Fierce fighting continues today in the Gaza Strip between Hamas and the Israeli military, which says it has now “taken” Khan Younis and is hunting the alleged architect of the October 7 attack on Israel.

The Israeli armed forces, which have been conducting a ground operation against Hamas in the northern Gaza Strip since October 27, said they are expanding their operations throughout the enclave, while at the same time continuing to launch massive aerial bombardments.

In Khan Younis, the largest city in the southern Gaza Strip, infantry, armored vehicles and construction equipment arrived in the city center, according to eyewitnesses.

As night fell clouds of thick smoke and flames continued to rise from Gaza. During the day, rockets could be seen being fired at Israel, including from Rafah.

Yahya Sinwar “hiding underground”

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu announced yesterday that Israeli troops “surrounded the house of Yahya Sinwar)“, of head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip, to Han Younis.

“Sinowar is hiding underground,” Daniel Hagari, an army spokesman, said afterward, referring to the network of underground tunnels of the Palestinian Islamist movement’s military arm.

Yahya Sinuar, 61, who spent 23 years of his life in Israeli prisons, is considered the architect of the unprecedented October 7 attack. That day, Hamas fighters raided southern sectors of Israeli territory, killing some 1,200 people, most of them civilians, according to authorities, and taking more than 200 hostages.

According to the Netanyahu government, 138 of the approximately 240 hostages kidnapped on October 7 are still being held in Gaza, after the release during the ceasefire of 105. The release of 80 was in exchange for the release of 240 Palestinians, women, children and teenagers, from Israeli detention centers.

Yahya Sinwar has not been seen in public in the Gaza Strip since October 7.

The Israeli army announced yesterday that it had killed “half” of the commanders of Hamas units.

Hell on Earth for civilians

According to the Hamas Health Ministry, 16,248 people, more than 70% of whom were women, children and teenagers, were killed in the two months of the war in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli bombardment.

Worried about a “complete collapse of public order in the near future” in the Palestinian enclave, the head of the United Nations has again called for a humanitarian ceasefire, prompting an extremely bitter reaction from Israel

As the death toll continues to mount, food shortages intensify and displaced people are deprived of everything, the UN Secretary-General warned yesterday that a “total collapse of public order is imminent because of the desperate conditions”.

Antonio Guterres used — for the first time after taking over the leadership of the international organization in 2017 — Article 99 of the UN Charter, which “draws the attention” of the Security Council to an issue that “could endanger the international peace and security”.

Reacting, Israel’s foreign minister described the “tenure” of General Guterres as a “danger to world peace”. “His request to activate Article 99 (s. of the UN Charter) and his call for a ceasefire in Gaza are support for the terrorist organization Hamas and support for the killing of the elderly, the kidnapping of babies and the rape of women,” Eli Cohen reported via X (formerly Twitter).

Delivery of “minimum” amount of fuel

Israel’s civil-military leadership has vowed to “eliminate” the Palestinian Islamist movement in power in the Gaza Strip since 2007, which Israel, the US and the EU label a “terrorist” organization.

However, the office of the Israeli Prime Minister announced yesterday Wednesday that the delivery of a “minimum” amount of fuel was approved, which is “necessary to avoid the collapse” of humanitarian services and the “outbreak of epidemics” in the Palestinian enclave. “The minimum quantity will be determined periodically by the war (ministerial) council,” depending on “the humanitarian situation,” Mr. Netanyahu’s services clarified via X (the former Twitter).

The Israeli government’s announcement came two days after Israel’s main ally, the United States, urged that more fuel be allowed into the Palestinian enclave, with the US diplomat speaking of “very frank” talks.

According to the UN, 1.9 million people, or about 85% of the population, have been displaced by the war in the Gaza Strip. More than half of the houses have been damaged or completely destroyed.

The UN, which estimates that immediate evacuation orders currently apply to 30% of the enclave, has called it “impossible” to create safe zones to host displaced people, an idea floated by Israel.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), the town of Rafah, on the border with Egypt, is now the only location in the enclave where humanitarian aid is still being distributed, but the quantities are limited. Yesterday Wednesday, 80 trucks of food and fuel arrived there, up from 170 a day on average during the armistice (November 24-30) and 500 before October 7.

Palestinians who left Khan Younis, less than ten kilometers away, set up a makeshift camp. They gather branches here and there to light a fire, the only food they have is some halva. They wander around with plastic containers in their hands looking for some drinking water.

“We arrived here, we have no roof, it rained on us all night, we have nothing to eat, there is no bread, no flour,” Ghasan Bakr recounts. “We are devastated, emotionally we are beyond our limits,” said Amal Mahdi, a raid survivor. “We need someone to support us, to find a solution to get out of this situation.”