitarian aid operations in the Gaza Strip.
Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory Scott Anderson said the approval was in response to a UN letter sent to Israel last month on safety and security in Gaza.
The UN has long complained of obstacles to getting aid into Gaza – Israel inspects and approves all trucks – and says it's also struggling to distribute aid amid "total lawlessness" within the enclave of 2.3 million people, where a global hunger monitor last month said there is a high risk of famine.
Anderson said the UN was due to start bringing vehicles and protection equipment into Gaza on Tuesday. It also need communications equipment that did not rely on cell phone towers because they were not reliable. However, Israeli authorities have security concerns about what Hamas could do if it accessed satellite internet service.
Anderson listed others problems including restrictions on movement, aid worker safety, unpredictable working hours, communications challenges and a lack of fuel.
Aid officials say UN was getting between 25 and 70 aid trucks a day into northern Gaza, but about 600 trucks of humanitarian and commercial supplies are needed in Gaza daily to meet the needs of the population.
(With input from Reuters)